Christlike Martyrdom
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”[1] That verse has a nice ring to it, but when you really think about it, it’s not an easy saying. Neither aspect of it is easy. Living for Christ is hard. It requires sacrifice and suffering. There’s much joy and abundance of life to be had in following Jesus, but by no means is it easy. And on the other hand…to die is gain? Nobody really wants to face death. This is the one life that we have. Death is one of our greatest enemies. It’s a product of the Fall.[2] It’s a product of our broken, sinful selves in this broken, sinful world.
In our text for today, we see someone who lived a Christlike life and who died a Christlike death. We can learn a lot about Jesus and how to live and die for Him by modeling our lives after the example of Stephen. If there’s anything we see from this text today it is this: If Jesus is worth dying for, He is worth living for. And if He is worth living for, He is worth dying for.
Live like Christ.
Our goal as disciples of Jesus is to look like Christ. That’s what it means both to be a disciple and to be a Christian. Disciple is a Jewish term. Jewish rabbis would have disciples that would learn from them. They wouldn’t just sit and learn from their teachings, though. They would learn from their behavior and way of life, and more importantly, they would seek to live the same way. On the other hand, we will see a little later in Acts the disciples called Christians.[3] It was used as a derogatory, mocking term, meaning “little Christ.” But that’s who we should seek to be. Every day, as we grow in sanctification, we should look a little more like Christ.
Full of grace (6:8a)
One Christlike characteristic we see of Stephen is that he was full of grace. This doesn’t just mean he has experienced grace, but he gives out grace. If you realize how much grace you’ve been given, you will be much more full of grace with everyone you come in contact with. Grace is unmerited, undeserved favor. It is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
According to Dallas Willard, grace is “God doing in us and for us what we could not do ourselves.” We often believe that only “sinners” need grace or that the only times we need grace are times of guilt. But as Dallas has said, “Saints burn far more grace than sinners ever could. They burn it the way a jet burns rocket fuel.”[4] Grace is the fuel that empowers us to live a Christlike life.
Full of power (6:8b)
Another Christlike characteristic of Stephen is that he was full of power. This isn’t often a Christlike characteristic we think of. What kind of power did Stephen have? Well, we first need to ask what kind of power Jesus had.
Jesus had power to calm the sea, to forgive sins, to heal, to know thoughts, to work miracles, and to rise from the dead. And you know what Jesus said to his disciples?
John 14:12 – “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
We are also told that the disciples were to wait in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high.[5] We have available the same power that rose Jesus from the dead.[6]
Full of wisdom (6:9-10)
Who was the wisest person to ever live? It wasn’t King Solomon. It was One who was born in his lineage through his adoptive father—Jesus. Jesus was the wisest person to ever live.[7] We see that in Him even from an early age.[8] Wisdom isn’t the same thing as knowledge, but it is knowing how to apply knowledge. Wisdom is applied knowledge. In the same ways that Jesus stumped his opponents on many occasions, we see Stephen do the same. They are unable to answer him because of his wisdom.
James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Full of rejection (6:11-14)
The final Christlike characteristic we see of Stephen isn’t one that we want to embody, but it is one that is promised to us if we live a Christlike life. Stephen faced suffering and rejection.
Jesus was “despised and rejected by men” as prophesied in Isaiah 53:3. He told us in John 15:18-20a:
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
Stephen embodied the character of Jesus, even when it hurt.
We see that Stephen had a Christlike character, and it was also accompanied by Christlike actions. Stephen gave one of the most powerful sermons ever recorded. It is actually the longest sermon we have in the book of Acts, which is a book full of sermons.
He fully embodied the words that Jesus told them to do when they would be persecuted.
Matthew 10:18-22 – 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 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. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Speak like Christ. (6:15-7:2a)
Stephen spoke like Christ. Do you know how Christ spoke? Full of grace and truth.[9] We already saw that Stephen was full of grace. Now we are going to see him speak the truth, even though it is difficult.
Imagine picking your car up from the shop after a routine tune-up and the technician says, "This car is in great shape. Clearly you have an automotive genius to take great care of your car." Later that day, your brakes don't work. You find out you were out of brake fluid. You could have died.
