Farewells Part 3

For the third and final part of the Farewells series I decided to switch it up and head to the New Testament. More specifically the first Christian martyr that the Bible documents after Christ's resurrection. For those of you who know the story, please stick with me, and let's look at the stoning of Stephen and pray that God gives us a fresh perspective.

Now Stephen is one of my personal all time favorite Bible characters. And the first reason why is found in Acts 6:8. It says "Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power..." can you imagine what it would be like to have someone describe you that way? Wow! That's a powerful description if ever there was one!

The story goes on and in Acts 7 Stephen is forced to stand trial before the Sanhedrin. What does he say when false accusations of blasphemy are brought against him? He testifies about Christ! Stephen doesn't bother to defend himself, he launches right into a history lesson! He begins with Abram and right on through to Jesus. Stephen's final words were not a plea for mercy but a speech designed to show these people, the ones putting him on trial, that Jesus was the Messiah.

I really, really wish that I could go through verse by verse with you Stephen's testimony. However in the interest of time and the fact that I couldn't do it justice I'm just going to stick to pointing out a few things.

1. How Stephen addresses them. Acts 7:2 "Brothers and fathers, listen to me!" One of my favorites verses is 1 Peter 3:15 "... Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." Stephen didn't hesitate to give an answer for the reason of his hope but he did it with respect. He didn't look at his accusers as enemies but fellow children of God and he desperately wanted them to come to know Jesus as their Savior. That's an amazing perspective to have. (Now I know when you get to verses 51-53 you might want to argue this point so stick with me, I'm getting there.)

2. Stephen's overall history lesson. One of the things I've always loved about Acts 7:1-53 is Stephen's concise account of the Jew's history and heroes of the faith and how God used all of these things and people to bring about the revelation of His Son the Messiah. He didn't rely on emotions or just tell them that he was pretty sure this was true. Stephen was a Jew who I'm sure was well versed in the Torah. He knew his history and he laid it all out for them step by step. When we are blessed with the ability to learn about what God has done in past generations we should soak up the opportunity because you never know when that information may come into play in the future.

3. His passion. In verses 51-53 we see a shift in the tone from laying out the facts to bringing the point home.
"You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One! And now you have betrayed and murdered him- you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it."
So was he gentle and respectful in this part of his speech? Maybe not in the way we would usually describe that but we see his passion come out. He was never disrespectful, he was frustrated. I would rather have that kind of passion for my faith then always be the nicest person and go too far to the extent of not saying what I mean. There's a balance there and I think Stephen is a great example of what it looks like. (Also, an important side note here, he didn't say anything Christ himself hand't said.)

4. Next we come to verse 55, as those trying Stephen begin to really get angry he looks to heaven. Verse 56, "'Look,' he said, 'I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.'"
Now look at that again because there's two really important things here. One is that as Stephen is literally about to loose his life and his first move is to look up to heaven. Wow! I love that!
The second is that Jesus is standing at the right hand of God. I love that part. He wasn't sitting, He's standing because He's waiting to receive this man who is about to join Him.

5. Finally we get to verses 59-60 where Stephen says two more important things. One a plea for himself. "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Even as strong as Stephen's faith was he remained humble enough to ask the Lord to receive him. He never made an assumption.
And second "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Stephen's final words were a plea for forgiveness for his murderers. Now that is a powerful testimony.

So there are five of my favorite things about Stephen. Five things that I believe make his Farewell speech one of the best ever given. And some of the most powerful words that we should never forget.

I want to close this series by asking something I asked at the beginning. If you had the chance to say something, knowing it would be the last words you ever spoke, who would you say it to and what would you say? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!