Stephen - The First Christian Martyr

Alright, let's take our Bible. Let's turn to the book of Acts. Acts chapter 7, we will be at the end of chapter 7 verses 54 to 60. And then we'll touch on that first verse, chapter 8. Of course that is verse 1. Now it has been two weeks since we've been in our study here in the book of Acts, so we may need a little bit of reminding of where we are. We have seen that there are some changes and shifts going on in the life of the church here in Jerusalem and the development of the church here in Jerusalem.

From chapters 1 to 5 we have seen that Peter was the main character of the book and of course the apostles were right there with him and behind him. But obviously Peter was the main character. But here in chapter 6 and 7 we are seeing that the main character has become Stephen. It is interesting Stephen was not one of the apostles. He was one of the leading laymen of the church. I like that phrase. I think it's true. He was one of the leading laymen in the church who was set apart for waiting tables and then he went on to greater things. Now I'm not going to act like preaching is greater than waiting tables.

But we will see that he was moved on from waiting tables. But he was not an apostle. And as a matter of fact he was even a Hellenistic Jew. And the point I'm trying to make is God uses the average person. We don't have to be the apostle Peter to be used by God. And then from chapters 1 to 7 we have seen the work of the church was centered in Jerusalem, in Jerusalem only. But from chapter 8 on we will see that the work of the church was scattered. It was spread out of Jerusalem because of a great persecution that broke out against the church here. In Jerusalem the church was scattered but actually the gospel in the church was spread.

God actually ordained this persecution to spread the gospel in the work of the church throughout Samaria and to the Gentile lands because the believers were scattered. And as we will see from chapter 8 and 9, oh really throughout the rest of the book Saul who became Paul, he became the main character of the book. But of course like with Peter in the beginning of the book, Saul had a lot of other faithful men right there with him. So my point right here is this. We are in the middle of quite a few changes and shifts in the book. And we are in the middle of quite a few changes and shifts in the growth of the church and the spread of the gospel.

Now there's a lesson that we need to see here. We should expect the church to grow. We should never expect the church dying as the norm. We should expect the church to grow. And personally we should expect our church to grow. We should expect God to use us as individuals and as a church to take the gospel even to the nations. I have said it many times and I have thought it in prayer quite a bit. But if God could use the Philippian church who was a very impoverished church and way off in the north to be used greatly in Paul's missionary journeys, well then God can use us. And a question here for us to reflect on.

How would we react if God presented us with an opportunity to take the gospel and the work of the church even to a new place, even to a difficult place? Would we step up to the challenge? I have said this many times and this is a good place for me to repeat it. We should expect mighty things in and through our church. We should have a mighty expectation when it comes to the church and church life. Now our last three messages have focused mainly on Stephen. We have seen that. Back in chapter 6, 1-7 we saw that he was one of the men chosen by the church to meet certain physical needs in the church.

Specifically the needs of the widows and this pertained to food and money. And in chapter 6, 8-15 we saw how he performed great miracles and he preached with great power before the Hellenistic Jews and then over into preaching to the Sanhedrin. Of course he preached Jesus as the promised Messiah of God. We could put it in this kind of language. We could say that he preached the gospel faithfully and powerfully. But notice that we have seen two things about Stephen. First his Christian service, second his Christian character. He was enabled by God to serve in physical matters in the church.

And then he was enabled by God to serve by performing great miracles and preaching Christ in the gospel with great power. So in Stephen we see great Christian service in the church and even in evangelism outside the church. But we must not overlook his Christian character. We have seen that Luke pointed out and highlighted Stephen's Christian character. Luke tells us that he was a man full of faith and full of the Holy Spirit in chapter 6 verse 5. He was a man full of grace and power. That would be Holy Spirit power in chapter 6 verse 8.

Now Luke does not specifically say this but Luke shows us that Stephen was a man of great spiritual courage, strength and faithfulness. Luke shows us this by telling us how Stephen preached the gospel to the Jews, how he reacted to the Jews and the Sanhedrin when they were threatening and even when they were violent. And there is a tremendous life and death lesson right here as well. Christian character is what counts the most. Our Christian character must be what defines us. Let me repeat that. Our Christian character is what counts the most and our Christian character must be what defines us and makes us who we are.

