peace . love . joy

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

~ Acts 6: 1-5, 8-15

Here is the prelude to Stephen's speech in chapter 7.

Stephen was probably a Hellenistic Jew, just as Philip possibly was too. A Hellenistic Jew is not a Hebrew Jew. Hellenists are Greek-speaking Jews and come from Asia Minor and North Africa (Alexandria, etc.). They were claimed to have been looked down upon by the Hebrew Jews, but not totally excluded and discriminated against like the Samaritans, who were historically and genetically half-Jews.

Regardless of his heritage and birthplace, Stephen was a man full of faith, faith not in anything and everything; specifically, faith in Jesus being the Christ, and faith in God. He was one filled with the Holy Spirit that empowered him to do, and speak as we shall see later on, wondrous things in God's name and for God.

In chapter 7, which was posted couple of days back, it is evident that Stephen was no dunce. He was very likely very much on par with the elders of the synagogue in terms of Old Testament knowledge. He knew his faith intimately. But this knowledge was coupled with wisdom. I do believe that this wisdom was evident in Stephen's speech later on; he knew what to do with his knowledge, he knew how to present his knowledge, and he knew, comprehended his knowledge in a manner that the sanhedrin, who were supposed to be knowledgable and wise with regards to the Old Testament at least, did not. I do believe that this wisdom was bestowed on him by the Holy Spirit as a gift, a reward from God to Stephen for his faithfulness, a necessity in light of the trial that Stephen will face.

But even men full of God and full of the fruits of being full of God face trouble: the people rose up against and disputed with Stephen.

This group of people, from Asia, Cilicia, Alexandria and Cyrene are Hellenistic Jews. The very group from which Stephen himself probably came. I don't know, but even if you honestly have nothing else in common with the "people back home", or people who come from the same physical location as you did, you still feel a strange belonging to that group. We, Chinese, refer to that group as 乡下人, said with a tinge of sentiment. This is probably a very "Asian" thing, though. But to make the playing field level for all, how would you feel if your family, your neighborhood, turns against you?

It won't be easy, and you might even question yourself. But Stephen, full of the Spirit, full of faith and full of wisdom and knowledge, stood firm in his stand because he knew he was right.

And the people could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking!

They could not stand against, not Stephen, but the wisdom and the Spirit! The Spirit was much too powerful for them. The operations of the Spirit were much too formidable, forceful, compelling for them. You see, it was never about us. But it was, no is always about God: the one for whom we seek to bring glory.

Luke 21:15 says that God will give us words, along with wisdom, that none who are against us will be able to resist, oppose, or refute, prove wrong.
The evidence of God fulfilling this promise is so blantantly present here!
If God leads us to a place, to a situation, to a person(s), He will surely prepare us beforehand. He knows what we lack and what we need. He knows just how much too. We can rest assure on that point.

If God be for us, who can be against us?

~ Romans 8: 31b

So what did the defeated people do?
They sure did not stay defeated, in one sense that is. They did what they knew next best: they used numbers and human authority. They stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, they came down upon him and seized him, they made him stand trial in the Sanhedrin court.

And they accused him of fundamentally three things:
1. blasphemy against God
2. blasphemy against Moses
3. Speaking against the Temple

If you notice, these accusations were in essence what Jesus was accused of few years back.

But one verse draws my attention: (vs. 15) his face was like that of an angel.
Strange isn't it? How can you compare a face to that of an angel, when you have probably not seen an angel before, or not known it was an angel you were looking at?

Some people say that it was a metaphor. That Stephen's face was like that of an angel because he knew what he was doing; he knew he was doing the bidding of the Lord. He knew he was correct in his stand. And so because of such empowerment and affirmation by the Spirit, Stephen's face betrayed his inner emotion: confidence and conviction.

But even so, if you were an elder of the synagogue, if you knew your Old Testament, there were other such people whose face shone, possibly not too different from the way Stephen's face shone. Moses was one such. His face shone when he descended from Mt Sinai, bringing with him the Old Covenant from the Lord God to the people. If the council could just stop and reach back into their minds and see that, they would have postulated Stephen as being like Moses, not against Moses, and that he was bringing the New Covenant from the Lord God to them. But they could not, or perhaps would not, see that.

How good are we with God that we know when exactly we are doing His bidding?

How well do we know God in terms of who He is; His character, His traits?

How well do we understand God's Word that we never engage a moment without His voice in our minds and hearts?

How convinced, how convicted, how confident are we of our faith?

One thing is for certain though, Romans 8:31.

These few weeks find us teaching the 16 year olds on the book of Acts. This is not the first time we're studying this book of the Bible together with them, but I'd reckon this is the first time that we're diving into greater depths of this book. I know though, that this the first time that I myself am studying this book, in particular chapters 6:8 through 11:18 (because I'm leading the discussion for these passages =x), in much greater detail than I've ever done so before.

