We open our Bibles together tonight to the Word of God in Acts chapter 6, verse 8. And our text is in Acts chapter 7, the verses 54 through 60, the martyrdom of Stephen. But we'll start to read in Acts 6. This is after the first seven deacons are appointed by the church. And we read in particular of one of them, Stephen. So we're at Acts chapter 6, verse 8, God's word. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the libertines, or freed men, and Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men. suborned is to be bribed, to agree, to lie against another for money. Then they suborned men, which said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. They stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes and came upon him and caught him and brought him to the council or the Sanhedrin. And they set up false witnesses which said, this man ceases not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. And we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, or Sanhedrin, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Then said the high priest, are these things so? And then follows Stephen's sermon in which he traces the history of the Jews from Abraham through Moses and the prophets And he shows that God had always spoken to them of his son. And the Jews, the unbelieving Jews, had rejected him and served idols. So we come to verse 51 of Acts 7. Verses 51 through 53, we have the conclusion to his sermon. And then after that, our text. ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before the coming of the just one of whom ye have been now, the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it, When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time, there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial. and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and hauling men and women, committed them to prison. Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." At that point, we read the scripture asking that God would illumine them and write them on our hearts. Our text, as I said, are the verses 54 through 60 of Acts 7. And let's come to God for a brief prayer. Lord God, thy son, in the days of his flesh said, thy word is truth. We pray that thou would open that truth to us tonight. We pray that as we sang, we wait to hear what God will say. And we pray that we may hear that word of peace in the gospel, that word of encouragement, and that our hearts, through faith, may be led to see our Savior Jesus Christ standing at Thy right hand, controlling all things for our good. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible never wearies of calling and urging us to look up by faith to our ascended Lord Jesus Christ at God's right hand, controlling all things for His Father and controlling all things for our good. In every circumstance of our life, in every moment of our life, we are called to look up to heaven and see Him enthroned in authority and power for our good. As Paul will say, in Ephesians chapter 1 that we would know that our eyes might be opened and enlightened and that we might see the exceeding power of God toward us through Jesus Christ ascended to his right hand. We are to look steadfastly by faith to him, not down, to this world in our troubles, not in to ourself for our resources, not out for others to be our aid and strength, not looking back behind us and dragging all of our failures and sins, but we are to look up steadfastly to the throne where our Lord is in glory and power. This is all of the scriptures. Psalm 121, I will lift up mine eyes, in contrast to the wicked, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord. Psalm 5, verse 3, my voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord. In the morning will I direct my prayer to thee and look up. And then these words of Jesus in Luke 21, verse 28, in the passage he is talking about the last days. He's talking about the distress of the nations and the powers of the heaven being broken up. And he says in verse 28, men's hearts failing them with fear. And when these things begin to come to pass, then Look up for your redemption, droth nigh. The ascension of our Lord and his seating at the right hand of God is the assurance of our salvation. You remember in Romans 8, verse 34, where the apostle argues in an ascending scale, he says, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea, even that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God. Tonight we want to see in the martyrdom of Stephan that his presence there at the right hand of God is the promise of his presence with us, the promise of his peace to be worked in us. and the promises of his purposes fulfilled in us. So tonight, you and I, under the circumstances God has brought to us, do you look up and cast your eye upon him? It's no surprise that when we read of the first martyr Stephen, that at the moment of his supreme trial, when they're gnashing at him with their teeth and dragging him out of the Sanhedrin and throwing and killing him with stones, it's no surprise to us that we find this man who was filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom, we find him looking steadfastly to Jesus and seeing him at the right hand of God. If anything, would cause you to look down, if anything would cause you to curl up in a ball, if anything would cause you to be consumed with the terrors within you. It would certainly be when you are being killed by a mob in a gruesome way. But he, filled with the Holy Spirit