If we are not first men and women of God who are controlled by the Spirit of God and the Word of God in our everyday lives then we are lacking in our character. And our Christian service must come out of our Christian character and if we serve without true Christian character then our service is flawed at best and our service may even be unauthorized. I can't help but think about the terrible and tremendous fall of Steve Lawson. He was lacking in character and therefore it called to question much of his works. I was reminded of Steve Lawson in my Bible reading this morning in Proverbs 6.

But look church, if we work very hard, if we take very serious our Christian character then God will lead us to the Christian service that he has for us. You see that? We don't have to work at our Christian service. If we work hard at our Christian character and we take our Christian character very serious well God will lead us to the service he has for us. And notice now this all begins and ends with a local church. Any Christian character that does not have you rooted in the local church, faithful in the local church is a flawed character.

Now two weeks ago we covered chapter 7 verses 1-53 and what I called Stephen sermon before the Sanhedrin. We covered a lot of ground. I know some of you were surprised. And we saw that in this great sermon that really built up as Stephen went along Stephen confronted the Sanhedrin with the fact that they resisted and rejected God because they resisted and rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah. And they ultimately crucified him. And he confronted them with the fact that they were just like their Jewish forefathers of old who resisted and rejected and even killed the Old Testament prophets.

I like how James Montgomery Boyce describes what Stephen did here. He says at the end of his sermon and I'm quoting Stephen applied what he said in true prophetic fashion. In doing so he made three accusations against the religious leaders. One they resisted the Holy Spirit as they had always done. Two they were persecuting and killing the prophets as they had always done. And three they were breaking the very law of Moses as they had always done. Well what was the result? In a violent and demonic outburst the Jewish religious leaders drug Stephen out of the city and they stoned him to death.

And that is what we have before us tonight starting in verse 24. The stoning of Stephen. Stephen became the first Christian martyr and we say Christian martyr because there were previous martyrs for God in the Old Testament. That brings me to the title of the message. Stephen the first Christian martyr. Stephen the first Christian martyr. Now let's read our verses starting in verse 54. Now when they, this would be the Sanhedrin, some verses call them the council. This would be the totality of the Jewish religious leaders. When they heard these things, what were these things? Stephen's sermon.

They were enraged and they ground their teeth in him. But he, that Stephen, 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 open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they, that's the Sanhedrin, all the Jews that were there now, they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. And they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid their garments. That would have been their outer garments, kind of like taking off your coat. At the feet of a young man named Saul.

And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus received 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, speaking of death. And verse 1, "And Saul approved of his execution, and there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea, Samaria, except the apostles." Now this is how I want to look at these verses. I want us to see the comparison that Luke makes between the Sanhedrin and Stephen. It's there.

And as we will see, this is all about two things. First, the Sanhedrin and their continued rejection of God. Second, the stoning of Stephen by the Sanhedrin and how God was pleased with Stephen, who became, was, and is the first Christian martyr. Now in all of these things, I will make seven observations. Number rather short. So number 1, notice the Sanhedrin was filled with anger and violence. We see that in verse 54. Number 1, the Sanhedrin was filled with anger and violence. Listen again to verse 54.

"And when they heard these things," the Sanhedrin, "when they heard Stephen's sermon, they were enraged," the English Standard says, "and they ground their teeth in him." Now no doubt the Sanhedrin not only heard Stephen's sermon as he preached, but they fully understood what Stephen was saying and then some. And as a result, two things happen. First they were cut to the heart. Now notice what the different translations say here. The English Standard says, "Now when they heard these things, they were enraged." The New American says, "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick." The King James says they were cut to the heart.

And what we have here is simple. It's profound but simple. They not only heard Stephen's sermon and his indictment against them, they were truly cut to the heart or cut to their innermost being by the Holy Spirit in regards to the truth of what Stephen had preached and their guilt in these things. This phrase, "cut to the heart," it comes from a word in the original that means to divide by the saw, to be sawed in half. We can put it in our language, "to be cut in half." So that means that by the power and the work of the Spirit, Stephen's sermon and his personal confrontation of them cut these men in half spiritually. It cut them in half.

