November 9 - Acts 6:1-8:1

Good morning everyone,

As we begin this morning, the new church was growing rapidly and starting to experience growing pains. The disciples were quickly finding out there was not enough time in the day to do all that needed to be done. One of the ministries desperate for more attention was the feeding of the widows. So a team of seven men, who were known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom, were chosen to  care for these women. Among the seven chosen was Stephen.

Stephen was more than just a good distributor of food, though. When he wasn’t doing his day job he was a passionate speaker, full of God’s grace and power he performed wonders and signs among the people drawing the attention of the Synagogue of the Freedmen, who we’re told began to, unsuccessfully, argue with Stephen which led to them spreading vicious lies ultimately leading to Stephens arrest.

Stephen was taken before the Sanhedrin where they looked intently at him and saw that his face was like that of an angel. When I read that I remembered that the late, pastor Chuck Smith always had that very same look on his face too. He was so incredibly in love with the Lord, (totally understated) and the peace and rest the came with that was manifested in Pastor Chuck’s outward appearance. So incredibly awesome. From the moment I first saw him , heard him speak it has been my goal to have what he had. Anyway, the high priest asked Stephen if the charges against him were true. Stephen didn’t defend himself, instead took the opportunity to take them on a stroll through history and summarize his teaching about Jesus. Pointing out how they, the religious leaders, were failing to comply to what God had purposed for the lives of the Jews. You can imagine how well that went over. Not well at all. It in fact, infuriated the Jewish leaders.

However, the straw that broke the camels back was when Stephen looked up and seeing the glory of God and Jesus standing right by Him said, “Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Imagine, if you will,  (use your mind’s eye) all the Sanhedrin looking up. They, of course, would not see anything, right? The looks on their face must have been priceless, that is though when they lost it. They rushed Stephen, dragged him outside and began to stone him under the watchful eye of Saul. But get this, it was against the law for the Jews to take the matter into their own hands like that and, having said that, no one was ever charged or punished for the death of Stephen. We are told, though, that while this crazy, angry, out of control mob was stoning Stephen, he fell to his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” With that he died making him the first martyr for the new church. His death marked the beginning of an era during which the early Christians, all except the apostles, fled Jerusalem scattering throughout Judea and Samaria for fear of persecution.

Today, people still persecute Christians. Stephen knew what he believed and was able to defend it. One of the primary reasons believers are defeated is because the enemy catches them completely unaware. It begs the question, are you as well-prepared as Stephen to defend yourself against attacks on Jesus? We are at war, friends and it is a fight for our lives. Oh, not our physical lives, but our spiritual lives. The only way for us to survive this conflict is to prepare for the fight. I would encourage you to look at Ephesians 6, where it instructs us to , “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Each and every day, as Christians, we head into warfare. Suit up! Get dressed for it. Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all ……