The Companion of the Way
by
H.C. Hewlett
1962
Moody Press
Chicago, Illinois
~ Out of print and in the public domain ~
The Face That Welcomed - Stephen
(Acts 7)
I. THE SETTING -- THE
FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERING
The triumph of Stephen was the first great crisis in the
history of the Church. For Israel, too, it was a crisis, for in the death of the
first Christian martyr the nation's probation ceased. Even after the cry of
apostasy, "We have no king but Caesar,"
and that bitter taunt, "He trusted in God; let
him deliver him now, if he will have him," the Divine patience waited
long. The Messiah had been scorned in the days of His flesh. When He was by the
witness of the Spirit presented to the nation as the ascended One, who had been
made both Lord and Christ, whom God had exalted with His right hand to be a
Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins,
the witness of the Spirit was likewise scorned. The man who spoke to the Jewish
council with "face as it had been the face of an
angel" was hurried to death by men convicted but unrepentant. Then God
began to display His secret purpose to bring Gentiles along with Jews into the
Church. The Gospel was carried far and wide -- to Samaria, to Antioch, and to
the ends of the earth, and the guilty nation was given over to the judgment that
resulted in the destruction of the city and the temple in A.D. 70.
But
the martyrdom of Stephen was a crisis for the Church, for the heavenly
outcalling acquired a deeper fellowship with Christ. In the stoning of Stephen,
the Church tasted of the cup of its Lord's suffering unto death, and was
despised and rejected of men as He had been. The Lord Jesus suffered "without the gate," in the place of reproach and
dishonor; Stephen was "cast... out of the
city," and stoned. Thus began the long
procession of witnesses that has continued unto this day. Some of its
faces are in a measure familiar to us. We know of Stephen and Paul, of Polycarp,
or Perpetua and Felicitas, of Tyndale, of Ridley and Latimer, of Huss, of John
and Betty Stam, and of others whose sufferings and death have been inscribed in
the annals of men. But for the most part the witnesses are unknown to us. Yet
every life laid down for Christ's sake was precious in the eyes of the Lord, and
every name is written with honor in the Book of Life. By and by we shall meet
these dear brethren and sisters in the family of God, and with them we shall
extol the grace that was sufficient for all. The Lord who succored Stephen was
their Lord, too. Not one of them was forsaken of Him, but His presence was with
them all, where the stones fell, or the sword descended, or the fire burned, or
in the Colosseum, or amid Alpine snows, or in Siberian wastes.
We can
scarcely read the account of Stephen's experience before the council without
seeing afresh the Lord Jesus Himself standing before that same tribunal. The
martyr was accused by false witnesses of violent words against the holy place.
"We have heard him say, that this Jesus of
Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses
delivered us" (Acts 6:14). The Lord was charged by lying lips, "This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of
God, and to build it in three days" (Matt. 26:61). To this charge the
Lord answered nothing, even as the prophet had predicted: "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened
not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7). But to
the words of the high priest, "I adjure thee by
the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of
God," He gave answer, "Thou hast said:
nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on
the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."
In
Stephen's case there was reply at considerable length to the question of the
high priest, "Are these things so?" (Acts
7:1), for it was his task finally to arraign Israel's leaders with their crime
in the murder of the Messiah. When their rage exceeded all restraint, he
likewise bore testimony to the glory of the Son of man. To the Lord's answer the
high priest gave the terrible response, "He hath
spoken blasphemy," and the council said, "He is guilty of death." The fatal decision was
made; they would listen to no further word from His lips. At Stephen's
proclamation concerning the Son of man, "they...
stopped their ears." Cut to the heart by his defense, they could not bear
to hear that which reminded them of the solemn declaration by the Lord Jesus.
Strange it was that the council should be concerned about the reports
that Stephen had said that "this Jesus of
Nazareth shall destroy this place," if He were, as they claimed, still in
death. The very words of the charge betrayed the uneasiness of the Jews touching
the preaching by the followers of Jesus that He was alive from the dead. The
chief priests knew full well the report of the guards who had fled from the
tomb. They knew also that the explanation that the guards had slept was a lie.
Unable to account for the empty tomb and the courage of the disciples, they
silenced their doubts by renewed action against the preachers of the Gospel.
