“[God] raised [Christ] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places… . He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” - Ephesians 1:20–23
In Mark 16:19 after Jesus spoke to His disciples, He ascended to heaven and sat at the right hand of God.
God’s right hand is the place of “highest favor with God the Father”,
and the phrase is used throughout Scripture to indicate His power and sovereignty (Ex. 15:6; Isa. 48:13). To say that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father is to say, as John Calvin explains, that “Christ was invested with lordship over heaven and earth, and solemnly entered into possession of the government committed to Him
— and that He not only entered into possession once for all, but continues in it, until He shall come down on Judgment Day”
( Ligonier Ministries, Inc.)
If Jesus is seated in His Throne of Power,throne of Grace and mercy...
Then, God who is in control, saying “It is Finished!”, why did once in the whole of the New Testament He stood up? Only Once!
Just in this text....
Illustration:
A little child in white was playing in the park. As long as she ran about on the grass, the nurse took little notice of her — she was safe. Presently the little feet chose a path leading down to the water, and the good nurse was after the little one in a moment — she was in danger. While we lie down in the green pasture of the 23rd Psalm,
the Good Shepherd may not seem to notice us — we are safe;
but when the sheep are among the wolves of Matthew 10:16,
the Good Shepherd will run to their help — they are in danger.
(From: biblesoft.com)
The main character in our text for today is Stephen, (died 36 AD?)
a Christian deacon in Jerusalem and the first Christian martyr, whose defence and discourse of the history of God’s dealings with the people of Israel was charged with speaking against Moses, against God, against the temple, and against the law and the customs handed down by Moses (6:11. 13, 14) by the Sanhedrin and the elders of Israel.
While overall his message shows the charges to be false, it is more a sermon on them that traces God’s historical dealings with Israel, Israel’s history of rebellion against God, and a climax that indicts his hearers of the very charges that they were bringing against him. They were guilty of rejecting Moses and the law, and worst of all... they had just killed the Righteous One whom God had sent for their salvation; (...until the appointed time arrived, God sent forth his Son, born from a woman, born into a culture in which legalistic perversion of the Torah was the norm. —Galatians 4:4 CJB).
the scene is a most impressive one.
The howling mob; the reverend officials, borne away from all their proprieties by fanatical excitement;
He was subsequently stoned to death outside of the city because of his apology about Jesus, saw heaven opened and the Son of Man standing on His throne of glory! And Saul, later on was called Paul, was a witness to all of what was happening. The event in the eyes of Paul which he later wrote in this book of Acts. It is hardly to be doubted that Paul preserved the record of these incidents; and we may realize how such a cry from the persecuted Nazarene, as we have in the text, would fix itself in the thought and memory of one so religious and so impulsive as Paul. It would be most vividly recalled to mind when he too was smitten down with the glory on the Damascus road, and he, himself heard the voice of Jesus, the risen and exalted One.
Evidently the thing that most impressed Paul was Stephen's firm conviction that the crucified Jesus was risen, living, exalted, glorified, Divine. However intensely Paul resisted this conviction at first, it had more power on him than he estimated.
Stephen, a man full of the HolySpirit and a man full of revelations
( Acts 6:3-5; 7:55 ). One of the seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom appointed to mind business of serving at the tables of neglected widows in the daily ministration of food.
Such a humble task! What a menial job, for many of us! But was given such an ovation from the God of heaven Himself!
He saw heaven opened and saw the Son of Man standing!
Jesus standing!
The Day Jesus stood up...
Why?
1- RESPECT/ HONOR:
STANDING at attention is a sign of respect or honoring the rank that someone had achieved. During our National Anthem, we also STAND at attention to honor the Country that we belong to. To this day, whenever we hear the national anthem we still STAND at attention.
All of us STAND for something in our lives either physically or personally in our lives.
OUR LORD JESUS STOOD UP!
In 1 Sam. 2:30, God said: "...them that honor Me, I will honor..."
John 12:26 “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour.
Psalm 116:15 states, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Stephen's life and death were a shining testimony of his faith and commitment to his Lord and Savior.
Just as our Lord stood to honor Stephen at his death, so He will do for all of His children who faithfully and obediently serve Him.
"Therefore, . . . stand firm . . . because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58).
2- RESTLESS/ RESTIVE:
one who can not sit still.
Not restless as God doesn’t know what to do, but restless because He is excited over us. Stephen is sharing and witnessing for Jesus!
Just like Jesus in John 4 witnessing to the Samaritan woman...
4 And He must NEEDS to go through Samaria.
31 In the meantime, the disciples pressed Him,
“Rabbi, eat. Aren't you going to eat?"
32 He told them, "I have food to eat you know nothing about."
33 The disciples were puzzled. "Who could have brought Him food?"
34 Jesus said, "The food that keeps Me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started...”
Jesus knew the importance of what Stephen is doing at that moment....
God is hungry for souls!
Stephen had a moment of testimony!
He is witnessing to the people the Lord Jesus.
That made Jesus excited that He stood up in approval of what Stephen is witnessing to the people... Restless approval!
I remembered what St.Augustine had said; “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You!”
God is also restless until our hearts finds its rest on Him alone.
That’s why He stood up.
God is restless.... Stephen is restless too! And Jesus is more desperate, more restless for us whenever He would see us witnessing for Him!
Jesus stood up!
3- RECEIVED/ WELCOME:
Jesus stood up because He wanted to receive Stephen in His arms.
After all He knew what He felt to be treated that way.
In front of the angry mob choosing Barabbas over Him.
Infront of Pontius Pilate, washing his hands in innocence about the verdict.
Infront of the centurions lashing Him, torturing Him with the best torture they can ever give Him. Crowning Him with thorns, ridiculing, mouth spitting saliva... Jesus withstand all of these things!
He knew how Stephen felt!
Stephen, in fact, emulated our Lord by praying, "'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he fell on his knees and cried out, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Is it any wonder that our Lord stood when Stephen's earthly life was about to end? JESUS KNEW AND FELT THE SAME WAY! “....is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a Jesus, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,
let us hold fast our profession. For we have Jesus, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”(Hebrews 4:13-15 emphasis mine)
And Stephen, the martyr, found the special privilege of seeing Jesus standing up for him...
For me, as a Servant of Jesus, my definition of success is when I would be standing on the gates of heaven and hearing Him say; “welcome! My good and faithful servant!”
Oh, wow! The sweetest words I would ever hear, I too am so excited to hear this words. Not because I am good, but because of Him! Such a humbling word. The only thing I did right is to believe on Him! To Jesus along belongs the glory both now and forever!
To Respect and Honor Stephen.
To be restless, restive and excited of what Stephen had done
To Received him in God’s Throne of grace in which he saw and experienced mercy at its best. The Best place all Christians should have! No place better than that!
ARE WE ALL READY NOW? We better start now.
LET US ALL ARISE!
“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.” The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!” Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died. (Acts 7:51-60NLT)
TOGODBETHEGLORY
0224pm25august2018saturdayfor33rdSunday2018@powerHouse!
also @facebook page The Dunamis of Jesus Worldwide, Inc. Sta.Barbara preachings.
