In 'The Victor’s Crown,' Peter Allison examines the martyrdom of Stephen as depicted in Acts chapter 7. Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazes into heaven and sees the glory of God and Jesus at the right hand of God. Despite facing death, Stephen's perspective remains focused on Jesus, not on the mob attacking him. He exemplifies a 'victor' by displaying the power, perspective, hope, and prayer of a true believer. Allison contrasts the traditional crown with the 'victor's crown'—a wreath symbolizing triumph and victory, as used in ancient athletic and military contexts. Stephen's name itself means 'crown,' and he achieves a spiritual victory through his unwavering faith and martyrdom. The sermon delves into the role of the Holy Spirit, highlighting that Stephen's power and wisdom come from being filled with the Spirit. Allison also discusses the dual nature of prayer in persecution, referencing both Stephen's plea for forgiveness for his executioners and other biblical examples where justice is sought. Stephen's hope lies in being with Christ, and his death is described as a 'sleep,' denoting peace and eternal communion with God. Finally, the sermon reflects on the legacy of Stephen's martyrdom, particularly its impact on Saul, later Paul, who consents to Stephen's death but eventually becomes a pivotal apostle. Stephen's life challenges believers to seek approval from God, be filled with the Spirit, and serve with integrity, striving for the crowns of righteousness, life, and glory promised in Scripture.

Acts chapter 7. I'd like to begin reading at verse 54. 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 and stopped their ears and ran at him with one accord.

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.

Now Saul was consenting to his death. May these commandments be our delight even when trouble and anguish overtake us. Heavenly Father, Your Word is pure, refined seven times. It is truth. Sanctify us by Your Word this morning.

Cleanse us. And teach us. And cause us, Lord, to see its beauty, its glory, its truth. And please sanctify my lips, sinful lips, that they might proclaim the riches of Your grace in Christ. That through a vessel of clay, you might be magnified, that you might increase and we decrease.

In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, we don't crown kings today. At least I would be surprised if any of you have witnessed the coronation of a king, the placing of a crown on a king. But we still do crown people today, quite frequently, actually. Teams that win sports championships are said to be crowned, crowned with the championship that they have won.

But that's not the crown that we typically think of. It's the gold headpiece worn by a king. That kind of crown is a different crown. That's a diadem kind of a crown. The crown of a victor is more like a wreath.

It's a circle. And in the New Testament times, in Roman times, it was woven vines or other foliage that was wrapped in a wreath and placed on someone's head to honor them. So winners of athletic competitions would be given this kind of a crown in honor of their victory. Generals might be given this kind of a crown to honor them for a military victory, a triumph. Important people might be given this kind of a crown to honor them for a military victory, a triumph.

Important people might be given this kind of wreath crown in honor of some great achievement. And so it's sometimes called a victor's crown. The two churches in Revelation of whom nothing Critical is said. Remember, there were letters written to the seven churches, and in most of the churches, there was praise for the things they did well, and there was rebuke for admonition for the things that they didn't do well. But There were two churches that there was no rebuke given to them.

One was the church at Smyrna. The angel of that church was commanded not to fear what he was about to suffer, but to be faithful unto death and the Lord would give him the crown of life. This victor's crown. The other church was Philadelphia, and they were told to hold fast to what they had so that no one would take their victor's crown. Well, Stephen's name in Greek means crown, and it means specifically this victor's crown.

The crown that was given to somebody of importance or somebody who had won a victory. And Stephen wins a victory. He wins a great victory in this passage. He's often presented as the first martyr, the person to die for the faith. But really, martyrdom was nothing new to Stephen and to the saints in Jerusalem.

Jesus speaks of all the righteous blood that the Jews had spilled in their history in Matthew 23 when He said, I send you prophets and wisemen and scribes, Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge and persecute, that on you, he said, on you, speaking to the Jews in his day, these Jews that were trying Stephen in this Sanhedrin that he was facing. And I should have mentioned that in our text, that we were jumping into the middle of Stephen's trial before the Sanhedrin. He has just presented his defense and he concluded with that, with his confrontation against the Jews for their sins, he confronted them with their sins and their lost condition that we looked at last week. And as he is in the middle of rebuking them and calling them to repentance for their rebellion, they rush at him. They're cut to the heart.

