Two Journeys Ministry with Pastor Andy Davis. Biblical teaching to guide you to spiritual maturity. Turning your Bibles to Acts chapter seven, we're looking this morning as we continue in this study in the book of Acts to verses 54 through 60, and we come to one of the holiest and most significant moments in the glorious history of the church. The great work of the church from its inception has been a display of the glory of God in the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Jesus' final words, his commission to the church, recorded for us in this book, Acts 1.8, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. What Jesus didn't say in those words is how much it would cost to do that. how high and how great the cost would be to his witnesses. The journey of the kingdom of Christ has been by the bold proclamation of the gospel, by witnesses who have been filled with astonishing courage and amazing selfless love. Now Jesus knew that his own death on the cross would be a pattern for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth, a paradigm, an example of how it would happen. In John 12, 24, Jesus said, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. Now, Jesus' death on the cross was unique, a once-for-all atoning sacrifice for our sins. But his self-denial in the death on the cross was also a pattern for evangelists and missionaries and servants of the gospel as well. By the blood of the martyrs has the church advanced in every century. Now, in today's account, we're going to look on by the power of the Spirit's words, this beautiful account, to the death of the man chosen by God to be the first Christian martyr. Countless hundreds of thousands, if not millions, if not tens of millions would follow in his footsteps. But Stephen was counted worthy of the honor of being first. Now as I preach this message today, I can testify that I yearn to imitate Stephen. I want to be like this man. But Stephen is just imitating Christ, and we're gonna see that very plainly at the end of this passage. I believe no man has ever died in a more Christ-like pattern than this martyr Stephen does here. So let's look at the context. We're jumping in right in the middle of a long chapter. Verse 54 of Acts 7, we're coming in at the end of a powerful account that we've been tracing out, studying for several weeks now. Stephen was a truly great man, one of the greatest men in church history, though he died quite young. We first meet Stephen in Acts 6 as the early church had a logistical problem it had to solve of the Greek-speaking widows being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. Seven individuals were chosen of whom it seems Stephen was, as listed first, the leader. Stephen was in that chapter, Acts 6, declared to be full of the Spirit, full of wisdom, full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and full of God's grace and power. Acts 6.3, 6.5, and 6.8. Stephen was full of, overflowing with God and with the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit was in him, as was the amazing power of the Spirit to be a witness. We see that power in his bold evangelism for Christ. Stephen stood courageously in various synagogues there in Jerusalem, testifying by the power of the Holy Spirit to the gospel of Jesus Christ. as he faced hostility from Jews, from Cyrene and Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia. He argued boldly from scripture that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. His enemies rose up with more and more hostility, but Stephen was more than a match for them, we're told. These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the spirit by whom he spoke. Now Stephen's enemies, organized themselves and moved through false witnesses, accusing him of a fourfold blasphemy, blasphemy against God, against Moses, against the law of Moses, and against this holy place, the temple. So they seized Stephen, they brought him before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court, The same men who had officially condemned Jesus to death, also for blasphemy. And when he was arraigned, it seemed that God gave to Stephen the gift of a radiant face. Everyone who looked at him saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Similar, I believe, to Moses' face glowing. He was full of the glory of God and full of the power of God, and he was also full of the love of God. He was neither fearful nor cringing, defiant, manipulative, deceptive, or any carnal way. He was filled with the spirit of God, and he was ready to speak. The high priest fiercely asked him, are these charges true? And so Act 7 is Stephen's lengthy and brilliant defense, and it's recorded for us by the Holy Spirit. As we've said, Stephen, I believe, had four goals. First, he wanted to seize and hold their attention. He didn't want them clicking out too quickly, which they could easily have done. He wanted to arrest their attention. Secondly, he wanted to defend himself against this fourfold charge of blasphemy. Thirdly, he wanted to convict them of their pattern of sin which was traced back to their ancestors of resisting God and of the Holy Spirit and ultimately their sin