Title: Stephen Is Arrested/Acts 6:8-15
Starting today, I will be thinking about Stephen for a few hours.
Stephen was the first martyr. The first martyrs did not come from among the apostles, but from among the deacons.
These days, the importance of the laity is being emphasized. It is said that the church should be lay-centered, and professional missionary work in which the lay faithful are the center is emphasized.
The church was lay-centered from the beginning.
One question arises when we think of Stephen.
Stephen was a very good man. The meaning of the name Stephen is 'crown', 'crown', and 'crown'. Since he was one of the seven deacons, he was full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, and faith, the basic qualifications of a deacon, and must have been a person who was praised by people.
In verse 8 it is written that he was a man full of grace and power. According to verse 10, he was a man who spoke with wisdom and the Holy Spirit.
Looking at his sermon recorded in chapter 7, he was a man with eyes to interpret the history of Israel by faith.
I wonder, ‘If such a man had lived longer, he could have lived a little longer for the church, so why did God call him so early?’
In fact, yes. If Stephen had lived longer, he would have done more evangelism.
Many letters or documents written by Stephen may have been included in the Bible.
Among the New Testament, the thirteen books written by Paul are called Paul's Epistles, the Gospel of John, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Revelation, and the five books written by John are called John's writings or John's literature, and Luke written by Luke The Gospel and Acts are collectively called the Luke-Acts, or the Luke document. If Stephen had lived for a long time, the Stephen Epistles or the Stephen Documents may have arisen.
But did God call him at about the same time he was appointed as a deacon? It's sad and I'm curious.
We must find the answer to this question with deep faith. It means, “All of this was accomplished in God’s mysterious providence and plan.” It means ‘God had such a plan for Stephen from the beginning’.
President Carter was not re-elected in the second presidential election. In American electoral history, it is said that incumbent presidents are rarely defeated. Carter was a good believer in Jesus. When he visited our country, there was a Sunday, and he went to the church to worship. I went to Yeouido Baptist Church to worship.
Why would Carter be defeated? People, especially those who believe in Jesus, wondered.
We have recently come and are getting the answer. How much work has he done as a dispute resolution agent and the Love House Building Movement after he retired? I am doing more for the world than I was as President.
A few years ago he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Although there was a lot of competition and noise in selecting the Nobel Peace Prize winner, there was no objection and no noise about President Carter receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
We must fully trust and obey what God is doing.
If deacon Stephen had been stoned to death and said, 'God, I have a lot of work to do, so what do you do when I call you so early?' He would not have the same face as sleeping.
Not long ago, the original face of famous singer Michael Jackson was revealed and shocked people.
It was a very ugly looking face.
In the Bible, there is a man who surprised people with his face. This is Stephen. Stephen surprised people with a nice face. Please see verse 15. “All those who sat in the council looked at Stephen, and behold, his face was like that of an angel.”
There is no word in the Bible that ‘people were surprised’, but people must have been very surprised at this time.
Also, in Acts 7:60, it is written that Stephen's death was "and he fell asleep while saying these words." This phrase can also be interpreted as, "He died with a peaceful face."
Again, although it is not recorded in the Bible, there is one thing that is almost certain from the circumstances. At this time, there is a person who was shocked by this attitude of Stephen and this face and changed his life 180 degrees. This is Paul.
When talking about Paul's conversion, we cannot ignore the influence of Stephen's martyrdom.
We can think of many things about Stephen. Now, in the days to come, I will try to learn a lesson from Stephen's sermons.
One of them is that ‘Saints must evangelize with their face’.
If you believe in Jesus, your face will change. Peace rests on his face. There is joy. Even if it is mixed with people, it is enough to pick them out. This is especially true for older believers who have been living in the faith for a long time.
There is a famous saying by Lincoln. ‘A person must take responsibility for his or her face after the age of 40. It is the responsibility of his parents to have a handsome and ugly face before the age of 40, but after the age of 40, it is his responsibility. This is because the sincerity of those who have lived faithfully, and those who have lived insincerely, their insincerity will appear on their faces.
Those who have lived a life of faith show that faith on their face. As long as you live your life of faith, plastic surgery is performed automatically.
A person who has a poisoned heart overflows with that poisoned heart. At that time, we say, “I am full of life.”
There is something to be said for a person with a gentle face. It is said that “there is peace of mind”
The faces of those who believe in Jesus must have a new spirit. You must have the energy of believing in Jesus on your face.
Stephen was a man whose face was overflowing with wonder.
There is one well-known story of St. Francis. One day, he took a disciple and came into the city to preach. I go to places with a lot of people. But he never told me to believe in Jesus. The disciple was curious and asked. ‘Teacher, we came into this city to evangelize. When will we start evangelism?’ Francis answered, ‘We are doing evangelism diligently now. changed by believing in jesus
It is great evangelism to show this face to people.' This was it.
Everyone, please be diligent in this kind of evangelism.
A person who attended church for the first time made his first impression, 'I was surprised because people's faces were soft and impressed.'
I hope that I will be able to hear many such words on this Sunday and the entire family invitation week.
Organize your words.
Let's do our best to have the face of a believer in Jesus.
Let us trust and obey God completely.