Boldness in the Face of Peril - Part 2

Introduction

One really great part of my internship here at Emmanuel has been the opportunity to read many different books this summer. I’ve tried to also read in my free-time outside of this internship as well. One book I’m reading right now is titled Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot. If you’re not familiar with the story, it is a biography about five missionaries in Ecuador. In 1955 and 1956, five missionaries aged between 27 and 32 along with their families traveled to Ecuador in hopes of sharing Christ to this unreached people group in the forests of Ecuador. This group was called the Aucas. The Aucas were an isolated tribe from the rest of the world and known to be savages. They were very violent and killed their own people and any outsider who dared to enter their territory. These five Christian missionaries Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and Ed McCully were burdened to share the good news of Christ with these people. Each of them and their families knew the risks of attempting to reach the Aucas but they were so burdened with sharing Christ to these people they choose to live out their faith boldly even in intense danger. The missionary team developed this plan of exchanging gifts by airplane with the tribe to show that they were friendly. They did this for months until the time felt right for them to make face to face contact. On January 3rd, 1956, the five men believing that God was opening a door to the Aucas left their families in the city and established a camp not far from the Auca settlement with plans to meet the tribe face to face. On January 6th, after the men had spent days of waiting and shouting friendly Auca phrases into the jungle, the first Auca visitors arrived. Three members of the Auca tribe emerged and joined the missionaries at their encampment. The men exchanged more gifts with the three Aucas and even took one of the boys who had shown great interest in their airplane on a ride around the village. After spending all day with the missionaries the three Aucas went back to their territory. On their return the boy who they had taken for a ride in the airplane lied and said the missionaries attacked them to prevent him from getting in trouble. On January 8, the missionaries were waiting expecting more Aucas to come and see them after their first friendly contact. Nate Saint the pilot of the group noticed some men traveling toward them when he was flying around that morning and radioed to his wife his excitement and promised to make contact again at dinnertime. In the afternoon the Aucas arrived and the five missionaries were martyred for their faith. These men lived boldly for their faith even when they were in danger.

Last week we began our two week series titled Boldness in the Face of Peril looking at the life and ministry of Stephen. We saw last week that the Acts 6 began with a church dispute between these two groups of believers called the Hellenists and the Hebrews. If you remember the Hellenists had an issue with the way things were being distributed to the widows. In order to resolve this issue the whole church assembled and the twelve disciples ordered the church to choose seven men who had a good reputation and were full of wisdom and the Spirit to take care of these responsibilities. This solution pleased everyone and seven men were selected. Among those seven men was a man named Stephen who was described as a man “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”. Towards the end of chapter 6 we see Stephen out ministering in Jerusalem. The sight of this upset a group of people from the synagogues and they started debating with Stephen. In this debate Stephen’s wisdom and the presence of the Holy Spirit inside of him was no match for these Jews. Knowing that they could not beat Stephen they secretly set up false witnesses to accuse Stephen of blasphemy. After this debate we find Stephen standing before the Sanhedrin falsely accused of blasphemy. Today we are going to pick up in Acts chapter 7 in the heat of this trial.

Outline

If you’re taking notes today I would encourage you to take a look at our outline for today. Our first segment of our passage today is going to be

Stephen’s Defense (Acts 7:1-53)

Because this section is so long were going to be breaking Stephen’s defense down into five parts to get a better look at what Stephen is saying.

Part 1 (Acts 7:1-8)

Part 2 (Acts 7:9-16)

Part 3 (Acts 7:17-36)

Part 4 (Acts 7:37-43)

Part 5 (Acts 7:44-53)

Our second segment of the passage is going to be

The Stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:54-60)

Sermon

Picking up in this first part of Stephen’s defense in verse 1, it’s good to note that this chapter takes place immediately where last week’s chapter left off. We’re going to see that Stephen gives this masterful defense looking at the events of the Old testament in a powerful analogy that points to Christ. A lot of these events are also going to be very fresh to us having just come out of our series in Genesis.

Beginning in Acts 7:1-8 it says

Acts 7:1–8 ESV

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

Beginning in verse 1 we see the High Priest which was most likely still Caiaphas the same high priest who sent Jesus to Pilate to be crucified. So the High Priest asks this question to Stephen saying “Are these things so?”. This question in modern legal terminology essentially says “How do you plead?”. This is a very simple yes or no question but instead of giving into the pressure to back down, Stephen gives this bold defense of the Christian faith from the Old Testament. It’s important to consider the fact that Stephen uses the Old Testament in his defense. Stephen is on trial by the very people who’s job it was to study and communicate those scriptures. By doing this Stephen is trying to do two things here. He’s trying to show his love and familiarity with the nation of Israel and he’s also trying to use something very familiar to the priests to point to Christ. So Stephen begins his defense highlighting the life of Abraham - the father of the Jewish nation. He talks of the life of Abraham how he was called by God, promised he would be the father of a great nation, and fathered a son named Isaac who then became the father of Jacob who then became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

This next part of Stephen’s defense jumps to the events of Joseph and his brothers.

