Tag Archives: faithfulness

Getting your Stephen on

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Stephen, who we see in Acts 6-7, was a special man. He is known as the first Christian martyr, the first Christian to be put death because of his faith.

His death established a new standard for faithfulness, another example that people could look to besides that of Christ. Christians could encourage one another saying, “You can be a Stephen.”

In the writings of the New Testament, Stephen’s name came to be seen as a symbol of faithfulness. “To receive a Stephen” was the goal of every Christian.

Stephen (Stephanos) means “crown.” And that crown is promised time and again to the faithful:
1 Corinthians 9:25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown (stephanos) that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
2 Timothy 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
James 1:12   Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
1 Peter 5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
Revelation 2:10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Revelation 3:11   I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

I don’t think that the writers only used the word “crown” because of Stephen. But I have to think that he often came to mind when Christians heard that word.

Don’t let anyone keep you from your Stephen!

The faithful witness

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lettersI want to take some time to share some thoughts on the first few chapters of Revelation. With our book hot off the press (I’m hoping to see a copy in the next few days), I decided it was a good time to explore some of the topics we looked at there.

One key theme in Revelation is that of the faithful witness. In Revelation 1:5 we read: “from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” (Revelation 1:5) In looking at this verse in our book, I wrote:

In verse 5, John speaks of “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” These three elements are important as we come to understand the Jesus that we see here in Revelation chapter 1. He is the faithful witness. The Greek word for witness is martus, the word from which we get our word martyr. We see in the book of Revelation that witnesses are often martyred for their faith, so much so that dying for one’s faith is the sign of a “faithful witness.” The Lord who calls his followers to be willing to maintain their faith in the face of death has already done the same himself. He asks nothing of them that he was not willing to ask of himself.

(Letters From The Lamb, p. 30)

The word “testimony” (which comes from the same root) also occurs throughout Revelation. (Rev 1:2, 9; 6:9; 11:7; 12:11, 17; 15:5; 17:6; 19:10; 20:4; 22:16) A key passage is this one in chapter 12: “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” (Revelation 12:10-11)

The victory lies in being a faithful witness, in steadfastly holding on to the testimony of Jesus in the face of all opposition. The Christians will conquer Rome not through military might nor political power, but faithful testimony.