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Acts - Empowered: A Candle That Shall Never Be Put Out (Acts 7:54-8:13) Pastor Jeff Kliewer May 6, 2018
Let's pray. Father, thank you for the bread and the cup. The body and blood given to atone for our sin. And thank you for this bread which is your word. These are the words of life. Nourish us by your word.
Teach us. Strengthen us. Pray that you would correct us. Inspire us. Give us joy through your word. Lord, we humble ourselves before you right now, recognizing that we desperately need something and it's not in our nature to even take it.
Our human nature would be cold and distracted. But the thing we most need is to hear your voice, to hear your word. So Lord, help us right now to push all distractions out of our minds. And to focus our attention on this bread, this word that comes from you.
Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Father. Speak to us, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Any Lord of the Ring fans? All right. A number of you liked Lord of the Rings.
Well, probably most of you have seen it. There is a scene early on in the movie where, I think his name's Frodo, right? Frodo is escaping and trying to get away. He's got this ring and he comes to a place called the White Horse Inn.
The White Horse Inn. And he's hanging out there for a while and it's an important scene in the movie early on. What is the White Horse Inn? Now, you realize J .R. Tolkien, who wrote the Lord of the Rings, was a Christian.
And there was an illusion and many of the scenes and the themes of the movie have biblical parallels. Well, the White Horse Inn means something. It refers to the White Horse Inn in London, which was kind of like a tavern, a hangout place where the intellectuals of the Church of England would gather in the 1500s.
Of course, on the mainland, on the big continent, Martin Luther and Melanchthon and Calvin and those guys were leading what was called the Protestant Reformation. And the Church of England was kind of formed out of that.
It's sort of a blend between Catholicism and the Reformed doctrines. But when the Reformed doctrines first started coming from the mainland into England, very few were believing or understanding. One man named Hugh Latimer was training to be a priest.
And Latimer, in his defense in 1524, in his thesis statement, his disputation to become a Bachelor of Divinity, wrote a paper refuting the Reformed doctrines that were coming from the mainland. He says he was the most adamant of all the papists he knew.
Very much opposed the Reformed doctrines. Until one man named Thomas Bilney came to him for confession a few years after that. Once he graduated, he actually became a bishop, did Latimer. And Bilney came to Latimer in the confessional and talked with him.
And from that day on, Latimer began to believe the Reformed doctrines. He began to meet with Bilney as well as Thomas Cranmer and a guy named Ridley, Nicholas Ridley, and a number of other prominent people in the Church of England began to meet at the White Horse Inn.
And before long, this new understanding of an old gospel began to take root at the White Horse Inn. Latimer believed, Ridley believed, Cranmer. And these men began to lead the Church of England toward the Reformed faith.
And England began to turn that way, powerfully. Henry VIII was on the throne. His son Edward took to the throne and he was a strong Protestant, but before long, he was replaced by his sister. Some of you will know her name, Mary, whose infamous nickname was Bloody Mary.
And she was as papist as she could be. Very much hating the Reformed doctrines. And now, Latimer, this great Reformed leader of the Church of England, began to face persecution. He was told to be quiet about those doctrines that he was teaching and before long, he was locked up in the Tower of London and held as a prisoner, forced to be quiet, given many chances to recant the gospel of grace.
But he refused to do that. He and Nicholas Ridley were one day brought before the council and condemned to die. And they were taken out in the midst of an assembly, surrounded by throngs of angry people.
They were tied to a wooden stake and wooden faggots, as they were called, put around them, piled up high. Nicholas Ridley on one side and Hugh Latimer on the other, given one last chance to recant the doctrines of grace.
Instead, Latimer turned to Ridley and famously said this, Play the man, Master Ridley. We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out. Rather than recanting, they declared the gospel.
The fires were lit and a candle was lit. As they burned to death as martyrs for the Christian faith, all of England saw that Latimer and Ridley loved Christ more than life itself. This is what the blood of martyrs says to us.
We live in a free country. And we thank God for the freedoms. According to 1 Timothy 2, that's what we pray for and we thank God for the ability to live a peaceful and quiet life in the land. But don't let the comforts that we have lull us into a sleep.
We must remember, and the blood of the martyrs reminds us, that Christ is more valuable than life. Tertullian said in 197, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Today we're going to learn about Stephen's martyrdom, the first martyr of the Christian church.
