Stephen

Full of Grace and Power

Stephen was one of the seven chosen to resolve the problem of the Hellenistic Widows food distribution problem. This doesn’t seem like a very prominent job, but he was highly regarded in the church. It was not his task that made him highly esteemed. It was who he was in Christ that made him highly esteemed.

The Bible describes Stephen as full of grace and power. The grace and power that Stephen had came from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Stephen was so in tune with the Holy Spirit that he demonstrated it in his life. Acts 6:8

Acts 6:8 NASB95

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

shows that Stephen was even able to do great wonders and signs among the people. This is typically reserved for the apostles, however we see that Stephen also has the power to do signs and wonders.

Stephen had a depth of love for Christ, even though he had never met Christ, was such that he lived His life for Jesus. He took to heart what Jesus said in Mark 8:34-37

Mark 8:34–37 (NASB95)

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Stephen denied himself, took up his cross and followed Jesus. He was not interested in what the world could afford him. He was interested in spreading the gospel even if it cost him his life. Eventually it would.

He knew that the only thing of profit to him was to live for Jesus. Paul came to know this when he wrote to the Philippians 1:20-23

Philippians 1:20–23 (NASB95)

according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better

Stephen also knew for him to live was Christ and to die is gain. So the question is how can we be full of grace and power?

Application

It begins with our love for the Lord. Mark 12:30-31

Mark 12:30–31 NASB95

and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

IN order for us to be full of grace and power we must Love the Lord with every fiber of our being. We cannot love anyone any more than we love God. Matt. 10:37

Matthew 10:37 NASB95

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

How can we possibly love God more than our family? We must go beyond agreement of doctrine, study of the Bible, and service. Christ must be a tangible person in your life. What I mean by this is we involve him in everything we do. Regarding family, work, or personal issues we must involve Him in everything. This means we will exercise the disciplines of the faith but more importantly we will get to know Jesus through prayer and relationship.

We must learn to go to the Lord in the small things as well as the big things in life. This will require much more prayer than most of us are use to. I love what a great theologian said, “ I have so much to do today that I must spend 4 hours in prayer.”

Church family, the reason we do not have the level of grace and power that Stephen had is because we lack the love and relationship he had. When was the last time you spent an hour in prayer openly talking to Jesus about the things you have going on in your life?

Church family, I am grieved at my own maturity in Christ. I have been a christian for over 30 years and I do not feel as though I am as close to Jesus as I should be. I hope you will join me in being intentional in deeper more meaningful prayer. I hope you will join me in deepening our relationship with Jesus.

When we do this we too will be filled with grace and power. We too will be doing things that amaze people.

Opposition

One may think that if Stephen was full of grace and power and doing miraculous things for the people, others would want to support him. However we find a group of men that are opposing Stephen and arguing with him. Because he was full of the Spirit they could not win an argument against him. Their human logic, theology, and doctrine were no match for the truth.

This group that rose up against Stephen were from the synagogue of Freedmen. This was a group of Jews who had been captured and exiled from Rome. They returned to Jerusalem and started this synagogue. They were staunch traditional Judaizers. They held fast to the teachings of Moses and believed that observance of the law of Moses is what got people into heaven.

Stephen was teaching and preaching that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone. This was contrary to what the Freedman believed and they tried to argue with Stephen but they couldn’t win the argument.

As a result they resorted to deception. They first brought forth people to lie about Stephen. They then stirred up the people with lies about him speaking against Moses. Finally they dragged Stephen before the Sanhedrin to convict Him of blasphemy. This was punishable by death.

Application

When we start making a difference for the Lord, we too will face opposition. It will come from an unlikely source. It will come from other believers. I have found that when we begin doing something effective for the Lord “religious critics” will come out and oppose you. They will use doctrinal arguments to show that what you are doing is not biblical. They will want you to engage in arguments that will only get you frustrated.

I would like to share a helpful piece of advice. If someone wants to debate or argue with you on a doctrinal position, do not entertain them. They are not going to even try to hear your position, but instead try to prove you wrong. I have found that you cannot argue anyone into heaven. Once they get into a doctrinal debate end the conversation. It is not productive.

Theological debates are meant for theologians. They are not meant for folks that are looking to advance the gospel.

Face Like An Angel

When Stephen was brought before the 71 Sanhedrin the Word of God says in Acts 6:15

Acts 6:15 NASB95

And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel.

This was a place meant to intimidate a person. 71 rulers sat in an elevated position above the person being tried as a way of intimating them. Stephen was not intimidated, but his face shown like that of an angel. He saw this as an opportunity to preach Jesus to the 71 most powerful rulers.

The people in this crowd included a man by the name of Saul who we know as Paul. How do we know this? It is listed that there were men from Cilicia. This is where Tarsus is. Saul was from Tarsus. We also see that he stood over the corpse of Stephen when he was stoned in Acts 8:1

Acts 8:1 (NASB95)

Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

We also see it in Acts 22:20

Acts 22:20 NASB95

‘And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’

I want to point out a couple of things. The stoning of Stephen left such an indelible mark in Paul’s life that he took this image to his grave. Luke is the writer of Acts. Luke was a disciple of Paul. Luke is writing this book from what Paul had taught him. Paul described this event of Stephen’s face appearing as angel to record it into scripture by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Paul also, mentions this event at the end of his life as well.

My point here is that even if our lives are required of us, our lives will leave an indelible mark upon others that will lead to the furtherance of the gospel.

I want to conclude with a couple of examples. Jim Elliot was a missionary to the Huaorani tribe in Ecuador. This was a cannibalistic tribe that would eventually come to know Christ throughout the entire tribe. However the killed Jim before he could see that happen. While he was alive he was asked by a news reporter why he though the mission was foolish if it could possibly cost him his life. He said, “He is no fool to give away that which he cannot keep for that which he cannot lose.”

The second one you may be more familiar with. On April 20th, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered Columbine High School for the sole purpose of killing Christians. Cassie Bernall was one of those Christians. The gunman told her to renounce her faith in Christ or they would kill her. She refused and they did exactly what they said they would do. They took her life. Shortly after her death they took their own life. The biggest difference in their loss of life is that Cassie’s face shines like an angel today and the life of Eric and Dylan are in complete darkness.

Live a life for Christ that matters even after you are gone. The way you do this is to love the Lord with everything you have, be full of grace and power, advance the gospel in the midst of opposition, and let your life shine like that of an angel!