It exposed them. John MacArthur says Stephen's words ripped apart the veneer of their false spirituality. You know what a veneer is? A veneer is an expensive wood that maybe covers over a cheap wood. A veneer is a covering. Back to John MacArthur, he says Stephen's words ripped apart the veneer, the covering of their false spirituality and exposed them for the blasphemous hypocrites they were. But then second, they were enraged. Here we see that they were enraged. The English standard says they ground their teeth at Stephen. The Bible scholar A.T.

Robertson says that they literally ground their teeth or gnash their teeth with a loud noise and he goes on to say, "like a pack of hungry wolves." So notice that the Jewish leaders heard the truth not just with their ears now, but with their hearts and more. I said this is simple but this is profound. By a supernatural work in the power of the Holy Spirit, the truth cut their hearts in two. By the supernatural work in power of the Spirit of God, they were cut into in their innermost being and made to see the truthfulness of Stephen's sermon and their guilt before God in relation to all of these things.

And get this, this was not the first time they heard of Jesus and the truth of God's word. These men were not ignorant in any, any way. The Jews in the Sanhedrin had heard Jesus preaching and seen all of Jesus' great miracles. They had heard the preaching of Peter and the apostles and they'd seen their great miracles. Let me go back in time even further. They had seen and heard everything beginning with John the Baptist continuing with the entirety of Jesus' earthly ministry and everything that took place with the birth of the church in Jerusalem and the explosive growth of the church starting at Pentecost.

As a matter of fact, they had been keeping a very, very close watch on all of these things. So they were filled with anger and violence and behind it all was a complete rejection of God. And this rejection had been going on since the days of John the Baptist. Now the lesson here is this, really it's more than one lesson. People today can hear the gospel over and over for years and they can see people come to true saving faith. They can see a true expression of the Christian life in genuine believers and coming out of a healthy local church and they can come to a place where they purposefully reject Jesus, the gospel and saving faith.

People today can be cut to the heart. They can be literally cut in half spiritually in their hearts and their minds and their souls. They're foreseeing the truth of God. They're guilt before God and they can still reject Jesus, the gospel and saving faith. Is it that what these religious leaders did? Is it that what the rich young ruler did in Mark chapter 10? Now I'm going to open up a can of worms here. And if I stir up some questions just come to me and I'll help you. We are Reformed Baptists in our theology. I understand that. But there's a term that's used in Reformed circles called Irresistible Grace. I really don't like that term.

It's used in relation to conversion, regeneration, when people are born again. But let me explain what I mean. I don't like the term Irresistible Grace because it gives the impression to many that men cannot resist the grace of God. Well that's what these men were doing. They resisted the very Son of God. They saw the miracles. They heard Jesus preach. They saw apostolic ministry. But they rejected. They rejected. They rejected. They rejected. Now I do believe in the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit of God, I believe it's better to say that we believe in an effectual calling of the Holy Spirit.

When the Spirit of God takes a lost sinner and regenerates them, that work isn't resisted because that one that hates God is born again and because the work of God in them causes them to love God. But what I'm trying to show you is this. These men resisted. They resisted and rejected. So the lesson here is this folks. Men can resist and reject God and God's grace and they can even do it violently. But number two, Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit as opposed to the Sanhedrin who were filled with anger and malice and violence. Look back at the verses. Verse 54 to 55.

"Now they heard these things and they were enraged and they ground their teeth in him." Verse 55. "But ye," that's Stephen, "full of the Holy Spirit." Here we see an obvious contrast between Stephen and these Jewish leaders. "But in the midst of a hurricane of rejection, in the midst of a hurricane of violence and death, Stephen panicked and he ran home. Stephen changed his sermon to fit the desires of the Sanhedrin." No. Stephen remained in total calm. He was in self-control all because he remained in control of the Spirit of God. Now remember what we've learned about Stephen and his character.

Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit before he was chosen to wait on tables. Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit as he waited on tables. Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit when he performed great miracles and preached Jesus in the Gospel with great power before the Hellenistic Jews. Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit when he was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit when he preached his great sermon to the Sanhedrin. Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit when he confronted them with their rejection of God and their murder of Jesus, the very Son of God.

So here when there is a hurricane, a category 5 hurricane of rejection, violence and death right before him, he was filled with the Spirit because he lived in the Spirit. When this great hurricane of rejection and violence and death hit him, Stephen did not have to run to his prayer closet and clean up his life and get filled with the Spirit. No. That is because he lived the Spirit-filled life. Stephen was filled, controlled by the Spirit. And the lesson for us here is simple, hard but simple. God expects us to be Spirit-filled.

He expects us to be Spirit-controlled continually all the time in every circumstance no matter how hard it is, no matter how easy it is, in the good days and the bad days, all the days. Now here is a question, how are you doing? Are we living the Spirit-filled life? It is a yes or no answer. Maybe we should go back to that teaching. And I've taught on what it means to be filled with the Spirit quite a bit. How are we doing? How are we doing? Look, brother and sister, if we are living Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled lives as we should, I'm convinced that most of our problems and struggles would vanish.

We would certainly have the ability to deal with those problems and struggles if we were living the Spirit-controlled life. Now I'm not acting like we will not have problems or difficulties if we're Spirit-filled. But many of the problems we do have would go away and we would know how to deal with them. Let me turn it around. Many of our sins, struggles, and problems prove that we are not as Spirit-filled as we think we are. And look, folks, lots of times God uses trials and circumstances and even our choices to turn us around and to show us we're not as Spirit-controlled as we should be.

Number three, Stephen was filled with a vision of heaven and glory. Look back at our verses, the second part of verse 55 and 56. "But he, full of the Holy Spirit," here's the vision, "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 open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.'" Now here we see that Stephen had a unique, one-of-a-kind vision into heaven. And I want us to see that Stephen saw Jesus in two ways. First, he saw Jesus in his power.

Now in our study of Hebrews, we have seen the meaning and the significance of Jesus being at the right hand of God simply after the work of redemption was finished, Jesus ascended to the right hand of God the Father, which signifies that Jesus was given the position of ultimate power and authority in the universe. Hebrews 10, 12 in the Amplified says, "Whereas Christ, having offered one sacrifice, the all-sufficient sacrifice of himself, for sins for all time, sat down, signifying the completion of atonement for sin at the right hand of God, the position of honor." But notice that Stephen saw Jesus not sitting at the right hand of God, but standing.

Now we've got to ask, what does it mean that Jesus was standing at the right hand of God? Now the text does not say it, but it is obvious that Jesus was standing and giving his approval to all that was happening with Stephen in the Sanhedrin. Simply Jesus was standing in honor of his servant that had been perfectly obedient to preach the gospel to the Sanhedrin even if it meant death. A.T. Robertson says, "Jesus standing is as if he had risen to cheer the brave Stephen." So second, we see that Stephen saw Jesus in his honor. Stephen saw Jesus in his power and he saw Jesus in his honor as he honored him.

And this was not the first time this kind of thing had happened. Isaiah was given a glimpse into heaven. We see that in Isaiah chapter 6. Ezekiel was given a glimpse into heaven. We see that in Ezekiel chapter 1. Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 had a vision into heaven and the Apostle John saw into heaven and we see that in the book of Revelation. But of all who saw the great glory of God and Jesus in heaven, only Stephen saw Jesus standing. And again, Jesus was standing in honor of his servant Stephen. I think that's accurate to say. But notice the contrast. Number 4, the Sanhedrin was filled with spiritual blindness.

You see, Stephen was filled with a vision of heaven and glory but the Sanhedrin was filled with spiritual blindness. Now to see the spiritual blindness of these men, we have to make sure we see what Stephen showed them. Verse 56 and 57. And he, that Stephen, said, "Behold, I see the heavens open 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." Here we see that Stephen told him of the great vision of heaven he was seeing but because they had rejected God over and over, over and over for years, they had chosen to remain spiritually blind.

