Acts 6

Acts

Part 6

"The First Martyr"

Acts 6:1 "Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying...."

Notice, the church is exploding exponentially. It says "multiplying," not simply being "added" to. And with growth came problems that threatened to bring division.

1b "...there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution."

One group of Jews, the Hellenists who were Greek speaking, began to complain about the Hebrews, who were Aramaic-speaking and native born Palestinians.

The Hellenists claimed that their widows were being neglected in what amounted to a daily distribution of food to the needy. To solve the problem, the twelve Apostles called a meeting.

First, they establish a "first things first" set of priorities.

2 "Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables."

Next, they task the congregation to find men who are both spiritual and wise.

3 "Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;"

And finally, they give themselves to purely spiritual ministry:

4 "...but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

Next we see that when a decision is made in keeping with the counsel of the Holy Spirit, the whole church says "amen!"

5a "And the saying pleased the whole multitude."

They then chose seven such men, including Stephen--the man who would prove to be the church's first martyr--and Philip, not the Apostle Philip, but Philip the evangelist.

5b-6a "And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch..."

These first two men--Stephen and Philip--illustrate Paul's comment, "They that have used the office of a deacon (servant) well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 3:13).

Finally, they are charged to the task by the laying on of hands:

6b "...whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them."

Look what happens next...divine order released divine blessing:

7 "Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith."

Evangelism exploded with even many of the priests who had, no doubt, been involved in the plot against Jesus turning to Him for salvation!

_________________

Predictably, when God began to move, the enemy counter-punched and came against Stephen who will now dominate the narrative through the close of chapter 7.

First, we see his magnificent ministry:

8 "And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people."

Stephen is the first man beside the Apostles to exercise sign gifts. The word wonders means, "an extraordinary event with its supernatural effect left on all witnessing it." It is done to impress onlookers with the reality of God's power.

The word for signs means, "A miracle given especially to confirm, corroborate or authenticate a message."

This must have infuriated the Sanhedrin who now must have realized that, not only were the Apostles still performing these kinds of things, it is spreading through others!

___________________

Next, the enemy attacks:

9 "Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen."

Now, this motley crew is made up of a melting pot of Jewish sects that gathered in a particular synagogue to hear the OT Scriptures read and expounded on.

They gathered against Stephen in hot debate over the Messiahship of Jesus. They were no match for the Spirit-filled deacon, Stephen:

10 "And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke."

So they decided, if you can't beat them, lie about them.

First, they hired false informers:

11 "Then they secretly induced men to say, 'We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.'"

Next, they incited a mob:

12-13 And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. 13 They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law..."

Next, they misrepresented the Master:

14 "...for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”

And finally, we see Stephen's amazing anointing:

15 "And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel."

When the Sanhedrin turned to Stephen to see how he was responding to the flood of false charges against him, they saw the face of an angel!

As the face of Moses had shone with the light of another world when he came down from the mount, so now the face of Stephen shone.

It was not hate they saw there, nor fear, nor anger, but heaven!

___________________

Most of ch. 7 consists of Stephen's magnificent sermon...I will not read every verse but will instead hit the major points.

In verse 1, the high priest gives Stephen the chance to defend himself:

7:1 "Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

Stephen knows he has no chance for acquittal, so he focuses on unraveling the false from the true in the twofold charge laid against him.

He begins with Abraham, for that is where the life of faith began for the Jews:

"2 And he said, 'Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.'"

Abraham's response to God's call was a faith response. He obeyed God and left all that he had known to go to a strange land.

_______________

Next, Stephen deals with Abraham's future descendants:

6 "But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7 ‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ 8 Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs."

This is remarkable because Stephen here focuses on the mighty omniscience (all-knowingness) of God. Just as God predicted, Israel did indeed languish for 400 years in Egypt, and were then delivered to return to the Promised Land God led Abraham to.

The patriarchs had no Temple, and they had no law. Their faith was transmitted from generation to generation in simple dependence on the Word of God!

_____________________

Next, Stephen changes his angle of attack to show that the Jewish people, right from the start, had resisted God's plans for them.

9 “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him."

Their unbelief began with their treatment of Joseph, one of the great types of Christ in the OT. As the Sanhedrin had rejected Christ, the patriarchs rejected Joseph, and for the same reason--envy.

________________

God delivered Joseph the same way He delivered Jesus:

10 "...and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house."

The parallels between Joseph and Jesus were not lost on the Sanhedrin, which was Stephen's intent.

Joseph was rejected by his brethren, sold for the price of a slave, handed over to Gentiles, falsely accused, and made to suffer for sins not his own.

He was cast out by the Gentiles and put in the place of death...He took possession of the keys of the prison and ruled there.

Nor could that prison hold him. He came forth in triumph to be exalted to the right of hand of the majesty, Pharaoh.

He was given a name that was above every name in Egypt, that at the name of Zaphnath--paaneah (Egyptian for 'God speaks and he lives), and every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Zaphnath--paaneah was lord to the glory of the Pharaoh!

______________

Stephen proceeds in verses 11-14 to describe the dearth of famine that came over the land, how that worked to reconcile him to his father, Jacob, and traitorous brothers.

Then in verses 15-16 he recites how Jacob and the patriarchs were buried, not in Egypt, but in Canaan, emphasizing the fact that all God's promises to the Jewish nation were to be fulfilled in Canaan.

Then next in verses 17-19 Stephen recites the multiplication of Israel in the land of Egypt, and how the Egyptians sought to destroy them.

Verse 19 describes their treachery:

"This man (Pharaoh) dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live."

Notice how Pharaoh turned to forced infanticide to stop God's purpose:

Any time abortion or infanticide are described in Scripture it is in an evil context.

And again, we have here a type of Christ in that the baby Moses, who Stephen is about to devote the rest of his sermon to, was hidden away from the clutches of Egypt, as Jesus was hidden from Herod, where he grew to be a savior for Israel.

_____________

Stephen next spends verses 20-44 on the story of Moses, beginning with his birth, through his childhood, his attempt to rescue a fellow Israelite from abusive Egyptians, his time in the wilderness herding sheep, his confrontation with God at the burning bush, his journey into Egypt with Aaron his brother, the signs he performed, Israel's deliverance through the sea, his receiving the 10 commandments on Mt. Sinai, finally to the building of the Tabernacle in the wilderness."

Now, Stephen's mention of the Tabernacle was to highlight that, though it had been beautiful with a powerful purpose, it was only a temporary structure.

It was destined to be replaced by something far better--the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Every peg and pin, every curtain and color, every board and bar spoke of Christ!

____________________

I want to pull one key verse from Stephen's words about Moses. In verse 37 he quotes Moses out of Deut. 18:15 saying, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’"

Stephen knew full well that they knew full well he was pointing out Jesus as that Prophet!

_________________

In verse 47 he mentions Solomon building the great Temple, which replaced the Tabernacle, but then says in vs 48...

48 “However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet (Isaiah) says:

49 ‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, Or what is the place of My rest? 50 Has my hand not made all these things?"

Here the charge that he (Stephen) had blasphemed God by proclaiming Jesus to be greater than the Temple was answered.

The new, born-again, blood bought, Spirit in-dwelt church was far greater than the perishable Temple, one of which had already been burned to the ground in Jeremiah's time, and the one that then existed would soon be leveled to the ground per the prediction of Jesus Himself!

_____________________

Now Stephen lowers the gauntlet and boldly attacks, vilifying his listeners for their persistent and historic opposition to God, chiefly the sin of resisting the Holy Spirit:

51-53 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

They had accused him of reviling the Holy Place; he accused them of resisting the Holy Ghost.

They had accused him of slighting Moses, the man of God, he accused them of slaying Jesus, the Messiah of God!

They had accused him of blaspheming the law, he accuses them of breaking the law.

___________________

Next, Luke records the seething hatred of a guilty Sanhedrin:

54 "When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth."

Then, Jesus grants an victorious vision to his soon to be first martyr:

55 "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, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

__________________

Luke next records the unrestrained fury of a convicted court:

57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him..."

The first martyr died by a flurry of stones striking his head and body.

Next, the Holy Spirit pauses to introduce the man who would become Stephen's spiritual heir. He did not know it, nobody knew it.

58b "And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul."

So in his death, Stephen made an indelible mark on the soul of Saul, proving his death was anything but a waste.

59 "And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 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."

NEXT TIME: The First Missionary