And they end up killing him. But it's nothing new. Jesus said to these very people who are about to kill Stephen, he said, I sent you all these prophets and these wise men, I will send them and you will kill them and you will persecute them that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barakiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar." And then he went on to say, "'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.'" Stephen himself, Just a verse or two earlier, speaks of the Jewish fathers, the fathers of these people He's talking to, killing the prophets of the Old Testament who foretold the coming of the Holy One, the Just One. So Stephen's martyrdom is not something that is new. There have long been martyrs for the faith, beginning with Abel in Genesis, and continuing on into the New Testament.

Remember all the little babies that were killed at Bethlehem by Herod. And there was wailing. These were covenant children. These were martyrs. They died because they were circumcised in the church.

Herod was trying to kill them in an effort to kill the Messiah. Or John the Baptist was also a martyr. He was put to death because he had confronted a wicked king and told him that he wasn't to have his brother's wife. But Stephen here in this is a victor. And that's what I want to look at this morning.

I want to look at the victor's power, the victor's perspective, the victor's prayer, the victor's hope, and the victor's crown. What is Stephen's perspective? What is his power? What is his hope? What was his prayer?

And what is his crown? First, his power. Where was Stephen's power coming from? It says several times that he had power. He did signs and wonders.

And he had that power because he was full of the Holy Spirit. This was the power that enabled him to perform the signs and wonders that he was doing. It was the power that enabled him to so competently and powerfully answer the false charges against him. And It was the power that enabled Him to so boldly confront the Sanhedrin with their sins and call them to repentance. See, because Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was filled with power.

He's a spirit of power. And we're always going to be full of something. A cup, for example, is always full of something. If it's full of water and you dump the water out, then it becomes full of air. And so to be filled with the Holy Spirit means that we are not filled with something else.

It's all too easy for us to be full of ourselves. That would be pride. And those who are full of themselves don't think they have a need of anything else. They don't think they have a need of God or prayer. We can become filled with fear.

The disciples on a couple of occasions were filled with fear. But we know that when we're filled with love, that casts out fear, doesn't it? We can be filled with envy. We can be filled with lusts of various kinds. A love of money is one form of being filled with a lust.

And that results in many having strayed from the faith and piercing themselves through with many sorrows because they were filled with a love of money, a lust for money. We can be filled with indignation and wrath. We can be full of hypocrisy. Some people are filled with wine and become drunk. The Bible says, don't be filled with wine, but what?

Be filled with the Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit. We can be full of darkness. We can be filled with entertainment and dark entertainment, or we can be filled with light. We'll be filled with something.

The question is, what is it? We can't be filled with the Holy Spirit and be filled with hypocrisy and lust and envy and fear and pride. But if We are filled with the Holy Spirit. And then we will be full of mercy. We'll be full of faith.

Faith believes all things. Faith hopes all things. We'll be full of assurance. Because the Holy Spirit will testify to us that we are His. We will be full of power and wisdom.

David was filled with wisdom because he was filled with the Holy Spirit. You see, we drive the Holy Spirit away when we grieve the Holy Spirit by our sins, by wandering away from His Word and from fellowship with Him. We grieve the Spirit and He withdraws. And we are filled with the Spirit as we ask the Lord to fill us with His Spirit, to enable us, to give us the power to do all the things that He calls us to do that are impossible to do without the filling of the Holy Spirit. Stephen the victor was filled with power because he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

And He spoke with a wisdom that couldn't be refuted. And He spoke with a boldness that brought real conviction to the hearts of His hearers. And that power had an effect even after his death, as we'll see. Now what was his perspective? What was this victor's perspective?

It says there our three things about His perspective. He being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into the heavens. He looked to Jesus into the heavens. He's looking up to Jesus, the author and the finisher of His faith. He's not focused on the mob that is about to kill Him.

If you think about that, that's probably amazing. He's about to be killed. He has people gnashing their teeth. They're enraged. They're running at Him.

And He's not even looking at them. It seems like He's not even thinking about them. He's looking up into heaven to Jesus. He's not distracted by what is around Him. And that's very easy to become distracted by what's around us.

You remember Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and he asked for Jesus to call him to come to him. And he got out, and Jesus did, and he got out and he starts walking. But as soon as he stopped looking at Jesus, remember he became consumed with what was around him. He became distracted with this rough water that he's walking on. And he immediately starts to sink.