But you'll see right away that the blood of the martyr popped up in seed form, bursting forth like light that cannot be suppressed. And the gospel spread more through the death of Stephen than it did through his life.
As powerful as his ministry was in Jerusalem. Play the man, Master Ridley. We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out. The gospel is a light that can never be put out.
No matter what persecution, what suffering comes into our lives, it cannot be put out. But the biggest lesson I want us to take from this word today is the words of Paul in Philippians 3, 8 -10. Saul was standing there giving approval to the death of Stephen, and yet transformed by that seed that was planted into him.
He becomes the Apostle Paul. Listen to the words of Philippians 3, 8 -10. I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
The blood of the martyrs challenges our worldliness, our affection for the things of this world. When we see that we have brothers and sisters willing to lay down their lives for the gospel, we are challenged to break free from the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life.
So let's go now to Acts chapter 7 verse 54 and following. The first 53 verses of Acts 7 were a sermon that Stephen preached. In that sermon he accomplished three things. One, he defended himself. Having been charged with standing against Moses and God and the temple and the law, Stephen stands up and proclaims the word of God regarding those things and shows that he is in fact innocent.
He only agrees with Psalm 11 4 and Isaiah 66 1 and 2. Heaven is God's throne. The earth is his footstool. Stephen defends himself. He does a second thing though. He introduces a charge against the religious people of Jerusalem who were rejecting Christ as Messiah.
He shows that they always reject the prophets of God. They don't want to hear the word of God and that's what the Pharisees and the religious leaders were doing at that very time. Christ was being proclaimed as crucified and risen and yet most of the people rejected that and they crucified Christ and they reject his prophecy.
The third thing that Stephen did in his sermon is he presented Christ as the Savior. He showed that Moses in the Old Testament led the people out from slavery in Egypt into the promised land and in the same way Jesus is our deliverer who can bring us out of our slavery to sin and bring us into eternal life.
He uses Moses from Deuteronomy 18 15 to 20 to show that Jesus is the greater Moses. He preaches the gospel. So what does he get for that? That's where we left off. Look now at Acts chapter 7 verse 54.
Now when they heard these things they were enraged and they ground their teeth at him 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.
Look at the contrast now between Stephen and those who are hearing his message. In verse 54 they hear the things that Stephen is preaching and the result is they are enraged. They grind their teeth. This is a picture of the human fallen fleshly condition.
So prone to rage even as Christians you know we are sometimes prone to getting back into the flesh and not being filled with the spirit but rather walking in the flesh. In verse 55 that phrase full of the Holy Spirit is very important.
I think the greatest need for each of us as Christians is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with God's Holy Spirit all things fall into place. We love his word. It's not a burden to read it.
We want to pray. We want to tell others about our faith. We want to walk in obedience. We want to love our wives and our children and to care for other people. The filling of the spirit completely transforms us.
Stephen has that but here the religious leaders do not. They grind their teeth. Can you just picture that? I think they were physically grinding their teeth in rage. Angry you could see the contortion of their faces.
I know when I do wrongly and instead of setting aside time to work I try to take my work into some family time. I'll be playing on my cell phone while I'm playing with my kids and I'll be working on an email then I'll start to get really engaged in that email and my thoughts are on the email rather than my child and my kid will come up and just pop on my lap or something and just do something that's just fun that normally when I'm filled with the spirit would be something I would welcome and enjoy and we would play but when I begin to get distracted with my work instead some anger rises up in me and I might even say something like not now not now just something harsh or quick not mean but just not spirit filled.
How many of you are familiar with that? Story. We all get distracted but what we're often missing is the filling of the Holy Spirit. A spirit-filled person finds joy where others find rage. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.
These things against these things there is no law. This is the filling of the Spirit but contrast that with the rage of those who don't have the Spirit of God. Now in verse 56 and following Stephen says, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
Here's a reference to Daniel chapter 7. The Son of Man appears in a vision. The Ancient of Days, God the Father but now the Son of Man appears. Also in Psalm 110 we're taught that the Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.
Very important messianic psalm that the Father sits on his throne and the Son sits at the right hand of the Father. Stephen now filled with the Spirit in the presence of the Sanhedrin in their meeting place.
