Living and Dying for Jesus
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Introduction
Introduction
Story of Sunday from book of Martyrs
Brothers and sisters we are called to live for Jesus but there have also been brothers and sisters through Church History who have not only lived for Jesus but they have also died because of their faithfulness to Jesus Christ.
Stephen is the first Christian martyr, the first whose life was ended because of His faithfulness to Christ.
As we have been walking through the book of Acts we have seen Satan’s attacks upon the church of Jesus Christ, he has attacked from without and from within.
The attacks from without have come in the form of threats and violence or persecution.
and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
But now that violence increases to the point of Stephen’s death.
Today I want us to take some time to simply consider Stephen, to consider his life, to consider his death, and to consider what it was that drove him.
One of the things that I want to point out even as we begin
Last week we were told that the number of disciples multiplied greatly.
Here what we have in the life of Stephen is the picture of a disciple of Jesus Christ
Stephen was a man who had let go of everything to follow Jesus.
Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14.25-
So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
We are told later in 8:3 that Saul who later is Paul was there at Stephen’s death,
I wandered as I was preparing, did Paul ever think of Stephen?
Of course he did
I wander if he thought of Stephen when he wrote
What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
We can definitely say that for Stephen
Philippians
To live was Christ
To die was gain
I. Stephen lived for Jesus
I. Stephen lived for Jesus
Let’s notice Stephen’s life
6:3 tells us that Stephen was a man of good repute, he was known to be a good man
He was full of the Spirit and full of wisdom
Now surely being full of the Spirit means that the fruit of the Spirit was evident in his life so we could say that Stephen was loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, that he had self-control
He was a man that not only named the name of Christ but he walked like Christ as well.
Gal. 5.
6:5 specifically speaking about Stephen said that he was full of faith and of the Spirit
Notice what the text before us today says about Stephen
He was filled with grace and power
He was a man filled with gifts from God, God had poured out his grace on this man.
He had been empowered to minister, he had cared for widows, he is seen speaking and acting with wisdom, performing signs and wonders.
We see that the ministry and teaching of Jesus is continuing through this Spirit empowered man.
Jesus was also full of the Spirit
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
and wisdom
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Grace, faith, wisdom, power, full of the Spirit; these are the things said about this man
Let me ask you, If someone were to make a list of things to say about you what would it be?
man/woman full of faith?
man/woman full of wisdom?
man/woman full of grace and power?
man/woman full of the Spirit?
Remember: you are controlled by whatever fills you.
Ananias and Sapphira had hearts filled by Satan and he controlled them
If you are filled with jealousy then you will envy others and will not be able to rejoice with them when they rejoice
If you are filled with anger then you will quarrel and even murder with your thoughts
If you are filled with lust then your sexual appetite will lead you into a deep darkness
But if you would live for Jesus, if you would be a faithful witness for Jesus then brother, sister you must seek to be filled with faith, power, wisdom, grace
You must seek to walk by the Spirit
You say, what do you mean, walk by the Spirit,
I think we have evidence that Stephen was a man who spent time with the Lord, he spent time in the Word, he spent time in prayer communing with the Lord, he spent time fighting to treasure Christ and to kill sin in his life everyday
Remember the Beatitude
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God
Well it was almost as if Stephen walked so closely with the Lord that he saw the Lord
Notice v.15
This is clearly a reference to what? To Moses
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
Ex. 34.
Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Ex. 34.
Stephen was a man who was able to live for Jesus, to be a faithful witness for Jesus because he walked with the Lord, he spent time with the Lord, he entered into the presence of the Lord.
Because of this, Stephen was a man that was a great blessing to the church,
notice
Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
Acts 8.
Brothers and sisters, you can’t live for Jesus if you are not walking with Jesus.
You can’t live for Jesus if you are not spending time with Jesus
You can’t live for Jesus if you are not beholding the glory of Jesus Christ in the Word and in Prayer so that your heart is captivated by the glory and the beauty of Christ
Do you walk with the Lord?
Do you spend time with Him in prayer?
Do you spend time with Him in the Word?
II. Jesus was central for Stephen
II. Jesus was central for Stephen
One of the things that the text tells us is that Stephen was a faithful witness for Jesus
v.9ff
He would go to a certain synagogue and speak and they could not withstand his wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.
But we are told that they stirred up trouble for Stephen and he is brought before the council notice what is said in v.13 and 14
Clearly Stephen has been preaching the gospel, the resurrection of Christ, the second coming of Christ and so he is asked about it before the council
Now we could go into a lot of detail about Stephen’s sermon but that is not what we are going to do today.
