"All I am doing now
is introducing his [Stephen's] message to you, and here is the introduction:
“Men, brethren, and fathers" (Acts 7:2). What then? Here is the first
word: “Hearken” (Acts 7:2). Hear! Listen! That is how Stephen began, and that
is how any preaching of the Gospel must begin.
We must start by listening patiently. “Lend me your ears! I have something to put before you that will not be easy. Listen! Listen for all you are worth. Listen for your very life.”
What may we deduce from this word “hearken”? It shows us that the Gospel is an argument, a statement of a reasoned case. Stephen is on trial. He is addressing his judges, and he presents his case. Read it; study it; read it many times over. Watch the procession of the argument; watch the buildup of the facts of the case; watch the logic in it all.
Now this is Christianity. It is a matter of reason; it is an argumentation. I emphasize this because so many people today fondly imagine that they reject Christianity because they are reasonable people who are not interested in “sob stuff” or emotionalism. “Christianity?” they say. “That’s all right for women and children, all right perhaps for people in the backwoods, but not for ‘modern man’—modern man come of age, with reason, understanding, sophistication and scientific knowledge. Oh,” they say, “I shall not allow you to play on my feelings. I know your Christianity, ‘the opium of the people,’ the drug, the sheer emotionalism.”
Now I want to be quite fair and honest—Christianity has often been misrepresented in that way. But that is not Christianity. If you want to know what Christianity is, you must go back to this book of the Acts of the Apostles. Here, in this first extended report of a sermon delivered under the auspices of the Christian church, is my notion of evangelism. I do not care what anybody else is doing—this is New Testament evangelism. Stephen’s sermon is typical of all the other speeches and sermons in Acts and in the great periods of reformation and revival in the church. It is not emotionalism. It demands the use and exercise of all our best faculties. It demands our concentration and our full attention.
And these people who dismiss and reject Christianity, and the preaching of Christianity, as unintelligent and emotional “sob stuff” that plays on the feelings—what do they themselves do? They probably sit at home looking at their television sets. What do they get there? Lurid drama perhaps, or a western or some “sob stuff” in connection with a love affair. Is that reason? Is that understanding?
Now let me issue a challenge as I start an exposition of this great sermon: Have I been playing on your feelings? Have I just been entertaining you by telling you stories? Let us be honest: Do you find it an intellectual exercise to look at the television or to listen to the radio or to read your newspaper or a novel? Of course not! Some of you may be complaining that I am putting too great a strain on your intellect. All right. That I am prepared to accept. But it proves my case that this message is something that comes to us and says, “Hearken! Listen! Pull yourself together!” You cannot follow it if you are lounging back in a comfortable chair; you have to sit up. Here is a reasoned case. It is not easy; it is not simple. It demands all your energies and faculties. You need every ounce of intellect you have.
Why? Because this is truth! This is a body of truth, a body of doctrine, a body of great statements of truth—and truth is addressed to the mind. The Bible teaches that man’s greatest gift, in a sense, is his mind. Human beings have minds in a way that no animal has. They are able to follow an argument; they are able to reason; they are able to look at themselves and examine themselves.
So Stephen looked at this great body of men whom he was addressing. He saw their passion; he saw their prejudice; he saw their violence; and he saw that they were too emotional. So very politely he addressed them—“Men, brethren, and fathers” (Acts 7:2). There was no need to insult anybody: “honour to whom honour” is due (Rom. 13:7). He was a gentleman, and he presented his case.
But Stephen did venture to say this word “hearken” at the very beginning. He said in essence, “Please try to control yourselves. Try to control your passion. Listen up.”
— Martyn Lloyd-Jones (2004). Vol. 4: Glorious Christianity (1st U.S. ed.). Studies in the Book of Acts (16–18). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
We must start by listening patiently. “Lend me your ears! I have something to put before you that will not be easy. Listen! Listen for all you are worth. Listen for your very life.”
What may we deduce from this word “hearken”? It shows us that the Gospel is an argument, a statement of a reasoned case. Stephen is on trial. He is addressing his judges, and he presents his case. Read it; study it; read it many times over. Watch the procession of the argument; watch the buildup of the facts of the case; watch the logic in it all.
Now this is Christianity. It is a matter of reason; it is an argumentation. I emphasize this because so many people today fondly imagine that they reject Christianity because they are reasonable people who are not interested in “sob stuff” or emotionalism. “Christianity?” they say. “That’s all right for women and children, all right perhaps for people in the backwoods, but not for ‘modern man’—modern man come of age, with reason, understanding, sophistication and scientific knowledge. Oh,” they say, “I shall not allow you to play on my feelings. I know your Christianity, ‘the opium of the people,’ the drug, the sheer emotionalism.”
Now I want to be quite fair and honest—Christianity has often been misrepresented in that way. But that is not Christianity. If you want to know what Christianity is, you must go back to this book of the Acts of the Apostles. Here, in this first extended report of a sermon delivered under the auspices of the Christian church, is my notion of evangelism. I do not care what anybody else is doing—this is New Testament evangelism. Stephen’s sermon is typical of all the other speeches and sermons in Acts and in the great periods of reformation and revival in the church. It is not emotionalism. It demands the use and exercise of all our best faculties. It demands our concentration and our full attention.
And these people who dismiss and reject Christianity, and the preaching of Christianity, as unintelligent and emotional “sob stuff” that plays on the feelings—what do they themselves do? They probably sit at home looking at their television sets. What do they get there? Lurid drama perhaps, or a western or some “sob stuff” in connection with a love affair. Is that reason? Is that understanding?
Now let me issue a challenge as I start an exposition of this great sermon: Have I been playing on your feelings? Have I just been entertaining you by telling you stories? Let us be honest: Do you find it an intellectual exercise to look at the television or to listen to the radio or to read your newspaper or a novel? Of course not! Some of you may be complaining that I am putting too great a strain on your intellect. All right. That I am prepared to accept. But it proves my case that this message is something that comes to us and says, “Hearken! Listen! Pull yourself together!” You cannot follow it if you are lounging back in a comfortable chair; you have to sit up. Here is a reasoned case. It is not easy; it is not simple. It demands all your energies and faculties. You need every ounce of intellect you have.
Why? Because this is truth! This is a body of truth, a body of doctrine, a body of great statements of truth—and truth is addressed to the mind. The Bible teaches that man’s greatest gift, in a sense, is his mind. Human beings have minds in a way that no animal has. They are able to follow an argument; they are able to reason; they are able to look at themselves and examine themselves.
So Stephen looked at this great body of men whom he was addressing. He saw their passion; he saw their prejudice; he saw their violence; and he saw that they were too emotional. So very politely he addressed them—“Men, brethren, and fathers” (Acts 7:2). There was no need to insult anybody: “honour to whom honour” is due (Rom. 13:7). He was a gentleman, and he presented his case.
But Stephen did venture to say this word “hearken” at the very beginning. He said in essence, “Please try to control yourselves. Try to control your passion. Listen up.”
— Martyn Lloyd-Jones (2004). Vol. 4: Glorious Christianity (1st U.S. ed.). Studies in the Book of Acts (16–18). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
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