Somehow I guess looking through the ceiling looking up at heaven a vision is unveiled for him and he says, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of the Father. To mention Jesus at the Father's right hand is to proclaim that he is the Son of Man.
He is the promised King of Daniel. He is the Messiah of Psalm 110. He is the one that these leaders are rejecting. Stephen is preaching Christ. He's preaching the gospel but I want to show you something else in the text.
In Psalm 110 the Messiah is seated at the right hand of the Father. Here when Stephen looks up to heaven Jesus begins to stand to his feet. Why is that important? In standing Jesus by his posture is welcoming Stephen.
He's honoring Stephen. This standing I think says well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master. It is a posture of honor and appreciation. Jesus is looking down at his son Stephen the one for whom he died and he sees this passion in this young man.
He sees this love and he stands to welcome him into heaven. Verse 57 through 60. Here we see something opposite of what I think we might assume. If you're faithful things will go well in your life right?
If you just do what the Bible says you are not going to have any suffering. Nobody's going to stand against you. Life will be easy. You will live your best life now. That is what we're told. It's not what my text says.
It's not what my Bible says. We will face trouble. Jesus said in this world you will face trouble but take heart. I have overcome the world. He will bring you through the storm. He doesn't promise that you will have an easy ride.
He promises you that no matter what he brings you through he's with you. So here in 57 through 60 is intense suffering and you know sometimes when you're reading the Bible you've read it so many times it just sort of you get used to it.
But picture Stephen the father. This young man. Where are his kids? Are they watching this go down? Where is his wife? Where is his mother and his father? Picture the humanness of this story. Because many of us suffer.
All of us suffer. And this gives us hope because we'll see that God has a purpose. 57 to 60. But they cried out with a loud voice and they stopped their ears and rushed. I mean these are like little children.
They're plugging their ears and grinding their teeth. It's just it's really sad. 58 they rushed. They've rushed together. Then they cast him out of the city and stone him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
The Holy Spirit through Luke here is introducing us to Saul. He's giving us some hope in the story. A little foreshadowing of what's to come. Verse 59. And as they were stoning Stephen he called out, Lord Jesus receive my spirit.
Sound familiar? Luke 23 46. One of the seven things Jesus said on the cross. And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, Lord do not hold this sin against them. Again Luke 23 34. Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
When he had said this he fell asleep. In the suffering of Stephen he becomes more like Christ. In your suffering and my suffering there is a purpose. It is to conform us into the image of the son. Romans 8 29.
This is what God is accomplishing. Us who are fleshly by nature. Who are hostile toward God by disposition. He is transforming into the image of his dear son. That's why you're still here on earth by the way.
Having accepted Christ he could have raptured you up to heaven just like that. But no he leaves you here in this hostile world. And allows you to suffer for the purpose of conforming you into the image of the son of God.
James 4 4. Friendship with this world is enmity towards God. When we're a friend of this world. Meaning that this world is what we love. It's our football team that we love. It's our our eating out the places we love to go.
It's a run on the beach. It's it's that the things of this world that become the center of our affection. And even the sinful things of this world which are against God's law. Delight our hearts. That friendship with the world is enmity towards God.
The lust of the eyes. The lust of the flesh. The pride of life. 1 John 2 16. This is our attachment with the world. Suffering is God's way of breaking us free from our worldliness. Sanctifying us. Setting apart our lives for God.
It has a purpose. Romans 8 29. To be conformed to the image. Never in the story of Stephen is he more like Christ than in his suffering. He was already a man full of the Holy Spirit. And yet here his words are the very words of Christ on the cross.
He is suffering the same way that Jesus died. Don't miss that parallel because it's important for our lives. But notice at the end of verse 60. When he had said this he fell asleep. The Greek word there is koimao.
And from that we get koimaterion. Koimaterion is where we get the word cemetery. A cemetery literally by the Greek is a sleeping place. It says in our text that he koimao. He fell asleep. When a believer in Christ dies.
It's not death. But sleep. John Owen wrote the death of death in the death of Christ. Because of Christ our death is not final. It's only a resting place. And many of you all of us have loved ones buried in cemeteries.
This week an uncle that I love very much passed away. Uncle Herb out in Washington State. When he was about 40 years old he suffered a farm accident. Falling off a tractor he broke his back and he was in a wheelchair.