II. THE REVELATION -- THE
HEAVENLY VISION
"When they heard
these things, they were cut to their heart, and they gnashed on him with their
teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven,
and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said,
Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand
of God" (Acts 7:54-56). Then, as always when He dwells ungrieved in the
believer, the Holy Spirit so ministered the compensations of God to Stephen that
he, too, was more than conqueror. The fury of earth was met by the opening of
Heaven, and the loneliness of his position by vision of his Lord. To Stephen, as
to Paul and to John, it was given to see the glorified Lord with mortal eyes. To
all others it has been given to see Him only by faith, but such is the Spirit's
delight to reveal Christ to His people that though they are at times in
heaviness through manifold temptations, yet they love the One whom they have not
seen and, believing in Him, they rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
In that hour Stephen's gaze was turned upward to Heaven and home, and
was not disappointed. Since the ascension of the Lord Jesus, Heaven had been
more than ever home to the people of God. In all ages they had desired "a better country, that is, an heavenly," but
now the One who had lived on earth those thirty-three years of purity and grace,
had endured for their sakes the shameful Cross, and had risen again from the
dead, had passed "within the veil." In
its love He dwelt, and He had taken their hearts with Him. His home was forever
theirs. Before He died, He had assured them, "I
will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also." They looked for Him, and could be satisfied only with Him. Even if
they were called to pass through death, it was only "to be with Christ; which is far better."
And now the heavens were opened,
as they had been to the Lord Jesus at His baptism at Jordan. The realms of light
disclosed their approval of that which met their gaze on earth, first (for His
is ever the pre-eminence) of the Beloved Son and then of the servant who
confessed Him so faithfully. Only in Him and in His people can Heaven delight,
but its delight is real, pure, and unashamed.
Looking stedfastly into
those bright scenes, Stephen saw the glory of God. He had commenced his defense
before the council by reminding his hearers that the God of glory had appeared
to their father Abraham. This was the true meaning of their history, and it was
this that made them a separate people on earth. The gods of the nations were
vanity; the God of Abraham was the God of glory. Whenever the children of
Abraham had been true to their calling and their heritage, they had rejoiced in
His majesty. None of them knew Him better than did Moses. He had seen His glory
in the burning bush, in the deliverance from Egypt, and upon Sinai, but still
his prayer rose up: "I beseech thee, shew me thy
glory" (Exo. 33:18). David spoke of the God of glory (Psa. 29:3) and
looked to the day when the everlasting doors should be lifted up that the King
of glory might enter in (Psa. 24:7). Moses had come down from the mount with
rays of that glory lingering on his face, and even Stephen's judges saw his face
as it had been the face of an angel. Gazing into the source of the light that
lit his face, Stephen saw the glory that Abraham had seen and, moreover, in the heart of its radiance at the right hand
of God he saw "Jesus standing."
Ere the Lord had gone to the throne, He had spoken His sure word of
promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world" (Matt. 28:20). "Alway," i.e., "though
all the days" -- what could more clearly set forth the perpetual presence? But
Stephen was given even more than the token of the presence. He learned its
climax, that the One who companied with His saints and with Him would bring
their path to its triumphant goal with a vision of His face and a welcome to His
side. Upon the martyr the vision was bestowed before his eyes closed on scenes
here, that he might tell us what waits the gaze of all who die in faith. Surely
that face of light was bent down upon
him and poured its love upon him, for it was to the Lord Jesus that he addressed
his dying words and, confident in Him, he fell asleep.
"Jesus standing." That is not to be read as
contradiction of the statement that "He . . .
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1:3). Both
positions picture profound truths, and both give aspects of His ascension life
which exist concurrently. In relation to His finished work on earth and to the
exercise of His sovereignty, He is viewed as seated. In relation to His
unfinished work in Heaven, that gracious ministry which He undertakes for us
now, He is viewed as standing. He remained "this
same Jesus." The glory of the throne had not changed His heart toward His
own. As He had ever been to them -- tender, compassionate, understanding, and
true, so He was still. As in love He had toiled for them on earth, so in Heaven
would He minister to their need in the same love.
With his eyes fixed on
Jesus, Stephen bore testimony to that which he saw and named his Lord by that
title which Christ's own lips had so often used. "I see... the Son of man standing on the right hand of
God." The reference was obviously Messianic, for, as we have noted, it
was in accord with the Lord's own words, "the
Son of man sitting on the right hand of power." It testified that the
despised Jesus was actually the Son of Man of Daniel's vision, who would come
with the clouds of heaven (Dan. 7:13), that He had reached the height of
absolute power, and that nought could hinder the fulfillment of his prediction
to the council. Stephen's own need was fully met in that he saw Jesus at God's
right hand, even as today by faith "we see Jesus
. . . crowned with glory and honour." The doom of the leaders of Israel,
the guiltiest of the guilty, was sealed in that the martyr saw the Son of Man in
that place of power.
III. THE BLESSING --
CHRIST'S FRUIT IN HIS MEMBERS
"Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped
their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and
stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet,
whose name was Saul" (Acts 7:57-58). Their fury knew no bounds. Driven on
by their hatred of the name of Jesus and by the knowledge that they were
impotent to mar His glory or frustrate His will, they undertook summary judgment
on His confessor. With frenzied cry and utter refusal to hear another word, they
laid violent hands on Stephen and cast him out to his death. Denying him even
the pretense of justice and of trial, they cut off his life with the cruel
stones. It was the death which was decreed by the law of Moses for the
blasphemer, it was meted out to one of the noblest of the long line of faith. According
to the law, as given in Deuteronomy 17:7, the witnesses were required to be
foremost in the execution of the death penalty. They had brought the evidence;
they must be first to cast the stones. Not content with falsehood, Stephen's
accusers added to their infamy by sustaining their witness in the place of
stoning. In those solemn moments wherein they stained their lives with innocent
blood, they left their garments in the care of a young man called Saul. It is
the first time that we hear of this man, who figures so much on the page of
Scripture, but whose story is forever woven with that of Stephen.
