The Death of a Godly One
Acts 7:54-60
June 17, 2012
Well tonight we come to an extremely difficult scene.
If there were any doubts about Satan’s hostility toward the church,
Those doubts should be laid to rest here.
Up until now we have seen anger,
We have seen arrests,
We have even seen a flogging,
But aside from the death of our Lord, we have seen nothing like this.
The execution of Stephen reveals to us that
Satan will literally stop at nothing to silence the church.
This is a horrific scene.
But it is not a hopeless scene.
We need not view this story and fall away in fear
That Satan cannot be defeated,
For just as Scripture chronicles his fury, it also chronicles his fall.
Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”
We must remember Satan’s goal is not to kill Christians.
Satan’s goal is to STOP Christians,
Death is merely a threatening tool he uses to try and stop them.
Satan would rather silence them or cause them to stumble,
Killing is merely a tactic he uses to try and accomplish the first two.
And the book of Revelation teaches that in death
A Christian can actually overcome the enemy.
This in reality is Stephen’s finest hour.
You are familiar with how it all started.
• Stephen was first appointed a leadership role in the church when he was put in charge of the ministry to feed widows.
• He was given this charge because he was a man “of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom”.
• And once Stephen rose to prominence he did not disappoint.
Acts 6:8 “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.”
And this brought about tremendous opposition from the evil one.
He wanted Stephen stopped.
So he brought men from “what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia” and they “rose up and argued with Stephen. But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.”
Then Satan brought in false witnesses who accused him of blasphemy saying, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law;”
And the trial of Stephen began.
It was then that Stephen arose in his defense,
But Stephen’s defense was hardly a defense,
It was instead to produce evidence against his accusers.
Stephen recounted some of the biggest accounts of rebellion
In the history of Israel.
• God raised up Joseph to be a leader and deliver, BUT the children of Israel sold him to Egypt.
The result was that Joseph rose to power in Egypt instead of Canaan,
And Israel had to wait 430 years to come back.
• Stephen went on to remind them how after many years in Egypt God raised up Moses to deliver, BUT when Moses left Pharaoh’s court and killed an Egyptian the people rejected him again, and instead of pastoring God’s flock, Moses went and fathered two sons.
Israel had to wait 40 more years for deliverance.
• Then God sent Moses back and he led them out, BUT after God gave the “living oracles” they rejected God’s deliverance again wanting to go back to Egypt and building the golden calf.
The result was that God gave them over to idolatry and for the next 800 years Israel failed to have an intimate relationship with God,
Until ultimately they were destroyed for their idolatry by Babylon.
• Throughout this time God also gave them the gift of His presence, but they rejected the presence and began to revere the temple, again missing the point.
But without a doubt the high point of their rebellion is
When God sent His Son to be a deliverer from sin,
They rejected Him and crucified Him.
And that was where Stephen’s point delivered the lethal blow.
Acts 7:51-53 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”
And now, Stephen’s boldness has led to his execution,
And we are afforded the opportunity to witness the death of a godly man.
Now before we get into Stephen’s death,
There are some things we need to know about the death of believers.
1) IT IS A REGULAR OCCURANCE
Beginning with Abel and continuing through today,
God’s people have been and will continue to be martyred.
We remember in Elijah’s day as he argued with God.
1 Kings 19:14 “Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
We are familiar with the writer of Hebrews statements:
Hebrews 11:37-38 “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”
Paul quoted from Psalms 44 when He said:
Romans 8:36 “Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”
Even Jesus taught us:
Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.”
John 16:2 “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.”
The death of Stephen is no new thing, it is common.
God’s people have been and will continue to be
The focus of the attacks of the enemy.
The death of believers is a common thing.
2) GRACE IS AVAILABLE FOR THEM WHEN IT HAPPENS.
We recently studied in Daniel on Wednesday night
About the faithful remnant who would be killed by Antiochus Epiphenes.
Daniel 11:33-34 “Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. “Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy.”
That help is real, PARTIALLY SEEN in the assurance that death isn’t final.
This was the mindset of those like Paul.
1 Corinthians 15:55 “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”
Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Certainly the knowledge and truth about death is a help to believers,
But even more than that, there is grace for such times.
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
And so while the death of believers is a common thing,
There is grace available.
But one more thing we are confident of in regard to the death of God’s saints is:
3) IT IS PRECIOUS TO GOD
Psalms 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.”
One could even argue that it is the death of the saints
That stirs the wrath of God like nothing else.
