- Jul 15, 2014
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Many of us are stuck inside on this day and cannot be inside a physical church to celebrate, I understand. This is why I hope that somehow some words on my part as a fellow believer, however sinful and weak he may still be, can help you all remember well what Jesus has accomplished for us on this day 2000 years ago and grow closer to the Spirit in whatever personal way He may deem fit for each of you. (I am using the MEV for this, mind you. 
)
This post will be based on Acts 6 and 7.
Trying to ponder a topic for a sermon, such as it is coming from a non-preacher ^-^, last night while at work, I was thinking of the book of Acts and how it seemed to be a great demonstration of just how the Lord's church here on Earth should behave, act, believe, and preach. Acts describes, I can only surmise, the beginnings of the Christian church. There were great miracles of healing and acts of charity performed on the part of those disciples who Jesus left behind, and they were surely by the work of the Spirit Who Jesus promised that the Father would send to the disciples in Christ's place, as described in John 14:26 (I have taken a particular notice as of late in my life, by the way, that Jesus refers to the Spirit as the "Comforter", here). Great were the numbers of those who accepted and believed in Jesus Christ in those days.
In Acts 6 there is a man called Stephen who it says the brethren chose as part of a group of seven folk - who were found to be wise and filled with the Spirit among the brethren (Acts 6:3) - to minister to the community of, I believe it was in particular, the Greek-speaking believers in Jerusalem in ways additional to the verbal preaching of God's word, so that the twelve apostles themselves could continue devotion solely to prayer and preaching. I do not wish to presume on exactly what this means; just know that the twelve apostles mentioned in 6:2 that "it is not reasonable for us to leave the word of God and serve tables", so this at least lends credence to the Christian thought that believers in the church are equipped with different gifts by the Spirit, and one man cannot be perfect so as to all possible variations of good works by the Spirit. Some of us are, by God's grace, gifted differently than others.
Stephen is called "St. Stephen the Martyr" in some circles, and it is likely already to all of our knowledge as to why. In chapter 6 Stephen, like many of the other disciples already come to Christ previously in the book of Acts, performs great wonders and miracles among the people, so there are some who rise up from what Acts 6:9 calls the Synagogue of the Freedman to dispute with Stephen. They seize him and take him to the Sanhedrin to falsely accuse him of speaking blasphemies. Of course to them, it was blasphemous to preach anything that might magnify Jesus Christ and sound anything antithetical to Moses and the customs and laws that Moses handed down to their fathers thousands of years before (Acts 6:14).
As you may remember, Stephen responded in no anger or hatred, or even fear of the harm that might be done to him. As his face began to resemble that as one might imagine an angel's face would before the people who sat in the Sanhedrin that day, all throughout Acts chapter 7 Stephen simply began to preach. He spoke of when God first appeared to their father Abraham, and of God's promises and faithfulness kept to Abraham and his descendants throughout time all the way to the time of David, hinting strongly at Israel's unfaithfulness all the while, such that even today, as Stephen begins to say in the last few verses of chapter 7, they are so stiff-necked that they even resist the Holy Spirit and His goodness, and betrayed and killed not only the prophets who foretold of Jesus' coming but Jesus Himself. Thus, the people could not bear to hear these convictions, which only too well came from not a spirit of judgment and accusation, but of love. Surely they could have turned and saw the greatness of the miracles of the Spirit and the love of God through Jesus Christ's sacrifice if they would but become circumcised of heart and ears (as Stephen claims they fail to be in Acts 7:51). But instead, the people in the Sanhedrin responded with hate, and rushed upon a helpless, unarmed man and threw him out of the city to stone poor Stephen to death.
The point of this - again - sermon as it were coming from a neophyte such as myself, rests at the ending of chapter 7, verses 59 and 60 where Stephen is murdered. ... Or perhaps, his reaction to it, and how he did so in a manner all-too reminiscent of Christ Himself as He was tortured and slain just a year or so prior, that perhaps not many of us here including myself would have the heart and courage to at all were we in a similar situation.