You go back to the shop, and you say, "Why didn't you tell me?" The technician replies, "Well, I didn't want you to feel bad. Plus, to be honest, I was afraid you might get upset with me. I want this to be a safe place where you feel loved and accepted." You'd be furious! You'd say, "I didn't come here for a little fantasy-based ego boost! When it comes to my car, I want the truth."
Or imagine going to the doctor's office for a check-up. The doctor says to you, "You are a magnificent physical specimen. You have the body of an Olympian. You are to be congratulated." Later that day while climbing the stairs, your heart gives out. You find out later your arteries were so clogged that you were like one jelly doughnut away from the grim reaper.
You go back to the doctor and say, "Why didn't you tell me?" The doctor says, "Well, I knew your body is in worse shape than the Pillsbury doughboy, but if I tell people stuff like that, they get kind of offended. It's kind of bad for business. They don't come back. I want this to be a safe place where you feel loved and accepted." You'd be furious! You'd say to the doctor, "When it comes to my body, I want the truth!"[10]
The hard truth that Stephen spoke was directly to the Jewish authorities. And he attacked their three major sacred cows (the land, the law, and the temple).
Have you ever been cow tipping? I never have been, but I have always wanted to. I’ve heard stories that if you run into a cow that is sleeping standing up it will tip over. Well, when we speak with wisdom and truth to matters that are contrary to the truth, we do the work of cow tipping. But this cow tipping is good, holy work. Not to be confused with holy cow…But, we also need some holy cow tipping to be done in our lives.
Location can’t save you. (7:2-36)
The land was a central component to the Jewish faith. God hadn’t just chosen a people for Himself, but He provided a land for His people. The land was a central component of the covenant God made with Israel, all the way back from Abraham.
But Stephen showed them that God was with them and moved in even greater ways while they were in captivity in Egypt. God isn’t confined to any one place. God is a God of all nations, not just Portland, TN and not just the United States of America. There is no true “Holy Land.” There is a Holy God who is over all.
The fact that you live in the Bible Belt of America cannot save you. Only a personal faith in the Jesus who saves can.
The law can’t save you. (7:38-43, 51-53)
Another core component of the Jewish faith was the Law and reverence for Moses. Stephen reveals how the Law is powerless to save. God’s people turned from His ways even as He was giving them the law (building a holy cow…no joke this time), and these Jews standing before him are no different. They accused Stephen of speaking against the law while not upholding the law themselves.
The law is powerless to save you. You can’t even live according to it. All it does is condemn you.[11] There is one, though, who lived perfectly according to the law and died a sacrificial death in your place to save you from the punishment from your breaking of the Law—Jesus. If your faith is in Jesus, there is no condemnation because Jesus took it for you.[12]
A building can’t save you. (44-50)
Another core component of the Jewish faith was the temple. That is the place God dwelled. The thing is, though, that the prophet Isaiah said of God, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” Stephen said it plainly in verse 48: “The Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands.” God is everywhere.
They ended up worshiping a place rather than the God who filled the place. If we’re not careful, we will do the same. God is active in the world and wants you to recognize His activity and be involved in His activity in the world. This kind of living is harder, though. It requires sacrifice.
Not only should we live like Christ and speak like Christ, but if we do so, we must be willing to die like Christ. We see this clearly with Stephen.
Die like Christ. (55-58a)
Stephen is tried by the same council that tried Jesus. He is falsely accused with similar charges as Jesus. And as he is dying, he even cries out the same prayer as Jesus, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” I think the prayer that Stephen prayed is one of the most powerful prayers ever prayed. I think it is so because of the outcome of the prayer.
God can save the worst of sinners. (55b-8:3)
I want to remind you of the Bible verse we quoted to start out this sermon. It says, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”[13] Do you know who said that? The Apostle Paul. The one who was there giving approval to the first person dying for his faith in Christ.
He ended up miraculously coming to faith in Jesus, as we will see in a few weeks. But, looking back on these days years later, he called himself the chief of sinners and least of the apostles, because he persecuted the church.[14]
But if God can save someone like this, that means that you are not too far from God. Will you make certain, today, that your faith is in no other thing but in Jesus alone?
[4] John Ortberg, Eternity Is Now In Session: A Radical Rediscovery of What Jesus Really Taught About Salvation, Eternity, and Getting to the Good Place (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Momentum, 2018)
[7] https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/the-danger-of-jesus-as-a-wise-guy
[10] John Ortberg - https://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/2011/august/lovingenoughspeak.html