of rejecting and crucifying Jesus. And finally he wants to proclaim Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior. Now he attains the first three of these goals in this masterpiece of public speaking in verses two through 53. He seizes their attention, he holds their attention by rehearsing one of their favorite topics, which is the story of their Jewish ancestors, of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They're very nationalistic, very loyal to Judaism, and so he traced out their story. He defends himself from the charge of blasphemy by speaking reverently about God, calling him the God of glory. and reverently about Moses, reverently about the law and the temple. Here is no blasphemer, not at all, but a deeply devout man filled with zeal for the glory of God. But he's boiling the frog. He's drawing them in little by little. He's building a case toward an explosive end. He says that the 12 patriarchs of Israel were jealous of Joseph and sold him as a slave into Egypt, though he was later their savior. And then how the Jewish nation rejected Moses with the words, who made you ruler and judge over us? He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, but they had rejected him, and not just once, but consistently rejected Moses. and how the Jews had not obeyed the law that he says was put into effect through angels. They were given the law, but they didn't keep it. Consistent pattern of idolatry. And how the Jews had, in effect, idolized the temple, thinking too highly of the temple that Solomon had built. God doesn't live in temples made by human hands. He's not confined to their gold box that Solomon made, but they idolize it. And then he finishes with these dramatic words. Look at verses 51 through 53. You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears, you're just like your fathers. You always resist the Holy Spirit. Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one and now you have betrayed and murdered him. You who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it. So Stephen has achieved three of his goals. He has arrested and held their attention. He has defended himself against the charge of blasphemy. He has charged them of the sin of rebellion against God by rejecting his messengers and his laws, and ultimately by killing the righteous one, Jesus. But he has not yet proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. But the Spirit will move him powerfully to do that. as he's dying. This is a powerful conclusion. Directly charging Jewish leaders with the same sin as their fathers, resisting the Holy Spirit by killing God's messengers and deliverers. This charge drives the Jews into a frenzy. And that's where we pick up our outline today. And we're gonna see a series of contrasts. between Stephen and his enemies. Stephen is directly and powerfully contrasted with his enemies. They are filled with rage, Stephen filled with the spirit. They are spiritually blind, Stephen is granted an amazing vision of heaven and of Christ. They are satanic, hate-filled murderers, Stephen is Christ-like in his love and in his death. They minister death to him, but from his death comes life, his own heavenly life, and then Saul's eternal life. So we're gonna see these series of contrasts. First, filled with rage versus the spirit. Look at verse 54. When they heard this, verses 51 to 53, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. So they're enraged. What is the cause of their rage? Simply put, it is pride. that core sin of our rebellion against God. They are proud sinners. Jesus said in John 7, 7, the reason the world hates me is I testify that what it does is evil. We can't hear that. Now, Stephen has directly accused them, clearly accused them of the sins of their fathers. He has assaulted their national pride, showing that their ancestors always resist the Holy Spirit. There was never a prophet they did not persecute or that they sweetly and submissively yielded to. Look at Elijah. Elijah had to run for his life from King Ahab and his wicked consort Jezebel. The Jews put Isaiah in a hollow log and sawed him to death. Jeremiah was thrown into a miry well to die, but he was rescued. Amos was threatened with immediate arrest if he continued to preach against the king of Israel and their idolatrous worship system. Zechariah, son of Berechiah, Jesus tells us, was murdered between the temple and the altar. All of these and others have been persecuted one after the other. Now, the Bible says that it all started with Cain and Abel. That's where this whole thing started. 