Deacon Stephen, Full of Grace

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to church.

We had a great week this week with $511 raised by the kids and matched by an anonymous donor family. The money will be used for missions in Mexico. We had 46 kids and youth in attendance with 13 adults in the adults class and 20 who were saved.

We want to especially thank the Pharr Police Department and the RGV Food Bank, as well as Hidalgo County, Precinct 11 for their support.

Speaking of the Pharr PD, I got the opportunity to meet Pharr PD’s K9 therapy dog, Ammo, and his handler Officer Alfredo Ortiz. Ammo’s story of rescue as he transitioned from being a trained search and rescue dog to being a therapy dog for the Pharr PD is a brilliant story that reflects the work that Christ does for us as he told us before he left to be in heaven, “I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you.”

Officer Ortiz told us that Ammo got left behind by his Search and Rescue unit handler as there were departmental changes in the police department. Ammo was left in the kennel and had only limited human contact for an extended period before Officer Ortiz decided to take him and train him with a new skill.

As I was preparing to tell the story of Jesus death on the cross as a redemptive work, I immediately made the connection that we also have been rescued by Christ.

Ammo has had years to work through his trust issues and feelings of abandonment as he makes the adjustment to do a new work for the Pharr PD in a different way. Search and rescue working dogs are rigorously trained, high energy dogs, that must be ready to work at a moment’s notice. And therapy dog work is very different, but also vitally important supporting our police officers as well as people in the community.

The unconditional love and attention the Ammo receives from Officer Ortiz has helped him in that transition and put him on a new path to help others in a significant way.

Hooray for Ammo! What a beautiful story of redemption for a dog that deserved a chance at redemption and restoration to a sense of purpose in his work. Thank you Officer Ortiz and Ammo for being here with us on Thursday evening.

Ammo’s story reflects the story of redemption and restoration that each of us who choose to believe in Christ can experience as Christ transitions us to do the work to which he has called us to accomplish.

We’re going to continue our study in the book of Acts. We’ll be in chapter 6 this morning as we look at one of these deacons that was selected by the early church to help with the daily distribution of food to the widows.[orar]

We’ll look today at Stephen, who is described as being full of grace and power. Stephen had the power of the Holy Spirit in him as he served and accomplished the work to which he was called by the church.

Let’s look together in Acts 6 at some of the trouble the Stephen encountered as he shared his faith...

Acts 6:8–15 CSB

8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from some members of the Freedmen’s Synagogue, composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, and they began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so they came, seized him, and took him to the Sanhedrin. 13 They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the law. 14 For we heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” 15 And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

[pray]

Who was Stephen?

You might recognize the name Stephen from last week’s text where we saw that he was named as one of the deacons to serve the church in the daily distribution for the needy.

Our text today focuses on Stephen’s work, that extends beyond the daily distribution. We see in verse 8...

Acts 6:8 CSB

8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

Stephen is described as being “full of grace and power.”

Now grace, as it is mentioned here, is a behavioral characteristic. In the Greek it is χάρις (charis), an adjective for being “kind, gracious, thankful, and blessed.”

The sense here is that Stephen was a blessed man of goodwill, with a grace granted to him by God.

He was also a man of power. The Greek here is δύναμις (dunamis), which is interpreted here to be a supernatural power granted to him by the Holy Spirit.

The text says that Stephen performed “great wonders and signs among the people” though it does not detail the miracles that he performed.

This is interesting, because Stephen was not one of the apostles—which is to say that he was not named by Jesus Christ to be one of those sent out to perform miracles. Though here he is performing miracles.

This to me says that Stephen was being used by God to draw attention to what Jesus had done.

Whenever we see miracles in scripture, it is for the purpose of drawing attention to God.

Warning! Following God’s will is sure to attract the attention of others!

When Jesus summoned twelve of his disciples in the section of Matthew 10 that we call the Missionary Discourse, or the commissioning of the twelve, we can see that Jesus gives his apostles some stern warnings.

Jesus sent the Twelve "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt 10:6).” He told them to tell people “The kingdom of heaven has come near”, which was a way of saying that God had sent their Messiah in the person of Jesus.

He told them to...

Matthew 10:8 CSB

8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

…and he gave them some specific instructions for how they should act while they were there in his name.

But he also gave them a warning about the rejection and persecution that they would experience. He told them...

Jesus went on to warn them sternly that [they]...

Matthew 10:22 CSB

22 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

As I said before Stephen was not one of these missionary apostles, sent out by Jesus. But the warning was just as much for him as it was for the apostles. And just as it is for any who will completely commit themselves as servants of Christ.

Hatred is exactly what Stephen experienced as he began to speak out the gospel message of Jesus Christ in the Freedmen’s Synagogue of Jerusalem...

What was the Freedmen’s Synagogue?

As a bit of the background culture surrounding our focal text for today, we see that there is some opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Freedmen’s Synagogue.

The freedmen were a group of Jewish slaves who had been freed from slavery. The Greek word here is Λιβερτῖνος (Libertinos), refers to these freed slaves, who had organized a synagogue in Jerusalem.