Beginning in Acts 7:9-16 it says

Acts 7:9–16 ESV

“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

At this point in Stephen’s defense there is going to begin to be a shift in tone. Stephen is going to begin painting this analogy of different Old Testament heroes and the rejection they faced by their own people. He does this to compare these figures to Jesus who also faced rejection by his own people in hopes it will convict the Sanhedrin. Stephen starts this part of his defense with the life of Joseph. Stephen talks about how the patriarchs or Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and sold him into Egypt. Even though Joseph was rejected by his own people God was with him and rescued him. He gave him favor and wisdom in the eyes of Pharaoh and Joseph ultimately rises to second in command in all of Egypt. Then if you remember from Genesis a great famine strikes the land. This famine brings Joseph’s brothers over to Egypt and Joseph eventually reveals himself to his brothers invites all of his family to Egypt. Then we know after Joseph’s death that eventually a new Pharaoh is going to come who doesn’t know about Joseph and he’s going to enslave the Israelites.

This leads us to our third part of Stephen’s defense which continues the theme of rejected heroes but instead looks at the life of Moses.

Beginning in Acts 7:17-36 it says

Acts 7:17–36 ESV

“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’ “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

At this point in Stephen’s defense he has now showed the Sanhedrin two different instances that the Jewish people have rejected people God has raised up to deliver them, those being Joseph and now Moses. Like Abraham and Joseph, Stephen then reviews the life of Moses. He speaks of how this Pharaoh dealt harshly with their Jewish ancestors and had a plan to kill their infants. We know that Moses was born at this time but God saved Moses as an infant and allowed him to be raised as a prince of Egypt to prepare him for God’s calling for his life. He was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and in verse 22 it’s even said “he was mighty in his words and deeds”. If you remember in your Bible Moses actually felt that he was inadequate in his speaking. Experts think this phrase “mighty in his words” refers to his writings and not his speaking. After being raised up in the land of Egypt for 40 years Moses decides to visit his own people, the Israelites. He sees one of his people being mistreated by an Egyptian so he avenges the man and kills the Egyptian. When Moses appears to his people again the next day he experiences his first rejection by his own people. He then exiles himself to the land of Midian for another 40 years. God then appears to him in a burning bush and raises Moses up to deliver his people from the land of Egypt. So Moses leads out his people and performed many signs and wonders.

This leads us to the fourth segment of Stephen’s defense which is a second rejection of Moses and a rejection of God by the people of Israel.

Beginning in Acts 7:37-43 it says

Acts 7:37–43 ESV

This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: “ ‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

Once again we see Stephen talk about Moses. He begins in verse 37 talking about Moses prophecy concerning the coming Messiah who Stephen knows to be Jesus. Stephen then again speaks on the testament of Moses and how it was evident that God was with him and using him. Then starting in verse 40 we see Stephen talk about this second rejection of Moses by Israel. This time it came as he was receiving the ten commandments, the people of Israel were instead building idols. It’s rather interesting to consider that back in chapter 6 one of the things Stephen was accused of blasphemy for was changing the laws of Moses, but here Stephen proves that the nation of Israel is actually guilty for refusing Moses who is the man God was working through when he presented the law. Because of this rejection and idol worship Israel is punished and will one day be sent into exile beyond Babylon.

This takes us to our final part of Stephen’s defense which focuses on God’s dwelling place and finishes painting this analogy of the Old Testament and Jesus.

Beginning in Acts 7:44-53 it says

Acts 7:44–53 ESV

“Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, “ ‘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? Did not my hand make all these things?’ “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 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, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

In this last section of Stephen’s defense, he does a couple of things. The first thing he does is speak of the tabernacle and temple. If you remember back to last weeks message the second thing Stephen was accused of blasphemy for was saying that Jesus would destroy the temple. He replies by taking his audience back to the days of the tabernacle in the wilderness. He tells of their ancestors taking it everywhere until Joshua led the Israelites to the land of Canaan. There the tabernacle was brought into the land and continued until the time of David. David found favor in God’s eyes asked if he could make a dwelling place for God, but because of David’s sin it was his son Solomon who ended up building this dwelling place which was the temple. After saying all of this Stephen points out that even though the temple was built to be the dwelling place of God, God wasn’t confined to that space. Stephen even quotes Isaiah 66:1-2 to show that God was not confined to buildings. To further Stephen’s point even further after Solomon’s built the temple, when he dedicates and prays over it he makes it clear that God cannot be contained to buildings. In 1 Kings 8:27 Solomon says

1 Kings 8:27 ESV

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!

