The Faith of Stephen

8Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9But some of those who were of the synagogue called “The Libertines”, and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia arose, disputing with Stephen. 10They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. 11Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, and brought him in to the council, 13and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. 14For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” 15All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel.

Because God holds all power in himself, he does not weigh a person’s ability when he calls them to a work. What he looks at is whether that person has a sound character, and whether their heart is ready to obey. God’s goals and God’s plans matter, but nothing matters more than the posture of the person who joins him in the work. There is no strategy more important than the person. Whether someone will obey to the end like Moses, or leave partway for the world like Demas, depends on that person’s character and judgment — and when they leave, the work may have to begin again from the beginning. That is why people of character and a good temper are needed. Every five years we elect a president and hand the country to him. The nation’s future can turn on the president’s ability in the work and on their love for the people. If a leader has sound judgment, outstanding wisdom, and real ability, that body can change for the better; but if a leader is negative about everything, foolish, and unable to judge, that body will decline of itself.

Among the seven deacons the apostles appointed, Stephen was a well-prepared man, one who carried out the calling God gave him with outstanding wisdom. Stephen received the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and because he understood the Word deeply, he knew well what God wanted from him. Jesus called twelve men as his disciples, and by revealing to them the secrets of heaven he made it possible for the kingdom of God to be extended through them. Sadly there was also the matter of appointing Matthias in place of Judas Iscariot; yet a powerful fullness of the Holy Spirit came upon them, and because the disciples came to hold a faith utterly unlike anything before it, Jerusalem and then the whole world were evangelized. We must have this same assurance and sense of calling. If we have truly received the Holy Spirit, only by living out the conviction and the faith that we ourselves have been born again will the church be changed by the Word, and, beyond that, will many souls be led into God’s presence.

That all twelve disciples were martyred shows us that the work of the Holy Spirit gives a strength able to overcome the world for the sake of Jesus Christ. When the disciples whom Jesus called were changed, the believers who followed them were changed; when the disciples were filled, the believers overflowed with fullness too; and that same overflowing grace is reaching even as far as us today.

When the apostles became too busy preaching the gospel to carry the work of the church, seven workers were appointed as deacons from among the laypeople who had received the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The organization, the finances, and the ministry of the church were entrusted to these deacons. Now the apostles could devote themselves to the Word alone. When Stephen and six other faithful believers were appointed as deacons, the number of disciples grew, and further still, even the company of priests who offered the sacrifices came to obey the word of Jesus Christ — which shows how deeply those deacons gave themselves. From this we can see that the extension of God’s kingdom finally comes down to the faith with which believers devote themselves; that is what determines spiritual growth.

The Korean church today is enormous in its organization, but the Word in it has been corrupted; it does not know what the Lord’s will is, and it works according to its own ideas. So the full work of the Holy Spirit is not happening. When believers begin to live only for themselves, God will certainly refine them. When the believers of the early church were satisfied with their own salvation and would not give themselves, God — because he had to make use of the Word they knew — scattered them to every region. God caused them to be persecuted, and the believers, afraid of that persecution, scattered everywhere. And so the gospel was carried into all the world.

God’s work is focused on one thing only: the salvation of souls. He calls believers, and he gives believers blessing, in order to save more souls through those he has saved. According to God’s plan the apostle Paul began worldwide mission abroad, and through the devotion of such workers many Gentiles came to be saved. The church in Jerusalem grew into a worldwide church, and God’s plan is why. He chose Paul, and he used him. In the words *a chosen vessel of mine, to save the Gentiles*, we can see that when God chooses a person, he calls them having already planned where he will use them. But if the believers he has chosen will not give themselves, God will delay his plan a little and look for another person. This is why the obedience of believers is needed.

In the early church, whose work was divided into the saving of souls, caring for the poor, administration, and finance, Stephen was faithful to the death in whatever task he was given. What sort of man, then, was Stephen? He was a man who strove to resemble the life, the thinking, and the will of Jesus, and who did his utmost to live according to Jesus’ words. He was a layman, yet he had a faith that grasped the truth whole and a good character that people could trust; through the fullness of the Holy Spirit he was a believer with mature faith and ability, a man fit to be God’s instrument.

Acts 6:8

8Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.

Stephen performed by faith the miracles and signs that Jesus had performed. Stephen healed the sick, and by driving out Satan with the Word and with authority he pulled many people out of spiritual death. Because he had spiritual authority the Spirit filled him, and because he preached the gospel faithfully according to the word of truth he was loved and respected by the believers. Though he was complete in every mark of a believer, he served humbly; he was a faithful, born-again worker, a man chosen by God who laid down his life.

