WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Okay, I'm going to look at one or two different verses tonight from different parts of the 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:12.080 Bible, but specifically it's based on the reading that we did that Sam read from Acts 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:23.080 chapter 6 about Stephen who became the first martyr and were told about the crowd who looked 00:00:23.080 --> 00:00:28.640 on him at the end of the chapter, chapter 6 and verse 15, and gazing at him, all who 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:33.679 sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:39.960 So the title for this sermon is Your Face in 2019, okay, because faces are great things, 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:41.960 they're amazing things really, aren't they? 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:48.640 Well, when we come at church, I've definitely got the better end of the deal, okay, because 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:53.040 all you've got to look at right through church is my ugly coupon for the whole service, but 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:58.719 I've got the advantage of looking at all of your lovely faces throughout church, and faces 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:01.840 are great things. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:08.079 Just think about your face for a minute, or think about faces in general, because really 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:11.319 they're windows into our souls in some ways. 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:22.519 But tonight I'm going to be speaking about our face, literally, but also I think symbolically 00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:32.299 and metaphorically, as it reveals more about ourselves, because our faces are really a 00:01:32.299 --> 00:01:38.719 window into our character very often, and you should think about that more. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:43.200 You should think about your face more, because that's what people see. 00:01:43.200 --> 00:02:00.280 And often your face will reveal interest, or may it never be boredom, guilt, joy, sadness, 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:01.719 happiness. 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:10.639 So our faces are really, really important part of our lives, and I think I can tell quite 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.960 a lot about somebody by their face. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:16.840 I think we all can. 00:02:16.840 --> 00:02:21.079 Our faces do to a greater or lesser degree express our personality, and I do think you 00:02:21.079 --> 00:02:23.240 should think about that. 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:27.400 I think you should think about the face you put on in the morning. 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:29.240 I don't mean the makeup. 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:33.719 I mean the face that you put on in the world, and by that I also don't mean a hypocritical 00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:41.159 face, but I mean the face that reveals who we are and what we believe inside. 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:48.120 I think we can spend quite a lot of time actually hiding our true feeling or our true 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:55.640 being with our facial expressions or lack of them in our lives, and I don't think that's 00:02:55.640 --> 00:02:57.400 necessarily a good thing. 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:05.400 I think sometimes in our stoic, presbyterian world, particularly in worship, our faces 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:15.719 are not expressive enough and can appear to the outsider as faces of those who are having 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:23.800 a time of great misery and unhappiness, which isn't the case, I hope, and I'm sure it isn't. 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:31.800 But often in redemption, when we come to Christ, coming to faith in Christ, particularly somebody 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:38.680 who's come out with a covenantal background, out with a family who are Christians, someone 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:47.040 who comes to Christ, you see it in their face, you notice it, and that should be the case, 00:03:47.040 --> 00:03:49.120 and that is often the case. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:56.159 There's an outward expression of an inner faith revealed sometimes in our faces. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:04:03.280 Now, Stephen here, very physically, Stephen here is said to have had the face of an angel 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:07.640 when he sat in the council, those who sat in the council saw his face, his face was like 00:04:07.640 --> 00:04:08.800 the face of an angel. 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:13.159 He was at the point of, he was in deep trouble. 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:18.399 He was about to be martyred for his faith, in fact, although he may not know that at 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:27.599 that point, he still was persecuted and opposed and challenged for his newfound faith in Christ. 00:04:27.599 --> 00:04:30.919 The face of an angel, there was a radiance about his face. 00:04:30.919 --> 00:04:35.759 Now, it doesn't mean he was baby-faced, that's not what he's speaking about. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:37.519 This is not a weak picture. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:41.599 This is not a soft, sentimental, gentle picture. 00:04:41.599 --> 00:04:43.759 This is a strong image. 