PowerPoint

Jack Graham: You want to live a beautiful life, live in the presence of Jesus. Look unto Him, the author and the finisher of your faith, and your very character will be changed, and your countenance will express that beautiful life.

Guest (Male): On today’s PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message on how you can have a faith that doesn't compromise. Now here’s Dr. Graham with his message, Living for an Audience of One.

Jack Graham: If you take a stand for Christ in this generation, you will face harassment perhaps, hardship perhaps. "All that live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." That’s what the Scripture says in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 12. We need to explode the myth that suggests that somehow in becoming a Christian, we will always be successful, we will always be prosperous, we will always be popular. Because the fact is, if you stand for Jesus Christ, I mean truly, passionately live for Jesus Christ, you will face the flak and you perhaps will face the fury of a world that does not know Jesus.

And whether it is from small and seemingly insignificant put-downs, or if it is full-blown persecution—and many are being persecuted physically around the world. The church is persecuted in places that suppress the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many Christians are now dying there even as we sit in the convenience and the culture and the comfort of America. We live in a time of privilege rather than persecution, but the fact is we are living in an increasingly post-Christian culture. And I believe we can anticipate increased harassment and perhaps even persecution for our faith. We should expect hostility and endure hatred.

But the question for us today is: Are we living for Jesus? Someone asked the question a number of years ago: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" And as we look at the story of Stephen in Acts chapter 6 and Acts chapter 7, I would invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to that passage. It is a transition passage in the book of Acts, moving from the early days of the church as it was born in Jerusalem, when Peter was the powerful preacher at Pentecost and the de facto leader of the church, until it transitioned in its world mission outreach, and Paul, the dynamic missionary, became the central and focal point of the book of Acts.

There is in between a transition, Acts chapter 6 and Acts chapter 7, where we meet one of the grandest and greatest Christians and servants of God ever known. His name is Stephen. And in Acts chapter 6 and 7, one of my favorite stories in all of the Word of God, we see a profile of courage. A profile of courage which teaches us how to live for an audience of one. Stephen was the first Christian martyr, and yet his life and the lessons of his life and of his death endure to this day. And we see the keys, if you will, to living for an audience of one. He lived passionately, purposely for one and only one, Jesus Christ. And he died in that audience in faith and in courage.

And so verse 54 of Acts 7, "When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, 'Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!' Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not charge them with this sin.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep."

The first key to living for an audience of one is to express a beautiful life. A beautiful life. Stephen’s very name means "the crowned one," and God had crowned him with favor, and faith, and grace, and power. We first meet Stephen in Acts chapter 6. The church was a great church, a growing church, but it was not a perfect church. And the leadership, the apostles of the church, they moved very quickly to solve the problem. And thus they said, "We will choose out seven men of good report, of great reputation, men full of the Holy Spirit, men full of wisdom, and we will appoint these men and assign these men to the administrative task of sharing and distributing the food."

You see, the problem was there were some complaining that they weren't being ministered to by the church. And so the apostles said, "It’s our responsibility primarily to teach the Word of God and to pray, and therefore we'll not leave that to serve tables." And so the diaconate, the deacon body, was born when these seven were chosen as faithful servants of Christ. And the first on the list was the man named Stephen.

Stephen is described back in chapter 6 as not only a man of good reputation, full of wisdom as described in verse 3, but in particular, verse 5, "They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit." Stephen was chosen because he was a good man. He had a good reputation. He was chosen because he was a godly man. He was full of the Spirit. Stephen was chosen because he was a gifted man. He was full of wisdom. And he was full not only of wisdom, but he was full of power and of grace. And thus, he was a gracious man, full of faith, favored and graced by God, and a minister, a servant of God.

You might say that he was an ordinary man. He was not an apostle; he was a layman. He was an ordinary man who did an extraordinary thing for the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a gracious minister, servant of God, and an articulate defender of the faith. He beautifully balanced power and grace in his life. As the great Bible commentator Campbell Morgan said, "sweetness and strength." His personality was such that he exuded confidence and conviction and courage.

