Angelic Countenance

Acts 6:8-15  Scripture speaks of Stephen and him being a man full of God's grace and

power.  In verse 8 it records  "He did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people."  The next verse says a lot about how a person who is anointed by God is thought of, where it says "Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (The Freedmen was a group of Jewish slaves who had been freed by Rome and had formed their own synagogue in Jerusalem) ."  When Paul was changed by the grace of God he went through terrible persecution, from within the group of believers. In Stephen's case, they even persuaded some people to lie about things Stephen had said and tried to get him to stop preaching by generating trumped up charges against his character and intent.  They were desperate to keep the man who God had chosen for this specific task from preaching and showing God's power.  Basically Stephen exposed their hypocrisy and it cut them to the heart and the only relief was to get rid of Stephen.  The most intimidating thing about Stephen was his countenance.  In verse 15 scripture says, "All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel."  Stephen's inner conviction and relationship with Jesus was seen in his face, even in the midst of lies and slander.  Wow!  You know that God is powerful in your life when your gaze intimidates those who look at you.  No words to be said, just eyes and the countenance of an angel. 

When people look at your face they see so much and Stephen's face was like that of an angel.  That is not something you can act out and make happen.  It is "who you are."  Oh, that I would be so full of the Holy Spirit that others would see God so evident in my life.  What a wonderful transformation that would be.   Of course, that is when the opposition would ramp up for me.  Stephen's gaze was apparently the gaze of someone who had a close connection to the Savior He was presenting to everyone he met.

When others see you do they see the gaze of someone who is connected with Jesus and His message or is it the gaze of someone who lives their faith through someone else's impressions of who Jesus is?  It stands to reason that we will be the most effective if we spend time with Jesus in His Word and in intense times of prayer for guidance and instruction.  In other words, our countenance will change when we intensify our relationship with Jesus to the point that the earth and all of it's ways start to fade in importance.  It is a transfer of allegiance from the world to the Lord.  You may say, "I already have that type of relationship with Jesus."  If so, what effect has it made on your countenance?  Or, is that too deep for us.  To be so immersed in the Lord that only He can be seen in our lives.   I guess it comes down to what is the desire of our heart.  When the desire of our heart is to be so close to Jesus that others see Him in our lives, then it changes our perspective on the things of this world we live in.  We begin to morph into a different person.  We take on the characteristics of our Savior and lordship becomes a reality.  Then we will be full of God's grace and power and all who come in contact with us are quickly impacted.   I have met very few people who I believe were at that depth of commitment to the Lord.  I led worship for a community event in Jonesboro, Arkansas and Adrian Rogers was the guest speaker.  After a stirring time of worship I sat down beside him on the front pew and he patted me on the back and said "That was great worship leading."  It was as though there was power in his hand that was patting me.  He was a great man of God......

If we are going to impact this world as God has called us to we are going to have to focus on our relationship with the Savior we are connected to and elevate Him in our thinking and reasoning and allow the Holy Spirit to take over more and more territory in our life.  Some of you may be filled with the Holy Spirit, but only one quarter filled.  It is now time to be fully filled with the Spirit of God and allow His great power to be seen and evidenced in our life.  It's time to take on that angelic countenance like Stephen and be immersed in the call of God on our life.  At a very pivotal moment in the Savior's life, in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked the disciples to stay and pray with him and not fall asleep.  In Matthew 26:41 he said "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Sadly, the disciples fell asleep anyway.  In the account in Acts we see the example of a disciple who is "fully awake" and that man was Stephen.  Perhaps Jesus is speaking to you as you read this blog and he is saying "Don't fall asleep.  Stay awake!"  I think it is time for all believers everywhere to wake up and fix our eyes on Jesus, and when others see us they will see Jesus in our countenance, much like Stephen.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren