Acts 6:8 -7:60
Notes
Transcript
The Stoning of Stephen
The Stoning of Stephen
Good morning my dear friends, I hope you are doing well.
We have enjoyed a wonderful Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday...
It is a joyous time to remember the love of God for us, for the whole world. God loved us so much that He sent us His Son, to redeem us from the penalty and curse of sin.
The blood of Jesus has redeemed us, saved us and made us a new creation in Christ Jesus.
Let me tell you, there is no better blessing under heaven.
And to be born again is worth talking about, it is worth taking that message to the world around us. And it is the only message that can change the world.
Our hope is in Jesus, only Him and nothing else.
This is seen in our text today, turn with me to Acts chapter 6.
IN the beginning of Acts 6 we saw the need to men to assist the Apostels in the ministry of the church. Remember there were some Hellenists who felt their widows were not being fairly treated in the distribution of food.
The answer was the selection of men, who were full of the Spirit, full of wisdom and of good repute. They would assist in the memory of the church while the Apostles devoted themselves to prayer and to the Word.
One such person was Stephen. He is one of the first deacons and sadly the first martyr of the church. So as the works and serves, God uses him in many ways and there are those outside the church who hate him.
It is a sad thing to see Christ and his servants hated so much...
So let me share these thoughts with you today, the first one is this...
1. His Work...
Stephen was a man who was selected like the others because of faith, wisdom, his ability and desire to serve. And serve he did, willingly and freely.
Look with me at verses 8-10 in Acts 6, Acts 6:8-10
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.
As you open this passage, we see the affirmation of just the type of man Stephen was .... He was a godly man.
Now think about this, Luke tells us he was full of grace and power. He had power, why? because the Scriptures said he was full of God’s Holy Spirit. Those two factors are closely linked together, they go hand in hand.
It wasn’t anything that Stephen did, nope. It was the Spirit of God in Him and thus using him, working in and through him.
Grace enabled him to serve and love people viewing them in and through the lens of love and mercy.
Stephen was said to be full of these gifts and thus he did great wonders and signs among the people. Now please do not think of this as entirely the miraculous, no it was also the effective preaching, share the gospel to those in front of him in the community.
Stephen was serving and witnessing for the cause of His Savior, Jesus.
Now hang on to this thought, when you serve Jesus, expect opposition, expect for things to be a little rough … It was not exception for Stephen, Jewish men from others area disputed with Stephen.
These Hellenistic Jews who were not part of the body of Christ resisted the message of Jesus, they didn’t believe in Jesus, and they certainly didn’t want to hear about this man Jesus anymore. The argued, or you might say there was some spirited debate with Stephen.
But this last verse tells us, they couldnt debate with him, in theological conversations, they cannot answer or dispute him.
And how could they??? Remember he is full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit…
And you know what happens, when people cannot stand with you, when they lose the debate they get ugly… No one likes losing an argument, especially when they claim to be all wise… A common day term would be “Know it alls...”
They hate it…
But this is the work of Stephen, He is not trying to be mean or ugly. He is a servant, he cares for and ministers to others. He also witnesses and preaches the gospel and he will not back down from the truth that Jesus is Lord and the world needs to hear about Him...
Man, we need some more Stephens right? Nope.... we just need to be as passionate and living close to Jesus as Stephen did and God will use us.
Now this brings us to a second thought for today...
2. His Message....
As Stephen served the Lord, we know there were Jews who did not care for him or His message about Jesus.
Now sadly as we look at these first few chapters in the book of Acts, we can literally see a progression in the treatment of the early church. Evil was raising and trying to stop the church.
First the religious leaders warned those men not to preach or teach about Jesus anymore. This comes about as Peter and John comes before the council in Acts 4
Secondly, At the end of chapter 5, the religious leaders beat those men who preached the Gospel and they left the Sanhedrin rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus.
And lastly, we know by the time we get to the end of Chapter 7, they will have murdered Stephen.
So opposition toward the church and the message of Jesus is becoming more and more intense...
So these Hellenistic Jews, they planned to take care of this man… Look with me at verses 11-15
11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
They stirred up the men, and they brought false accusations against Stephen and they seized him and brought him before the council, the Sanhedrin and High Priests there in Jerusalem.
Now verse 15 tells us something special, Luke says looking at Stephen they said he appeared to have the face of an Angel.
There was a visible manifestation of the Glory of God upon his face, it was that noticeable. The suggestion is that he may have appeared in a way like Moses did after being on the mountain with God...
But nonetheless, Stephen was a man who was pure in heart, righteous before God
Now at the beginning of chapter 7, the High Priest asked him to answer for himself, were these charges true of false.
So Stephen speaks and provides them an answer, he’s calling for his Jewish brothers and fathers to hear his words...
His words to the Sanhedrin is the longest discourse that Luke shares with us in the entirety of Acts, speaking of the highlights if you will of Old Testament history.
He begins with Abraham’s call to come and follow God to a land he would give him.
And so Stephen reminds them of Joseph, the one whose brothers sold into slavery, but God used their evil intentions for good, saving the people during a time of drought.