"And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying,
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice,
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell
asleep. And Saul was consenting unto his death" (Acts 7:59-8:1). In this
passage the word "God" is in italics.
There is no object stated for the very "calling
upon," and the reference is most naturally to the following words. As
Paul showed in his greeting to Corinth -- "with
all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs
and ours" (I Cor. 1:2). -- calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus was
the mark of the New Testament Christian. His name was honored, as the name of
Jehovah in the Old Testament was honored. "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
[Jehovah] shall be saved" (Acts 2:21;
Rom. 10:13; Joel 2:32). The conviction of the early church was unmistakable, and
attested by Stephen, that in the naming of the Lord Jesus they owned Him as
Jehovah. That Pharisees, such as Saul, brought up in the strictest monotheism,
should come to adore a once-crucified man as being eternally in the Godhead is
evidence that to them His credentials of deity were beyond dispute.
Stephen's words recall those spoken last by the Lord upon the Cross. In
unshaken trust, the Lord had commended His spirit to the Father; so did the
martyr commit his spirit to the Lord. This again was witness to the deity of
Jesus. Then kneeling, Stephen "cried with a loud
voice." (This expression, in which the energy of the speaker is gathered
up, is used of the Lord Jesus in Matt. 27:50.) The Lord had prayed for those
that crucified Him: "Father, forgive them; for
they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Imbued with the same spirit of
forgiveness that revealed how truly he was in the mind of Christ, Stephen
likewise prayed for his murderers. How precious must this have been to the Lord
Jesus, and what fruitage for Him in the
life of His saint! Thus with eyes and heart alike occupied with his Lord,
Stephen "fell asleep." It was not death,
but victory. The Lord Jesus had said, "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see
death" (John 8:51), and so it was with the martyr. So it is with all who
trust Him.
In his vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the fragrance of
his character, and in his suffering for His sake, Stephen became the pattern believer of this age. His name
(Stephan, i.e., crown [stephanos], or garland of victory) pointed to the
heavenly destiny held out to all his brethren, including to the measure of their
devotion to Him, the crown of glory and honor. Stephen's interpreter was the man
whose conversion was the firstfruits of the divine response to his dying prayer.
What was concentrated in the last moments of the one was spread out in the years
of experience of the other, so that the latter wrote, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord
Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body";
and again, "So then death worketh in us, but
life in you"; and again, "We look not at
the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things
which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are
eternal" (II Cor. 4:10, 12, 18).
What shall meet our gaze as we
thus look to the things "not seen?"
First, and supremely, we shall behold the glory of our Lord, His unfading
triumphs, His exaltation in manhood at God's right hand, His infinite depths of
holiness and of love, and the unutterable wonder of His blessed face. We shall
see our Father's home, with its many mansions -- all forever open to the
children of His love; we shall see the "far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory" wrought for us by the "light affliction" of this present time. Again,
we shall behold "the inheritance incorruptible,
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." Then there is the reward which
hands once pierced by cruel nails shall bestow upon lonely toilers from the
harvest fields of earth. Moreover, we shall feast our gaze upon the joy of
unclouded fellowship with Christ and with the redeemed of the ages. Then there
is the occupation of the blest, the holy service wherewith "his servants shall serve him."
To see
the face which Stephen saw is to be enabled to live a heavenly life amid earthly
care. It is ours with him and with Paul to behold "the glory of God in the face of Christ," and
soon the joy of faith shall be swallowed up in the joy of seeing Him as He is.
Present with Thee, oh, Lord Jesus,
Some day this rapture
I'll know;
Sweeter than aught of earth's visions,
Passing all bliss here
below.
Present with Thee, in Thy glory,
Days of my pilgrimage past;
Down at Thy feet I shall worship,
Prostate before Thee at last.
Present with Thee, my Redeemer,
Because my load Thou didst bear;
I shall adoring behold Thee
Glory ineffable wear.
Present with
Thee, in Thy likeness,
Clothed in Thy fitness, not mine;
Gladly Thy
loveliness telling,
Owning Thy glory divine.
Present with Thee --
not a shadow
Casting its gloom o'er my heart --
Calmly I'll dwell in
love's sunshine,
Nor from Thee ever shall part.
Present with Thee,
my Beloved,
This Thy desire toward me,
Even that ever and ever
I
should be present with Thee.
--H. C. H.--
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