Stephen has pointed out that both accusations against him are not valid. The next thing Stephen does is call out the people of Israel in verses 51-53 saying they’ve rejected Jesus in the same way their ancestors have. You can imagine Stephen puts some emphasis on these words in these couple of verses. In fact, in the CSB translation of the bible these verses have exclamation marks in them. As a reader of the Bible it’s important we read things with an appropriate tone that way we can get an accurate picture of what is going on so we need to read this with energy. In my mind I’m picturing Stephen boldly speaking at the Sanhedrin with a loud voice saying “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears!”. Now if you’re a city folk like me you may not understand what “stiff necked people” means but whatever it is based on the context of what Stephen is saying it definitely can’t be good. This saying stiff necked is an image of farming. The image is that of a stubborn animal that wouldn’t accept the yoke which was the piece of wood that they placed on the animals neck to farm. Stephen goes on to call them “uncircumcised in heart and ears”. This was a metaphor for the stubbornness of a hardened heart. Stephen goes on to say that they always resist the Holy Spirit and rebukes the Sanhedrin for doing the same thing their ancestors had done. He questions them and asks who their ancestors didn’t persecute and even says they killed the ones who told of the coming of Jesus. The final thing he says to them is that they indeed did kill the righteous one and failed to keep the law.

At this point nothing else needed to be said from Stephen. He gave a masterful defense and even flipped the tables by becoming the prosecutor and making the Sanhedrin the guilty defendants. At this point we’ll take a look at how the Sanhedrin responded.

Beginning in Acts 7:54-60 it says

Acts 7:54–60 ESV

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 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. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 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. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 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.

The Sanhedrin becomes enraged and gnashed their teeth at Stephen. Gnashing your teeth is when you grind your teeth together typically when you’re really angry. Despite the anger of Stephen’s audience as soon as he lays out his testimony for Jesus he is again said to be full of the Holy Spirit and even say the heavens begin to open. He saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He calls out to his persecutors saying look I see the heavens opening and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God but they refused to listen. They even went as far as to cover their ears and yell at the top of their voices to drown out what Stephen was saying. They seized Stephen and rushed him out of the city and stoned him. Stephen could have been mad at them at this point for acting this way but we don’t see that. Stephen being righteous and full of the Holy Spirit instead asks God to forgive these men of the sin that they are committing. This is the very last thing he does before he fell asleep. In the New Testament, the word sleep is used instead of death because as Christians we know that believers souls go on to heaven to be with Christ for eternity. It’s important to note that one of those men who was present at Stephen’s stoning was a young man named Saul. Saul didn’t participate in the actual stoning but the first line of Acts 8 tells us that he supported this act. It’s interesting that Luke the writer of Acts under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit would write about this random man. It’s almost as if God had a plan throughout the course of the Bible and knew what he was doing by including this rather obscure name in the context of Acts 7.

Conclusion

You might be sitting here wondering today why I’m telling you these sad stories about different Christian martyrs. It’s because the story doesn’t end at the death of these people.

In the case of Stephen, his death was the catalyst in moving the gospel out to the gentiles. In Acts 8 this man that we saw at the end of chapter 7 named Saul begins persecuting the church in Jerusalem causing believers to scatter all over the world. As the believers scattered they began sharing Christ all over the world. The impact of Stephen doesn’t just stop there. This man named Saul would come to a breaking point in Acts 9. Jesus would appear to him and he would turn away from his sin and later become Paul, the greatest missionary the world’s ever seen. In the rest of Acts we see Paul traveling around the world preaching Christ with every chance he got.

In the case of the Christian missionaries, when their wives and families didn’t hear back from their husbands they sent search parties out to figure out what happened. When news came out that the men had died it set shockwaves throughout the world. The news quickly traveled back to the United States and sparked a missionary movement in the US. People rallied to fund and send missionaries throughout the world. Not only did this galvanize the country but God also began to move in the hearts of the Aucas. Rather than go home after their husbands had been killed, the five wives remained in Ecuador continuing the work they had set out to do. After three years of working with the Aucas, Elizabeth Elliot Jim’s wife and Rachel Saint Nate’s sister were invited to live among the Aucas. Elizabeth got to lead many Aucas to the Lord including two men who murdered her husband.

Many lives were changed because these people chose to live boldly for Christ in the face of peril. Stephen’s witness and martyrdom led to the gospel going out to the gentiles and the witness and martyrdom of the five missionaries in Ecuador led to the gospel going out to the Auca people who were previously unreached. God will do great things through people who live boldly for Him even when it’s really hard. While each of these people who spoke boldly about Christ didn’t get to see the payoff while they were here on this Earth we know God’s plan will ultimately prevail. We may not experience the level of persecution that these people did but we can still learn from their example. God will use us in our lives if we are willing to be bold with our faith in our everyday lives regardless of the consequences. God has each and every one of you placed in your jobs, in your schools, in your social circles, and in your families for a reason. As Christians we know that reason is so that we can be a light in our community and live boldly for Christ with every chance we get even when things get hard.

Thought of the Week

Our thought of the week this week is

My life is in God’s hands so I should be bold with my faith even when life is hard.

At the end of the day God is ultimately in control of our lives. He created us and knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows every hair on our head and he knows which day will be our last. Tomorrow is never promised so we need to live for Him today. Knowing all this why wouldn’t we want to glorify Him with our life? On the other side of things: Why do we always worry so much about the what ifs and what will happen to our life if we share our faith? What the question really boils down to is... will you live boldly for Christ in your life?

Please join me in a word of prayer.