And he this man loves the Lord though the rest of his life. Almost 40 more years of life in a wheelchair. He continued to love Christ. These last few years you know what he's been doing? He's been writing the Bible by hand.
Got through I think more than one copy of writing the Bible by hand. Because he found that as he wrote down the scripture. It helped him to understand and for it to sink in. So there are entire boxes of his handwritten Bible notes.
He was a special uncle to me because when he saw that I went into the ministry in the early 2000s. He and I really connected. And he would pray for me. In fact he said that he would pray for me every day.
You know early on I would write him letters. Back and forth. He lived in Linden, Washington. And in the last couple years, few years I've been busy and I forgot to write him. And it's kind of a source of sadness in me that man.
I really wanted to get back out to Washington to see him one more time. But it didn't happen. Some regret there. But then I remember that the cemetery is a sleeping place. And when our Lord Jesus comes back to redeem us.
The dead in Christ shall rise. And those who have been in wheelchairs their whole lives will be dancing. And running. And enjoying the presence of the Lord. And death, where is your sting? It's swallowed up in victory.
Our Lord Jesus has conquered the grave. And so he's able to raise us too. And we will be with him. And there will be eternal joy in his presence. In the presence of the Lord. And so the Christian mourns.
But not without hope. The Christian grieves. But we still have joy. Remember to reach out to those you love. Write those letters that you've been forgetting to write. But remember this. That if you have a loved one that you've buried.
In the Lord. There's coming a day of resurrection. And so this is a story of hope. He fell asleep. This is not eternal death. This is sleep according to the Word of God. Verse one of chapter eight. This little note here.
And Saul approved of his execution. Here Saul is the murderer. He's the one lending approval. He's the Gamaliel trained member. The the excelling Hebrew. Who has authority. And the people lay down their cloaks at Saul's feet.
I find this really encouraging. Because of all these people who rejected Stephen's gospel. The gospel could not be snuffed out. The light could not be buried under a bushel. One man heard and will believe.
And we don't know if anybody else came to faith through Stephen's sermon. I don't know about you. But it seems to me when I'm out evangelizing. At the gym and in the neighborhood. Most people reject what I have to say.
But that's okay. Because if God reaches that one with the seed of the gospel. That one could be the next Apostle Paul. Maybe you don't consider yourself a great evangelist. And so you might not do it.
But even if everybody you know. Your family and friends reject what you have to say. Go out preaching. It could be that one seed in the least likely soil. The person you think has no desire for what you're saying.
In fact it could be the person who's most angry at you for saying it. Saul in fact is angry. Let's keep reading here. And there arose on 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. Scattered. Persecution. Scattering. Feels like a great loss. But actually if you'll think about it. And the thesis statement of the book of Acts of course is chapter 1 verse 8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem. Judea. Samaria. To the ends of the earth. God's plan was to scatter the seed. The word diaspora. You know about the diaspora. Comes from the Greek dia. Means throughout or thoroughly spread.
And spora which means seed. To thoroughly spread out the seed. Scattering the seed. That's what's happening here. They were pretty comfortable in Jerusalem. They had not yet gone out to the ends of the earth.
It took persecution to spread the seed. To send them out. God will accomplish in his sovereign purposes what he has planned to do. And it doesn't really depend on man's willfulness. In fact it's usually against man's willfulness.
Sometimes it's against even what we would want to do. God will use suffering or something. Some circumstance to get us to do what he intends. Think back to the very first command of the Bible. Genesis 1 28.
Fill the earth and subdue it. Fill the earth and subdue it. That means spread out to the ends of the earth and subdue it. So what do the people do in Genesis 11 verse 4? Let us build a tower and make a name for ourselves.
Let us condense ourselves into this one place. And not spread out. Verse 4 tells us. Intentionally not do what Genesis 1 28 told us to do. And so God says no. I will come down. I will confuse your languages so that you will go out to all the ends of the earth.
To fill the earth and subdue it. The willfulness of man is not what will bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. It's God's sovereignty that does it. Part of the reason that we suffer is to make us seed sowers.
You may end up in a hospital room somewhere one day. And you'll find you're talking to a nurse about the Lord. My grandfather when he was in his dying months was sharing the gospel with everybody. Each time the ambulance would come to pick him up.