Stephen’s sermon is the longest in Acts and if we were to cover it in detail then this would be the longest sermon you ever sat through
So let’s hit some of the highlights
Now in context it is important to remember they are questioning him specifically about the temple and the law (v.13)
That is God’s presence, God’s Word, God’s promises,
Stephen’s sermon could be divided into 4 major parts
He covers the time of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and then David and Solomon
One of the things that we need to notice is that God’s presence and God’s promises to His people existed before the temple and before the law
Abraham
So before the temple or the law God appeared to our father Abraham (v.2)
Before the temple or the law God said to Abraham (v.3)
God will lead Abraham, He will show Abraham
God gave promises to Abraham and entered into covenant with Abraham
Joseph
v.9 God was with him, even when he was sold into Egypt, even when he was out of Palestine God was with him, don’t miss in v.9 how Joseph’s brothers hated him as well
v.9 God was with him, even when he was sold into Egypt, even when he was out of Palestine God was with him
v.10 God rescued him and gave him favor and wisdom
Moses
The Lord spoke to Moses v.30-34
Notice in v.35 and following, this Moses that was sent by the Lord for the salvation of the people of Israel was what? rejected, he had been rejected by the people earlier
He is given signs and wonders and he leads the people out of slavery
This Moses received living oracles from God to give to the people of Israel but what?
v.39-43
The fathers rejected the prophet sent to them, they rejected the servant of the Lord and they instead turned to idols
David
v.45-50
Even though the temple was built by Solomon God makes it clear that we cannot build a house for Him.
What is Stephen getting at?
His point is simple, he is talking to Jews who focused on the temple and the law and he is saying to them,
the temple and the law of Moses were never permanent, God was making promises to His people and abiding with His people before the temple and before the Mosiac law
The temple and the law were suppose to be pointing you to something
Moses clearly told you that a greater prophet would come
The prophets spoke of a greater glory than the glory of the temple in the OT
And just like your forefathers hated Joseph who was a servant of the Lord and just like they hated Moses who was a servant of the Lord and just like they killed the prophets that pointed them to the coming of the Righteous One, you have refused the Great Servant of the Lord who is the fulfillment of the temple and the law, the One to whom the prophets point
You see Stephen saw Jesus as
You too ca
The fulfillment of the OT promise of redemption and restoration
His coming was and is everything that the OT was leading to
Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT temple, He is God with us, He is the great sacrifice for the sins of God’s people
Jesus is the the One who fulfills the law, He is the greater Adam, He is the Obedient Son, He is the One that the law is to lead us to.
For Stephen, Christ was central to all of life
Stephen understood that whoever has Christ has life,
He is the way,
the truth
the life
Christ is
III. Stephen died for Jesus
III. Stephen died for Jesus
v.54-60
Some things stick out to me in this section
Anger of Stephen and Jesus’ enemies (v.54 and 57-60)
They stopped their ears, they could not listen
Their coldness, their hardness of heart even as he is praying for them
2. How Stephen is empowered by the Holy Spirit in the face of death.
We are reminded of the death of our Lord, Stephen is praying for those who are killing him
3. Stephen’s victory even in the face of death.
v.55
Stephen sees Jesus, I want to argue that maybe this texted should be translated
he saw the glory of God, even Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Emphasizing that Jesus is the glory of God
Stephen saw Jesus high and lifted up. Stephen sees Christ in all of His glory
Notice in the vision Christ is standing
Standing to honor Stephen much like faculty stands at a PhD graduation honoring the graduates
Or standing to welcome Stephen home
The picture is maybe like that of a parent who has had a son in war and he is coming back from war,
They stand to honor him but they also stand to welcome him home, to embrace him
It does not take long and
And also notice what the text says,
v.60 He fell asleep,
Death did not conquer Stephen, Stephen is more than a conquer through Jesus who loved him and gave His life for him.
Stephen was more alive in than moment than he had ever been.
He had been raised to newness of life
Stephen was participating in the first resurrection, his spirit was raised to be with the Lord Jesus Christ
As Revelation teaches, Stephen was raised to rule and reign with Christ during His heavenly reign and listen
Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Oh brothers and sisters, we do not see the defeat of Stephen here, we see the victory of Stephen in this passage.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters we may not all be called to die for Christ, but listen
If you are a Christian you are called to live for Christ, you are called to be a faithful witness of the glory of Christ, how Christ is the fulfillment of all the promises of God of redemption and restoration.
And if you are going to live for Christ, if you are going to be a Spirit filled witness for Christ
Then you must walk with Him, you must spend time with Him
Are you walking with the Lord?
Are you being filled with faith, power, wisdom, grace?
There are only two options
Either you are walking with the Lord
You are walking in the flesh