The last couple weeks I’ve been studying in the book of Acts in preparation for a men’s bible study I’m teaching a couple times this week here at Northside.  Interestingly enough, the passage I am teaching on (Acts 7:2-53) matched up with my Bible reading plan as well.  I think that is kind of cool.

It’s a rich passage with way more to unpack than this blog will attempt.  Stephen is, in essence, preaching his last sermon before dying a martyr for his faith in Jesus.  The guy has been debating and preaching in the synagogue and no one has had the chops to hang with him because he was filled with the Holy Spirit.  So he finds himself on trial before the Sanhedrin, facing trumped up charges of blasphemy against the law and the temple.

All eyes are on him as he gives a history lesson of God’s faithfulness and Israel’s unfaithfulness.  He weaves in example after example of God being a God who makes and keeps promises, who establishes a covenant, and who doesn’t give up on His people.  All the while walking them through how over and over Israel has rejected the law and therefore God Himself.

Israel’s religious attempts to follow the law are what have ultimately led to their rejection of the One who fulfilled the law, Jesus.  They rejected Moses (synonymous with the law) and they rejected Jesus.

The result…they killed him.

I’ve heard a preacher friend of mine say, “What you are willing to live for is what you are willing to die for…is it worth it?”  Stephen was a guy with a huge servant’s heart, crazy in love with Jesus, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  He preached with boldness, with wisdom, with intense passion, and with courage.  I believe you can sense his compassion for his accusers as he spoke.  He was not defending himself, he was defending the Gospel of Jesus.  Stephen so badly wanted these people to know Jesus…to know that through Jesus, God proves faithful.  And it got him killed.

I may never stand trial facing false charges.

I may never die a martyr for my faith in Jesus.

But am I willing to lay down my reputation for the sake of God’s, because He is who I am living for…because He’s worth it?

Am I willing to defend the Gospel at any cost?

If I had one last sermon to preach, what would I say?

What would you say?