Stephen: Grace and Serenity in Suffering - Devotional

GracetoYou.org ^ | 1997 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

[metmom]

“And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5).

Stephen’s excellent character teaches us much about responding to suffering and death.

Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is one of the most inspiring biblical examples of faithfulness in life and ministry. But his personal excellence shines forth most through the familiar account of his death by stoning.

As one of the first deacons in the church, Stephen was recognized early on as a man of great faith and spirituality (Acts 6:5). And a few verses later Luke describes him as “full of grace and power” (v. 8). That was a grace of loving-kindness toward others, which he displayed in a most powerful way just before his death.

In Acts 7:60, as the Jews were pelting him with rocks, Stephen was able to look up to Heaven and say, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” That kind of faith-filled, grace-filled reaction to those who were hatefully killing him was possible only because Stephen believed in God’s sovereign control over his life and death.

At the very start of his encounter, Stephen manifested another amazing response to his horribly unjust treatment: his enemies “saw his face like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15). It’s impossible for us to know precisely what such an expression would have been like, but it denoted a supernatural tranquility and joy that comes from being enveloped by the Lord’s glorious presence. Stephen’s awesome expression must have been an extremely forceful rebuke to the Jewish leaders who claimed to know God.

The typical reaction from many of us in the same situation would have been to exhibit much anxiety, stress, and anger. But Stephen demonstrated no such response. Instead, he is a role model for how any believer ought to behave during the most challenging trial. He had more than adequate grace to cope well in every circumstance (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9; James 4:6), which is true of all genuine Christians—those “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.”

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank the Lord for Christian friends who are role models to you. Pray that your behavior today would be special and Spirit-filled, not ordinary and man-centered.

For Further Study

Read Exodus 33:7-11, 17-23; 34:29-35. What does Moses’ experience reveal about the power of God’s glory?

[metmom]

Studying God’s Word ping

[epluribus_2]

That scene could be easily repeated by an evangelical westerner named Stephen, across broad swaths of the middle east, africa, China, Indonesia, South America and probably many no-go zones across Europe and in some American lost cities.

The people would be as eager or more than in the biblical story.

Some colleges campuses I bet.

It’s where we are.

Humans are a massive disappointment to God.

I read the ending, Team Jesus will eventually win, but we live in as damned times as the Gospels and Acts, Corinthians, etc.

[.30Carbine]

In Acts 7:60, as the Jews were pelting him with rocks, Stephen was able to look up to Heaven and say, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” That kind of faith-filled, grace-filled reaction to those who were hatefully killing him was possible only because Stephen believed in God’s sovereign control over his life and death.

Stephen was my first favorite follower of Jesus (Peter was second and John was third). Stephen was so bold and still so loving! So filled with God's Holy Spirit! If we are called to testify and to suffer as he did, may our reaction be the same as his. It must require that our daily walk be as Stephen's was - intimate with our Master in the Word, in communion/prayer, and in fulfilling whatever service Jesus has foreordained that we should do.

Lord, grant that all your servants may be like Stephen!

[metmom]

AMEN!!!!