The Death of Stephen
I want to tell you about a very brave Christian man who was killed by wicked men many, many years ago just because he was preaching and telling men and women, boys and girls that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. The man’s name was Stephen. You see, after Jesus was crucified on the cross many people repented of their sins and became Christians, and one such person was Stephen.
One day, as some foreign Jews were meeting in the Synagogue to study the Scriptures, Stephen went there to preach the gospel. But the leaders argued with him about his teaching, and they tried to prove that Jesus was not the Christ, the Saviour. However, God gave Stephen the right words to say, so that the leaders couldn’t answer him, and had to go away without a word. This made them very angry with Stephen; they couldn’t answer him, so they told lies about him, and got other men to tell lies, saying, “We have heard Stephen speak against Moses and against God.” They told so many lies that soon the rulers and Scribes in Jerusalem seized Stephen and put him to trial.
Stephen’s accusers told all their lies again. The High Priest then turned to Stephen and asked, “Are these things true?” Stephen stood up bravely, and beginning at the times of Abraham, right up to the time when they crucified Jesus, Stephen steadfastly spoke out about the Jews disobedience to God. The Lord gave Stephen great power to speak, and he finished with these words; “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.” When he said this, they were filled with fury and stuck their fingers in their ears, so that they wouldn’t hear any more of what Stephen was saying. Then they rushed at him, and dragged him outside the city, and threw large stones at him. Even then, Stephen held fast to his faith in Jesus, and he lifted up his eyes to heaven and prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” As the stone struck his body, he then knelt down and cried out loudly, “Lord, do not blame them for this sin,” and then his body was still, for he was dead.
Well, boys and girls, I don’t think that is very likely to happen to any of us today in this country, but, I wonder, do we have the same faith in Jesus as Stephen had, so that when we hear people speaking wrongly about Jesus, we want to speak the truth, no matter how we might be ridiculed or criticised for it.