As a Christians how do you picture yourself dying? Haven't we worried about having the time to ask God one last time to forgive us. What if we die and don't have time or what if we have time, but instead of asking forgiveness for ourselves, we ask it for others? There is one in the Bible who did just that - Stephen.
Full Of Faith And Power
The Bible describes Stephen as being "full of faith and the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5). After Stephen and others were chosen to be deacons, the apostles laid hands on them. Again it repeats in verse 8 that Stephen was "full of faith and power" and because of this he did "great wonders and signs".
Stephen Accuses The Council
Certain men rose up who weren't able to confront Stephen directly because of his great wisdom and the spirit within him, so they enlisted people to lie about him saying that he had blasphemed. When Stephen was hauled before the council, he seemed to relish the opportunity to speak about the great faith of his fathers, and how, in spite of their lives and the words of the prophets, the Jewish nation rejected them just as they now rejected Jesus, the Just One.
" Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” Acts 7: 52-53
Stephen Sees Jesus
Stephen most assuredly knew what the outcome of such language would be. He had just called his accusers "betrayers and murderers" of the promised Messiah. Then in the midst of the chaos that these charges brought, Stephen was blessed with a vision from God. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. As an exclamation mark to the end of his Spirit filled sermon, Stephen added insult to injury by proclaiming his vision to his accusers.
Acts says that Stephen "gazed into Heaven" (Acts 7:55). He was expecting something. He was longing for something. He wanted to see his home. God graciously granted Stephen's desire. When we seek Jesus, when we look for Him with all of our hearts, we too will find Him.
Stephen Is Killed
As Stephen was led out to be stoned, the crowd laid their coats at the feet of another figure of importance in the Bible, Paul (at that time known as Saul). In the midst of the stoning Stephen stood and prayed to our Lord Jesus. This was the first recorded instance of prayers being addressed to Jesus in Heaven. Then kneeling, Stephen cried out with a loud voice, surely strengthened by the Holy Spirit, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” (Acts 7: 60). Stephen prayed for others, not himself. He was concerned with forgiveness.
Stephen couldn't see into their hearts like Jesus could. He didn't say, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Where Jesus prayed to His Father, Stephen prayed to Jesus. Knowing they would kill him; Stephen was obedient to death. He forgave them just as Jesus forgave His persecutors.
Stephen prayed to Jesus to receive his spirit. It was Jesus, the cornerstone that was rejected, that he prayed to.
"This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4: 11-12
Then the Word says he "fell asleep". This term was often used when death came to people of faith.
Saul Consents To Stephen's Death
The very next verse in Acts 8:1 tells us that Saul "was consenting to his death". Did Stephen's death play a role in the conversion of Saul? Only God knows that. Surely though Saul must have remembered Stephen's death. Where the mob was in a frenzy, Stephen was calm. Where the mob was out for revenge, Stephen was forgiving. Where the mob was full of liars, Stephen spoke of the Truth. What a contrast. What a witness.
Stephen's Concern Was For Others
What struck me also was that Stephen, full of faith and power, in his last moments does not beg God to forgive his sins. Stephen prayed not for himself at the moment of his death but for others. Stephen had taken care of his relationship with the Lord long before he lay in a broken, bloody heap before the mob. He wasn't worried about himself. He was concerned for those who did not know Jesus. Where is our concern?
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