Next, Stephen takes them to the days of Moses some 400 years later , and a sad memory of Israel’s apostasy as they turned from God and called on Aaron to make them a golden calf to worship while Moses was a long time with God upon the mountain.
Stephen called for them to remember the portable Tabernacle God gave them, the plans of one not seen with eyes...
And to Solomon, the son of David who built a permanent house for God there in His holy city.
Here I want you to see this final part of the message that Stephen speaks to the council and the High Priest… look with me starting with verse 47
47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,
49 “ ‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’
51 “You stiff-necked people, 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 announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
This final part, Stephen reminds them of how the people of Israel persecuted and even killed the prophets of the past, and they have continued to work against God’s plan refusing to listen to and obey the Holy Spirit.
Finally, Stephen reminds them of their sin in the murder of God’s only Son, Jesus. You did this, you who rejected God by not receiving the law or the true deliverer, Jesus himself.
What a powerful message, God had delivered through his servant! He told of their guilt in not only hearing Him, Jesus and certainly not listening to His messenger John the Baptist who was sent to prepare the way for Him.
This message brought the truth to them, they as a people collectively had abandoned the work of God. To turn away from the truth reveals their own spiritual blindness...
The sad truth my friends is that continues today…
The world has heard the TRUTH and they have hardened their hearts, rejecting the truth that they might live like they want..
People think if they ignore God, thinking they will be just fine but I stand here today as a witness to His words, Hell is hot, suffering will be real because of sin but Jesus promises life and life eternal if humanity would lay aside self and take him by the hand.
But how can they know unless we go, how can they hear unless we preach.
We must carry the gospel to our neighborhoods and our cities, our state and country and all around this world my friends,
Jesus is coming soon. Get ready the king is coming!
Now just one last thought this morning my friends...
3. His Martyrdom...
It is so very sad reading that they killed Stephen, a man who was righteous before God and men.
They were angry, no one likes having their sin pointed out. Look with me at verse 54
54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.
They grit their teeth in anger because of words, their jaws are tight, I am sure the veins are popping out on their foreheads and neck they are so angry.
They turn on Stephen like a pack of jackals pouncing on their prey.
And as these things happen, something wonderful unfolds in front of Stephen’s eyes… lets look at verses 55 and 56
55 But he, 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 he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
So things here I want you to take notice off.
A.) Stephen, was full of the Spirit. God presence was resting on Him in this difficult moment, His Holy Spirit was there. And being found in that space, look at what he is allowed to see...
B.) The veil of heaven was pulled back and he saw the Son of Man, a classic phrase that Jesus referred to himself as.. He saw Jesus..
And not only did he see Jesus, but understand Stephen saw the place. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand side of God.
The right hand will always designate a place of honor and power, authority and might....
The one the people rejected God has given him a place of honor and power, authority… and the religious leaders hearing this they tried to shout him down, they will are always willing to cut off anyone that doesn’t share their values and place.
Now lets look at the Scriptures one last time, verses 57 to 60.
57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Here is a godly man who loved the Lord and others and they jerk him up and throw him outside to stone him.
Those elders start taking off their cloaks and handing them to a young man who is there, giving his approval to it all.
His name is Saul..... Wow.
The one who gives his approval and holds the cloaks of those who are stoning Stephen, is the one whom God will reach out to and call, saving him and setting him apart for the glory of God....
Here is the most beautiful words my friends.. Being stoned at at death we find that Stephen calls out with his voice “Lord jesus receive my Spirit… and as they continued to pelt him with rocks, he cried out, Lord do not hold this sin against them.
Does that sound familiar? In a spirit of true Christ like love, just as Jesus called from the cross, “... Father forgive them they know not what they do...”, so at this point Stephen calls for God to forgive them.
“Do not hold this sin against them....” There is the mark of a godly person..
Some of us here might have been hollering, Lord send fire down and get’em, But this wasn’t Stephen’s heart. His heart was simply Lord forgive them.
Stephen called for God’s forgiveness and he falls asleep.
Now that last phrase, “....and when he has said this, he fell asleep.” I really think God is answering his prayer when he called out and said “Lord Jesus receive my spirit...” I think the Lord didn’t allow him to suffer.
He is being stoned, literally beat to death with rocks and as this is happening the Lord just calls him home, he simply falls asleep and enters into the presence of the Lord.
How awesome is our God...
This passage tells us very simply the World hates Jesus, and some will hurt and persecute people because of His name.
We are to be faithful, the world must hear the good news of Jesus Christ, because without Jesus , death and hell are certain.
We should do as Stephen did in His life, model and act like Jesus and the rest will be fine.
So let me ask you,
1. Do you know Jesus today as your Savior, you are certain, you know Him personally and physically
2. Are you living as He is calling you too? And if not, if you are walking apart from Him, then come back to jesus, draw close to Jesus. Seek His forgiveness for your failure and ask Him to help you.
3. Maybe you are struggling, your trying but just having a hard time with life and all those components of life. Let me pray for you....
Would you come today..
Pray