And so as a servant of God, as a man of God—good, godly, gifted, and gracious—he drew fire. He began to draw fire for his faith, and there was antagonism that arose and anger because there were those, the enemies of Christ and the enemies of the cross, who still wanted to stop the message and to still the church. And thus Satan moved against the congregation of the people of God, and Stephen was the target.

So there was a synagogue. Synagogues were collections of Jewish believers. Synagogues arose during the Babylonian captivity because they were not able to worship at the temple, and thus they were given these synagogues. There were over 400 synagogues in the city of Jerusalem at the time of Christ, at the time of the early church. And so several synagogues apparently joined together as a kind of coalition to stop Stephen and to stop ultimately the message of Christ and the work of the church.

Verses 9 and 10 speak of this coalition, but verse 10 says they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Stephen spoke with such wisdom and power they were unable to resist his words. They wanted to dispute with him, they wanted to debate him and argue with him, but they could not win the debate. And thus, rather than attacking the message, they chose to attack the messenger. They began a smear campaign to frame Stephen, trumped-up charges against him in order to shut him up. You see, unbelief is no match for authentic faith. And Stephen was the real deal. He knew it and they knew it.

And so they had to stop him, they had to shut him up. Stephen delivered a very powerful and persuasive case for Christ. Because they could not refute him or resist his witness, they determined to destroy him. Does this remind you of anything, by the way? Does this remind you of the trial of Jesus and the trumped-up charges against our Lord? And the lies and the innuendos and the blasphemies? The evil plot that charged Christ of blasphemy now charges Stephen with that same blasphemy. They said, "You’ve blasphemed God. You have blasphemed against the temple. You have blasphemed against Moses. You have blasphemed against the law of God." They attacked him in the name of religion.

Does that surprise you? Well, it shouldn't surprise you in a day in which there are religious groups who think they’re doing their God a favor when they kill you. Dead, empty religion is always the enemy of the living faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): You’re listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, Living for an Audience of One. Easter is just around the corner, and we want to help you prepare your heart for the season. When you sign up, we will send you a video devotion every day beginning on Palm Sunday until Easter to remind you of the sacrifice Jesus made so that we can be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God. Dr. Graham will share a short devotion about the final words that Jesus spoke from the cross and what they mean to us today. To sign up, just text CROSS to 59789. Again, text CROSS to 59789.

Right now, you have the incredible opportunity to help others experience the unshakable hope and abundant life found only in Jesus Christ. Your support of PowerPoint Ministries makes a real and lasting difference, changing lives for eternity as people encounter God’s Word. And because your partnership matters so deeply, we’d love to send you Dr. Graham’s new book, *Living Hope in a Hostile World*, as our thanks for your gift of $10 or more. This book explores the bold truths of First Peter and offers strength, courage, and hope for whatever you may face. To give your gift, text FEB to 59789. Text F-E-B to 59789. Now, let’s get back to today’s message, Living for an Audience of One.

Jack Graham: Notice in chapter 6 and verse 15, as he’s brought before the council of the Sanhedrin, "And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel." Question: Suppose something like this happened to you. You’re being lied about, called a blasphemer. You’re facing an uncertain future, perhaps death. What would your face look like? Would it be a scowling face, an angry face, a resentful face? What would your face look like, what does it look like, when you’re under pressure, when you feel the heat? Do people see the joy of Jesus, the peace of Christ reigning in your life? And does your face reflect your faith in Him and your confidence in Him?

You see, they tried to shut down his words, but they couldn't stop the visual part of his face. The verbal part they would ultimately silence, but they could never forget that face. It was the face of an angel. A beautiful life for Christ. Now maybe you’re wondering: What does the face of an angel look like? I’ve never seen the face of an angel. But we’re told in the Bible in Judges, the book of Judges, chapter 13 and verse 6, someone saw an angel and said, "That angel was very awesome." That would probably be a good description. We just might say in our lingo, awesome!