But then he cries out to Jesus to save him. So he looks back to Jesus. So Stephen is looking to Jesus. That's his first perspective. He then secondly, he sees the glory of God.

He sees the glory of God. He gazed into heaven and he saw the transcendent glory of God. Remember when Paul encountered the glory of God, he fell off his horse and was struck blind. But Stephen is given grace in this situation as he looks into heaven to see the glory of God. Very rare.

Moses asked the Lord, remember, to show me Your glory. And God said, I will make my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Something that Paul quotes in Romans 9 about the doctrine of reprobation and God's justice. But then God says, you cannot see My face, for no one shall see Me and live. And the Lord said, here is a place by Me, you shall stand on the rock, and So it will be, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand, and I will pass by." Moses asked to see the glory, and he was given this special privilege.

The disciples on the transfiguration saw Jesus in glory. But very few people have seen. This was the glory cloud that was in the temple. It was God's presence. But now Stephen looks up and sees Jesus, sees His glory of God.

And he also secondly sees Jesus standing at the right hand. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He was given a special vision to see into the heavens and to see Jesus standing. Now most of the time, Jesus is said to sit at the right hand of God, isn't He? He sends into heaven and He sits at the right hand.

And that's... Hebrews makes the point that He is sitting because His work is completed. And He can sit down. But there are two places in the Bible where Jesus is pictured as standing in heaven. And both places refer to Him as the Son of Man.

The one is in Daniel 7 where the Son of Man is said to enter heaven and to come before the throne of God. Daniel 7, 13, I was watching in the night visions, Daniel's vision, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. And He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him." Remember when this same body had accused Jesus of blasphemy, and Jesus said that they would see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. What does this mean? He's coming on the clouds of heaven.

He comes to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before Him. They brought the Son of Man nearer to the Father. And then to the Son of Man was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples and nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting Dominion, which shall not pass away in His kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed." So Stephen seeing Christ standing by the right hand of the throne of God is to give Stephen a vision of Christ as King. Here he's being killed by a mob who are in power, but his perspective is that he sees Christ as reigning.

Christ is this King who has come up to the ancient of days and received from Him dominion and glory and a kingdom. And so Stephen sees Christ in this case as the reigning King, as the one who is standing in the heavens at the throne of God. He's shown this great comfort that this mob is not in control. This mob is not reigning. It may look to those on the earth like they are.

But Stephen the victor is given this victor's perspective that can see even as he's being killed, that can see Christ is reigning. He's the King. And that He's the one that has all the dominion. He's the one to whom all the people and nations and languages shall serve. And His dominion won't pass away.

And His is the kingdom that won't be destroyed. He was just talking about this temple being destroyed, and the power and the dominion of these apostate Jews being destroyed. And so he sees a confirmation of that. Christ is standing. He's the King.

It's a really powerful vision to confirming what He has said to the Jews. And He testifies to this. We don't know if the other people could see it. The other people couldn't see what Paul saw. They heard, but they couldn't hear.

So we don't know what they saw, but they did hear what He said. He said, look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. He testified to them. That He saw Christ as the reigning King. Now what is the victor's prayer.

Well, he prays two things. He prays, Father, do not charge them with this sin. Do not charge them with this sin. That's His prayer. It's a prayer for the salvation of the people that were killing Him.

That was His desire at that point. Prayer is an offering up to God for things agreeable to His will. It's offering up of our desires to God for things agreeable to His will. And this is a prayer for their salvation. Not, Lord, save me from these people, which would be a legitimate prayer.

David prayed that, that he would be delivered from his enemies. In fact, David even said, by this I know that you are well pleased with me because my enemies don't triumph over me. But that wasn't Stephen's prayer in this instance. His prayer is similar to what Jesus prayed on the cross, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. But you know, other righteous people in this circumstance have prayed different prayers.

We mentioned earlier Ezekaria. He was murdered. He was martyred. And he was martyred by somebody who had been greatly helped by Zechariah's family, which only made it all the more worse. You remember the boy who became king at age six?

His name was Joash. The story is told in 2 Kings. He was saved from being killed by Athaliah, his grandmother. Her son died, Ahaziah died, and she killed off all the heirs so that she could assume the throne that her son had died. She was a daughter of the wicked King Ahab, which should tell you something about the family she grew up in and what she was like.

