I highlighted some of this article because it's really good. Enjoy.
Grace=Peace,
Jeremy
Faith, Spirit, Grace, and Power
By Mick Mooney
This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit…. Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Acts 6:5-8
When we read the book of Acts, we find a disciple by the name of Stephen. He was such an amazing follower of Christ that the Holy Spirit introduced him twice in the space of three verses. I'm sure the Holy Spirit didn't do this because we have a very short attention span. He was introduced twice because God wanted us to pay attention to this man and learn from his life and testimony. He was introduced the first time as a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. Three verses later he was introduced again, this time as a man full of God's grace and power!
These four characteristics that Stephen was introduced with are characteristics we all want to have, right? Most believers desire to be filled with faith, the Holy Spirit, grace, and power. The Bible doesn't record that he had some faith, some grace, and some power. The Scriptures tell us that he was full of each of them. What is truly amazing is that all of these attributes that he had were gifts from God.
You cannot earn more grace; it is a gift given from God, as is faith, as is God's power and as is the Holy Spirit. They are all gifts, yet the Scriptures tell us that we can be given more faith, we can be filled with more of his Spirit, we can grow in grace and we can receive more power. So the question is: What did Stephen do to be filled to the full with each of these heavenly gifts?
He did the one thing right: he spent his time captivated by the fullness of the Lord Jesus in all of His glory and greatness. The secret to Stephen receiving such an overflow of faith, the Holy Spirit, grace, and power is that he didn't have his focus on any of these gifts; he had his focus on Jesus. He had a revelation that Jesus was more than enough for him, and because his focus was firstly on Jesus, God rewarded him with the fullness of all of these precious gifts.
Because he gave so much of his attention to Jesus and His glory, he began giving less glory to religious traditions and self-elevated "spiritual leaders". His faith was not controlled by men, but rather he was free in the truth of Christ. It was his love for Christ that caused the religious leaders to persecute him, as he was putting more confidence in Christ than the institution of the temple and the traditional religious customs (Acts 6:12-14).
As he stood before the religious council to give his defense, he did not just testify with his words, but with his life also. His life and worldview was built upon the reality of Jesus, and it was this focus that caused him to shine with the light of Christ, even while standing before his accusers!
All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was life the face of an angel. Acts 6:15
I'm confident that none of the members of the Sanhedrin actually knew what an angel looked like, so why did they think this? It was because when they looked into the face of Stephen, they saw the radiance of God's glory reflecting off of him!
When they looked at him, it looked to them like they were staring at heaven's glory. And why was that? Because when we spend our time as Christians being captivated by the fullness of Jesus in His glory, then His glory reflects onto us and we, too, shine in this world with His glory. Not by our efforts, but by the work of the Spirit in us (2 Cor. 3:17-18).
He was always looking at the glorious Son of God with the eyes of faith, and the result was the Lord's glory reflecting through his life. He radiated with so much of God's glory that even those who considered themselves his enemy could see this. More than that, it allowed the Spirit to completely transform his life to be full of faith, the Holy Spirit, grace, and power. All of this happened to him with ever-increasing glory, not by the efforts and willpower of Stephen, but by the Lord. When we do the beholding, God does the transforming of our lives! (2 Cor. 4:6).
He was also filled with God's wisdom. So much so that no one could stand up against his wisdom as he proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ. All he wanted to do was to get people to take their eyes off of themselves, and off of their religious bias, and look to see Jesus for who He truly was.
Even when he finished his passionate proclamation of the gospel and the Sanhedrin still refused to acknowledge Jesus, Stephen cried out to them all:
"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Acts 7:56
Right to the end of his life he was still captivated by Jesus. He still had his eyes fixed on the Author of his faith. Even to the end he was still trying to get people to just look and see Jesus for who He truly was: The glorious Savior of the world, now at the right hand of God!
When we start to see the reality of Jesus, it consumes our attention. It gives a believer such joy just to see Jesus and to see the fullness of Him. It is the greatest blessing we can have as believers: the blessing of seeing Christ and knowing Him.
Even at the point of being killed, he still tried to get people to see Jesus for who He truly was: not their enemy, but their Savior. The Sanhedrin thought of Jesus as a troublemaker, because He was messing with their religious traditions. They refused to see Jesus in His true light, and so they thought themselves His enemy.
Stephen wanted them to see the truth regarding Jesus, because he knew that if they could only see Jesus for who He truly was, they would realize that Jesus doesn't make enemies of men, He makes sons of God. Jesus doesn't make people enemies of God; he makes them friends of God. Jesus is not the one who condemns us; He is the one who saves us!
Stephen wasn't stoned for being an evil-doer; He was stoned because He was trying to point people to the Righteous One. The members of the Sanhedrin refused to look, and instead picked up stones and began stoning him. Just before he died, he asked God for on final blessing. The last blessing he asked the Father for was that God would forgive the men who were stoning him!
Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he has said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:60
Who can love their enemies so much that even when they are in the middle of being killed by them, they can still ask God to forgive them? This is a supernatural love that man cannot have in their own strength, but when we see the fullness of Jesus and receive Him as He is, it is the kind of love Christ gives us.
Stephen did not want the sins these men committed against him to be the reason they were separated from God. He prayed that God would forgive them this sin so that they may still come to know him as their Lord and Savior. He did this because he witnessed first-hand how Christ had transformed his life. He knew that if Jesus could do it for him, He could do it for them as well, if they would only look to Jesus and see Him in the fullness of His grace.
God desires to transform your life and grow the fruit of His Spirit within you. Love is not the fruit of your efforts and willpower; it is a fruit of His Spirit. Take the time to see the fullness of Christ and God will happily transform your life by pouring out upon you the abundance of His grace.
Stephen loved abundantly and had faith in abundance because he allowed God to pour out His grace into his life in abundance. The Scriptures promise you that when you receive His grace freely, you will also receive His faith and love. They are all part of this wonderful new covenant God has made with you! (1 Tim. 1:14)
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