When the women went to the tomb and found the tomb empty on that first Easter, the angel of the Lord was sitting there and the Bible says that angel was—his countenance was shining like the lightning. Angels, some angels, are in the very presence of God continually, and the Shekinah glory of God—the same glory and grace that shone upon Moses when he came down off of the mountain. His face was shining to the degree that they covered his face, it was so powerful.

Interesting, isn't it? They’re accusing Stephen of denying Moses, so God says, "Okay, I'm just going to make his face shine for these boys just like I made Moses' face shine." And so he’s shining with the grace and the glory of God. He is a light for Christ, flaming, passionate for Him. Remember, Stephen was in love with Christ and his eyes were upon Him continually. When he dies, he looks up into heaven and he sees Jesus. As he lives, he’s living looking unto Jesus. He had captured the thought of Psalm 16 verses 8 through 11. "I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh will rest in hope, for You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy. At Thy right hand, pleasures forevermore."

If you want to live a beautiful life, live in the presence of Jesus. Look unto Him, the author and the finisher of your faith, and your very character will be changed, and your countenance will express that beautiful life. He lived for an audience of one. But not only by expressing a beautiful life, but exercising a bold witness. By exercising a bold witness. Stephen was audio-visual for Christ. Verbally and visually he shared Christ.

And so in Acts chapter 7—and we certainly don't have time to read or rehearse this long sermon, the longest one recorded in the book of Acts—but it is a sermon this godly deacon preached and this powerful case for faith, this case for Christ is extemporaneous. He was ready. Peter would later say, "Always be ready to give a defense for your faith, show the reason for the hope that is in you with gentleness and with reverence." And that’s what he did. He preached, he talked extemporaneously.

He was ready. Many of us are not ready to respond to the challenges and the charges of our times, to the culture in which we live. And we need to get ready to share our faith and on any moment to be able to share who we are in Christ and what Christ means to us and to share the Gospel. He did it extemporaneously, he did it eloquently. This is a beautiful and powerful message. He did it expositionally. He took the Scripture, namely the history of Israel and the destiny of God’s people, the sovereign work of God from Abraham all the way to the cross. He expounded the Scriptures.

He preached and talked evangelistically because he pointed people to Christ. He introduced them to the Gospel. He told the great story of God’s plan and of God’s sovereign purpose fulfilled in the cross and in the resurrection. He preached without compromise. He preached with confidence. He preached Christ, full of the Holy Spirit. And this is what we need today. We need confident, bold, courageous witnesses, controlled with the Holy Spirit, bold in our witness, sharing our faith, refusing to compromise our convictions, standing alone if necessary in the presence of God with our witness.

Allowing the beauty of Jesus to be seen in us, to live passionately and to die triumphantly if necessary for Christ. Stephen did not live a long life, but he made an eternal difference. And this message is faithful and fearless in its pronouncement, in its proclamation. Though it was not politically correct or popular, he got in their faces and he said, "You have sinned against God. You have a religion but you don't know God. And you committed the ultimate crime and high treason against God by participating in the death of Jesus. You murdered Him." And that’s the message that we must boldly declare today, that all of us are guilty before God of the blood of Christ. That He died on the cross because of our sin and for our sin.

And we preach Christ and we preach faith and repentance. We do it with grace and gentleness and reverence and respect, but we declare with confidence who Jesus is and what He can do in forgiving and changing a life. You see, you can't get a person saved until you first get them lost. And people have to recognize their despicable condition in the sight of God before they come to the cross for grace and forgiveness and new life.

And so if you want to live for an audience of one, not only express a beautiful life and exercise a bold witness and faith, but expect a blessed death. As we read in the passage, Stephen was taken out by the howling, angry mob. They take him out of the city and throw him off a precipice down into the rock quarry, and there they stone him to death. But he died a blessed death. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.

We have no reason to fear death. Stephen looked up into heaven as the stones were raining death upon him, and there he cried out, "Look! There He is! I see Jesus standing at the right hand of God the Father!" And with that, he was confessing that Jesus is risen. That He is there with God just as He promised. That He is at the right hand, the place of authority with God. That He is co-equal and co-eternal with God. In his dying breath, he confessed that Jesus is Lord.

But isn't it interesting that in chapter 7 and verse 55, as his gaze is into heaven—they gave him hatred, he gave them heaven—he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Now we’re told in the Bible that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, but here He is standing. You know why? Two reasons, I believe. One, to welcome the warrior home. To welcome this faithful soldier of the cross into glory. To welcome His child into heaven. To receive the victor’s crown. Stephanos is now crowned. And it is as though God the Son, the Savior, stands up and begins to applaud. That’s my child! He’s coming home! Stay with it, Stephen! Just a moment longer, Stephen! Follow Me, Stephen!

And he was just a stone’s throw away from the very presence of Christ. "For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." And God stood! Jesus was, as it were, saying, "Stephen, you died for Me; I'll stand for you. Stephen, you stood for Me; I will stand for you." So the second reason, therefore, I believe that we see Jesus standing is not only to welcome this faithful and dying servant home, but because in that place of authority as our access into the presence of God the Father, it is as though Jesus is saying to God the Father, "This one is Mine. He is confessing Me, and I am confessing him."

Guest (Male): You’re listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, Living for an Audience of One. Your support of PowerPoint Ministries makes a profound impact, helping more people discover the truth and hope of Jesus Christ. And to thank you for your generous gift today, we’d love to send you Dr. Jack Graham’s new book, *Living Hope in a Hostile World*. It’s a timely resource that reminds you how to stand firm in faith, cling to God’s grace, and live with courage, even in your most challenging times. As you grow in your walk with the Lord through this resource, may you be encouraged to know that your generous support is helping others do the same. Text FEB to 59789. Again, text FEB as in February to 59789.

Easter is just around the corner and we want to help you prepare your heart for the season. When you sign up, we will send you a video devotion every day beginning on Palm Sunday until Easter to remind you of the sacrifice Jesus made so that we can be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God. Dr. Graham will share a short devotion about the final words that Jesus spoke from the cross and what they mean to us today. To sign up, just text CROSS to 59789. Again, text CROSS to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today?

Jack Graham: Even in the death of the great apostles, the church grew, it expanded. The fires of persecution moved the church out of their comfort zone of Jerusalem and out into the world. You see, the blood of the martyrs truly is the seed of the church. And I pray that we will all be inspired to hear the call and respond to the challenge to live for Christ, to give for Christ, to share Christ, and to do whatever is necessary. And if that means paying the price of laying down our lives to follow Jesus, then so be it.

Stephen’s body was bloodied and beaten. It was a torturous, terrible death, and when it came time to die, he just fell asleep and godly men came and carried him away. I tell you, the people who carry you away say a lot about who you are. And they carried him away with great sorrow because they would miss him greatly. Say, how are you going to die? For the Christian, death is a pathway into the presence of the King. But for the unbeliever, death is the entrance into an eternity without Christ. It is the second death and into hell.

Some people have the idea, well, I'll live my life my own way, I'll live my life for self and full of sin, I'll choose my own way. And when I come down to the end, I'll say, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Well, I need to tell you that most people die exactly the way they live. If they live in faith, they typically will die in faith. If you live in unbelief, unfortunately, you may die in unbelief. The Scripture is clear on this: "He being often reproved and hardens his neck will suddenly be cut off, and that is without remedy." Today is the day of salvation. Confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and He will confess you before the Father in heaven. But if you deny Him, He will deny you. Friend, receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and then live for Him in the power of the Holy Spirit. Live for an audience of one, and that means a beautiful life and a bold witness, and then you can expect a blessed death when you fall asleep in His arms and awaken to the glories and the promise of the future with Him forever and ever.

Guest (Male): And that is today’s PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift of $10 or more to PowerPoint, we will send you Dr. Graham’s book, *Living Hope in a Hostile World*. Just text FEB to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can boldly share your faith without fear. That’s next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.