1 John 3.12 says, do not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one, to Satan. He belonged to Satan and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. It's jealousy, it's pride. And so, the Sanhedrin are there gnashing their teeth at Stephen. This shows an intense level of hatred and frustration. They're frustrated by Stephen. At every stage of Stephen's ministry, both in the synagogue and now in front of the Sanhedrin, they were impotent. They were paralyzed to refute him. But they wanted to. They were impotent against Stephen's arguments and his personality, as Jesus had said they would be. In Luke 21 15, he said, I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. Stephen is the first fulfillment of that. This gnashing of the teeth is a display of impotence. But rather than seeing the wisdom and truth of Stephen's words and repenting, they gnashed their teeth in rage at him. like the inhabitants of hell. In Matthew 13, 42, Jesus said they will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Or again, those in the final judgments on earth. In Revelation 16 it says, men nod their tongues in agony. But just like those condemned to spend eternity in hell gnashing their teeth in agony and impotent rage, those going through the judgments in Revelation 16, it says, nod their tongues in agony and curse the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. But they refused to repent of what they had done. Repentance. is a gift of God's grace. He grants it or he doesn't. He doesn't owe it to anyone and he doesn't give it to the damned. Neither did he grant repentance to the Sanhedrin that day. Instead they're filled with rage. If I could just make an application point to you, if God sends someone in your life to point out your sin, don't respond like this. It is human nature, isn't it, to respond in pride. I didn't do it. It's not true. Don't be like that. Let a brother strike me. It is a kindness. I will not refuse it. It is oil on my head, the Psalm says. And so we, as a church, should be willing to speak the truth in love. There's a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it, with gentleness, with tenderness, but don't refuse it. One of the things that characterizes us versus the reprobate is we take rebukes well. We're humble enough to be corrected. By direct contrast to this rage-filled group, we have Stephen filled with the Holy Spirit. Look at verse 55. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, Dot, dot, dot. Now we've already noted that this is consistent for him. He was a man filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Continually filled with the Spirit. His life was constantly controlled by the Spirit of God. He displayed the fruit of the Spirit and the power of the Spirit in word and deed. But this moment, this was a special filling of the Spirit. He was filled with the Spirit as He usually was and was characterized by the fruit of the Spirit. That is true. He was also empowered by the Spirit to say the things He was saying. This didn't come from Himself ultimately, but it was the Spirit of the Father speaking through Stephen. That is true as well. But now, thirdly, He's filled with the Spirit to see a heavenly vision that we're about to describe. So the contrast between Stephen and his enemies could not have been more stark. They're like raging animals. They're irrational, they're roaring, they're ready to shred his body. He is like an angel from heaven. He's peaceful, filled with wisdom, words of light, heart of love for God and even for them. Next contrast is spiritual blindness versus heavenly vision. Stephen saw God and heaven and Jesus right there and then. Verse 55, but Stephen full of the Holy Spirit looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. This is one of the most amazing visions God has ever granted to a human being while he lived on earth. We're gonna unfold it more in a moment, but let's first see the spiritual blindness of his enemies. Verse 56, 57, so he sees this. We're told by the Spirit what he sees, but they don't see it and they don't know what he's seeing, so he tells them. Verse 56, 57, and he said, behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and rushed together at him. It's amazing how he says, behold, and they see nothing. They're blind. But this is consistent with the main point of his entire defense. You stiff neck people with uncircumcised hearts and ears. What does that mean? Stiff neck means they're rebellious. Uncircumcised hearts and ears means they're insensitive to spiritual truth. They're blind and deaf to it. This is what the unbelieving Jewish nation has always been like. They've always been blind to spiritual light, deaf to spiritual truth. Isaiah made this very plain. Remember when the call of Isaiah in Isaiah 6, the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord and then he's dispatched as a messenger to his own people, Isaiah, the prophet to the Jews. And he's given his marching orders and they're repeated again and again in the New Testament. This is what God said to Isaiah, this is what Jesus said as well about the Jews. Be ever hearing but never understanding. Be ever seeing but never perceiving. Make this people's heart callous, make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn and I would heal them. It's right there in Isaiah six. Well this is a physical display of that spiritual truth. They cover their ears, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him. They're just physically living out what Isaiah and Jesus said was true of them spiritually. Now they're acting so holy, they can't bear to hear such blasphemy. What they're actually doing is acting out with their bodies what has been true always of their hearts and souls. Now it's also fascinating that Jesus' words that got him killed that got him condemned to death are now repeated in the same chamber in the Sanhedrin. Look, he said, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. There's no doubt in my mind that that brought them back to Jesus and his trial. In Mark 14, when the, you know, False witnesses can't get their story together and finally the high priest cuts through all of the red tape, stands up and says to Jesus, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed one? I am, Jesus said. I should bring goosebumps too, that's God's name. I am. And you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the mighty one and coming on the clouds of heaven. The high priest tore his clothes and said, why do we need any more witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy, said to the Sanhedrin. What do you think? They all said he's worthy of death. Now a short time later, Jesus sends a messenger saying, it was all true. I am at the right hand of God. And again, they cannot handle it. I'm telling you they should have fallen on their faces right there and then in repentance and faith toward Christ and believed in him. But they didn't. They cover their ears and scream in rage. Now this is the completion of Stephen's mission that day. This is the finish. It's the fourth and final phase of what he was trying to do. He has seized their attention with a compelling narrative of Jewish history. He has defended himself against the charge of blasphemy. He has convicted them of their sin just like their ancestors in resisting the Holy Spirit. And that one final work to do to proclaim Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, he has done. And he's doing that with his final breath. So let's talk for a moment about the glories of what Stephen saw. Look again at verse 55. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. So he saw the heavens opened. Okay? It's yet another verse that shows some kind of a wall or a membrane or a barrier or boundary between the five sense world we live in and the spiritual realm beyond. We saw the heavens in Mark's account of Jesus' baptism torn open, remember? And the spirit came out of that rend in the heavens and descended as a dove and remained on Jesus. These are the same heavens that later are going to be opened up with a doorway for the apostle John and an invitation, come up here and I will show you what must take place after this. And John in the spirit goes through the doorway and sees a throne in heaven with someone seated on it. It's the same thing now given to Stephen at the time of his death. By the grace of God, He opened it up for Stephen's eyes. And he saw God. He saw the glory of God. This is the very thing, remember, that Moses wanted to see on Mount Sinai. Moses said, show me your glory. And God had said to him, you cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live. Stephen would see God and not live. He would be taken out of this world into the next world. He would see the glory of God. And the glory of God enthroned. God ruling over the universe. Remember that Stephen began his message by calling him the God of glory. Remember how his face was shining like that of an angel, but now he's seeing the glory of God with his own eyes, and he's about to be drawn up into that heavenly realm to see it face to face. So he saw Jesus, it says, in heaven at the right hand of God, where Psalm 110 predicted he would be. As Jesus said, what do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? Son of David, they said. Well, how is it then that David, speaking by the spirit, calls him Lord? For he says in Psalm 110, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Psalm 110. Now, the author of Hebrews tells us, but we see Christ at the right hand of God, but we don't, not with our physical eyes. We see Christ at the right hand of God by faith, by faith in the word of God, in our mind's eye. The eyes of the heart, by faith we see it. Stephen saw it with his own physical eyes at the end of his life and he proclaimed it out loud. Behold, he said, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. That's the Daniel 7 Son of Man vision of one like a Son of Man who approaches the Ancient of Days on the cloud of glory and receives from him glory and honor and power over the entire human race. That's Jesus. He says, I see it. It absolutely, completely, totally vindicates Jesus. This same one, the Sanhedrin, had crucified for that particular blasphemy. Jesus was exactly who he claimed to be. He's exactly at the right hand of God ruling the universe. And Stephen was a witness to it. But it's interesting, isn't it, that he sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God. The usual statement is sitting at the right hand of God. Sit at my right hand and I'll make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The book of Hebrews makes much of this. Speaking of Jesus. The sun is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. And when he had provided purification for sin, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. That's how the book of Hebrews begins. And then later in Hebrews 10, 11, and 12, he makes much of this standing sitting thing. He says day after day, every priest stands and performs his religious duties again and again. The Jewish Levitical priests, again and again, he offers the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time, one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. So he's done with that sacrificial work. Once for all, never needs to be repeated. However, that's in his role as high priest. He has other roles, doesn't he? He has other functions to play. One of them is he's the king of the church. He's the head of the body, his church, and he cares very much how his church is being treated. You remember the words he uses to convert Saul of Tarsus, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And so in his role as king and protector of the church, he's pictured here standing very interested in the martyrdom of his witness, Stephen. He is vigorous, he is active to control earthly events for the benefit of his people. And he will leave that throne at the head of a heavenly army to come in at the end of the age and rescue his bride from the antichrist and the forces of evil that will try to obliterate her from the surface of the earth. I believe that's the reason in Revelation 19 for the second coming, to protect her. If those days had not been cut short, he'd say, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened and he comes. And why? To protect her, to rescue her. He's highly motivated. I also believe he's standing to give Stephen a rich welcome into heaven, amen? Welcome, good and faithful servant. And so he's pictured uniquely as standing at the right hand of God. Stephen's gonna cross that finish line and receive a victor's crown. And he has all of this, isn't this beautiful? He has all of this as a foretaste of heaven before he even dies. How beautiful is that? That is what the Holy Spirit does. He is a deposit, giving us a portion, a little bit of heaven before we get there. A little foretaste, Holy Spirit does it, but he really did it for Stephen that day and gave him a lavish foretaste of heaven. I feel like, don't you have a sense, it's like Stephen's already gone. You can't touch me. There's nothing you can do to me. He has no fear. He has nothing but love for God and love for them, grace for them. Does all this, he's already gone. Isn't that beautiful? How powerful is that? Next contrast we see is satanic hate-filled murder versus Christ-like love. the spiritual dimensions of this scene, verse 57, 58. At this, they covered their ears and yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. So Stephen filled with the Holy Spirit of God, but his enemies are filled with the spirit of the devil. Remember we said in 1 John 3, 12, he belonged, Cain belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. Jesus says this to his Jewish enemies directly, probably some of the same people. In John chapter eight, verse 44, you belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks of himself. He is a liar and a murderer, and you want to carry out his desire. He wants to kill me through you. Well, I think they're doing the same thing now. In their rage, they're acting like demons. They're just demonic here. They're yelling at the top of their voices and they rush at him. Mob scene here. Now, the exact same Greek word is used of that herd of pigs that died when Jesus healed the demoniac of the Gadarenes. Remember that? 5,000 legion of demons in one man? Jesus said, go, and they went out, and they went into the pigs, 2,000 pigs, and those pigs rushed like crazy wild dogs off a cliff and drowned in the sea. Same Greek word here. It's openly demonic. They're in a satanic, murderous rage, and they maniacally drag this godly man by the feet out of the city. Now, stoning took place in this way, we're told. They would bring someone to a small cliff, not a high one, but something maybe a little more than twice the height of a man. and they'd push him off down onto a pile of stones. The fall could be enough to kill him, but usually wasn't. Then the first witness would drop a large stone on his head or on his chest and perhaps finish him off. If that didn't, then all the witnesses would keep throwing stones on the man until he was dead. It's a particularly brutal way to die. Brutal. Now, in that all of the witnesses are laying their clothes at the feet of Saul, it seems that Stephen didn't die right away. It took time. It took time. And the whole time they're raging, screaming, stoning, hating him. And all the time that's going on, Stephen, I think, is becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. I think few, if any, in history have ever died so much conformed to Jesus in his death. His dying words are just like those of the Savior. Look at verse 59. While they're stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. In Luke's gospel, Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And when he had said this, he breathed his last. So we believe that there is a material part of us, our bodies, and then there's an immaterial part of us, our souls or spirits. And the one isn't housed in the other like in a tent or dwelling place, and that the removal of the spirit, that's death. And the spirit goes to God who gave it. We believe that Christians Their spirits are instantly perfected and made ready for immediate face-to-face fellowship with God, but they don't have bodies. And so that's the first step of glorification. They become spirits of the righteous made perfect, we're told. And they are absent from the body, present with the Lord. And so that's what happened to Stephen. And notice how Stephen entrusted himself to his beloved Lord. He said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Jesus is God. He's praying to God as he dies and that name is Jesus. And it's a very gracious and loving prayer. In verse 60, then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. Don't hold this against them. Jesus, I'm sorry, Stephen had a heart of love for his enemies at this moment. Very Christ-like at this point. Jesus said, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. He did that. I did that. And again, very much like his loving Savior, in Luke 23, 34, Jesus said, Father, forgive them, they do not know what they're doing. It's beautiful to see, therefore, Stephen's conformity to Christ at this moment of his death. Final contrast is death versus life. They ministered death, but God worked life. First, Stephen's life. Now this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Stephen's life, if I can say this, is really just beginning at that moment. No more death, mourning, crying, or pain for that man. He slipped the bands of physical life and soared to a world we can only barely conceive of. He joined those other spirits made perfect in the presence of the heavenly assembly, the heavenly Zion, to see God and worship him forever. So that's his life. You know, as I'm studying Luke's gospel, and Jesus warned that this would happen, the persecutions, I've quoted Luke 21 a few times. I'm gonna give you wisdom, words that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. He also said, they're going to put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me, but not a hair of your head will perish. I'm like, wait a minute, Jesus. They're gonna put some of you to death, but not a hair of your head will perish. Help me with that, brothers and sisters. It must be your resurrection hair. I'm thinking he's got to be talking about resurrection hair. Bet you never thought about resurrection hair before, did you? The next verse in Luke 21 is, by standing firm you will gain life. It's a life you don't have yet. It's a life you will have. It's the eternal resurrected life. The martyrdom doesn't do you any harm. Do you think Stephen's regretting his martyrdom right now? He is not. It is his eternal honor. So that's Stephen's life. What about Paul? Paul's future life. Saul of Tarsus stood there witnessing the death of this godly man. I believe he played a significant role in this, as significant role as anybody could have played without being an actual member of the Sanhedrin. They lay their garments at his feet. It's kind of like, you're responsible. Kind of like when the church laid the money at the feet of the apostles. Like, they saw him as the leader, the ringleader. And, chapter eight, verse one, Saul was there giving approval to his death. He thought, this man deserves what he's getting here. Saul had been trained at the feet of the rabbi Gamaliel, undoubtedly has led the way in trying to refute Stephen's arguments in the synagogue, and he had lost. Checkmate, he'd failed. But he didn't repent, he just became angry prideful. Now he wanted Stephen dead, dead, dead. That's what he wanted. But I believe the manner of his death haunted him, as did the manner of his argumentation from the Old Testament prophecies and all that. I don't think he was able to shake it, and we're gonna talk about it in subsequent weeks, the goads that led Saul to conversion. St. Augustine, writing about this account, said, the church owes the salvation of Paul to the prayers of Stephen. Lord, don't hold this sin against him. I mean, you realize it's a sin. Lord, don't hold this sin against him. It's a sin, but don't hold it against him. And when Jesus stopped Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus with a light brighter than the sun and said, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Do you not think he had every right to say with his next words, and now you die? He deserved to die, but then so do we all. The wages of sin is death. Lord, don't hold this sin against him. Tertullian famously said in the year 197 during a particularly vicious persecution by the Roman Empire, he said, kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust. Your injustice is the proof that we are innocent. The oftener we're mowed down by you, the more in number we grow. The blood of Christians is seed. Jesus said it better. Unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single seed, but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. So Stephen died, and Saul came up out of that, and many after Saul. God was willing to trade Stephen's earthly life, the rest of it, for Saul's conversion, and then what God would do through Saul. All right, applications. My top priority when