Sermon Tone Analysis

On March 7, 1981, Chet Bitterman, a missionary to South America, was shot point-blank and killed by terrorists, while he was awaiting surgery in the city of Bogota.

He died in Bogota, the capital city of Colombia.

He died at the hands of terrorists after being kidnapped and held captive for 48 days.

He left behind a wife and two young children.

When the news broke, shockwaves reverberated throughout the missionary community worldwide.

But no shock was as devastating as those felt by his family.

A news article described the chain of events as people close to Chet began to find out what had happened:

“In Columbia, South Carolina, Chet’s brother learned of the news as a result of a chance look at a teletype machine.

In Huntington Beac, California, Wycliffe’s U.S. director was awakened by a long-distance telephone call…In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Chet’s parents got the word from a local newspaper reporter.

And in Bogota, Colombia, the early-morning stillness was jarred for Chet’s wife when a nearby shopkeeper banged on the gate yelling a message that couldn’t wait: ‘They’ve found Chet’s body in a bus.’” [Ruth A. Tucker, From Jerusalem to Iryan Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions, pp415-17]

Chet Bitterman committed his life and his family to the task of reaching unreached people groups with the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

He and others with him dreamed of many decades of fruitful ministry in Latin America, watching God powerfully work through them to see many come to faith in Him.

Instead of that scenario, Chet died in a prison, alone and sick.

He was 28 years old.

Is this abnormal?

Did Chet Bitterman make a mistake?

Was it foolish for him to go?

These are the questions we ask when we hear stories like this.

This sermon is about Stephen, but it’s also about God’s larger purposes in persecution.

Our Lord told us that opposition would come because of our association with Him.

And so this sermon is about those larger purposes that God has in persecution.

And my prayer this morning is that as we read and study this text, we will understand more about God’s purposes for us in persecution.

#1: When we witness faithfully, God often rewards us with opposition

Our study this morning takes us the first martyr of the Christian church.

A martyr is someone who is killed by unbelievers because of their faith as a Christian.

Jesus of course was the true first martyr.

But now that Jesus has risen and ascended into heaven, and now that He has taken His place at the right hand of God to reign over all things, and now that He has sent His Spirit to empower His church to witness and make disciples and plant churches and continue the work He began in His name, now the privilege of being the first disciple to give his life in the service of Christ goes to this man named Stephen.

Stephen was also a deacon.But here Stephen emerges as a deacon who is also a powerful preacher.

And He bears witness to the reality of Christ’s resurrection at the cost of his own life.

So look with me at verse 8 and notice with me Stephen’s faithful witness: “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.”

Full of grace and power - the good hand of God was upon Him to bless His ministry.

There is every reason to believe that Stephen was leading many people to faith in Christ.

If he wasn’t, why the opposition?

Notice with me now the opposition in verse 9: “Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen.”

What we have here is a good old-fashioned debate.

And so we see that the first opposition Stephen faced was simply this: “We disagree with you.

Dialogue with us.

Tell us why you believe this Jesus is risen and is the Messiah.”

But the debate quickly becomes more heated and angry - not because Stephen is being disrespectful.

But because they don’t like his answers.

Why don’t they like his answers?

Because his answers are irrefutable.

His logic is unassailable.

The power with which He speaks is convincing.

But here’s what I want you to see: Stephen did all the right things.

Stephen was being faithful to the calling and gifting of God on his life.

And what is his reward?

He’s argued with, here, but later he’ll be arrested, falsely accused, and wrongfully executed by stoning.

What gives?

Stephen was faithful.

Why did the Lord not spare him this?

Did God not send Stephen to do this?

Why did this happen?

If you believe the prosperity gospel, that false teaching that destroys souls, then you think God will reward you with health and money and long life.

But anyone who believes that is in for a rude awakening when reality shatters that delusion.

Chet Bitterman would be the first to tell us that today.

He worked hard to learn the language of the Colombians.

He went through additional training to become proficient.

He made slow progress learning the language and as a result he was often deeply discouraged.

But he persevered, and became proficient.

Chet Bitterman was awaiting surgery for his gallbladder when he was attacked.

Terrorists broke down the door at 6:30am.

With machine guns and revolvers they ordered all missionaries into the living area and put them face down on the floor, tied up and gagged.

There were 12 adults, and five children.

For an hour they lay there.

16 of them were dead an hour later.

The rest escaped.

Chet Bitterman got the worst end of the deal.

But we’ll come back to him.

Here’s the point, again: When we witness faithfully, God often rewards us with opposition.

Think about this: God never promises to spare us from suffering if we do the right thing.

Right?

Christian parents raise what they thought were Christian kids, only for them to walk away from Christ.

Christian husbands and wives seek to be faithful husbands and wives, and yet their marriages still crumble and end in divorce.

Christian men and women who love the Lord and have served him faithfully are tragically killed, sometimes in the prime of life.

This is a risk whether you’re a missionary or not.

So what can we count on God doing for us in the time of opposition?

We desperately need to know this, church, so please listen closely, because this will apply to you even if you aren’t being persecuted.

What can we rely upon God to do for us if He doesn’t promise to spare us the suffering?

Two things:

What can we count on God to do?

God will be with you in your persecution/suffering

God will equip and strengthen you in your persecution/suffering

How does he do that for Stephen?

#2: When we are opposed, God often infuses our witness with supernatural success

When we are opposed, God often infuses our witness with supernatural success.

When Chet Bitterman was opposed, God infused his witness with supernatural success.

From January 19 to March 7, 1981, Chet Bitterman while he was in prison built friendships and relationships with his jailers.

We know this from letters he wrote.

He played chess with them, he argued with them good-naturedly, and he even said that he had come in some says to respect them.

When Stephen was opposed, God infused his witness with supernatural success.

We see that in just one short verse, verse 10.

They were disputing with Stephen about his message: “But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.”

Stephen was preaching with such power and logic and biblical force that he put down all their objections.

His argumentation was superior.

He built such a clear and convincing case that he silenced them.

Stephen was too much for them.

And these were smart guys - scholars.

Stephen was not a scholar.

Where did his ability come from?