W. J. Seaton

My Dear Friends,

One of the most comforting sights that was afforded that good man Stephen as he was called to give up his life in the cause of the gospel in Acts chapter seven, must surely have been right at the outset of that storm of malice and abuse. As his hearers began to “gnash on him with their teeth,” he was enabled, by the grace of God, to “Look up steadfastly into heaven and behold the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.” (Verse 55)

In any time of trial or trouble, we can think of no more comforting or consoling sight than the glory of our God who dwells in the heavens; for there He dwells, far above all the effects of men’s hatred and abuse, and there, the believing child of God dwells in Him through Jesus Christ the Lord. Stephen was undaunted and unafraid, in the fullest sense of the word, of all that men could do to him; and, no doubt, if any apprehensive thoughts had risen within his mind when those men of the Jewish court rushed upon him, he would have been enabled to quell his every anxiety with that great and glorious vision of the glory of his God and Christ at His right hand.

Stephen points us right up to the source of all comfort for our souls in this sight of God glorified before him in his time of deepest need and trial. But, Stephen also exhorts us to be in the way of receiving such a comforting and consoling sight for our times of opposition and adversity. For, surely, the good man teaches us this, that the comforting sight of the glory of God was, in the first place, afforded to him as one who had lived so much for the promotion of that glory upon the earth. Read the sermon that he preached to those men and which caused such animosity to rise up against him; it is supremely spiritual, and undercuts all the false notions that those men had held dear to their hearts and which had caused them to “crucify the Lord of Glory.” It was no mean task for Stephen to preach and to live the way that he did, but the glory of the Lord so pervaded his life that, like one that came after him, he could “do no other” but stand and show forth the praise of Him who had redeemed him. It was little
more, then, than an extension of his standing to turn from the face of those before whom he had so fearlessly set forth the glory of God, to look up into heaven and see that same glory that had captivated his life and his tongue.

We purposely write but a few words this month that we might all take hold of that comforting principle; would we know those “sights that gladden” in our every need? Then, how particular we must be that we live to display that same majesty of God before men.

Sincerely,

W. J. Seaton

From The Wicket Gate Magazine, published in the UK, used with permission.