promise to him, looked up. and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he was strengthened with Christ's presence with him, Christ's peace in him, and Christ's purposes being fulfilled in him. Where are you looking with the eye of your heart? look steadfastly to Him. So I call your attention, Jesus standing at the right hand of God, His presence with us, His peace in us, and His purpose for us. Our enthroned Lord Jesus Christ, glorified and at God's right hand right now, which is the reality of this life, that enthroned Savior, our enthroned Savior, was with Stephen, was with him when he gave his testimony and witnessed before the Sanhedrin, when he disputed with others about the word of God, and was with him in his horrific death, he was always with him, with his presence, strengthening him. And that came out in those words, the last verse of chapter six, verse 15, The presence of Christ with him came out when we read that his enemies saw his face as if it had been the face of an angel. Some would say that this was a sign of being transformed unto Christ, but we can simply take for the explanation Psalm 34, verse 5, where we read, They looked unto him, and their faces were lightened. Now the passage tonight reminds us, brothers and sisters in the Lord, that there is a big cost. It reminds us, as young people and children, there is a big cost in following Jesus Christ, in confessing Him as Lord and Savior, and living that way. of belonging to him, and that there is that cost to be found in our lives more and more. This is a very shocking story. Stephen is put to a cruel death because of his faithfulness in his life and in his words to Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Savior. His death is fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus when he said in John 16 verse 2, That's exactly what is happening. The Sanhedrin believes blindly that they are doing God's service in killing Stephan. Our Lord said, children, remember Matthew 5, 10 through 12, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all men are evil against you for my sake, rejoice and be exceedingly glad. That's what was happening to Stephan. For Christ's sake, they were persecuting and killing him. And so we need to be reminded tonight that this cost comes to us more and more pointedly in our life and in our world, and it comes upon your children. For the enemy has no scruples, and he will persecute the church through his persecution. of the children as we see in many places in the world where the leaders are killed so that the children can be taken and indoctrinated. Now for our children who we love, we do everything for their safety. We're concerned about their safety. But our concern must never be placed ahead of our testimony to Jesus Christ and to our obedience as a family to Jesus Christ. and our God who has placed Jesus Christ as the head of the church and our Savior, He's at God's right hand. Our God does not promise us that because we belong to Him we will have an easy life that we have become accustomed to and that therefore we can simply desire for our children that they have all the good things of this life and perhaps even more than we did but we must desire for our children that at all costs they confess in their life and word Jesus Christ. We understand that that obedience and that confession of our Savior is going to single us out and bring ridicule and bring opposition and persecution. And as I said, brothers and sisters around the world are suffering and dying for their faith. Our president called it to the nation's attention a few weeks ago about the persecution in Nigeria and the murder of Christians. And this is moving closer to us. We are not promised for the confession of Lord's day one, we are not promised in this country a trouble-free or even a free life. But we are promised His presence, His peace, and the assurance that His purposes are being done in us. Stephen had just confronted the unbelieving Jews with their rejection of Jesus Christ. And his speech before the Sanhedrin did not go down well. For Stephen has been very clear and very pointed and bold They had accused Stephen that he was rejecting the Word of God and the Old Testament prophets. He was rejecting the ordinances of Moses and the law that God had prescribed in the Scriptures. And he has turned that charge upon them. And he has shown them that they had steadfastly rejected all of those things as they held the promise of God fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And he has been very bold in his word. He's stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. He's describing their unbelief and their proud unbelief. Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did. So do ye. Which one of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them, which before showed the coming of the Just One. the innocent one, the son of God in flesh, perfectly innocent, that he might bear away our sin and justify us. Now you have been, he says, the betrayers and the murderers, and you have received the law by disposition of the angels and you have not kept it. When they heard those words, we read, they were enraged. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. When they're cut to the heart, children, when you're cut to the heart, that means that you're hearing something that you know is true, but you hate it, and you don't want to be told. They gnashed on him. They were filled with anger. But God was present with him. Verse 55, but he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing. Stephen is given by God a glimpse into heaven. This was no vision. This was no passing mirage. This was not an imagination or figment of his brain. But God, for a moment, removed the veil that he could see what is the reality right now over us. Right now, the reality over this world and over us is Jesus Christ. The glory of God standing at his right hand. And he sees this now in the midst of something that is barbaric being done to him. An evil hatred is being thrown upon him. And he sees to the reality of his faith, God didn't create something. Jesus Christ stands forever at God's right hand. That's reality. And he was given to see it with his human eye. Now let's pause a moment and let's see exactly what he was given to see. First of all, we must not read the text so as to think that he saw two things. The text says that he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand. That's not two separate things, the glory of God and Jesus standing. That's one thing. It means that the glory of God is revealed to us even in heaven in the risen and exalted Lord Jesus Christ. You remember that Jesus said to us in John chapter 1 verse 18, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him, made him known. You remember that the Apostle Paul in Colossians chapter 2 verse 9 says of Jesus Christ, "...for in Him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily." The fullness of God's Godhead, of all that He is, dwells in Christ bodily, in the glorified Lord Jesus Christ. This verse, which is very much to the point, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6, listen carefully. For God, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6, for God, who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, that's the first day of creation. God commanded the light to shine out of darkness. That God has shined into our hearts. to give the light. This is God's work of grace and regeneration. He's shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Our enthroned Lord Jesus Christ is the revelation of all the glory of God, of His power, of His love, mercy, and grace. The outshining of His glory is seen in His own Son, our beautiful Savior. You remember that Jesus prayed to His Father in John 17 that His sheep would come to be with Him, that they might behold His glory which God had given Him from the foundation of the earth. You remember that in Psalm 17, verse 15, the psalmist says, as for me, I will be satisfied when I see thy face in glory. When you die, the first things that you will see will not be the glories of heaven and his throne and all the saints there. The first thing you will see When you die, and close your eyes to this life, as you will see Him, your Savior, face to face. And you will be satisfied. The second thing we notice here is that he saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God. The text says in verse 55 that he saw this, and then in verse 56 he says it, he repeats it, he changes the name from Jesus to the Son of Man, but he says, I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Now that's very important for us to note because the Bible says most often, I think this is the only place where it says he stands, but the Bible says repeatedly that he sits at the right hand of God. And so in the Apostles' Creed, our confession is that he is seated, he sitteth at the right hand of God. And that he sits at the right hand of God is very important, because that declares to us the gospel that His work, His atonement for our sins is complete, and that there is no other work to be done for our justification and our sanctification. There is no other work to be done for the forgiveness of our sins. So you remember, if you remember Hebrews chapter 10, and in Hebrews chapter 10, The Apostle Paul contrasts the Old Testament priests with Jesus Christ. And he says his main thrust is that their sacrifices never removed nor could remove one sin, but Jesus Christ by one sacrifice on the cross has removed our sins forever. But then he also in that passage calls attention To the Old Testament priest's posture, he says they stood. They always stood. They never sat. They always stood because they had work to do. But then the apostle says in verse 12, but this man, our Lord Jesus Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down at the right hand of God. which means that he has attained, he has done the work for our salvation. My father would say to me, and maybe your father said to you, he would say to me, Carl, don't sit down if there's work to be done. When we finish the work, then we'll sit down. But as long as there's work, Don't sit down. He is seated. The work is done. It is finished. You may rest. The work is complete. Your sins are forgiven in Christ. But here it says that Jesus stood at the right hand of God. And he stands to receive the first martyr to his presence and glory. And he stands to receive each one that he has purchased with his blood into his father's house. On our side of death, it is rough. It's a rough door. But on the other side of that door, you will see Jesus standing to receive you by his grace. Don't you get up when a loved one who you have not seen for a long time comes to your door and will enter? Do you just sit in your chair in the other room? No, you get up to receive them. Don't children? run to the door to receive, to see their father coming home from work. There is nothing so marvelous and so comforting. He