So they revealed their great spiritual blindness. They stopped up their ears so as not to hear what they believed was blasphemy and they rushed to seize him. Simply Stephen was filled with a spiritual vision while the Sanhedrin was filled with spiritual blindness and they reacted according to their blindness. And look at how they reacted out in their blindness. The text says they rushed it, Stephen. The New American says they rushed upon him with one impulse. This tells us that with one mind, with one heart, with one violet passion, the entire Sanhedrin made this crazed, barbaric rush at Stephen.

Adding to the picture of these events, John MacArthur points out this word rushed in the original. It was used other times in the New Testament. The great herd of demon-possessed pigs rushed into the Sea of Galilee in Mark 5.13. And in Acts 19.29, this crazed mob rushed into the theater to attack and kill Paul. They're in the city of Ephesus. Simply, it's safe to say these men literally lost their minds. They lost their minds. They were out of control and all together in total agreement the Sanhedrin violently rushed Stephen to kill him and they did. And the lesson here is this.

When people reject the gospel, the truth of God's word, and you witnessing to them the word of God living in the believer as you witness to them, they are revealing their complete spiritual blindness. You see that? Let me repeat it. When people reject the gospel, when they reject the truth of God's word, and when they reject you as a witness living the word of God before them, they are revealing they are completely and totally spiritually blind. That's why a man has to be born again. They have to be regenerated of God. Ephesians 2 tells us that lost people are dead in their trespasses and sins and a dead man can't see.

People reject because they're blind. And then number 5, the Sanhedrin was filled with death. This is a continuation. The Sanhedrin was filled with spiritual blindness. Number 5, they were filled with death. Listen to verse 58. "Then they cast him," that's Stephen, "out of the city and stone him. And the witnesses laid their garments or outer garments at the feet of a young man named Saul." Now if you do some study here, you will see that there is a discussion about the manner in which they killed Stephen. What I mean is this.

There is a debate as to whether Stephen was executed legally according to the Old Testament law or if Stephen was simply killed by lynch mob. Now in my study, I have come to believe that Stephen was killed not through the legal Jewish chance. As a matter of fact, the Jewish governing authorities did not have the legal right to carry out the death sentence under Roman law. However, Israel was occupied by the Romans now. We saw this in how the Jewish religious leaders pushed the Romans to execute Jesus. The religious leaders simply did not have the legal right to take Jesus' life, so they pushed the Romans to do so.

So I think Stephen was killed by a lynch mob. But instead of hanging him, he was stoned by the lynch mob. Notice something. The Sanhedrin lynched Stephen by violence, but they were religious all while they were doing this. Leviticus 24, 14 says that one could not be stoned inside the city or inside the camp. And according to Leviticus 24, 16, the punishment for blasphemy was stoning. So what I'm trying to show you here is this. The Sanhedrin was filled with violence, filled with murder and death, but they made sure they were very biblical when they murdered Stephen. A little sarcasm there. Now church, make sure you remember this.

Make sure you remember this. There are people today who will commit heinous sin all while quoting Bible verses and posturing themselves as super spiritual. Let me repeat that, because you need it and I'll explain it. There are people today who profess Christ now and they will commit heinous sin even in the life of the church all while quoting Bible verses and posturing themselves as super spiritual. I remember years ago when I was serving in another church, one of the leaders of the church began to take steps into grievous sin to cut to the chase.

He began to have an adulterous and inappropriate relationship with his best friend's wife while I went in confronting him. And that led to confronting other people. And all along the way they kept giving spiritual reasons, very pious reasons why this needed to take place. Also, I remember quite a few years ago when we had a gentleman in the life of our church who was involved in a lot of division in the life of our church. Oh, but he gave super spiritual reasons why it was okay. He gave very pious reasons why he needed to leave. And when being confronted with his sin and sinfulness it was very, very black and white.

