From the heart of the
pastor:
“But being
full of the Holy Spirit, [Stephen] gazed intently
into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus
standing at the right hand of God” (Acts
7:55).
Stephen was summoned to
come before the Sanhedrin and defend himself against
the charge that he was calling for the destruction
of the temple and advocating doing away with the Law
of Moses. Though both allegations were false,
Stephen captured the occasion to witness to the same
Christ whom the Sanhedrin had condemned to die.
Stephen appeared before
his accusers and the Supreme Court of Judaism with
the face of an angel (Acts 6:15). He was not
frightened, frustrated or angry. He met his
wolf-like assailants with a courageous confident
awareness that he spoke with the authority of the
God of glory. He knew he had received mercy and was
at that moment standing in God’s grace, for he had
accessed God’s throne of grace (Heb. 4:16).
The first known martyr
for the cause of Christ subsequent to Jesus’
resurrection was not afraid to die. He had already
died to himself so he could not be intimidated with
the prospect of dying again (Gal. 2:20). He was
purposed to capture every opportunity God allowed
for the presentation of Jesus’ love.
Though Stephen’s
accusers were savage in their address to him, he
refused to condescend to their level. Stephen would
neither quench nor grieve the Holy Spirit. His
fullness was from the Lord – no one and no thing
could rob Him of Jesus’ Spirit of holiness who
filled him with the love of Christ.
There are seasons in
your life when your world has so pressed upon you
that your resources are gone and you struggle just
to breathe. During these times you become acutely
aware of your inability to control the situation and
your need to access God’s throne of grace. Though
you should be ever aware of your dependence upon God
in all matters, difficult circumstances heighten
your awareness.
Why was Stephen able to
see the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right
hand of God? God offers two reasons. He was full
of the Holy Spirit and he captured this opportunity
to gaze intently into heaven.
Difficult times do not
fill you with the Holy Spirit. Difficult times do
offer opportunities for the unveiling of what really
is going on in your heart and life. Spirit-filled
Christians rise to the task when challenged with the
darknesses of this life.
You can identify the
Christians who are filled with the Spirit because
they will be the ones turning their eyes away from
themselves and their difficulties so that they can
gaze intently into the heaven of God. The
likelihood of you seeing Jesus by looking at the
flesh surrounding you is unlikely. You will see
Jesus when you turn your eyes upon the God of glory.