Because he was having some other episode near the end of his life. He would witness to all the people that were taking him to the hospital. And witness to the doctors. There's things that come into our lives that God has a sovereign purpose for.
And we don't know what those are. But we get to see what happened with Stephen don't we? Look at this. We're almost done. Verse 2 and following. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
We do grieve. We do cry. But Saul was ravaging the church. And entering house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Seems like a horrible circumstance. And it is. However look at God's purpose in it.
Verses 4 to 8. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip.
When they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them. And many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city.
Very often I've discovered this. After a period of suffering in your life. God releases a fresh and greater anointing to do the words and works of Jesus. To preach the word. And for him to stretch out his hand to do great things.
In Psalm 126 it talks about how a sower goes out in tears. All that he has. His seed. It could be food to him then. But no. Instead he throws it back out on the ground. And in tears he sows. But he reaps in joy.
When that harvest comes in. And notice at the end of verse 8. The final result of suffering. Believe it or not. As painful as it feels at the time. The final result of suffering is joy. You go through the fire.
But you come out on the other side. So there was much joy in that city. We went from mourning to joy. Please make a note of Psalm 126. It's one of my favorite. Especially if you're going through something.
And you're in a time of mourning and tears. There's coming a time of joy that will make sense of it. There's coming a harvest of righteousness that God is performing in your life. Suffering serves the purpose of weakening our affection for this world.
And strengthening our affection for Christ. And for his coming kingdom. Finally verse 9 through 13. There was a man named Simon. This is a powerful story. He had previously practiced magic in the city.
And amazed the people of Samaria. Saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him. From the least to the greatest. Saying this man is the power of God that is called great. And they paid attention to him.
Because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news. About the kingdom of God. And the name of Jesus Christ. They were baptized. Both men and women.
Even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed. He was amazed. What you see here is the false satanic works of Simon. Pale in comparison to what God can truly do.
The genuine thing. The power of God. Overwhelming the powers of darkness. And so in closing. Do you trust the power of God? Whatever you're going through. Whatever suffering comes into your life. God is greater than our suffering.
He has a reason for it. He has a purpose. He is working all things together for good. To those who love God and are called according to his purpose. I put on the back of your notes. The true grace of God from first Peter.
I want to point you there. As a reminder. The book of first Peter is very much about suffering. Go there. The notes from that sermon series that we did are here. In summary form. Be reminded by first Peter.
I've also put in your notes to read 2nd Timothy 3 verses 12 to 14. James 5 10 to 11. Hebrews 12 11. Recognize the scriptures take this up as a very important theme. And in Stephen we have a living example for us in the scripture.
It's a story of martyrdom. But the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Matt Chandler wrote. In general there are exceptions. But this is the basic rule. The more a government tries to subject and destroy Christianity.
The more it flourishes. The more it is given friendly quarter. The more it grows weak and stale and soft. Professional. That might be true too. Martyrdom does bring out a genuineness and a passion for Christ.
But we are at risk of growing stale and soft. The church tends to thrive under persecution. In fact in the first 300 years of Christianity. From the time Christ died around 33 AD until about 350. The church went from 120 meaning in an upper room.
To 51 of the Roman Empire. According to the historian Rodney Stark. 51 by 350 AD. In the midst of the greatest persecution the church had ever seen. 10 great waves of suffering. By evil Roman leaders.
The blood of the martyrs is the seat of the church. But the loudest message that we hear from them. Is that Christ is more valuable to us than life itself. So we close with that thought. Take all of your life.
Picture where you go to eat. Picture your family and your friends. Everything that you love about this world. Wrap it up in a bundle and call that your life. Put a less than sign in front of it. Less than Christ.
Christ is more valuable. He's worthy. He's worth more than all of life put together. That's what martyrdom says. When someone gives their life blood. They leave it all behind. Family and friends. Everything for the cause of Christ.
Pray that it never happens to me or any of you. But recognize that that message speaks to us. And reminds us. To count everything else as loss. Compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.
For whose sake we have lost all things. Count them rubbish. That you may know him and be found in him. Not having a righteousness of your own. That comes from the law. But that which is through faith in Christ.
The righteousness that comes from God. And is by faith. I want to know him. The power of his resurrection. And the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings. Becoming like him. In his death.