stands. He stands to express his approval of Stephan, well done, good and faithful servant. He stands to show how precious the death of His people are to Him, how dear to God the dying of His people. His work is finished, but He stands to receive us. God does not abandon His people. You might think that you are cast out by others for your faith, or you might think that you're walking all alone. But he teaches us here that he received Stephen from an awful death by his own hand. And to his hand, the jaws of death open, reaches down, takes him to glory. Death cannot separate us from him. He stands in all power. There's nothing that will separate us from him. He himself will receive us to glory. Do you feel as if you are abandoned and you are rejected and no one understands and your soul is bowed down stand with Stephen and look steadfastly up into heaven to Christ at God's right hand. Jesus was present with him. But he was not only present with him, he also filled him with his peace. And we see that peace being given to Stephen Isaiah 26, thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. And we see that here. And we see Stephen's peace, first of all, by contrast. Stephen's enemies have no peace. Unbelief has no rest. Stephen's enemies are beside themselves in a rage, in a fury, for that's the only thing that unbelief can be filled with. Verse 57, then they cried out with a loud voice and they stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him. They're acting as disobedient children. Sometimes we plug our ears, we put our fingers in our ears. That's what they did. They plugged their ears and they began to make noise out of their mouth so that they would not hear another word. They could not abide another word out of the mouth of Stephen. They so hated what he had to say. What he said agitated them. deeply in their hearts, and they tried to drown it out. They tried to simply talk over it, to still it. And they are incensed, and they are beside themselves, because it was Stephen's clarity. It was his clarity that pushed them over the top. And we need to hear what Stephen said. As I pointed out in verse 55, he saw Jesus standing. But when he tells them what he saw, he says, and I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. And any self-respecting member of that Sanhedrin, any self-respecting scribe or Pharisee, knew what verse in the Old Testament he was quoting. He was quoting one of the clearest Old Testament promises of Jesus Christ, of God's Son in the flesh, to be the Savior. He was quoting Daniel 7, verse 13. And in Daniel 7, the verses just before that speaks of the Antichrist and all of his great swelling words. whereby he will convince men. And then Daniel says, and I saw in the night visions and behold one like the son of man come with the clouds of heaven and come to the ancient of days. And there was given unto him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people should serve him. He's saying to them, the Jesus that you crucified is the one promised of God, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and kingdom shall know no end. He is identifying Jesus as the Son of God in human flesh, and now, through his death and resurrection and ascension, being given by God all authority. And they are beside themselves, Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, that crucified one, is the only Lord and Savior, the only Savior of a man from sin, the only living King over all. They will not hear it. That cannot be. The gospel confronts men with things that they don't like to hear. We don't like to hear them. There's no salvation. There's no good in us except in this Son of Man at the right hand of God. That's grace. But of ourselves, we want to drown that out. That's offensive. The gospel always unites people. It unites us by grace and faith and in love to him, or it unites in opposition against him. And so they kill him. But Stephen has peace. He has peace when the stones and the rocks are hitting him. He has peace because Jesus said in John 14, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither be afraid. Verse 59, and they stoned Stephen as he was calling upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, received my spirit." Stephen there has in mind he's remembering the seventh crossword of Jesus when Jesus said, Father, into thy hands I commend, I praise my spirit. Now he takes those words and he says, Lord Jesus, Receive, take my spirit. He's at peace. He knows Jesus. He served Jesus. He loved Jesus. He belonged to him by mighty grace. He's committing his soul to him. And then we read, he fell asleep. He fell asleep as they were stoning him. The idea is of a child awoken by thunder or a nightmare and held strongly in the arms of his father and rocked. And the thunder continues. And yet that child falls asleep. The rocks and stones are falling on him. And he falls asleep in his father's arms. And then he gives one more evidence of God's peace in him. Verse 60, he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. He's imitating Jesus. is dying the way his Savior taught him to die. In those words, he is recalling the first crossword of Jesus when he was lifted up on the cross. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. At that point, Jesus, as he's lifted up on his cross and his body hangs upon the nails in his hands and feet, at that point Jesus prayed, prayed for his elect people that God had given him, prayed for us in our sin and the hardness of our hearts which reject him of ourselves. He prayed that we would then be turned from our sin to him. Stephen prays according to God's grace and will and mercy that his persecutors will be converted, those who are stoning him. He prays for them, for their good. He knows that he cannot turn them. The wisdom with which he spoke to them did not turn them. It is not in the power of his words to turn them. but he knows that Jesus and the grace of God can. This is what the Spirit of God does in the believer's heart. He gives us to know the depth and the power of God's grace. The depth of that love that he gave his son to die for us, his enemies, ungodly, chosen by grace. Stephen wants to be like his savior, his savior who died for rebellious sinners. Of himself, Jesus had changed him. Of himself, Stephen would have been on the Sanhedrin. Of himself, he would have said, well, I'll throw some stones back. I'll take a few with me. But he knows the depth of God's mercy. He knows the change that God gave to him. And now he prays, God being willing, that his persecutors be converted. His faith is not theoretical. He has spoken with all of his eloquence, but that did not save them. His words have no power, but he knows his Lord has all power. and to glorify himself, he asks that the very men who are stoning him might be converted and brought to Christ. Lay not this sin to their charge. God's peace in him. And then finally tonight, we see beautifully God's purpose for him. Because we want to ask the question yet tonight, What was the purpose of all of this? Not that we would become God's counselors. But nevertheless, as we read the book of Acts and we read of Stephen and of the spiritual abilities and understanding that God had given to him, we see immediately that this is exactly the man that the church needs. Someone who can open to the Jews the Old Testament scriptures and show them Jesus Christ. This is the man that we would pick. This is the man that's indispensable to us. Why does God take him? What good, we would say, what wonderful good he could have done? The answer, well, we're not God's counselors, that for sure. Secondly, God does not always deliver faithful servants. He needs none. And when our work is complete, he takes us. He does not always deliver young men of promise, young women of spiritual strength. He takes them in death. He does not always deliver a mother from death with little children, a father with a wife and children. And today, thousands of Christians that we would say are so needed, the enemy exactly puts them to death because he knows they are the leaders. Why does God do this? Well, only a little later, Do we see God's purpose in the death of Stephen? We have that little clause in verse 58. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. Saul will become Paul, the apostle. It was a man there who consented wholeheartedly to Stephan's death, who wanted to make those who were killing him make their job as easy as he possibly could. There was a man there named Saul who was the most angry one in the whole bunch and who hated Jesus Christ deeply. And he's the man that God has picked to be the Apostle Paul, the greatest of all the theologians and missionaries. Was there something in Stephen's demeanor, in Stephen's death, that Paul remembered on the road to Damascus when Jesus met him and said, Saul, Saul, Why persecutest thou me? I'm Stephen's Savior. God was going to convert this very man in answer to the prayer of Stephan. There's a depth to God's grace. The most violent of sinners, the most vile This was what Stephen prayed for, lay not the sin to their charge. This was God's divine answer, the Apostle Paul. Do you know this ascended Lord Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Do you know that all things are in His hand? And being in His hands, all things are well with you. Do you live for Him? Do you confess His name and not run away from opportunities to do so? Does your life show that He is in you? Are you ready in your life to suffer for Him, suffer for your testimony, and to die, to die for what we most assuredly believe in this church. He is the ascended Lord Jesus Christ. He promises His presence with us his peace in us and his purposes to be fulfilled by us. Amen. Father in heaven, we pray that thou will take of thy truth and seal it to our hearts. We may walk with a steadfast eye of faith to see him, our Lord, at Thy right hand. And may we be faithful to Him, even unto death. In Jesus' name, amen. We sing together now from Psalm 16. Psalm 16C. Psalm 16. Sing, to thee, O Lord, I fly, and on thy help depend. We sing the three stanzas, Psalm 16. Sing. ♪ To thee, O Lord, I cry ♪ ♪ And thou, my healthy friend ♪ ♪ Ah, Lord, my Lord and famous kind ♪ ♪ Who thou my soul demands ♪ I praise the Lord of all, whose counsel guides our eye. I know his thoughts be in his law, in seasons of love. My heart is glad and blest, My soul, it has died with, shall not be left by thee. I will. and proud with joy so high. ♪ In yonder happy hive ♪ ♪ And bless the holy saints below ♪ ♪ Who in this praise be thine ♪ Let all that breathe it praise to Thine, to glorify the Lord. Now God himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct your way and, Lord, make you increase and abound in love toward another and toward all men, even as we do toward you, to the end that he may establish your hearts, unblameable in holiness, before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. Amen. Let me down. Let me down.