No heart that knows aught of the love of Christ can fail to be touched with the devotedness a n d faithfulness of Stephen, even unto death, as recorded in Acts 6 and 7. This blessed servant of God is first mentioned as a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and was therefore chosen with six others by the assembly at Jerusalem, and appointed by the apostles to the charge of caring for the temporal needs of the saints (Acts 6:1-61And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. 2Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. 5And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: 6Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. (Acts 6:1‑6)). A mighty work of God's Spirit followed. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people (Acts 6:7, 87And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. 8And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. (Acts 6:7‑8)). Satan, ever on the alert, stirred up certain men to dispute with him, but they were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spake (Acts 6:9, 109Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. 10And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. (Acts 6:9‑10)). Changing their tactics, his enemies charged him with uttering blasphemous words and, producing false witnesses, they brought him as a prisoner before the council.
God was behind all the scenes and, sustained by the power of the Holy Ghost, Stephen, the witness for Christ and Christianity, bore faithful testimony for his Master in the presence of the high priest and the people who had refused and murdered Him. It is a remarkable scene, and a deeply solemn moment in the history of the Jews.
All that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him who was falsely accused, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Occupied with Christ in glory, in the power of the Holy Ghost, his very face reflects the rays of His glorious countenance before them all. Then said the high priest, "Are these things so?" (Acts 6:15; 7:115And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. (Acts 6:15)
1Then said the high priest, Are these things so? (Acts 7:1).)
Calmly and fearlessly he answered by reciting briefly the history of Israel. Profound silence reigned through the great assembly as he brought before them, point by point, from Abraham onward, the ways of the God of glory with His ancient people. Coming to the days of the building of the temple by Solomon, he said, "Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool: what house will ye build Me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of My rest? Hath not My hand made all these things?" (For he had been charged with speaking blasphemous words against this holy place.) And then, knowing the unrelenting hatred of his foes, with unquailing eye and unflinching courage he charges them solemnly in the presence of God: "Ye stiffnecked 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 of 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." (Acts 7:48-5348Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, 49Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? 50Hath not my hand made all these things? 51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. (Acts 7:48‑53).) With irresistible wisdom and spirit he brings to bear upon their consciences Israel's four damning sins: the resistance of the Holy Ghost, the persecution of the prophets of God, the betrayal and murder of the Son of God, the Just One, and the breaking of His holy law.
They listen to him to this point, when suddenly their pent-up rage bursts forth in all its violence. "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."
His faithful testimony is received with every expression of the deep-seated enmity against God of which the heart of man is capable. Instead of being pricked in their heart, like many others (Acts 2:3737Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? (Acts 2:37)), they were cut to the heart, and gnashed upon him with their teeth. But Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, gazing straight into the very glory of God (for the heavens were opened above him), beholds his beloved Master standing as the glorified Man, exalted at the right hand of God Himself. In living words he testifies of Him whom he saw, but his voice is drowned by the vociferous cries of the vast concourse before him. The high priest, the council, the elders, the scribes, the false witnesses, the people -all are against him, and not only so, but also against Christ. Rushing upon him like hungry wolves they "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."
Light from the glory shines before them. The Holy Ghost in Stephen bears witness to the glorified Man, Jesus, the Son of the living God, but they will have none of it. They love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil (John 3:1919And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)). As their fathers had done, as Stephen had said, so do they (Acts 7:5151Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. (Acts 7:51)). In longsuffering mercy God gave them one more opportunity to repent, and they use the occasion to dye themselves still deeper in wickedness; and their cup of iniquity, already full, flows over in the resistance of the Holy Spirit and the murder of Stephen. The awful enmity of man in the flesh against God in the death of Christ finds its expression once again in the death of His faithful servant. They are cut to the heart, and gnash on him with their teeth, cry with a loud voice, stop their ears, run upon him with their feet with one accord, and cast him out and stone him with their hands. Their hearts, their teeth, their voices, their ears, their feet, their wills, their hands, all are against him.
A young man, Saul, mentioned for the first time, stands calmly witnessing the awful deed. Himself ere long was to be taken up by the superabounding grace of God and become the most faithful witness for Christ the world has ever seen. But here, as a poor blinded religious devotee without Christ, he sees how a Christian can die for the truth of God, and an expression of the awful state of man in the flesh without Him. Afterward, he became the instrument in God's hand to bring the latter out for its world-wide publication in the forcible language of the epistle to the Romans. Chapter 3:10-18 was manifested before his very eyes.
"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." Acts 7:59, 6059And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60And 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. (Acts 7:59‑60). How deeply blessed to see the calm of this beloved servant of God at this testing moment! He had drunk deeply of the spirit of his Master, and follows Him in the same lamb-like manner to a martyr's violent death. In spirit already in the presence of the Lord, he yields himself without a murmur to the hands of his enemies, swift to shed his blood. Bold in the defense of the precious truth of God, not a word escaped his lips in self-defense. Following closely in the footsteps of his Savior, as the stones in thick succession fly about him, doing their deadly work, he called upon God, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He commends his spirit to Him who gave it, and then calmly kneeling down, his last prayer in a loud voice ascends to God-a prayer for his foes. He pleads for mercy upon his murderers, saying, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep." One moment exposed to all the malice of a God-hating world, the next his spirit had passed away into the blissful presence of his Savior. He went to be with Christ, which is far better; absent from the body, present with the Lord. (Phil. 1:2323For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: (Philippians 1:23); 2 Cor. 5:88We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8).)
The key to all this is found in Stephen's occupation with Christ in glory in the power of the Holy Ghost. Saved by grace, and sustained by divine power, he bore an unflinching testimony that Jesus was indeed the Christ, glorified in the presence of God, sealing it with his blood. Hence, he became the first Christian martyr, and stands upon the page of Scripture throughout the hour of Christ's rejection from the world, an encouragement to faithfulness to every believer. May each believer be found having Christ at the right hand of God as the one object which fills the vision of his soul, so that in the power of the Holy Ghost we may follow Him as our model and example here, until we behold His blessed face