What Do the Eyes of Your Heart See?

Introduction

Imagine the scene. He was being pummeled by stones. His life blood oozing from his body. Death was at the door. He looks at the Lord and he says, Lord, do not lay this sin at their charge. Do not hold this sin against them. Receive my spirit, he said. And he breathed his last. The confrontation had been intense. It’s hard to say to people. Sometimes what they need to hear. You men are stiff-necked and uncircumcised of heart. You told a Jew, in some sense, he was uncircumcised. And you’re always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. And which one of the prophets did they not persecute? And they killed those who had previously announced the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have become, and who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you did not keep it.

Oh, what a tragic lot they were. But preceding this moment, and the modeling of Jesus’ example, Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing. Lord, do not hold this sin against them. Despite the hard things Stephen had to say, he did not desire their eternal spiritual undoing. And we need to be impressed with the eternal spiritual undoing that befalls many and could befall us if we do not pursue our course steadfastly. They were cut to the quick.

1. Jesus Standing at the Right Hand of God

And he gazed intently into heaven. And Stephen saw the glory of God. And Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And when they heard this, they rushed upon him with one impulse. They could take it no more. Several have commented about this verse. I’m a little slow getting there, but I’m there now. That this verse says something interesting. A lot of times when individuals were able to peer into the spiritual realm, I would say something like, Wow, I wish I could have that experience. In this particular case, this preceded his death by moments. But maybe we shouldn’t feel sorry for Stephen. More on that in a minute. But it’s interesting that this text says that Jesus was standing. I see the heavens open. Remember, he’s saying this to the people that are about to pummel him with stones.

I see the heavens opened. And they did not see. And the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Now, the reason why that’s so interesting is that most often the New Testament talks about Jesus sitting at the right hand of God. And I wonder if there is a point to be made versus the number of occasions where it says Jesus was seated at the right hand of God versus he is standing at the right hand of God in Acts chapter 7. Jesus himself spoke in Luke 22 about being seated at the right hand of God when he’s being interrogated by the Jews. In Luke 22, if you’re the Christ, tell us. If I tell you will not believe, Jesus responds. And if I ask a question, you won’t answer.

But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. And then a text I want you to turn to and put a marker there, or an electronic marker, or just stay there on your iPad or iPhone, whatever you have. Ephesians 1 and verse 20.

The working of the power of his might, which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places. And the companion volume to the church at Colossians in chapter 3, he says, if you’ve been seated up with Christ, or if you’ve been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And then as a teaser for next week, I believe, Lord willing, and you never know with preachers, they can change their mind.

And that’s because the bakers are not here. More on that later. In Hebrews 10 and verse 12, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God. And then it occurs to me, another verse that should probably be on the screen. Earlier in Hebrews and chapter 1 and verse 3, after Jesus made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Look at all these passages, five of them, that mention Jesus being seated at the right hand of God. That’s not what we see in Acts 7. We see him standing at the right hand of God.

2. A Heaven Response to These Events

Maybe I’m making too much of it, but I don’t think so. That is as faithful and righteous Stephen has made this bold confession before the obstinate former people of God. And as his representative is about to sacrifice in the most extreme way that one can for the great cause of the king. Jesus stands in heaven, witnessing the scene. And I thought about other occasions in the scripture where, as the spiritual warfare occurs, as the battle between good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness, as it unfolds in this temporal scene, there is a heaven response to these events. Just as Jesus is standing at the right hand of God in Acts chapter 7, when there is one sinner who comes to his senses and repents, like the prodigal son will do later in this chapter in Luke chapter 15.

But over one sinner that repents, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God in heaven. And we talk about that a lot when individuals are baptized into Christ, that heaven is witnessing this event, and there is rejoicing. There’s celebration. Kill the fatted calf. It is a time to celebrate because the lost has been found. The wayward is conversation.

Spiritual victory has been attained in a wicked world dominated by sin. One has been translated out of darkness and into his marvelous light. And there’s a celebration. And the Lord’s people should celebrate. The attention of heaven is riveted upon the scene. I’m reminded of the battle back in 2 Kings 6. I talk about this a lot, so I won’t belabor it. But it reminds me of Stephen in Acts chapter 7. It doesn’t end in the death of the prophet, at least not in that moment. But here comes an entire army that surrounds the house of a prophet. And Elisha’s servant says, Alas, Master, what are we going to do? And Elisha is totally undaunted by the whole thing. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

And that’s true. Even as Stephen breathes his last.

But he surrendered willingly. But in that case, in 2 Kings chapter 6, it was not God’s intention to let that fate befall Elisha at that particular time. And so the servant was allowed to see into heaven, into the spiritual realm. And what’s going on? We see heaven poised at the scene. We see chariots of horses and fire all around Elijah. Know that the spiritual realm is attending this spiritual battle that takes place in our world. Even when it seems no one is watching and heaven is very far away. Know this. I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Jesus says, they persecuted the master, they will persecute the follower. But know this. No sparrow falls to the ground apart from the knowledge of the Father.

And you are of much more value than they.

When I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God, looking down as his faithful witness, Stephen is breathing his last. I got you, Stephen. The very hairs of your head are all numbered. He who confesses me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. And there’s a verse in this section in Matthew chapter 10. A man’s foes will be they of his own household. Anyone who loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. Look, you need to value your relationship with me above everything. Young people, you need to value your relationship with God above everything. As we talked last week about the missing sermon. You need to walk with God. You need that relationship, a daily devotion to God, dependence on his presence.

3. He Who Endures to the End Will Be Saved

You need that every day. But there is a verse that relates to our spiritual walk in Matthew chapter 10, that I believe is somewhat of our mission statement. And it’s found in verse 22. He who endures to the end will be saved. That’s what the prophets did. And sometimes the end was rather severe. That’s what Stephen did. And his end was severe. That’s what our Savior did. And his end was severe. But it says Stephen fell asleep. The last verse in Acts chapter 7. That’s not by accident that Luke records it that way. Because you see, for the righteous death is only temporary. Throughout the New Testament, it’s called falling asleep. Even in the case of a resurrection of Jairus’ daughter, it simply says she is sleeping.

Because Jesus knows her condition is not permanent, that though she is not breathing, so she would be considered technically dead by a medical professional. Her situation is about to be reversed. And our death, when the righteous pass on, those who have fallen and sleep in Christ have not perished. It is a temporary condition. Stephen’s condition was very temporary. Don’t feel sorry for Stephen. Don’t feel sorry for the prophets. I’ve said often in Acts chapter 12, I don’t feel sorry for James. I feel more sorry for Peter. He didn’t get to heaven as quick as James did. Do you possess a keen awareness of the greater spiritual realities? It seems like that is a continual plea in the New Testament. And this due, knowing the time that our salvation is nearer to us than when we believe.

It is time to awaken from sleep. This is not a time for spiritual slumber. For now, salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. And that’s true. Today, June 2nd, 2019, you are closer than you’ve ever been. I know we don’t often mention birthdays, but I am going to mention George is 54 today. Tell George happy birthday. He’s getting old. Easy for me to say, right? Because I’m older than George. We are having a debate who looks the youngest. You can weigh in if you want to. George’s 54. He’s only halfway through his life, right? George, you’re going to live to be 108. Oh, there you go. If the Lord wills. That’d be a story. But however old we eventually get. I know this. My salvation is nearer to me right now than it’s ever been.

4. Do Not Allow Pain to Divert Your Heavenward Gaze

And you too. The night is almost gone. And the day is at hand. The time, the time to serve the Lord is always right now. No matter how old you are. Lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. That’s what heaven is focused on. That’s what heaven is poised about. What do the eyes of your heart see? I want to make a couple observations about that and then I’ll be done. What do the eyes of your heart see? Do not allow pain to divert your heavenward gaze. And I say that because a lot of people get spiritually discouraged when they’re in pain. And I get it. You understand that, sister. Why am I suffering continually? Why am I hurting?

You know, whatever aspirations and dreams Stephen may have had for this life. You think about this. This is not an old man. Whatever aspirations and dreams he might have had for this life. Totally meaningless. None of that was going to be realized. None of it. He had a family. He had people that cared about him that suffered his loss. Stephen was just selected the other day to be among the seven. There’s not seven anymore. Stephen’s not here. Matt Bassford wrote a compelling piece about what he called happy face Christianity. And he said it’s driven by salesmanship. Look at how wonderful my life is. Don’t you want a wonderful life like mine? And he says, in some ways that can be false advertising. The circumstances of Christian are not always absolutely peachy and wonderful.

He called it fundamentally dishonest. He says, you can be a faithful Christian and still, for reasons beyond your control, have a miserable life. He said to argue otherwise is quite literally to adopt the position of Job’s three friends. David felt at times that he was drowning and alone. No one cares for my soul. Elijah pleaded for his death. Even Christ was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He says the help we offer to suffering brethren frequently sounds like singing be happy. Now, he says, I like the song, okay, it’s fun to sing. I’m not sure I’m a big fan, personally. We have every reason to rejoice as Christians, even in the midst of our pain, but everything about our lives may not be absolutely wonderful.