As I was preparing the lesson for Acts 6:8 - 7:60, entitled Stephen the Martyr, I realised that there is so much that can be drawn and must be drawn from this short record of these last short moments of Stephen's life on Earth. I cannot disagree more to lump it all together into an hour and a half's (and that's being optimistic!) worth of a lesson on Sunday simply because the protagonist of this passage is Stephen.

Maybe I'm just being a rabid fan demanding more air-time for my "idol". Yes, I love Stephen. In fact, my two Bible heroes, of course not counting Jesus, are David, son of Jesse, & Stephen, the first recorded Martyr of the Christian faith. So I decided I'd show you sizzlers what I've gathered from my short three-quarts-of-a-day study on Stephen the Martyr.

But before we begin, we need to ask what is the big message the book of Acts is delivering to us?

The book of Acts chronicles the birth of the Christian church. It shows the link between Jesus the Christ and the church of Christ. It tells of the first teachers, after Jesus, of the faith. It records the doings, sayings, struggles, triumphs, deeds and deaths of the first Christians.

Is that it? Does the book of Acts simply speak of the continuity and faithfulness and power of Jesus? No, much more than that. Acts was written to testify to the Hebrew Jews that their God, the God of the Old Testament, the God of the ancient times, and the God the Christians profess to follow, the God whom the Christians claim has brought them salvation through Jesus the Christ, is precisely one and the same.

The Hebrew Jews had only in their possession knowledge of the Old Testament, the record of times of Abraham, Moses and Elijah. They held on to the promises of old. They held on to their interpretations of the promises and prophesies of old. They were still waiting for the Messiah.

The book of Acts inks out the link between the time of Israel, the time of Jesus, & the time of the Christian church; the thread that runs through the entire Bible - the Lord God Almighty.

That means we need to know, not just the New Testament, but also the Old.
That means our Christian faith is not unfounded, but so much more real.
That means the Word is not a stack of bound printed paper composed of separate books, but a pretty much alive and kickin' book.
That means our God is a great planner, has super memory and is indeed faithful.

And Stephen's message in Acts 7 endeavored to show the same: that "the Christian message is fully consistent with and the culmination of the Old Testament revelation" (Kent, p.66), that the Hebrew God and the Christian God, our God, is one and the same.

1985
Kent, Homer Jerusalem to Rome. New Testament Studies series. Brethren Missionary Herald, 1972; reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House and BMH Books.

2007
Constable, Thomas Notes on Acts. Sonic Light. http://soniclight.com/constable/notes/pdf/acts.pdf.

Note: Most of what I learnt about Acts (in terms of background knowledge, cross-referencing, etc.) came from Dr. Constable's notes. So most of what I am about to write may be referenced back to his Notes on Acts.

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

And Stephen said:

Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

“Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,


“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Annabile Carracci
The Martyrdom of Stephen (1603-1604: Oil on Canvas)
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Before we embarked on our journey to Johor for YMLC, each of us wrote on a piece of paper expectations we had for this conference.

On my piece of paper, I wrote down three things:
One. To understand what it means to have God perpetually in my mind, but still be able to do other things, like studying and preparations for ministry, and not just do them, but concentrate on them.
Two. To learn the ways to be beautiful in God's eyes.
Three. Re-confirmation with regards to my calling & affirmation as to what I am to do next.

I tell you, God answered every one, all three of my requests. I sought His answer; He answered. I sought His instruction; He instructed. I sought His confirmation; He confirmed. Fantastic.

God did not delay in answering; snatching every opportunity to minister to me, to lead me and guide me. He got to work straight away with the first sermon, beginning His long instruction in reply to my second request.

"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

~ John 8: 31-32

The German Bible (Luther translation) uses the word "bleiben", which literally translates to "to stay; to remain". To "abide" is to continue to dwell in, and not stopping short at simply knowing.
In other words, Jesus instructs us to be doers of His word, practitioners of His teaching, and not just hearers of His voice.

Because transformation, that change that everyone seems to talk about when one becomes a Christian, a follower, a lover, a disciple, a friend of God Almighty, comes in the doing. It is in the active engagement that transformation is manifested. It is a test of perserverence. It is a lifelong lesson of persistence.

And what are we being transformed into?
The likeness of Christ, the Son of God, the beautiful One.
We pursue the Holy One by abiding in Him, by actively following His word. And that is the transformation. We become more and more like Him. And that, to God, is truly beautiful. The act of obedience, gratitude, reverence and love, & the product of that labour, both are captivatingly beautiful in God's eyes.