Oh, he'd quote Bible verses and be very, very super spiritual. Look folks, nobody is so spiritual that they can break God's word. And the warning here is this. If you are in the church very long you are going to see people that you may think are super godly Christian people and they will commit heinous sins while quoting Bible verses and when they do it they will be prideful and they will posture themselves as being super spiritual. Sometimes they will say stuff like this, "Well you just don't understand." I guess I am simple enough to just simply believe the Bible. Now before we move on notice something else here.

Here we have the first mention of the Apostle Paul. Of course this was before his conversion. Here he is going by his Hebrew name Saul. Some of you know this. He was named after the first king of Israel. I can think of better people to be named after. And this is an allusion to the great shift that will be made soon. Saul became Paul when he was converted to Christ. Then he becomes an apostle to the Gentiles and then he becomes the main character of the book from chapter 8 and 9 on. And then number 6, notice Stephen was filled with eternal life and forgiveness as compared to the religious leaders now.

Stephen was filled with eternal life and forgiveness. Look at verse 59 to 60. "And as they were stoning Stephen, he thus Stephen called out, 'Lord Jesus, just get them back for me.'" No he didn't say anything like that. "Receive my spirit.' And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, zap these suckers.' Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this he fell asleep. He died. Now there is quite a bit we see here. And I want us to see that Stephen was filled with two things and here we see a very important truth concerning life immediately after death. First Stephen was filled with eternal life.

As Stephen was being stoned notice that he cries out or notice to whom he cries out. While he was being stoned to death he prays. As great stones were being heaved upon his head and body while his brains were literally being bashed out he prayed to Jesus and said, "Lord, receive my spirit." And notice this. This is the same prayer that Jesus prayed while he was on the cross. Luke 23 46 says, "Then Jesus calling out with a loud voice said, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' And having said this or prayed this, he thus Christ breathed his last." Then second Stephen was filled with forgiveness.

Not only does Stephen pray to Jesus that he would receive his spirit, he then prays for forgiveness for the very ones who were murdering him. As great stones were being heaved upon his head and body, as his bones were being broken and his brains were being bashed out, he prayed to Jesus, "Lord, get them." No. Lord forgive them. And notice something else. This is the same prayer Jesus prayed while on the cross. Luke 23 34 says, "And as Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them for they do not do what they do.' And they were casting lots or gambling for his garments." So notice that Stephen was filled with the same prayers of Jesus.

As he was being stoned, he was filled with eternal life with Jesus and filled with forgiveness for his killers. Now there's a lesson here that we need before we move on now. And you need this more than you know. I need this more than you know. When the trials of life come, if we are filled with the spirit and the Word of God, we will react by quoting and living the scripture. Let me repeat that. When the trials and difficulties of life come, if we are filled with, controlled with the spirit and we are filled with and controlled by the Word of God, we will react by quoting scripture and living scripture. Now think on that.

I'm not going to act like I'm a champion here, but I remember a time when I did this. Many of you know I went through a difficult circumstance at a church. It was a power struggle in the life of the church. And because I took the side with the pastor who was right, I was fired. Well, as I was fired and living the spirit filled life during those events now, I remember the Lord reminded me of scripture where Jesus calls us to bless those who persecute us. And I prayed for those men and prayed and asked God to show me how I could bless them. Well, for some of those men, it led me to go into their businesses and trade with them.

They made money off me. I had a man say, "How in the world could you do that?" I say, "Well, I'm just obeying scripture." And it wasn't me, it was the spirit of God who worked in me to do that. Third, notice the very important fact concerning life and death here, or life after death. Stephen expected to enter straight into the presence of Christ after his death. John MacArthur uses this to make a point here. I'm really lifting what he says here. It's very, very good. And I'm quoting, "The Bible does not teach any delay at all between life here and in heaven.

Either some holding place such as purgatory or some unconscious state called soul sleep. Instead, scripture teaches that believers enter Christ's presence immediately following death." And he cites 2 Corinthians 5, 8 and Philippians 1, 23. He goes on to say, "Our Lord promised a thief on the cross that he would take him to paradise." That was the Hebrew understanding of heaven now that very day, Luke 23, 43. "His parable of the rich man and Lazarus taught that the dead are never unconscious or aware or unaware of their circumstances." So the point here is this.