A synagogue, as you might guess is a gathering place for the assembly of Jewish communities as they worshipped God, learned and practiced their faith together, according to the teachings of Scripture. A synagogue is not the temple, which is to say, there is no sacrifice that happens there. We still see Jewish communities around the world today gathering in synagogues.

This Synagogue of the Freedmen figures into our text over the next few weeks as we focus on Stephen’s experience.

We can see in verses 9-10 that Stephen experienced some difficulty with the members of this synagogue...

Acts 6:9–10 CSB

9 Opposition arose, however, from some members of the Freedmen’s Synagogue, composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, and they began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

Stephen was explaining the gospel of Jesus Christ, as he had heard the apostles proclaim. But these freed slaves would hear none of it.

Stephen Encountered Opposition

There are several things that I want to point out about this opposition that Steven encountered.

These religious men began to treat Jesus in a similar way that the religious leaders had treated Jesus.

You need to understand that these men loved their religion. They loved their heritage and they set about to protect it at any cost… even if the cost was that they would stand in opposition of God’s will.

They Misunderstood Stephen

The first thing I notice here is that Stephen was misunderstood...

Acts 6:11 CSB

11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

We don’t have Stephen’s message to the Freedmen’s Synagogue recorded, but his message was no different than what we have already heard from Peter. However, these devout Jews heard him say that Moses’ Law was unnecessary and that the temple would be destroyed by Jesus. This enraged them so that they could hear nothing beyond a message that they considered contrary to what they understood.

These religious men began to treat Stephen in a similar way that the religious leaders had treated Jesus. They began to make trouble for him and put him on trial with the Sanhedrin, then they began to build a false case against him that included some underhanded tactics.

The text here in verse 11 says that they were secretly working behind the scenes to gather support for their cause. While you and I would not consider his words blasphemous, they were working towards a case to have him silenced.

They Stirred Up Trouble

These devout Jews were so troubled by what they heard that they began to make trouble for Stephen...

Acts 6:12 CSB

12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so they came, seized him, and took him to the Sanhedrin.

These men used this lie about Stephen’s alleged blasphemy to turn people against him. Their primary false complaint was that Stephen was speaking against Moses and against God. By saying that Stephen was challenging their way of religion, the Mosaic Law, which they worshipped, and saying that Jesus planned to destroy the temple, they worked up an emotional frenzy against Stephen to the point that they were able to arrest him and drag him before the Sanhedrin Counsel of religious leaders that had taken action against Jesus and—in previous chapters—against the apostles.

They Lied and Slandered Stephen

Just as they had in Jesus’ case, these men began to present false witness against Stephen.

Acts 6:13–14 CSB

13 They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the law. 14 For we heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

When we look at the claims that these false witnesses laid against Stephen, we can see that they likely took his words out of context and exaggerated their claims against him.

The Jews and the Law

The devoutly religious Jews were jealous protectors of the Mosaic Law and they were proud of their temple.

They had very little understanding of how Christ could overthrow all of this to turn the Law into something they couldn’t recognize. They refused to believe that it could be possible that God would permit the temple to be destroyed and the Law to be superceded by anything else.

The truth is that Stephen faced something that others before him had experienced at the hands of the Jewish leaders. Stephen was facing a spiritual blindness that many prophets before him had encountered, including Jesus himself.

We could look to the prophet Jeremiah to see how the Jewish religious elite held a blind trust in their temple and their law, much more than they actually trusted God, himself.

Stephen and the apostles were the first of many in the early church who suffered from this persecution by the religious leaders in Jerusalem.

The Truth Today

The truth for the church today is that sometimes we see people that worship their traditions and their preferences just like the Pharisees and the Sadducees did. And sometimes when they feel threatened by change, they will employ some of the same tactics that the priests of Jesus’ day did.

They will work behind the scenes to stir up trouble and foster discontent.

They will hold secret meetings so that they can speak without dissent.

They will lie and bear false witness against those who are innocent

and they will work to remove people from the church rather than attempt to work with them to resolve the disagreements.

But I don’t have to tell you all about Post-Traumatic Church Disorder. We’ve talked about that before.

The truth is that this kind of activity holds no place in the church and it should be banned outright. However, we still see people putting their trust in powerful men and in politics rather than trusting in God. I’m certain of one thing. I’ll not change the church in my own strength. That’s God’s job and he’s already said that the way that he’ll do that is to send Jesus back to claim his bride, the church.

This passage reads like a master class on how Pharisees and legalists work in the church today. When you see this kind of behavior in the church, do something to correct it, call it out, or run away, because you may have found a church full of Pharisees.

Conclusion

We’re going to look at Stephen’s response next week, and likely it will take us the next several weeks to get through his message, due to its length and complexity.

We do see something of Stephen’s demeanor as he was listening to the proceedings...

Acts 6:15 CSB

15 And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Now we sometimes use this expression when we’re talking about our grandbabies or someone who looks completely sweet and innocent. But the truth is that Stephen did look very different. He may have had a holy glow as the Spirit filled him indicating that the power of the Lord was on him.

But that didn’t stop them from moving against him. We’ll pick up in chapter 7 next week.