When you read in the Revelation about the breaking of the seals,
It is the breaking of the fifth seal and the cries of the martyr’s
That really sets God off.
Revelation 6:9-11 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”
After that God rips back the sky and men flee in terror.
The death of God’s saints is not small thing.
Matthew 10:29-31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”
God watches and God remembers and will avenge their blood.
Matthew 23:34-36 “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”
And so to make a point here, you should know that
The scene we watch tonight is a very sacred scene.
This is not insignificant, this is not trivial.
It is not like God is some distant general who only sees His children
As necessary deaths to accomplish a goal.
He is not cold nor callous, this is a big deal to Him.
This is God’s account of the death of one of His saints,
A very serious matter.
And as we study it tonight there are three things I want you to see
About the death of Stephen and by extension the death of any one of God’s children.
#1 STEPHEN’S VALUE (any martyr’s value)
Acts 7:54-56
I read you Paul’s quotation of this Psalm in Romans 8 a moment ago,
But let me give us just a little closer look for a moment.
Psalm 44 is a desperate cry from a persecuted people
Who do not understand what God is up to.
It almost reads as a people put out with God.
Listen to the Psalmist here.
Psalms 44:9-16 “Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor, And do not go out with our armies. You cause us to turn back from the adversary; And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. You give us as sheep to be eaten And have scattered us among the nations. You sell Your people cheaply, And have not profited by their sale. You make us a reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and a derision to those around us. You make us a byword among the nations, A laughingstock among the peoples. All day long my dishonor is before me And my humiliation has overwhelmed me, Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.”
There is a Psalmist that sees the continual death of God’s people
And who is tempted to think that God doesn’t care.
I think all of us at some point have faced this dilemma.
Certainly through hardships we face personally,
But in reality even when we are forced to face the reality of martyrdom.
More Christians die today for their faith than at any other time in the world.
And that is a hard pill for us to swallow.
We cling to stories like Daniel in the lion’s den or his three friends in the fiery furnace and we rally around the great deliverance of God.
And yet the cold reality is that not all of God’s children
Receive such a deliverance and it tends to lead us to believe
That God doesn’t care.
That “we are”, as the Psalmist said,
“considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
It can appear that God sells His people cheaply
And does not profit from their sale.
And that is why I am thankful for this story of Stephen’s death,
For we get to see just how valuable he was, even though he was killed.
Now when we talk about Stephen’s value
We get to see this from two perspectives.
We see his value in the world, and his value before God.
His value to the world is obvious.
He had none.
After Stephen preached that tremendous sermon of warning and conviction, Luke tells us:
(54) “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.”
That is probably the best description of just blind anger
We get anywhere in the Scripture.
• These people were seething.
• They were senseless.
• They were so filled with rage they actually take on the persona of a rabid animal.
And what we realize is that they didn’t appreciate Stephen’s words at all.
You see, when the truth of God is delivered to you,
You have two ways to receive it.
You either humbly accept it – that is to value the message.
Or you angrily reject it – that is to devalue the message.
James 1:19-21 “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”
The message of God is painted as extremely valuable,
As that “which is able to save your souls.”
And it is important that we respond humbly not angrily.
Obviously Stephen had no value to this group.
Jesus Himself said:
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”
When a wolf looks at a sheep,
• He doesn’t see someone to learn from…
• He doesn’t see someone to follow…
• He doesn’t see someone to appreciate…
When a wolf looks at a sheep, he only sees food.
He sees someone to devour.
That is our value to the world.
• We are the base…
• We are the weak…
• We are the foolish…
They don’t covet our wisdom, they don’t desire our power,
They don’t envy our value.
We are as sheep to be slaughtered.
1 Corinthians 4:9 “For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.”
And that is our value in the world,
BUT OUR VALUE BEFORE GOD IS JUST THE OPPOSITE.
Look at what occurs here.
(55-56) “But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
I hope you recognize what is occurring here.
God allowed Stephen to see something
That few men were ever allowed to see.
He “saw the glory of God”
Moses begged God for this privilege and he only saw God’s back.
In Stephen’s darkest hour,
God gave Stephen more of Himself than he had ever had before.
But that isn’t all.
“I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
WHY IS THAT SPECIAL?
Hebrews 10:11-13 “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.”
Jesus SITS at the right hand of the Father as an intercessor.
He sits because His work is finished.
But on the day Stephen died Jesus was standing.
