How tough are you?

“But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed 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, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”(Acts 7:55-60 ESV)

The Death of Stephen

Stephen was the first Christian Martyr. This particular passage contains so much information important to us as Christians today. This passage is the end of Stephen and the elevation of the persecution of the church by Saul of Tarsus, later to become Paul the Apostle. After his speech, Stephen was stoned to death for preaching Christ as the Messiah. The text tells us Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit and saw the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. As he was stoned to death Stephen called out “Lord Jesus receive my spirit”. Stephen also said, “ Lord do not hold this sin against them”.

Parallels

There are two parallels here that I would call attention to, First Stephen announced he saw the heavens open to reveal Christ at the right hand of God. In Mark’s Gospel Jesus at His questioning by the Pharisees and Sadducees, says “And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”(Mark 14:62 ESV). Stephen was not repeating something he may have heard from the apostles, Scripture tells us he said, “Behold I see”. Now I can only imagine that the Pharisees became even more enraged than scripture tells us because these words would have echoed in their minds having previously come from Christ. But Stephen was seeing, actually seeing Christ. Stephen called out to Christ, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit”. Echoing Jesus’ call to the Father in Luke 23 “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” But I think the most impactful echo of Christ was when Stephen cried out loudly, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Caiaphas was undoubtedly present and would have heard this cry. I can only imagine the voice of Christ echoing in the mind of Caiaphas “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Get to the Point

So what is the point of this examination of parallels? Will you suffer for Christ? Will you endure persecution, ridicule, and hostilities for Christ? If your answer is yes, will you forgive those who deal out the punishment to you? Will you reflect Christ when it is not so easy to do? Corrie Ten Boom whose family helped hide Jews during the holocaust recalled a conversation she had with her father about sacrifices for God, “Daddy,” she had said one day, “I am afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a martyr for Jesus Christ.” “Tell me,” her father wisely responded, “when you take a train trip from Haarlem to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?” “No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train.” “That is right,” he replied, “and so it is with God’s strength. Our wise Father in heaven knows when you are going to need things too. Today you do not need the strength to be a martyr. But as soon as you are called upon for the honor of facing death for Jesus, He will supply the strength you need—just in time.” Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie Ten Boom remembered this when she suffered for Jesus in a Nazi concentration camp and God gave her the strength to endure.

God is Sovereign

God gives us the strength we need. He fortifies us with His strength and power, as well as His grace and mercy. We must be prepared like Stephen and be strong in faith. Jesus made it perfectly clear that you will be persecuted when he told us, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20 ESV) Like Stephen when He saw Christ and received his mercy and grace if we remain steadfast in our dedication to Christ, his mercy and grace are given to us new every day and on that day of trials, you will see Him just as Stephen did. Blessings