They stoned Stephen as he was calling on God, praying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Having said this, he fell asleep.
How many of us here can say with full confidence that we would have held the same sentiments and convictions while men with hating hearts gave us what is likely a slow, painful death by stoning, when we never even wronged them in any way and were physically helpless to really fight back even if we wanted to?
Think of how Jesus, too, was humiliated before men who hated Him and wished suffering and death upon Him, yet He sent no army of angels to strike down the crowd who first came to arrest Him and take Him to His death (in fact, recall that He rebuked one of His followers who lashed out with a sword at the time), nor did Jesus ever call for God's wrath in any form or fashion all throughout the ensuing six hours of torture and mockery that the people inflicted upon Him. He was obedient, meek, and trusting unto death. And it was that great love, His willing to suffer at the very hands of those He intended to save and give forgiveness of sins and eternal life to so and never fight back with any kind or measure of violence, that is the reason any of us here today can have hope. Jesus even said something similar to what Stephen did as He was beaten and eventually killed: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And it was sincere and gracious - not the deceitfully smug, secretly loathing way some of us might say "oh please forgive them, God" or "I will pray for your soul" of our enemies today.
What other god would behave in such a way, that He would once put Himself at a position so lowly, to serve instead of be served? What other god would give such a gift to us out of genuine love, when we at first shoved it back in His face and said "we don't want it! May you be crucified!" No, none other than Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us. That is what we believe, and His resurrection, rising again from the grave after He obediently finished His sacrifice in our place for our sins.
Because Stephen behaved and thought similarly as he too was being beaten and killed, I think he serves as an excellent example of the ideal follower of Christ. Have we always served and followed well? Certainly not. We will struggle with the evil desires - such as the desire for violence and vengeance as we might be tempted to have had for Stephen's killers were we in his place - of the flesh and the darkness of sin in our hearts to the day we die, that much is obvious. But with the Lord's continuing grace and Jesus' already finished work at the cross, we can go on and try again tomorrow.
Because He is risen, we have hope, and our faith is not in vain. One day, we too will rise again to eternal life as He promised to those who believe, and we will never have to fear death or sin again.
)This post will be based on Acts 6 and 7.
Trying to ponder a topic for a sermon, such as it is coming from a non-preacher ^-^, last night while at work, I was thinking of the book of Acts and how it seemed to be a great demonstration of just how the Lord's church here on Earth should behave, act, believe, and preach. Acts describes, I can only surmise, the beginnings of the Christian church. There were great miracles of healing and acts of charity performed on the part of those disciples who Jesus left behind, and they were surely by the work of the Spirit Who Jesus promised that the Father would send to the disciples in Christ's place, as described in John 14:26 (I have taken a particular notice as of late in my life, by the way, that Jesus refers to the Spirit as the "Comforter", here). Great were the numbers of those who accepted and believed in Jesus Christ in those days.
In Acts 6 there is a man called Stephen who it says the brethren chose as part of a group of seven folk - who were found to be wise and filled with the Spirit among the brethren (Acts 6:3) - to minister to the community of, I believe it was in particular, the Greek-speaking believers in Jerusalem in ways additional to the verbal preaching of God's word, so that the twelve apostles themselves could continue devotion solely to prayer and preaching. I do not wish to presume on exactly what this means; just know that the twelve apostles mentioned in 6:2 that "it is not reasonable for us to leave the word of God and serve tables", so this at least lends credence to the Christian thought that believers in the church are equipped with different gifts by the Spirit, and one man cannot be perfect so as to all possible variations of good works by the Spirit. Some of us are, by God's grace, gifted differently than others.