I stand up here every week is to preach the simple and clear gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter what text I'm preaching from. Stephen would want to do that if he were here. He'd want to tell each and every sinner in this room how your sins can be forgiven one and only one way, and that is by repentance and faith in the blood of Jesus. Have you received that gift or not? If you came in here not yet forgiven, then you didn't come here about Stephen. Stephen can't save you. you from your sins. Stephen's not your savior, Jesus is. Jesus' death is unique. And if you trust in that death and in his resurrection, you'll be forgiven of all your sins, past, present, and future. So do that, repent and believe, trust in Christ. Christians, what about you? Paul made a statement in Philippians 3, which is very relevant here to Stephen's death. He said, I want to know Christ. and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings becoming like him in his death and so somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead. I wanna die like Jesus did. That's what Paul said. And we get to do that day after day. We can mortify ourselves, our sins by the spirit. We can die to ourselves in witnessing, sharing our faith to people who don't wanna hear the gospel and are gonna be hostile. God actually, I believe Paul says this about us, God is willing to trade our earthly comforts and even in some cases our earthly life itself for the salvation of other people. As it says in Romans 8.36, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. Are you willing for that? You willing to be a sheep to be slaughtered so somebody else can be saved? And I don't think it's gonna be physical in our setting, not yet. But I think you can slaughter your comfortable relationship with coworkers and fellow students and relatives and all that. You can become a fool for Christ's sake and share the gospel. And it's gonna hurt, but some people are gonna get saved. Thirdly, pray for the suffering church. Brothers and sisters in Christ around the world are in different contexts than we are. They are overtly persecuted for their faith. They are literally dying because they're Christians all over the world. If you look up a list of the top 10 persecuting countries in the year 2024, this is what I came up with. Number one is North Korea. Then there's Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, and Afghanistan. Number 11 is India. Pray that God would give our brothers and sisters in those settings supernatural boldness. Zeroing in on North Korea, if you're discovered to be a Christian in North Korea, it's essentially a death sentence, one way or another. Either believers are deported to labor camps as political criminals where they face a life of extreme hard labor, which few can survive, or they're just killed on the spot. The same fate awaits their family members. There may be as many as 50,000 to 70,000 Christians in labor camps in North Korea. Then there's Afghanistan. Since the Taliban took over government of that country, the economy has been terrible. And the Taliban has kangaroo courts that go around and do religious trials all over the country. This creates a double threat to Christians there because they give money to people who will rat out other Christians, relatives, neighbors, et cetera, and so there's a financial inducement to betray members of your family or in your village. Unless ransomed by their families, Christians captured by the Taliban's courts face brutal torture and even death. If they're redeemed, the survivors and their families are often bankrupt by the exorbitant ransom demands, and they have to flee their homes to avoid repeated kidnappings from the various Taliban gangs. So that's the kind of thing goes on all over the world. Pray for the persecuted church of the world. Honor people like Stephen. Honor their sacrifice. Realize that the gospel was delivered to you over 20 centuries of church history, safe and sound, by the work of the Holy Spirit, much through martyrs. and we're gonna get to meet them in heaven. We're gonna get to see them and to learn their stories in heaven. And then finally, this is kind of a very practical thing, complain about your own sufferings less. Complain about whatever it is that's making your life difficult less. Look at the faith of martyrs and imitate them. Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for the time that we've had to study the incredible life of this man, Stephen, right to his death. I pray that these lessons that have been written down for us by the power of the Spirit would be burned into our hearts and minds, that would transform the way we live, that we would complain less, that would be bolder in evangelism, that we would love and honor the brothers and sisters who suffered and died, that we might have a pure gospel. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Stay motivated to grow to spiritual maturity by accessing free biblical content at twojourneys.org. Help others in their spiritual growth by sharing these resources, praying for Two Journeys, and supporting the mission financially by visiting twojourneys.org slash donate.