Acts 6:9-10

9But some of those who were of the synagogue called “The Libertines”, and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia arose, disputing with Stephen. 10They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

The work of the Holy Spirit that had broken out in Jerusalem at that time was breaking out in city after city, and people were seized with shock. The Word preached by a believer who has grasped it and been clothed with the fullness of the Spirit is a work of the Spirit that people with a merely theoretical faith, and people who keep the law, cannot possibly understand — and so the quarrel arose.

People who believed in pagan religions, people who worshipped idols, and people built up in a faith of law gathered in one place to attack Stephen. But because the things concerning Jesus Christ and the work of God are fact, no one could withstand Stephen, who was simply speaking what was true. That is why in Acts 7:1 the high priest actually turns and asks Stephen whether these things are so.

Just as Paul resolved to preach nothing except Jesus Christ, Stephen too preached nothing except Jesus Christ. In an argument between a person who has grasped the truth and speaks it and a person who speaks learned knowledge, the one speaking the truth cannot be beaten. With deep and wide insight into Jesus, Stephen set spiritual truth and historical fact before people who were persecuting Christ. We too must have this knowledge of the gospel; we must receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, proclaim the Word boldly, and we must be trusted by people.

The leaders of the early church, who were filled with the Word, were leaders in their society, workers of God who moved the people and saved a nation. But sadly the churches today are growing in numbers while going backwards spiritually. The church ought to be brought to maturity by the fullness of the Holy Spirit, but the greed of leaders and the cravings of believers are hiding the glory of Jesus Christ. The church today has not been born again, and that is why it wears a face much like the world’s; its spiritual level is so low that it falls at even a small attack from Satan. Even if we cannot keep up with Jesus Christ, we must not drag his glory down into the world.

Stephen obeyed to the point of death in order to reveal the glory of God. Knowing that the high priest would set up false witnesses to stop him from preaching the truth and would take his life, he was not afraid to preach the Word. So they stoned him, and he died a martyr. The high priest could not possibly stop Stephen without setting up false witnesses. And so, just as they had killed Jesus by setting up false witnesses, they killed Stephen too, to keep him from preaching the truth.

Even now we sometimes see wronged people who were driven into a murder charge by false witnesses, sentenced to death, and then released as innocent. Every one of them has a face twisted out of shape and filled with rage. Stephen too was now in a desperate situation, about to be killed on the word of false witnesses, in a position where he could not live unless he abandoned the truth.

As they listened to what the high priest’s false witnesses were saying, the people must all have been watching intently to see what Stephen would say in his defense. But against their expectation, Stephen’s face was not twisted, and he did not rage. Standing in that court, even in front of false witnesses, Stephen preached the Word with the face of an angel — the face only someone who has met Christ can wear. He knew why he had to forgive, and he knew why Jesus Christ had come in the body of a sinner. Because he knew, he did not rage, and he did not try to escape. It was as Jesus confessed to God in his last moment: they were doing it because they did not know. Whatever Stephen said now, those whose eyes and ears were covered would not change. Knowing that, Stephen began to preach quietly and with an earnest heart. He began to speak of Jesus, strongly and truthfully.

The face of an angel is probably not for just anyone. To be bold in the face of death, in front of people who mean to kill you, is possible only for someone whose hope is set on heaven. Stephen could wear the face of an angel even as he died. He longed for the kingdom of God more than for the world, and that is the reason. Stephen’s body could not help being in the world and could not help being slandered, but his soul was already looking at God and rejoicing, and that is how he could overcome so fearful a situation.

Because Stephen had received the fullness of the Holy Spirit he could see the Lord standing at the throne. He said truthfully that he saw the heavens opened and the Lord standing at the right hand of God, but the people stopped their ears and their eyes and threw stones at him.

For a person to forgive another’s sin in the face of death is difficult unless they have stripped off greed and craving on the cross together with Jesus Christ. It cannot be done without understanding the pain of Jesus carrying the cross for oneself, and without holding the faith that dies to the world together with Jesus. To forgive people who grind their teeth and rush at you while you are preaching the truth for their salvation is not a love that anyone whose hope is set on the world can ever show.

But Stephen was a spiritual man; he loved people’s souls, and because he had grasped the work of salvation whole, it was possible for him. However great a faith one has, gladly offering one’s own life for a kingdom of God one cannot see is no easy thing. And to sacrifice oneself in order to save the souls of others, not oneself, and to let them be clothed with the glory of God — that is harder still.