To be beautiful in God's eyes is to be relentless. To be persistent and unyielding and unrelenting and insistent and uncompromising for what is worthy of such an attitude. And who is more worthy of such passionate pursuit than God? What is more befitting of such a close-minded endeavor than the Truth itself? Than Truth Himself?

Have you seen people playing football (or soccer), basketball, etc.? To me, these are pretty intense games. But what I watch out for are the players. I love watching them play. Though for some of them, their lives may be somewhat complicated, with much to worry about, when they play, all is seemingly left on the benches, on the sidelines. The expression of focus and utmost concentration on the game, their entire being being in the game, mind, heart, body, is just so beautiful to watch.

I think it is like that for God. How much more when instead of a game, we are concentrating on Him! I think He's pretty tickled by that. To have all the spotlights focussed on Him tickles Him so because it is what He wants. And rightfully so!

But He will not force us to worship and bow down. He chose to give us choice.

Will you choose to relentlessly pursue and insist on God?

This year's Young Methodist Leaders Conference was held at Pulai Springs Resort, Johor from the 5th of September to the 7th.

I went there with a somewhat cloudy but definitely tired and weary, and heavy heart. Last year in a bid to become more and more like Christ, to become a young woman after God's own heart, I prayed for Him to highlight things about myself that He doesn't like; things He wants changed. Guess what? He answered my prayer. And trust me, I did not like what I saw and am seeing. I also asked that He show me how and what to change into.

Nearing the time for YMLC, my walk with Him was still pretty shabby, like a stupid roller coaster ride with lots of peaks and dips that wouldn't stop. I wanted to spend time with Him, learn more about Him, talk with Him and all. But somehow, my desire was never realised. I felt I was hitting a brick wall. And I give up time and time again to try to crack that wall. I didn't know what the problem was. I wanted to pump my muscle-less legs as fast and hard as they'd go and propel myself back by the One whose side I so long to be next to. I really did. But somehow, I could not...

On the second day of YMLC, I decided to try again. I opened my Quiet Time materials and picked up where I last left off. And I knew:

I am not comfortable with silence in prayer.

Jesus spent much of His time with God in prayer. There are many instances where it was written Jesus spent much of His time seeking God in all-night prayer sessions. But those accounts merely cease there. We read very few words in those sessions. So we can assume that Jesus did much listening. But listening not just for God's words in response and answer to worries and cares. Prayer for Jesus seemed to have been a time for simply sharing in God the Father's presence, listening to the silence of His breathing.
Jesus' life of prayer teaches us to not only listen for words; we must learn too to listen to the silence.

I realised that whenever I pray or sing songs to God, I expect God to respond with His voice and words and images and visions and touch...but never silence. I tend to feel neglected and cast aside whenever my questioning, seeking voice is answered with silence. And so everytime I talk to God and I hear nothing, I get discouraged. Which for me, leads to giving up, that is, my prayer life, communication with God comes to a halt, jeapordising my relationship with God.

Silence during prayer is something I must learn.

So I prayed that morning. And got silence on God's part. Not even a smile.
And then I laid down on the couch and listened to the silence.

You know what?
God honored my resolution to learn to listen to silence, my desperation to run back into His presence.
He honored my decision to pick up and try try again.

For the rest of the day jam-packed with 630 am morning prayer, morning worship, morning sermon, full-time leadership talk, mentor group discussion, two afternoon workshops and an evening service, I felt God's presence and His Fire (!)

Though He was silent right until the evening service, I knew He was there walking with me from venue to venue, listening as I spoke to different people, sitting with me through the various segments. I knew.

Now I know why I adamantly stuck with the "Going Deeper in Worship" workshop despite many asking me why I chose that over the "Plunging into a Life of Ceaseless Prayer" and "Digging into the Word & Loving every bit of it". Though the points presented were not new to me, I sensed the overpowering presence of God in that room. Honest! I almost cried...
I was brought there by God for that purpose: to feel His presence while He is keeping silent. To know He hears me and sees me and knows, and be content with His choice of keeping silent. To know that His silence does not equate to Him not being here with me. It does not mean that I am forgotten.

It's still something new for me, but I am learning.

I am learning to listen to the silence.

How's your soul (ie. relationship with God)?

If it's going great, great! Keep at it! Never trade it for a guilty pleasure or for laziness. It is far too valuable for that.

If it's not going good, why? Is there something standing in the way? Is there something that must be removed? Or is there something that must be added to you, like the knowledge and lesson of listening to God's choice of silence for me?

Just how resolved and desperate are you resolved in seeking the Beautiful and Worthy One?

Welcoming in september with a happy tune stuck in my head and a heart beating furiously with renewed vigor for God and with God.

Have fun!

love.