But this little boy who became king, his joash, was saved by his aunt Jehoshiba, the wife of Jehoiada the priest. She saved him from being killed. She took care of him for six years. And Jehoada, or Jehoash did... And Jehoiah, or Jehoash, did, well, Jehoiah, when he was six years old, staged a coup.

He used his ability and his skill, I say a coup, but he restored the king to its rightful heir and he removed wicked Athaliah and they justly executed her for her treason and for her idolatry. And they installed Joash as a king at six years of age. Jehoiada did this. He and his wife saved Israel and saved this little boy and saved his throne. And Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

But he left the house of the God of their fathers and he served wooden images and idols and after Jehoiada died and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem. And God sent, 2 Chronicles 24 tells us God sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord and they testified to them. The prophets testified to them, but Joash wouldn't listen. And the princes wouldn't listen. Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, the priest.

That's the Zechariah. And He stood above the people and He said, Thus says God, why do you transgress the commandments of God so that you can't prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord. He has forsaken you. Remember, this is the son of the man who saved Joash, who literally made him king, who had Athaliah executed.

What did they do to him? They conspired against him, and at the command of the king, they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord between the temple and the altar. Thus, Chronicles says, Joash did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, his father, had done to him, but he killed his son, and as he died, what did he say? Lord, Forgive them? No, He said, Lord, look on it and repay.

Look on it and repay. This was a man filled with the Spirit. But the martyrs in Revelation also pray this prayer from heaven. In Revelation 6, When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?

And then a white robe was given to each of them and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they are was completed." You see, these are glorified saints, sinless, and they are asking the Lord how long until our death, until our unjust execution, how long until it is avenged? Paul in his last letter before his martyrdom in 2 Timothy 4, Paul said, Alexander, the copper smith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works." So what should we pray if we are ever in this position? Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Or Lord, see and repay.

Well, both are right. Both are right. If someone who is filled with the Holy Spirit, as Zechariah was, prays that, If the glorified saints pray that, if we see many of the Psalms have the similar prayers as well, then We can't say that that's a wrong prayer. But we also have to say that it is the right prayer to be praying, Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Both of these things need to be our prayer.

Sincere prayer. We sincerely desire for even those who are killing us that they would be saved, that they would know the grace of God as we have known it. But It's also right to pray for the victory of Jesus Christ over all His enemies. And so we have in the Scriptures both examples. Both are right.

One and not the other would not be right. But both are right. So that is the victor's prayer. Lord, do not charge them with this sin. That's a prayer for their salvation.

Because the only way for them not to be charged with their sin is for that sin to be charged to Christ. But what is the victor's hope here? As they are stoning him, he is praying, calling on God and asking the Lord Jesus to receive His Spirit. His hope is to be with Christ, to be present with Him. The Bible views the death of believers and unbelievers, the physical death of believers and unbelievers very differently.

The wicked are said to perish when they die. The righteous are said to sleep." You notice that's what it says here. When He had said this, Lord, do not charge Him with this sin. When He had said this, He fell asleep. As they were stoning Him, it's a violent process, But it's nowhere near as violent as what we see in the Middle East today.

There was a moderation in a stoning death. They typically would push somebody over, and it would be the witness who would do this first, over a cliff and that would cause them to die. But if that didn't work, if they weren't dead, then there were large stones, big stones, not little things, big stones that would be dropped on their chest to stop the heart. And then there would be other stones. But you notice there is mercy in that kind of death.

It doesn't leave a lot of blood, and it's quick. And so as He's being stoned, His hope is that He would be with Jesus. The Bible speaks about the death of believers as a sleep. Psalm 13, Consider me and hear me, O Lord my God, and lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Lest my enemies say I have prevailed over them." Or of Lazarus, Jesus said, Lazarus had fallen asleep and they were going to go see him.

And the disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get well. But Jesus spoke of His death. They thought He was speaking about taking rest and sleep. And so Jesus had to say plainly to them, Lazarus is dead. But see, this believer's death, Physical death is called sleep because when we are in Christ, we are alive.

Jesus told Martha in that same chapter that He who believes in Me, though He were dead, yet He lived, you will never die. You will never die. You will never die. You will never be cut off from fellowship with God. You will never face the alienation from God.

