The Attitude of Stephen

"Out of the abundance of the heart his (the) mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45 RSV)

"The tenor of the life decides the crisis of the moment."

In these days, when the Lord’s dear ones are hourly in contact with a diseased world, and the danger of infection is truly great, it is refreshing and pleasant as well as pleasing to the Lord, to turn our minds to a contemplation of beautiful things, holy lives, Christ‑like characters.

Amongst the anthology of such individuals in God’s Word, the beloved Stephen surely has a place. Stephen was a man of well‑balanced attributes. He had knowledge, and was sober with it; he had love for the Lord, and knew how to put it into practical service; he had faith, but not blind faith. He followed his Lord to the end, bearing erect the banner of Love, Meekness and Purity, and when his adversaries, by corrupting justice, resorted to brute force in a vain effort to nullify his holy influence, he quietly gave up his life as being quite secondary to his loving allegiance to the Master. Did his enemies show up favourably when all was done? Did they succeed in their aims, and was Stephen a hopeless failure in his? Think on the brief account of his experiences in Acts 6 and 7.

The early church chose seven men of their assembly to attend to the more temporal duties in their organisation, in order to relieve the apostles for their office of spiritual administration. Stephen was amongst those chosen; indeed, he heads the list, and is the only one mentioned with a commendation. It is stated that he was chosen as "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 6:5) Compared with the Church, the other six could not have been lacking in faith and the Holy Spirit, yet Stephen is given an honourable mention as being full of these things. From the record it is evident that he was in every way fitted to be an apostle, but he used his office as deacon to the great benefit of the Gospel. "The message of God extended; and in Jerusalem the number of disciples greatly increased; besides which, very many of the priests were subdued to the faith. Stephen especially, full of active benevolence, produced great and wonderful evidences for the people. "(Acts 6:7‑8, Ferrar Fenton) Representatives of other sects from throughout the Eastern Mediterranean countries debated with him, but "were not able to withstand the intelligence and the spirit with which he spoke." (v.10 FF) As a result of this, they bribed other men to accuse him of blasphemy.

This was one of the things that happened at Jesus’ trial. (Matt.26:60‑65) And the same sort of thing is happening to his people today. We are daily being called upon to stand out from the activities of the misguided world, and make our position clear to men. One of the effects of standing, without compromise, firmly and faithfully for Christ’s principles of love and gentleness, is that our light must inevitably shine, and as the light cannot dwell with darkness it is the object of great annoyance, jealousy and hatred with some types of men. This narrow‑minded spirit begets prejudice; prejudice calls forth undue criticism; exaggerated reports of distorted facts reach other ears, and even trumped‑up charges are levelled at the individual Christian. This is, of course, extremely encouraging, for it is one of the indications that we are on the right road to our goal, for he who would live godly must expect to suffer persecution, and "if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye." (1 Pet.3:14) But these experiences can be very wearying to the strongest of us, especially when they continue for some considerable time. We thank our loving Heavenly Father that his strength is made perfect in our weakness; that "He knoweth our frame; and He remembereth that we are dust." (Psa.103:14) He, as it were, puts his hand upon us, tender and careful to us, yet strong in protection from our spiritual enemies, and, seeing it with the eye of faith we are enabled to feel peace within and reflect peace without, instead of returning enmity and strife to our accusers. To the council of the Sanhedrin, who had been intently watching Stephen during the bitter outburst of his antagonists, his face appeared as if it had been that of an angel. (v.15)

Blest be the man whose heart belongs to God;
Whose way is guided by his powerful Arm.
His lot is peace, and ’mid earth’s seething strife
His heart is still, beneath God’s tranquil calm,
And all is quiet within. A wondrous quiet—
A quiet from which God’s thoughts can emanate.
A deep, deep quiet, bequeathed by God himself,
Which means a great deal more than worldly wealth.
It means his mind is free to think of God—
To understand him and his careful Love.
It helps him fix his mind on things above,
And so he grows, alike to God’s dear Son,
And with his help, the race to victory run.

Stephen’s reply to the council was uncompromising and clear. In it, we suggest, was a perfect example of full consecration to the Lord. He did not attempt to defend himself, but valued neither his life nor the opinion of men to let it hinder the passage of the Holy Spirit through him. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and it was reflected in the words he spoke.

As a thought to ponder on as we go our way, how much do we owe to Stephen for the great ministry of the Apostle Paul, who, as Saul of Tarsus, stood and witnessed his martyrdom, no doubt thinking hard the while.

VCR