Suffering for Christ
Notes
Transcript
Stephen was conscience of his faith even in the face of threats to life.
(NKJV)
Stephen the Martyr
54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
The fear of God did not scare Stephen away from his faith
…even to the point of death
The more he was stoned, the greater his faith unto death
His pain was all worthwhile and strengthened in the face of death for his Saviour Jesus Christ
He continually confessed that Jesus is Lord
How strong is our faith? Would we be willing to go through a Marrytors death.
Would we deny the Saviour like Peter did 3 times?
When the adversity hits, what will we be doing?
(NKJV)
Peter and the Apostles
(NKJV)
40 And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
What faith and zeal the Apostles had. How courageous they were and their response - rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus.
Persecution will not stop the word of God from pouring out. It has often been said that persecution propels the gospel, freeing people from the bondage of sin to the testimony of God.
Many have tried to remove the LORD from our society only to see the gospel propelled like wildfire.
(NKJV)
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
We cannot escape trials. What we must remember is that trials in amongst a genuine faith, although it will be tested, will result in praise, honor and glory in the revelation of Jesus Christ
My life has been a bit of a roller coaster. For one week, I was free from vocalisations and I believed in my whole heart that I had been freed. However, they came back. I was disillusioned and once consulting an elder at my church, decided to go on a fast. I had some beautiful and powerful times in that 4 days and I was buzzing. However, I was hit for six upon coming out of that fast. Not only did I feel like I had believed a lie, but I felt depressed. Then I found myself in a state of confusion and felt disillusioned! This verse resonates because after the trial, I found myself in a place of victory once again.
Again we are to rejoice in the nature of our trials that in the genuineness of our faith like gold, tested with fire, we are found to praise, honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ
(NKJV)
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
We need to remember that faith can be a fight but its results are eternal in that we confess the Lord Jesus Christ amongst many witnesses.
Jesus is the source of life. He gives life and he takes away life. Our days are truly numbered. We need not fear torment, persecution or death as the Lord has presented before hand a life of glory unto the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is new life and we need to hold onto our confession of faith just as Jesus did to Pontius Pilate. If we deny Jesus, Jesus will deny us before the Father.
Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We need to be faithful until the end, knowing that Jesus is is immortal and the source of light, so unapproachable in what we see in this World, who is honoured with unmeasurable power.
He has a wonderful plan for your life.
(NKJV)
11 But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
Take heart. When we are persecuted and taken under the authorities, the Lord truly will provide us with the words to speak. This is something only made possible by the Holy Spirit.
Truly, it was the Holy Spirit that enabled Stephen to speak like he did in the face of martydom.
Stephen kept his eyed on Jesus, who bought him into glory with Him and the Father.
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Seeing the Invisible
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
It is true as we grow older, that our body starts to crumble at times but it should be true in the life of a Christian that we are being renewed and our inner man strengthens.
There is great hope for us that the eternal, which is unseen to us now, will manifest permanently in the life to come.
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39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
and
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16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
Suffering is not foreign to Christianity
Suffering is a real part of us growing up in Christ
We need to count it all joy when we enter into various trials
If we are suffering, do not feel ashamed but allow your suffering to shine and glorify Jesus Christ
If we are of the World, the World will love its own. The very fact that the World hates us is a realistic part of being a Christian
When we are persecuted, we come to realise the very nature of that reality - the World hated Jesus, it will hate us.
IF circumstances causes us to lose our life in the World, this is a sure sign that Jesus will give you true life
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Christ Comforts His Disciples
14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
If we believe in God without Jesus Christ, we are fooled and will become disillusioned. Jesus is the way, the way, the truth and the life. There is no access to the Father except by Him.
Jesus is the one who prepares our eternity. He is building a mansion for you and for me. When the time is nigh, we will be with Him for all eternity. That is far more precious than gold in this life.
(NKJV)
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Believer’s Bible Commentary VI. Paul’s Heritage and Personal Achievements Renounced for Christ (3:4–14)
They all amount to nothing when compared with the treasure which he had found in Christ. He counted them loss for Christ. Guy King says, “All financial gain, all material gain, all physical gain, all intellectual gain, all moral gain, all religious gain—all these are no gains at all compared with the Great Gain.”
Believer’s Bible Commentary VI. Paul’s Heritage and Personal Achievements Renounced for Christ (3:4–14)
They all amount to nothing when compared with the treasure which he had found in Christ. He counted them loss for Christ. Guy King says, “All financial gain, all material gain, all physical gain, all intellectual gain, all moral gain, all religious gain—all these are no gains at all compared with the Great Gain.”
All Paul’s achievements and loss amounted to nothing when compared with the treasure which he had found in Christ. He counted them loss for Christ. Guy King says, “All financial gain, all material gain, all physical gain, all intellectual gain, all moral gain, all religious gain—all these are no gains at all compared with the Great Gain.”
Paul lost everything, which he stated was rubbish compared to having the righteousness found through faith in Jesus Christ. We do not want want our own righteousess through the law but that which is through faith.
Ancestry, nationality, culture, prestige, education, religion, personal attainments—all these the apostle abandoned as grounds for boasting. Indeed, he counted them as dung or rubbish in order that he might gain Christ.
In order to gain Christ, Paul had to turn his back on the things he had always been taught to prize most highly.
Paul literally suffered the loss of all things when he became a Christian.
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The Race of Faith
12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The secret is to always look to Jesus
We need to run the race. The Christian life is a race that requires discipline and endurance. We must strip ourselves of everything that would impede us. Weights are things that may be harmless in themselves and yet hinder progress; they could include material possessions, family ties, the love of comfort and so forth.
It is Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. We need to endure Jesus on the cross and despise the shame. Truly,
As A. B. Bruce comments:
One stands out conspicuous above all the rest … the Man who first perfectly realised the idea of living by faith …, who undauntedly endured the bitter suffering of the cross, and despised the ignominy of it, sustained by a faith that so vividly realised coming joy and glory as to obliterate the consciousness of present pain and shame.
One stands out conspicuous above all the rest … the Man who first perfectly realised the idea of living by faith …, who undauntedly endured the bitter suffering of the cross, and despised the ignominy of it, sustained by a faith that so vividly realised coming joy and glory as to obliterate the consciousness of present pain and shame.
Jesus Christ is the author, or pioneer, of our faith in the sense that He has provided us with the only perfect example of what the life of faith is like.
He is the author, or pioneer, of our faith in the sense that He has provided us with the only perfect example of what the life of
(NKJV)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
..and finally
(NKJV)
15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
Let us pray...