That's what life is, to be united to Christ. Death is to be cut off from fellowship with Him. And so even physical death then is called asleep, because even in death, we belong to our faithful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are not cut off from fellowship with Him. And so even physical death then is called asleep, because even in death, we belong to our faithful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We are not cut off from fellowship with Him. And That was Stephen's hope. Also, when we sleep, we are no longer conscious of the physical world around us, but we are still conscious, aren't we? We have dreams. So we are unconscious to the physical world, but it opens up consciousness to dreams.

And so sleep is a very appropriate word for the death of a believer. Because even though a believer is not conscious to the world, the physical world, he is with the Lord. He is conscious of being there. The souls of the martyrs in Revelation were conscious of being with the Lord. And they are crying out to Him.

And so This is Stephen's hope. To have a conscious existence with the Lord Jesus Christ. Something that unbelievers do not have. When they are cut off by death, they are said to perish. Because all hope of salvation is gone.

As long as they are living, there is a hope of salvation. There is the day of grace. But when they die, They perish. There is no longer any hope of salvation. Stephen is given a victor's crown in His martyrdom.

We are promised these crowns in the scribal. We are promised the crown of righteousness to those who have fought the good fight and finished the race and kept the faith." Paul said, there is laid up a crown of righteousness which the righteous judge will award. There's the crown of life. Blessed is the one who preserves under trial because having stood that test, the person, you will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. There's also the crown of glory to those who suffer.

Peter exhorted the elders to shepherd the flock that is under their care watching over them, not because they must, but because they were willing. Not as pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve. And when the chief shepherd appears, Peter said, you will receive the crown of glory." These were Stephen's crowns. But he also had one more. Saul is said to be consenting to his death.

And as they're stoning him, they're taking off their garments and they're laying them at the feet of a young man named Saul. He's there. The fact that he is consenting to his death is possibly an indication that Saul was a member of the Sanhedrin and had taken a vote in this. He was consenting to this action. But this made a significant impression on him.

Remember, Saul after this goes out persecuting Christians until he encounters the glory of God that knocks him from his horse in his conversion, which we will get to later. But out of this man right here, God raised up a mighty apostle who wrote much of the New Testament and who was used mightily throughout the New Testament church. You see, the Lord answered Stephen's prayer. Lord, do not charge them with this sin. In Saul's conversion.

And So even after he died, he received this crown that the Lord heard his prayer and saved Paul and called him to be his apostle to the Gentiles. Stephen was an exemplary person. It's said several times that Stephen was filled with the power. He's filled with the Holy Spirit. He lived with the power of the Holy Spirit, and he died with the power of the Holy Spirit.

What would it be like to live and to die as Stephen died? We can ask ourselves, what are we willing to die for? What would we be willing to die for? When we see Christ as Stephen did, when we have that victor's perspective, and see Christ as the reigning king, When we are filled with His Spirit, then we will be able to die for Him, for His truth, for His righteousness. Where do we look for power?

Do we look to the Holy Spirit to be filled with the Spirit? Or do we look to our own strength, to our own abilities for our power? What are we filled with? Something to ask us is what are we filled with? Are we people who are filled with envy, filled with wrath, filled with lusts of various kinds?

Filled with fears? Or are we filled with the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace. Now may the God of hope fill you with all peace and joy in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." That was our verse at the Presbytery. What are we filled with?

If we're filled with the Spirit, we'll be filled with the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, faithfulness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. Whose approval are we seeking? Whose approval? The approval of our friends?

The approval of our co-workers, our bosses? The approval of our parents or our children? Whose approval are we living for? Stephen was living to be approved to God. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

That was his source of approval. That was who he was looking to please. That's who he was serving. It's very easy for us to be led astray when we want the approval of people, when we want their approval for whatever reason. Sometimes it can be seemingly good reasons.

But we need to be living for Christ's approval. Christ's approval. The kingdom of heaven is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And he who practices these things is acceptable, accepted by God and approved by men. Let us pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you for these examples that show to us the power of your Spirit at work in an ordinary man who could look to you for his strength and his power, who could speak with great eloquence, who could do mighty signs and wonders, and who could die a victor's death. Father, help us to be faithful, to persevere, and to receive the crown of life. Help us to fight the good fight, to finish the race that you have set before us, to finish it with joy that we might receive the crown of righteousness. And help us to serve from our heart, to serve the interests of others, that we might receive the crown of glory. Lord, fill us with Your Spirit.

May our wills and our emotions, our intellect, all be governed and led by Your Spirit. Lord, grant us this for Christ's sake. Amen.