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:49.599 This is Stephen in the midst of intense suffering, opposition and threatened martyrdom, and his 00:04:49.599 --> 00:04:57.439 face did not give that expression of fear and terror in that situation. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:04.680 There was an inexplicable peace and dignity and Christ-likeness about him in that difficult 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:05.680 situation. 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:08.480 God was with him. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:18.200 There was a reflection of being close to Christ and close to central kingdom work, which we 00:05:18.200 --> 00:05:19.200 were looking at this morning. 00:05:19.200 --> 00:05:23.759 Now, Matthew 18 verse 10, I've got a few verses coming up. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:28.400 When Jesus was speaking about believers and the opposition of his face, he said, See that 00:05:28.400 --> 00:05:32.759 you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven, the angels 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:36.560 always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:41.439 Now, I'm not going to go into that verse, but it's speaking about facing God and it's 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:49.480 speaking about understanding as little ones who belong to Jesus where our focus should 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:50.980 be. 00:05:50.980 --> 00:05:55.600 We should be facing the Father, our Father in heaven and communion with Him. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:00.639 Our faces, as Thomas mentioned this morning in repentance, we are turned toward God. 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:03.560 You know, that's a spiritual thing. 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:08.319 But it's also a sense in which it's a physical thing. 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:12.519 We turn towards God in prayer and we're in communion with Him. 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:19.160 And we should have that attitude of protection towards all those who are God's children 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:22.079 and a responsibility to them. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:30.120 So I just wondered, just as a kind of gentle entrance into 2019, will it be evident, as 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:38.199 Thomas was talking about this morning, that we're different because we're Christians? 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:42.600 And that will be evident even in our faces. 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:45.160 Is that a bit too shallow? 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:47.639 Is that a bit too physical? 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:49.240 Maybe so. 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:56.160 But I think there's at least a linking between physical truth and spiritual truth here that 00:06:56.160 --> 00:07:02.320 we're going to look at, that there should be in our lives something evident that people 00:07:02.320 --> 00:07:10.000 know and recognize, particularly by our reactions, maybe in trouble, in opposition, when things 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.640 are difficult, when we suffer and when we're persecuted. 00:07:13.640 --> 00:07:19.360 God has given us this picture of Stephen whose face was like the face of an angel. 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:22.200 There's maybe particular reasons for that. 00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:27.879 But let's learn a little bit about what that means for us as we go into 2019. 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:29.079 Why was Stephen like this? 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:34.199 Well, the interesting thing is this chapter unpacks one or two facts about Stephen, the 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:39.159 kind of believer he was, and it's the kind of believer we can all be. 00:07:39.159 --> 00:07:42.759 He was someone who was spiritually full, okay? 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:46.879 That word, full, is used three times in this passage of Stephen. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:48.879 He was spiritually full. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:54.159 He was full of the Holy Spirit, he was full of grace and power, full of wisdom. 00:07:54.159 --> 00:08:00.399 He's used that, that phrase is used of Stephen, and it's like a great word. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:07.819 It's a word that really has the idea of maturity and of knowing, you know what you're like 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:10.639 after you've had a big meal, you're full. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:17.040 You've been satisfied, you've been provided for, and he was aware that spiritually God 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:23.840 had provided for him, and he had a friend in Christ, and his spiritual needs had been 00:08:23.840 --> 00:08:28.720 met in Christ, and it was nothing hollow or empty about his faith. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:29.720 There was nothing hypocritical. 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:37.039 He was absolutely full, and it's used of Stephen here. 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:42.279 It's Christ that gave him his resources, his satisfaction, that's where his appetites 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:46.039 lay, and he was satisfied at the very core of his... 00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:49.919 You know that Jesus speaks about that, he says that, if you come to me, you will live 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:52.159 life, and you will live life to the full. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:56.360 Now, very often we have a very different meaning to living life to the full. 00:08:56.360 --> 00:08:59.559 Woo-hoo, party time, life to the full. 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:03.319 And we think sometimes, sometimes people take that as what it means to follow Jesus, you 00:09:03.319 --> 00:09:06.679 get kind of life in the fast lane. 00:09:06.679 --> 00:09:09.519 But its meaning is similar to here. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:15.519 It's finding our satisfaction and fullness in being reunited with our Father, and knowing 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:20.879 that that's where our contentment and our fullness lies. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:23.399 So we see that about Stephen, he was full. 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:25.120 And it says these things, he was full. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:29.319 In verse 3 we're told of the Holy Spirit, he was one of the deacons that was chosen 00:09:29.319 --> 00:09:35.879 to be served and help the apostles, and each of them were to be the men who were full of 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:37.799 the Spirit and wisdom. 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:44.360 So Stephen was someone who was full of the Spirit of God. 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:51.560 Now, Mary read in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and spoke about the Old Testament, how in 00:09:51.560 --> 00:09:59.000 the Old Testament Moses, or the faces of the people in the Old Testament were veiled, they 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:03.240 couldn't see, and they couldn't understand. 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:09.120 Only Moses was allowed in God's presence in that way, and when he came back from the 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:16.519 presence of God his face physically in that Old Testament context shone, so that his face 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:21.759 had to be veiled from others because they themselves couldn't see. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:25.279 And in Christ the veil is lifted on every believer. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:31.840 The spiritual darkness is lifted, the chains of unbelief have fallen off, and he has seen 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:35.680 and knows the living Christ. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:41.319 And he believes and knows the law of God that's written not on tablets of stone but on his 00:10:41.319 --> 00:10:52.439 heart, because the law of God leaves humanity guilty and in darkness, but as it's fulfilled 00:10:52.439 --> 00:10:59.159 in Christ and then as we follow Christ the law of God becomes the way of life that we 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:06.480 live for Him out of gratitude filled with the Holy Spirit who enables to do that. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:10.360 And that's what we are being asked to be full of in our lives. 00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:14.879 We sung about the Holy Spirit and the need for the Holy Spirit in our lives, and He 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:19.079 sets us free to serve Him in all His fullness. 00:11:19.079 --> 00:11:27.039 It breaks legalism and it breaks self-righteousness, and we are allowed to live fully in obedience 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:32.639 again as we saw this morning in the power of the Holy Spirit bearing fruit as we are 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:35.719 rooted in Jesus Christ. 00:11:35.719 --> 00:11:41.839 So Stephen who was full of the Holy Spirit was obedient, was obedient to the law, and 00:11:41.839 --> 00:11:49.279 it's actually quite interesting because that was really what he was being accused of breaking 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:52.919 by the religious leaders of the day. 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:58.679 But rather than breaking God's law, he was fulfilling God's law, he was obedient, he 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:04.360 was following in the power of the Holy Spirit, and I think that is one reason why his face 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:07.039 shone like an angel. 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:14.319 I think it would have reminded the people, the Jewish council who were questioning him 00:12:14.319 --> 00:12:22.319 of Moses and of the law and of the Old Testament and of God's favour and of God's blessing. 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:28.440 But as we live our lives in obedience to Jesus Christ, we begin to reflect the glory of the 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:30.440 Lord in our lives. 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:41.760 And yes, I argue in our faces as well, in our interest, in our desire, in our ability 00:12:41.760 --> 00:12:49.000 to live with this foundation and with this joy in our lives, in our reaction, in our 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:55.679 choices, in our attitudes, and even in our demeanour that we give off the impression 00:12:55.679 --> 00:13:03.759 that we are following someone who's worth it and our lives are worth it. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:06.440 You know, it doesn't mean we're going to go around with a big smile on our face all 00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:13.240 the time and that we're, you know, that you're all going to grinning wildly towards me in 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:14.240 church. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:15.440 It's not that. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:23.680 It's kind of nothing we can manufacture. 00:13:23.680 --> 00:13:24.680 But do you know what I mean? 00:13:24.680 --> 00:13:29.200 Do you know what I mean when you can see it in people's faces? 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:34.600 I think it's really important when people come into this church for the first time, it's 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:39.000 all your faces they see. 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:44.440 I wonder if that gives away anything about your soul and about what matters to you and 00:13:44.440 --> 00:13:48.400 what's significant, does it? 00:13:48.400 --> 00:13:52.920 I wonder, I think it should. 00:13:52.920 --> 00:14:02.080 And I do think sometimes that our faces particularly can reveal spiritual backsliding, can reveal 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:08.320 coldness of heart, not all the time, but I think it can sometimes reveal when we're far 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:13.440 from our Father, when we're disinterested in the things of God, when we're embittered 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:19.000 or broken or deeply sad. 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:26.240 And there's a need for Christ to transform these experiences for us. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:30.200 He was full of the Holy Spirit and that was evident in His face. 00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:34.520 But He was also full, we're told in verse 8, of God's grace and power. 00:14:34.520 --> 00:14:40.200 Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:45.240 And I think we get a little bit of a hint of why that's the case in Psalm 34, verse 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:46.240 5. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:47.240 We're going to sing this at the end of the Psalm. 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:51.200 Those who look to Him are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed. 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:56.440 So there was, I think it's going back to the first point, that really Stephen was someone 00:14:56.440 --> 00:14:58.240 who kept looking to the Lord. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:02.080 And as he was calling on the Lord and looking to the Lord, he was used greatly by the Lord 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:04.560 as he cried out to the Lord. 00:15:04.560 --> 00:15:08.160 He was relying on God and God did great things through him. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:13.480 He used miraculous ways to see the expansion of God's kingdom. 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:18.199 Stephen was used in that great way, great wonders and signs among the people in these 00:15:18.199 --> 00:15:20.279 early days of the Christian church. 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:28.120 Ultimately, God used him in a very different way through, he smartered them remarkably. 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:30.919 But nonetheless, he was used in these great ways. 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:38.599 And the ideas of grace and power could be translated sweetness and strength. 00:15:38.599 --> 00:15:40.879 Grace and power, sweetness and strength, the same kind of thing. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:49.559 It's this great paradoxical reality of what it is to be a Christian. 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:55.959 There's a gentleness, there's a sweetness, but there's also a courage and a strength. 00:15:55.959 --> 00:15:58.639 And that is really important in our Christian lives. 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:01.759 As I said before, this is not a picture of weakness. 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:08.399 And to have an angelic well, an angelic face, we've made it all kind of cherublike. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:13.039 But the angels are terrifying beings. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:16.240 They're not kind of soft and gentle. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:19.639 They're really terrifyingly glorious beings. 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:26.559 And that comes across in this characterization of Stephen, he was full of God's grace and 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:30.000 power, sweetness and strength. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.279 And you know, you can see that, can't you, in the face of a mature believer, an older 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:35.279 Christian. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:38.239 You can see, I think you can see it very often in their face. 00:16:38.239 --> 00:16:44.719 There might be a ruggedness about their face, particularly their blokes, which is full of 00:16:44.719 --> 00:16:47.759 experience and suffering maybe. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:54.559 But also there's a sweetness and a warmth and a brightness that reveals that through their 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:59.079 struggles and battles, they've relied on Christ and they've come through it with Christ and 00:16:59.079 --> 00:17:00.879 looking to Christ. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:05.359 So you find that sometimes, you know, you could think of maybe your grandparents or maybe 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:09.799 your parents in some case, or an older person in church, that you've looked to and there's 00:17:09.799 --> 00:17:11.799 a depth about their face. 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:16.000 There's a ruggedness there that you know they've gone through a lot of experiences. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:22.079 But when they smile or when they talk about Jesus, that ruggedness kind of dissolves into 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:23.079 a sweetness. 00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:25.119 It's not a harsh face that they have. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:30.759 It's one that's been molded by His character and is full of grace and power. 00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:32.799 They've relied on Him. 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:37.639 He has been with them and He has never let them down. 00:17:37.639 --> 00:17:44.960 So as you go through your life in 2019, I am doubtless sure that there will be great 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:46.119 challenges. 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:48.480 You might face many crises. 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:56.920 We might be challenged by our own weakness, or by temptation, by opposition, by suffering 00:17:56.920 --> 00:17:57.920 or doubt. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:01.960 But the answer is always the same. 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:06.720 Those who look to Him, their faces will be radiant. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:09.160 We keep looking to Him. 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:16.640 That's why we've made such a deal about last year reading the whole of the Bible. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:21.880 This year, if you've read your bulletin, the free church is encouraging us all to read 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:25.080 the New Testament from towards the end of January. 00:18:25.080 --> 00:18:28.759 That's why we're doing a New City cacism. 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:33.920 Because all of that, as we learn more about Jesus, as we look to Him in life and in prayer, 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:40.000 that's where the answer to prayer in the Word is what we call experimental religion. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:41.000 It's experiencing. 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:42.080 It's putting into practice. 00:18:42.080 --> 00:18:44.680 It's living out that ourselves. 00:18:44.680 --> 00:18:48.120 So that we come to the place where we can say, like, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, 00:18:48.120 --> 00:18:55.759 no, my will but yours be done with a degree of ruggedness, but also a great deal of sweetness 00:18:55.759 --> 00:19:00.920 and reality, knowing His will, living His will, doing His will in the power of the Holy 00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:01.920 Spirit. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:09.400 And there's no limitations on how God will use you in the year as we rely on Him, as 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:16.640 we look to Him, our faces, our lives, our faces are radiant. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:20.280 We radiate with the presence and the knowledge of Jesus. 00:19:20.280 --> 00:19:22.120 So He was full of the Holy Spirit. 00:19:22.120 --> 00:19:24.920 He was full of God's grace and power. 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:31.440 And verse 3 reminds us again that He was also full of wisdom, full of the Holy Spirit and 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.840 full of wisdom. 00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:41.439 He had insight, great insight and great knowledge, great dependence on the Lord in His day-to-day 00:19:41.439 --> 00:19:42.439 living. 00:19:42.439 --> 00:19:45.559 Ecclesiastes 8 verse 1 gives us a little hint towards that. 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:50.480 Who is like the wise and who knows the interpretation of a thing? 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:56.720 A man's wisdom, a person's wisdom makes his face shine and the hardness of his face has 00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:58.599 changed. 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:04.439 So there's a sense in which, there's maybe reality, physical reality, but there's also 00:20:04.439 --> 00:20:12.079 symbolism about our lives, our faces revealing our lives, or they are hardened by life's 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:15.559 experience, or they soften by the wisdom of God's grace. 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:26.039 Sin in our lives, sin in our lives makes our faces and makes our hearts hard and dark. 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:28.519 That's what sin does for us. 00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:34.799 We're turned away from the living God, we're turned away from His grace and from His love, 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:42.680 and it makes our lives and our faces hard and dark. 00:20:42.680 --> 00:20:47.639 The first step of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, coming to that place where we accept 00:20:47.639 --> 00:20:54.879 God through Jesus Christ, and where we understand that sin is actually our enemy. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:21:05.280 It may be attractive, we may think it will make us happy, but ultimately it brings us 00:21:05.280 --> 00:21:08.800 to a place of hard-heartedness and darkness. 00:21:08.800 --> 00:21:10.300 Grace changes us. 00:21:10.300 --> 00:21:14.440 That's why we say again and again and again. 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:19.760 Theology is really important, and I'm reading about that just now because I'm doing a course 00:21:19.760 --> 00:21:23.200 about that in terms of counselling. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:29.319 And theology is hugely important because it's the knowledge of God, it's knowing God. 00:21:29.319 --> 00:21:42.559 But I think one of the other sides of that is a false knowledge of God, or leaving theology 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:49.400 as theology and not allowing it to change our face or change our life. 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:55.680 Grace, the knowledge of God through grace and theology must change who we are. 00:21:55.680 --> 00:22:00.000 It must change our responses, our reactions, our lives. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:09.680 You know, because I've had my, I think it's dangerous to say, I've had my fill of people 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:19.279 who know a great deal and who are theologically at one level astute, but whose lives do not 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:22.000 reflect Christ. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:23.600 That's possible, isn't it? 00:22:23.600 --> 00:22:26.279 And that's dangerous, really dangerous. 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:33.200 It's really dangerous to know in our heads about Jesus, but not allow that knowledge 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:38.320 to change us in our hearts, but rather use it self-righteously, maybe pointing towards 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:42.439 others, making us proud rather than humble. 00:22:42.439 --> 00:22:48.319 Knowledge of God and the wisdom and the fear of Lord is always about being changed so that 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:52.039 we worship, we turn towards Him, we bow the knee. 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:59.839 And that will enable us to live with great love for God and great love for others. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:03.559 That is the whole of God's law. 00:23:03.559 --> 00:23:05.119 And that is wisdom. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:12.479 It's that great gift of self-forgetfulness. 00:23:12.479 --> 00:23:20.199 So as we do that, putting God before me is a great challenge for us in 2019. 00:23:20.199 --> 00:23:23.319 God before me. 00:23:23.319 --> 00:23:26.639 God before me. 00:23:26.639 --> 00:23:28.479 That's a huge challenge for us. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:35.079 It gives us, that's what His wisdom gives us and enables us to do and be, enables us 00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:41.839 to have that fear of the Lord, that great radiance that Ecclesiastes speaks about. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:47.799 But we also see that that wisdom, it's a great wisdom, and I think this is again related 00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:50.920 to this morning, because it stands unopposed. 00:23:50.920 --> 00:23:59.160 Verse 10, when Stephen was being challenged by these different religious leaders and they 00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:03.880 disputed with him, it says in verse 10 that they could not withstand the wisdom and the 00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:08.759 spirit with which he was speaking. 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:12.640 So there's a double-barreled outworking of grace here. 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:16.800 He had wisdom and he had the Holy Spirit in his life. 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:22.680 And that gave him great moral authority, and it meant that those who opposed him could 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:23.680 not stand. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:29.000 Now that's a great thing for us as ordinary Christians. 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:33.839 In other words, we're talking about sharing our faith and I'm really passionate that we 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.639 think about taking away these word one for ones. 00:24:36.639 --> 00:24:38.519 We've got 20 of them. 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:39.639 They were a sale of return. 00:24:39.639 --> 00:24:41.480 I don't want to give back any of them. 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:42.480 I want them. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:47.839 20 is not that much, it's about a tenth of congregation. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:53.240 So even if one in ten of us will take one and think of using it and pray about using 00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:55.360 it, sharing our faith with someone else. 00:24:55.360 --> 00:25:01.839 The great thing is that our sharing of our faith is above argument and intelligence and 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:03.279 even logic. 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:08.680 It's not illogical, but it's above logic in some ways. 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:15.320 And the wisdom and the fear of the Lord is such that we are able to speak in such a way 00:25:15.320 --> 00:25:19.560 that those who oppose us cannot stand against it. 00:25:19.560 --> 00:25:22.640 It does mean standing up for our faith. 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:30.840 It does mean being courageous where we are, who we are in our lives with that obedient 00:25:30.840 --> 00:25:34.400 lifestyle that we mentioned already today. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:43.000 As we face Jesus, we need Him daily and there's no easy, there's no real way around that. 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:51.360 But as we do, we recognize that we are able to live and stand unopposed. 00:25:51.360 --> 00:25:56.519 And He had great courage to speak in this way. 00:25:56.519 --> 00:26:00.360 He was speaking up for the gospel in the toughest of situations. 00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:06.079 Daniel 12, 3, this is the last verse I think that I've got. 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:09.439 Those who are wise, this is to do with wisdom, the courage of wisdom, those who are wise 00:26:09.439 --> 00:26:13.839 will shine like the brightness of the sky above and those who turn many to righteousness 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:16.959 like the stars for ever and ever. 00:26:16.959 --> 00:26:19.240 The greatest mark of wisdom, isn't it? 00:26:19.240 --> 00:26:26.359 Those who are wise are those when we can turn other people to the Son of righteousness, 00:26:26.359 --> 00:26:27.479 to Jesus Himself. 00:26:27.479 --> 00:26:29.359 That's the great mark of wisdom. 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:33.639 It's not the mark of wisdom of this world and it is often not the mark of wisdom in 00:26:33.639 --> 00:26:38.479 the church, but it's a great mark of wisdom biblically that we lead many towards the 00:26:38.479 --> 00:26:39.479 Son of righteousness. 00:26:39.479 --> 00:26:46.919 A lovely picture of light, of radiating believer, facing the light, bringing light to others 00:26:46.919 --> 00:26:49.399 and bringing others to the light. 00:26:49.399 --> 00:26:55.119 And that's a great challenge for us as we go into this year that we would have the courage 00:26:55.119 --> 00:26:56.119 to do this. 00:26:56.119 --> 00:27:02.000 It's not easy for us and we need to be dependent on Christ and we need to be wise. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:05.959 But it's the greatest responsibility, it's the greatest privilege, it's the greatest 00:27:05.959 --> 00:27:16.919 responsibility each of us have this year is to buy our lives and not even so much by 00:27:16.919 --> 00:27:20.159 what we say, although what we say will be very important. 00:27:20.159 --> 00:27:24.679 But I think it's interesting here that it's the face of Stephen that was like an angel. 00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:28.640 It's kind of, it's both and, isn't it? 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:35.400 As we are facing Christ, our lives will be such that it will be attractive and challenging 00:27:35.400 --> 00:27:42.519 to people and we will share our faith then in words. 00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:48.080 And you know, if you're a Christian you'll know this, because I certainly have experienced 00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:54.799 this, that the greatest joy we have in our Christian lives is leading someone else to 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:55.799 Jesus. 00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:57.639 That's when we really radiate. 00:27:57.639 --> 00:28:01.279 That is the happiest day of our lives. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:06.960 And that's when probably our faces are at their most beautiful, because it changes everything 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:12.039 for us when we are able to see people we've prayed for, people we've shared with, people 00:28:12.039 --> 00:28:16.960 we love, people we've wept over, people we thought would never come to faith, coming 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:18.600 to faith in Jesus Christ. 00:28:18.600 --> 00:28:23.279 It's the greatest joy and it's the greatest motivation. 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:25.920 And that's an amazing thing. 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:31.960 So in conclusion then, very, very briefly, we see that Stephen was someone who was full 00:28:31.960 --> 00:28:32.960 of life. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:33.960 He was full of life. 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:35.640 He was full of wisdom. 00:28:35.640 --> 00:28:38.039 He was full of grace and power. 00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:40.600 He was full of the Holy Spirit. 00:28:40.600 --> 00:28:46.759 And his face shone like the face of an angel. 00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:51.240 He was full of life and he was just about at the end of his life. 00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:53.680 He had no earthly prospects. 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:59.839 There was really nothing humanly speaking that would attract anyone else to him. 00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:05.799 And yet we're told that the people were gazing at him. 00:29:05.799 --> 00:29:09.480 All the council saw his face, like the face of an angel. 00:29:09.480 --> 00:29:10.480 It's interesting. 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:13.920 It's a really strong word that we have there. 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:15.319 It's not a quick glance. 00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:18.839 It's not a passing look. 00:29:18.839 --> 00:29:20.000 They were gazing at him. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:25.119 The NIV says that they were looking intently at him. 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:26.480 It's not an awkward glance. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:35.359 It's an intense lingering examination. 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:42.639 And who was the person in the next chapter that looked at him most intently? 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:51.320 Chapter 7 at verse 58, as he was being martyred, then they cast him out of the city and stoned 00:29:51.320 --> 00:29:55.720 him, Stephen, and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man 00:29:55.720 --> 00:29:58.080 named Saul. 00:29:58.080 --> 00:30:03.280 So a young man named Saul who was looking intently at him in that chapter. 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:12.440 And undoubtedly Stephen's witness throughout this period became part of Saul's journey 00:30:12.440 --> 00:30:15.639 to faith in Jesus Christ. 