5. Do Not Allow Pleasure to Divert Your Heavenward Gaze

And sometimes we must mourn with those who mourn. He said it’s admittedly fun to sing, but seems we have we, if it seems to have learned compassion from dolores umbrage. I’m not into Harry Potter, but that’s where that comes from. Some of you got it, apparently. I would say the other side of that is also true. Do not allow pleasure. And perhaps that’s a greater issue than the former. Do not allow pleasure to divert your heavenward gaze, because as we saw in our auditorium class, that’s only temporary too. And all the things that we try to enjoy our lives with, all of those things we are simply stewards and managers of, they are not permanent. We have a plethora of things with which to play in our culture.

We have vast resources to invest in bucus of options. That’s a word I don’t think I’ve ever used in a sermon before, but I like it. Bukus. Options galore. Leaving precious little interest and time for the things of God. Tell you what Stephen saw. And what we need to see is that fellowship alone can sustain you through life’s ills. My circumstances may not be as severe as Stephen, but I’m going to need God to get through the worst of it.

6. What Do the Eyes of Your Heart See?

And that leads me to our text in Ephesians 1. What do the eyes of your heart see? Sorry about the graphic, but if you don’t like that, but it’s the only thing I could get with Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 and verse 18, I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of his calling. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? And what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe.

And so it is hard for us to know what is the hope of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And so I want to suggest several things about what our eyes see and how we apprehend our circumstances in our world. Number one, we should display extreme gratitude for the lavish provisions that we enjoy. If we have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will entrust to us what is our own? We saw that in Luke 16 this morning in our class. Perhaps all the things that we have and enjoy in this world are not beneficial to us. I think we regularly thank God. Don’t we? We will at dinner, at lunch today.

I hope we will thank God. We’re eating Mexican food. It’s amazing. I mean, I hope they bring my food fast because I’m eating so much chips and salsa. I’m just stuffing it in. You’ve been with me to the Mexican restaurant. How quick can you get another chip and salsa in there? I’ll sit down at the table and my mouth starts to water before they ever bring the salsa. We have it good. And we’ll thank God for all the good things that we enjoy in this life, our comfortable homes, air conditioning. What in the world would we do without air conditioning? You wouldn’t live in Texas, not in Houston. We take that for granted. But I think I’m talking to people who are routinely thankful for those things.

But I’ve got to tell you, I still think those things can easily be a snare for us. Though we express gratitude for them.

And we act like we don’t have as much as the other guy who lives in the mansion across the street or in the other neighborhood. There are a lot of people with money. Have you noticed that? Blake’s building pools for them. I mean.

We have it good people. So appreciate what you do have. But then I want to say these important things. We must not allow temporary, undependable things to dominate our heart.

Stephen, I don’t know what kind of house he lived in, what kind of bed he slept in, or how comfortable his surroundings were. I’m pretty sure he didn’t have a car. He had probably a pretty nice camel. I don’t know. But all of those things reduced to meaninglessness in a moment. They’re very temporary and very undependable. And we need to grapple with the possibility of very real, unsolvable problems we could well confront. That’s what I don’t think we do well with. A problem that comes to our world that we may not get relief from.

It never says anything about the reversal of fortunes in this world for Lazarus. But what about in the next? What do your heart, what does your heart see? What do your eyes see?

We can become extremely forlorn and downright discouraged, disheartened, and spiritually dispirited when confronted with life’s severity. But whatever befalls me, catastrophic losses, horrific pain, destroyed relationships. Know the surpassing nature and value of what the Lord provides.

In fact, sometimes I think we live like down the road isn’t even there. But what’s equally hard is to more greatly value the rewards that issue from God above anything this world can afford us.

Are you reading the Proverbs? Are you looking at wisdom Wednesday? I almost did Wisdom Wednesday on this, but I did verse two instead. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. It doesn’t mean, it doesn’t mean that you will be gloriously rich as a result of those plans, or that everything is necessarily going to be rosy, but you involve the Lord in what you’re doing. You involve the Lord in the path that you’re traveling, and success goes with you. Period. You need to include the Lord. And another was Psalm 119 and verse 2. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies that seek him with the whole heart. They do no unrighteousness, they walk in his ways. If you truly see what is the hope of his calling and the riches of his inheritance in the saints, you’d be one today.

Conclusion

You’d choose it today. Mexican food can wait. You need to be in a right relationship with the Lord. You need to commit your ways to the Lord so that you’ll be successful as a human being, as one made in the image of God, and with a hope that is rich and real and rewarding beyond anything that I can describe in words.

Embrace the provisions of salvation while there’s time and opportunity. Let’s stand and sing.