When a person's life leaves their physical body, they immediately go into eternity. The question is, do they go to be with Christ in heaven or do they go to judgment? Hebrews 9, 27 teaches us this. It says, "And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment." In other words, the eminence of judgment right after death. So Stephen was filled with eternal life. We could say that his heart was filled with eternal life that was right before him. And because he had a heart, the mind of Christ, he was filled with love and forgiveness for the very ones who were stoning him.

He was literally praying for their salvation, folks. In Luke, church, look at the great example we have here in Stephen. And oh, we need this. We can struggle to be filled with love and forgiveness when someone hurts our feelings, when Stephen was filled with love and forgiveness for the very ones who were murdering him. We can struggle to be filled with love and forgiveness when someone hurts our feelings, all while Stephen was filled with love and forgiveness for the very ones who were murdering him. How about we take this love and forgiveness?

How about we take this kind of love and forgiveness and we take that into our homes, into the relationships that we have with our spouses and our children, with our parents, with our brothers and sisters, in our workplace. How about we take this kind of love and forgiveness into the church? And then number seven, and this will be very short, the Sanhedrin and Saul were filled with death and persecution and more persecution. Look at chapter one, verse eight.

"And Saul approved of his execution and there arose that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles." Now, I will not be very long here because next week we will pick up right here with verse one when we examine the third persecution, this great persecution that broke out against the church. Here we see that blood bred more blood. Death bred more death. The successful persecution of Stephen to death bred more and more persecution. Now remember what we've seen with the previous two persecutions that broke out against the church.

In both times the religious leaders were unable to kill any of the Christians, but not here. The Jewish religious leaders were able to successfully persecute to death Stephen, and as a result they were filled with more persecution and death. And as we will see, the great persecution was carried out by the Jewish religious leaders, especially Saul now. That is until he met the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus when he was traveling to Damascus to persecute more Christians. So the Sanhedrin and Saul were filled with more death and more persecution.

Now as I close out these verses, and looking at Stephen, comparing Stephen with the Sanhedrin, and looking at Stephen as the first Christian martyr, I want us to see just how Stephen's life mirrored Jesus. I've touched on this quite a bit, and this will be an example, a big example for us to follow. In life and death Stephen was just like Jesus. Both were full of the Holy Spirit. Folks, we need to live Holy Spirit controlled lives. It's our duty. It's the standard. Are we living Holy Spirit controlled lives? Both were full of grace, Jesus and Stephen. You know what it means to be full of grace? You dispense the grace of God.

You dispense the grace of God. Did you know that if you're full of grace, it's really hard for you to get mad. It's hard for you to get your feelings hurt. If you're full of grace, it's hard for you to get wrinkled up about people. You know why? Because you give them grace. You give them grace. Both confronted the hypocritical religious system of their day. Both were arrested and killed by the witness of lies and liars. Look folks, if you follow Christ, people will make up lies about you. Both suffered a sham trial. Both were killed, but they were innocent.

You will be falsely accused, maybe even by people in your family who don't love the Lord. Both were accused of blasphemy. Both died outside of the city. Both prayed for forgiveness for those that persecuted and killed them. Both prayed for the salvation of their persecutors. Maybe you need to make a list of those in your life that you may see as enemies, by the way people are not enemies. Maybe you need to make a list of all those who have wronged you and hurt you, and maybe you need to begin to pray for them. Listen folks, you pray for those who have persecuted you. It'll change your heart quick.

So for us, we do not need to worry about being persecuted or even being martyred for the faith. We leave that to God. God has a plan for our life. We believe in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 that God has ordained a plan for our life. We just live for the Lord. We live a Holy Spirit-filled life. But for us, we must be busy and consistent living the Holy Spirit life and it all starts and ends with the Holy Spirit life in the middle of a local church and let God worry about the plan.

And if we are Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled, we will possess great spiritual character, great Christian character, and we will perform the great Christian service that he has for us. Now, this is a warning now. Don't get this out of order. If you get serviced before a character, you're out of order. You're out of order. Steven's our example. So Steven, the first Christian martyr. Let's pray.