00:30:15.639 --> 00:30:19.319 Undoubtedly Saul saw why you kick against the pricks. 00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:27.639 He was being prodded by Jesus to come to faith, and surely Stephen's witness and testimony 00:30:27.639 --> 00:30:30.559 martyred him was part of that. 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:33.639 People looked intently, people looked intently. 00:30:33.639 --> 00:30:38.559 In a sense that's what we're looking for this year, that there's something about our lives 00:30:38.559 --> 00:30:43.000 as Christians, something there's an attractiveness, there's something different, something in 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:48.480 our faces, something in our reaction to suffering, something about our wisdom, our strength, our 00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:57.440 grace, our knowledge of God through the Holy Spirit that causes people to look at us and 00:30:57.440 --> 00:31:01.799 wonder about what it is that we have and who it is that we are. 00:31:01.799 --> 00:31:07.080 It's a sobering question really about our lives. 00:31:07.080 --> 00:31:10.759 Is there anything that people would look at and see as being different? 00:31:10.759 --> 00:31:16.759 But it's a great encouragement too that all the resources that Stephen had, we have as 00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:18.759 we look to Christ. 00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:21.200 We look to Christ and face Him. 00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:28.640 We recognize and we know that our lives can be used by Jesus powerfully because do bear 00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:35.319 in mind as we head into another year, Revelation chapter 6 verse 15 and 17. 00:31:35.319 --> 00:31:39.559 The kings of the earth, the great ones and the generals, the rich, the powerful and everyone, 00:31:39.559 --> 00:31:44.680 slaves and free, hid themselves in the caves and among rocks on the mountains, calling 00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:48.920 to the mountains and rocks, fallen as unhiders from the face of Him who is seated on the 00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:51.440 throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:54.240 For the great day of the wrath that's coming, who can stand? 00:31:54.240 --> 00:32:00.000 There will be a day when we can't invite people to repent and turn and face Jesus. 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:05.039 But people will actually, they will look to turn away from Jesus because it will be too 00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:10.640 late and they will ask for anything to hide them from the face of that most terrible of 00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:13.000 all pictures in the Bible, the wrath of the Lamb. 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:21.920 It's a strange paradoxical statement, the most unwrathful of all beasts, the Lamb, 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:27.279 the Lamb of God, the justice of the living God. 00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:32.119 And we remember that now is the time when we can tell people to repent, as Thomas was 00:32:32.119 --> 00:32:37.119 saying this morning, turn to Jesus and face Him and be redeemed and saved and know that 00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:42.519 great salvation and meet the angels that are spoken about in this passage. 00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:46.039 Let's bow our heads and pray. 00:32:46.039 --> 00:32:56.879 Father God, help us to recognize and know and understand the mystery and sometimes the 00:32:56.879 --> 00:33:05.079 mysticism in your word as well as the simplicity and help us to recognize the great spiritual 00:33:05.079 --> 00:33:10.160 truths that come from insiders that do reflect physically and outwardly in our lives the 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:17.680 way we act and react and respond and even in our faces which so often speak to others 00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:25.120 about our lives and our souls and our attitudes and our foundation. 00:33:25.120 --> 00:33:26.960 So Lord, help us, we pray. 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:28.360 We don't want to be hypocrites. 00:33:28.360 --> 00:33:30.120 We don't have false faces. 00:33:30.120 --> 00:33:32.640 We don't want to have slapstick faces. 00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:38.880 We don't want to pretend there's not trouble and sadness and tears and need and doubt. 00:33:38.880 --> 00:33:41.880 But we want people to see that we are honest. 00:33:41.880 --> 00:33:48.400 We want people to see that we are hopeful, that we are people who have a deep trust and 00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:55.880 a peace and a serenity that comes from knowing Jesus, whatever we face in our lives. 00:33:55.880 --> 00:34:00.440 And Lord, give us that passion and that urgency to share the gospel and the days that you've 00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:05.000 given to us, precious days, few days, to share our faith. 00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:10.960 May we not panic about that, may we not be despairing about it, but may we just be happy 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:16.800 and know that it is your job to bring people to faith, but you use us in our lives and 00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:22.920 as we seek to be obedient to Jesus Christ our Lord and to be full of the Holy Spirit, 00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:25.840 strength and grace and wisdom. 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:27.840 So help us, we pray, in Jesus' name. 00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:37.840 Amen.