Stephen is called "St. Stephen the Martyr" in some circles, and it is likely already to all of our knowledge as to why. In chapter 6 Stephen, like many of the other disciples already come to Christ previously in the book of Acts, performs great wonders and miracles among the people, so there are some who rise up from what Acts 6:9 calls the Synagogue of the Freedman to dispute with Stephen. They seize him and take him to the Sanhedrin to falsely accuse him of speaking blasphemies. Of course to them, it was blasphemous to preach anything that might magnify Jesus Christ and sound anything antithetical to Moses and the customs and laws that Moses handed down to their fathers thousands of years before (Acts 6:14).
As you may remember, Stephen responded in no anger or hatred, or even fear of the harm that might be done to him. As his face began to resemble that as one might imagine an angel's face would before the people who sat in the Sanhedrin that day, all throughout Acts chapter 7 Stephen simply began to preach. He spoke of when God first appeared to their father Abraham, and of God's promises and faithfulness kept to Abraham and his descendants throughout time all the way to the time of David, hinting strongly at Israel's unfaithfulness all the while, such that even today, as Stephen begins to say in the last few verses of chapter 7, they are so stiff-necked that they even resist the Holy Spirit and His goodness, and betrayed and killed not only the prophets who foretold of Jesus' coming but Jesus Himself. Thus, the people could not bear to hear these convictions, which only too well came from not a spirit of judgment and accusation, but of love. Surely they could have turned and saw the greatness of the miracles of the Spirit and the love of God through Jesus Christ's sacrifice if they would but become circumcised of heart and ears (as Stephen claims they fail to be in Acts 7:51). But instead, the people in the Sanhedrin responded with hate, and rushed upon a helpless, unarmed man and threw him out of the city to stone poor Stephen to death.
The point of this - again - sermon as it were coming from a neophyte such as myself, rests at the ending of chapter 7, verses 59 and 60 where Stephen is murdered. ... Or perhaps, his reaction to it, and how he did so in a manner all-too reminiscent of Christ Himself as He was tortured and slain just a year or so prior, that perhaps not many of us here including myself would have the heart and courage to at all were we in a similar situation.
They stoned Stephen as he was calling on God, praying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Having said this, he fell asleep.
How many of us here can say with full confidence that we would have held the same sentiments and convictions while men with hating hearts gave us what is likely a slow, painful death by stoning, when we never even wronged them in any way and were physically helpless to really fight back even if we wanted to?
Think of how Jesus, too, was humiliated before men who hated Him and wished suffering and death upon Him, yet He sent no army of angels to strike down the crowd who first came to arrest Him and take Him to His death (in fact, recall that He rebuked one of His followers who lashed out with a sword at the time), nor did Jesus ever call for God's wrath in any form or fashion all throughout the ensuing six hours of torture and mockery that the people inflicted upon Him. He was obedient, meek, and trusting unto death. And it was that great love, His willing to suffer at the very hands of those He intended to save and give forgiveness of sins and eternal life to so and never fight back with any kind or measure of violence, that is the reason any of us here today can have hope. Jesus even said something similar to what Stephen did as He was beaten and eventually killed: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And it was sincere and gracious - not the deceitfully smug, secretly loathing way some of us might say "oh please forgive them, God" or "I will pray for your soul" of our enemies today.
What other god would behave in such a way, that He would once put Himself at a position so lowly, to serve instead of be served? What other god would give such a gift to us out of genuine love, when we at first shoved it back in His face and said "we don't want it! May you be crucified!" No, none other than Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us. That is what we believe, and His resurrection, rising again from the grave after He obediently finished His sacrifice in our place for our sins.
Because Stephen behaved and thought similarly as he too was being beaten and killed, I think he serves as an excellent example of the ideal follower of Christ. Have we always served and followed well? Certainly not. We will struggle with the evil desires - such as the desire for violence and vengeance as we might be tempted to have had for Stephen's killers were we in his place - of the flesh and the darkness of sin in our hearts to the day we die, that much is obvious. But with the Lord's continuing grace and Jesus' already finished work at the cross, we can go on and try again tomorrow.
Because He is risen, we have hope, and our faith is not in vain. One day, we too will rise again to eternal life as He promised to those who believe, and we will never have to fear death or sin again.
