The Power of Our Testimony

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 7:57-60).

The angry council members lost all control of their emotions. They were so enraged they screamed and covered their ears, hoping they would not have to hear another heart-piercing word. They could not hold themselves back, so as one, they rushed at the young disciple and dragged him out of the city in order to put an end to Stephen’s testimony by putting an end to his life. But something else happened! While they succeeded in terminating his life, they could not extinguish the effects of Stephen’s words. In fact, while they could not hear because of stopped up ears and uncircumcised hearts, Stephen’s last words would be heard and have a profound impact on many, especially one… “young man named Saul” … “And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him” (Acts 22:20). Stephen was the church’s first martyr, and we can learn from him how to share the gospel with confidence through the power of our testimony.

The powerful testimony provokes frustration. We have heard it said, the pen is mightier than the sword. Words have power to move people to action, for good or for bad. True disciples are called to surrender our thoughts and words to Christ… “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). When we trust our thoughts and words to Christ, the Holy Spirit takes over and anoints our words with soul-piercing and heart-convicting power… “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:19-20). Surrender your thoughts and words to Christ and He will give you a Holy Spirit empowered testimony to share too... “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11). Such Holy Spirit inspired words may provoke frustration, but if we trust Him, God will give us an overcoming testimony just like Stephen’s.

The powerful testimony promotes faith. Stephen’s last words… “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” show that in the face of impending death, he was trusting Christ with what comes next. He had a consistent testimony when he was chosen to be a deacon… “They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5), before his accusers and the Jewish Council… “But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” (Acts 6:10), and now at his death. Stephen had growing faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and in the anointing of the Holy Spirit on his life. Stephen’s witness showed not only what he believed, but his testimony also inspired others to trust Christ, to be saved and assured of heaven. Like Stephen, our testimony can promote faith and make disciples of others today!

The powerful testimony provides forgiveness. With his last words, Stephen asked Jesus Christ not to hold the sin of his murderers against them. His prayer for the forgiveness of his enemies recalled the words of Jesus spoken over His enemies from the cross… “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). In the light of their sin, Stephen’s testimony pointed to the abundant forgiveness Christ offers sinners. The young man Saul, whose heart was pierced by Stephen’s testimony, would later become the great apostle Paul, and his testimony would also point to the amazing forgiveness that is found in Christ… “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15). Let the amazing forgiveness you’ve experienced in Christ compel you to share your testimony that provides forgiveness to the lost.

As we grow up into Christ, and we trust the Holy Spirit, we introduce others to Christ through…

The Power of Our Testimony.

The Eyes that See the Truth

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. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:54-56).

Stephen was surrounded by enemies. They were enraged at his testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. They were offended by his declaration that they were hard hearted and stubborn like their fathers who rejected the prophets and disobeyed God’s Word. Finally, they were provoked to attack him by his affirmation that they had murdered the Messiah! Things looked bad for Stephen, but he saw something different. The Holy Spirit empowered Stephen to see through these threatening circumstances, beyond the impending attack, and straight through to the reality of his situation... “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). Because Stephen was “full of the Holy Spirit”, he was able to see through the eyes that see the truth.

The Holy Spirit raises our gaze toward heaven. When we’re under fire, it’s not easy to see beyond the immediate threat. We need God’s help to remind us of our final destination and that in Christ, in the end, we win… “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful” (Revelation 17:14). When we remember that we are being prepared for heaven we begin to see how God is working in the present trials for our good… “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Evidence that we are born again of the Spirit of God is an increasing ability to discern how God is using present trials to prepare us for heaven.

The Holy Spirit refocuses us on the glory of God. Tough times tend to take our eyes off of our primary life purpose, to glorify God… “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). The Holy Spirit will remind us, just as He reminded Stephen, that sometimes, our gravest trials produce the greatest glory for God. Stephen not only saw God’s glory, He would soon be ushered into the glorious presence of His Savior… “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:24-26). In giving Stephen a glimpse of God’s glory, the Spirit empowered him to forgive his attackers and give a marvelous Christ-like testimony to those looking on. Among the witnesses was a young man named Saul who would remember Stephen’s life-changing testimony many years later. Evidence that we are maturing disciples is an increasing hunger for the glory of God.

The Holy Spirit reminds us of the authority of Jesus. In the shadow of his accusers, Stephen saw… “the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God”. This is the symbolic position of authority and reminded Stephen that it was Christ who was in charge of this whole event. He remembered Jesus’ testimony and commission and found the strength to share the grace and mercy of Christ with his attackers… “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18-19). The Holy Spirit helped Stephen to see that this trial and execution was in truth a demonstration of and an invitation to discipleship. Though the council did not get it, some in the crowd (Saul?) were convicted by Stephen’s testimony. Evidence that we are true disciples of Christ is an increasing trust in the authority and sovereignty of Jesus over every moment of this temporal life.

As we grow up into Christ, and we strive to be full of the Holy Spirit, He gives us…

The Eyes that See the Truth.

The People that are Stiff-necked

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” (Acts 7:51-53).

Stephen brought his testimony to a climax. He called his audience a “stiff-necked people”. They were stubborn like their fathers, resisting, ridiculing, and rejecting God’s Spirit, prophets, and law. We have seen that all three of these revealed that Jesus is the Christ. The Spirit led Stephen to reveal that although the Jews were circumcised in the flesh, it was their uncircumcised hearts that separated them from God… “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:11-12). The wonderful good news is that Christ has circumcised the hearts of His children of faith… “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11). Therefore, we are free to approach God and enjoy growing fellowship with Him. As we listen closely to Stephen’s glorious testimony, the Holy Spirit will work in us too, examining, convicting, and cleansing our circumcised hearts to keep us from becoming like the people that are stiff-necked.

Stiff-necked people resist the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the very presence and power of God in those who believe… “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). He empowers us to witness (Acts 1:8), He convicts us and the world around us of sin, righteousness, and judgement (John 16:8), He guides us into truth (John 16:13), and He seals and protects our salvation (Ephesians 1:13). He does all this and much more, but Christians are vulnerable to grieving, ignoring, and sometimes even resisting the Holy Spirit… “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The word translated quench here means to extinguish. Here God’s Word teaches that we miss the Holy Spirit’s power when we resist Him. As we grow up into Christ and we enjoy the fruit of His presence and power, we seek to be increasingly led by the Holy Spirit.

Stiff-necked people ridicule the prophets. Prophets are those anointed by God to speak for God. The Old Testament prophets spoke to both kings and commoners. Today, New Testament believers have the Word of God in our hearts… “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:8). We also have the anointing and blessing of God to proclaim His Word to our lost world… “And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (Romans 10:15). As we grow up into Christ, we love to tell others the good news by sharing His Word because we are His contemporary prophets.

Stiff-necked people reject God’s law. Like a newborn infant, those who are truly born again have a circumcised heart and a growing hunger for the Word of God… “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). As infants progress from milk to solid food, maturing disciples progress from the spiritual milk to the spiritual solid food of God’s Word through disciplined study and faithful obedience… “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil… (Hebrews 5:14). As we faithfully feed on God’s Word, we discover and enjoy the blessings of obedience to His perfect law as revealed in His Word… “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psalm 19:7-8). As we grow up into Christ our hunger and love for His precious law grows within us.

As we grow up into Christ, love for His Spirit, prophets, and law testifies that we are no longer among…

The People that are Stiff-necked.

The House that is Not Made by Hands

“Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?’” (Acts 7:44-50).

Stephen reminded his increasingly agitated audience that God has always wanted to live in the very midst of His people, but He could not dwell directly with them because of their sin. He provided Moses with details for a traveling house, a tent, in the wilderness. He gave Solomon instructions for a stationary house in Jerusalem, the capital city of their homeland. But neither of these houses could contain God because each of them vainly sought to restrict His presence to a place of meeting. God had a much better plan for His eventual house. It would be much more than a meeting place, it would be a place of never-ending intimate communion between the Father and His children. God’s house would be the hearts of His children, and such a place would be known as the house that is not made by hands.

The heart that is God’s home is His residing place. When God’s presence dwelt in the holiest place in the tabernacle and in the temple, His relationship with His children came through the annual visit of the high priest… “The priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing” (Hebrews 9:6-8). These two temporary houses remind us of the great distance between our holy Father and us, His sinful children. Jesus Christ opened up the way into the presence of God by offering Himself as the atoning sacrifice for our sin… “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22). The heart that has been cleansed by Christ’s blood longs for intimate, growing fellowship with God because He has made it His residing place.

The heart that is God’s home is His resting place. At Calvary’s cross the sacrifice for sin was made and the work of redemption was finished… “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30). We no longer have to strive for our father’s acceptance. We can live in confidence, resting in the finished work of Christ, as we prepare for eternity in our promised land, heaven… “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:9-10). The heart that has trusted in Christ as Savior is a place of peace and He has made it His resting place.

The heart that is God’s home is His ruling place. With the words… “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool”, the Lord reminds us of His sovereignty over every square inch of His creation… “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:18-19). There is tremendous comfort and peace for those who trust and submit to God’s rule, and it begins in the heart that He has made His ruling place.

As we grow up into Christ, we enjoy increasing fellowship with Him as God has made our heart to be…

The House that is Not Made by Hands.

The Heart that Forfeits the Blessings of God

“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’” (Acts 7:35-43).

Stephen’s testimony before the angry Jewish council continued. After describing the life-shaping encounter between Moses and God, Stephen described another encounter between Moses and the children of Israel. The Hebrews rejected Moses as their deliverer. Along with him, they rejected the law God supernaturally delivered through Moses and the land of promise he would lead them to. The Holy Spirit inspired Stephen to reveal the reason for such rejection, and along with the hard-hearted Jewish leaders we also get a glimpse of the heart that forfeits the blessings of God.

They rejected God’s leader. The Hebrews rejected Moses despite the wonders and signs he performed in Egypt, despite the parting of the Red Sea, and despite the fact that he spoke with angels. Although God had removed them from Egypt, His children had not removed Egypt’s gods from their hearts. Moses confronted them with the challenge… “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Our sins clearly reflect the condition of our heart. It is the internal choice about who we love and worship that leads to external choices that others see… “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17). If Christ does not have our heart, we forfeit the blessings of following God’s chosen leader.

They rejected God’s law. Moses delivered God’s law to the Jews and Jesus fulfilled God’s law for His children… “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). As we learn to love and obey God’s law, it brings us closer to Jesus Christ… “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). A primary blessing of studying and obeying God’s law is understanding and appreciating Christ’s law-fulfilling sacrifice for us… “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4). Rejecting God’s law leads to forfeiting the blessing of salvation.

They rejected God’s land. God’s covenant with the children of Israel included the promise of a homeland. His new covenant with His born-again children includes the promise of an eternal home with Him… “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God’’ (Revelation 21:3). The only way to this forever promised land is by following God’s Leader, Jesus Christ… “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Rejecting Christ leads to forfeiting the blessing of God’s land forever.

As we grow up into Christ, we are thankful that His grace has transformed…

The Heart that Forfeits the Blessings of God.