The people of the world want people with strength and ability. They lift up and respect those who hold much power and authority, and they let such people rule over them. But as time goes on, those who hold power treat with contempt, and with a hard face, the very people who lifted them up, and they exploit them in order to have still more. Spiritual people, by contrast, lift others up the more grace they receive from God, and share what is theirs so that others may have more grace.

When believers’ souls come to experience God’s holiness and fullness and the throne of God, then just as Moses’ face shone so that people could not bear to look at him, believers’ faces too will shine like the face of an angel. Even if they do not lift themselves up, even if no one lifts them up, the light of the glory God gives makes a believer’s face shine. Believers ought to give off this light of glory by faith. Then, like Stephen, they will meet their last moment wisely, and God will surely welcome them gladly. The life of a believer who lives looking forward to that last moment — with Jesus waiting, arms open, as he did for Stephen — is a blessed life.

Acts 6:10

10They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

That Stephen’s face could become the face of an angel shows us that the Holy Spirit was powerfully at work. Because the Spirit gave him a joy the world cannot bear and gave him a thankful heart, Stephen could wear the face of an angel. Looking at the people stoning him, rather than being afraid, Stephen must have thought of Jesus, who forgave those souls even while he was being nailed to the cross. When Jesus prayed that their sin be forgiven, the same Spirit who helped that prayer was now helping Stephen’s faith — and so he could forgive them and, beyond that, love their souls.

Stephen saw the people holding stones to kill him. He saw the evil in their hearts, but because this was the last moment given to him, he began to pray for their souls. Jesus made it possible for Stephen to hold the love of the cross; the love of the cross comforted Stephen’s faithful heart; and it enabled him to forgive the ignorant sin of the people holding the stones.

They said they saw and heard, but where the truth was concerned they were blind men with open eyes and deaf men who heard only the world’s words. However much Stephen explained the kingdom of God they would not listen, and however much he preached the truth of Jesus Christ they did not grasp it, and so they never turned. But because of a heart that had compassion on souls, Stephen was able to give up his own life, and able to forgive those who slandered him, persecuted him, and threw the stones.

We too must have pity on people who persecute us because they do not know the truth. To forgive them as Jesus and Stephen did, believers must grow into vessels of truth able to carry the calling. However much you argue with someone who does not know the words of Jesus Christ, the distance between you will never close. So we need to pray for their souls, entrust them to the Lord, and hold a forgiving heart.

What kind of faith do you have? If you stood where Stephen stood, could you preach the truth with confidence? These days you can watch a politician say, on principle, that he will not accept homosexuality — and apologize the very next day. They apologize because if they say what the world does not want to hear, they may not get what they want.

But believers, even if they are not accepted by the world, must rise up boldly like Stephen when the place they are standing is not the place of truth. If we, because we fear people, are standing in the place of those who killed Stephen, we will have no excuse when we meet God, and we will be struck by the stone of God’s judgment.

Colossians 2:6-7

6As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him, 7rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving.

The apostle Paul urged the believers of the church at Colossae that, since they had received the same faith as the apostles, they should walk in Jesus alone, put their roots down into the rock, and live according to the truth they had learned from Jesus. Paul encouraged them to stand firm in Christ, drive off every deception, and live a life that fits the will of Christ.

That Paul became a vessel able to have such compassion on other people’s souls and to hold them was possible because of Stephen’s sacrifice. Stephen’s faith made Paul, and that apostle Paul went on to preach a gospel that changed the world; in the same way believers must preach the truth, and hold and love still more souls in their hearts.

Even though there is hindrance and persecution from the world, I pray that as you preach the truth as Stephen did, God will remember you. Looking forward to the day when the Lord standing at the right hand of the throne will welcome you, as he welcomed Stephen with joy, on the day you go to heaven — proclaim the gospel boldly.

Since you, like Stephen, know the word of truth, you must preach that truth with a heart of compassion for souls. When you preach the truth boldly, you will be able to show the people of the world a face shining like an angel’s, as Stephen’s did. A face full of that light is not something a person can have simply by wanting it. When we hold a heart that loves God, God makes a believer’s face into a good face.

You are workers entrusted with the word of God. You hold the Word that Jesus Christ entrusted to his disciples, and you are children of God receiving the full grace of the Holy Spirit. We may not be able to die stoned as Stephen was, but we must live by faith always with the heart of one who is dying. Then the Holy Spirit will pour out on you in full the grace and love he gave to Stephen.

May you always give your whole strength to living by the Word. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.