Matthew 10:32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.”
Stephen received a standing ovation from Jesus on this day.
From the world’s perspective Stephen must have appeared expendable.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
God gave Stephen more of Himself than Stephen had ever had,
And Jesus gave Him a standing ovation.
That was Jesus standing at the finish line
Encouraging Stephen to finish strong!
THAT IS THAT DYING GRACE WE SPOKE OF
Don’t ever assume that the death of God’s saints
Is an insignificant thing to Him.
Stephen was killed, but he obviously had value.
Stephen’s Value
#2 STEPHEN’S VALOR (and that of other believers)
Acts 7:57-60a
This again lies in strong contrast to the world.
We have already seen the world gnashing their teeth
Like some sort of rabid animal.
And now we see them still ignoring the truth.
When Stephen tells them what he saw:
“they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.”
The scene here is one of regrettable religion.
The Law said that blasphemers could be stoned
And that the actual witnesses must be the first to cast the stone.
Jewish tradition said that a man must first be thrown off a 10’ parapet, and if he survived that, a large stone should be dropped on his heart, followed by another, and if he still survived, then the onslaught occurred.
This scene is not nearly so humane.
It is apparent that the witnesses went first,
But it was an onslaught from the beginning.
• They screamed…
• They covered their ears…(because they wanted no more defense)
• They rushed at him… (like a mob)
• They drove him out of the city… (like a criminal)
• They pelted him with rocks until he died…
This is NOT the behavior of the Godly
Who regrettably must condemn an obvious blasphemer.
These men were so filled with hate and anger they refused even to listen any longer and killed him as fast as they could.
They had no valor at all.
They had no decency.
They had no godliness.
Stephen of course is just the opposite.
(59-60a) “They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”
• While they stoned Stephen didn’t utter curses…
• While they attacked Stephen didn’t threaten them…
Stephen called out to Jesus and forgave his attackers.
He was a living picture of Jesus.
1 Peter 2:21-23 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”
And that was certainly Stephen.
John MacArthur wrote of Stephen:
“Both in life and in death, Stephen was so much like his Lord. Jesus was filled with the Spirit, so was Stephen. Jesus was full of grace, so was Stephen. Jesus boldly confronted the religious establishment of his day, so did Stephen. Jesus was convicted by lying witnesses, so was Stephen. Jesus had a mock trial, so did Stephen. Jesus was executed though innocent of any crime, so was Stephen. Both were accused of blasphemy. Both died outside the city and were buried by sympathizers. And as already noted, both prayed for the salvation of their executioners. Was there ever a man more like Jesus?” (Acts 1-12 commentary – pg. 226)
Stephen was a living picture of valor.
Even during his death, he never lost his faith in Jesus.
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
He truly believed that what he had entrusted, Christ could protect.
He truly believed that his soul was safe in the arms of Christ.
This man walked above the course of this world.
He was not controlled by the flesh, but by the Spirit.
Stephen was a man of valor.
Stephen’s Value – Stephen’s Valor
#3 STEPHEN’S VICTORY (and all believers’)
Acts 7:60b
“Having said this, he fell asleep.”
You could probably also add to this point that Stephen was victorious
Because his faith did not fail, calling on Jesus to the very end.
But one thing we know for sure is that at this moment
Stephen finished the race.
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
On this day Stephen won his race.
He finished the course, he kept the faith.
Stephen ended his life in the grace of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
It’s been nearly 2,000 years since Stephen fell asleep that day,
And he has spent every moment since
In the unhindered presence of Jesus.
• Stephen has not felt a single pain…
• Stephen has not cried a single tear…
• Stephen has not committed a single sin…
Stephen has enjoyed fully the presence of His Lord.
He moved from this life into the truest life he would ever know.
I suppose that is why Luke didn’t say “He died”,
Instead he said, “he fell asleep”
Sleep is a temporary thing and so is the death of Stephen.
He will rise, and in the meantime he enjoys the presence
Of the one who holds his soul.
Stephen had value before God, he had valor before men,
And he had victory over death.
AND THAT IS HOW A BELIEVER DIES.
It is also, by the way, how a believer lives.
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
Romans 14:7-9 “For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”
Stephen walked a fine road, a road countless others have also walked.
And one we all must walk as well.
We may not all die a martyr’s death,
But we all must live a martyr’s life.
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Stephen died right because he lived right.
He was emptied of himself and filled with the Spirit of God.
That is the admonition to us as well.
