Stephen, The First Christian Martyr: Part 1

Introduction

Opener

Have you ever wondered how you have that Bible in your hands?

It’s the 16th century, 1517 to be exact, a certain scholar and priest, Martin Luther, just shocked the Roman Catholic Church by nailing the 95 Theses, 95 revolutionary opinions, to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Meanwhile in England, a young linguist and scholar, William Tyndale, who had just graduated from Oxford University with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, being ordained as a priest, began teaching at the University of Cambridge, where in 1521, he became convinced that the Bible alone should determine the practices and doctrines of the church and that all believers should be able to read the Bible in their own language.

In 1523, Tyndale began working on translating the Greek NT to English. Shortly after he had begun, the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church under King Henry VIII became furious when they had learned he was doing this. They did not want it in the public’s hands so they issued that everyone of Tyndale’s copies be burned.

This would cause Tyndale to move to Germany, the same place Martin Luther had begun the Protestant Reformation, to receive financial aid from wealthy London merchants.

This move, accompanied by their aid, would result in Tyndale finishing his translation of the NT in July of 1525, printed in Cologne, Germany.

With the completion came pressure from the city authorities, but as they would seek to arrest him, he would successfully flee to Worms, Germany, where two more editions were published in 1525.

Copies would be smuggled into England in 1526, but were quickly outlawed.

Upon finishing the NT, Tyndale began work on the OT. This would take him a while as he would need to learn Hebrew. The Pentateuch, or the first 5 books of the Bible, were issued in Marburg, Germany, in 1530.

Tyndale would continue to work on the OT translation, but would be captured in Antwerp, Belgium after being befriending Henry Phillips, a man whom had been appointed to track down Tyndale, who made his way into his inner circle, and then one night, after inviting him to dinner, would betray him by giving his whereabouts to the local officers.

This would lead to Tyndale being imprisoned for over 500 days in a cold, dark prison cell in a castle near Belgium.

On October 6th, 1536, after being declared a heretic by the church and turned over to civil authorities, Tyndale would be brought out before the public at Filford Castle, in Flanders, Belgium, where they would tie him to a stake, put a rope around his neck, strangle him to death, then burn his body for all to see.

As he would die, his last words would be, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!”

I can think of no better words to better describe why Tyndale did what he did, than his own that he wrote to his beloved friend John Frith, whom would also be burned for his faith: For Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps, who did no sin. Hereby have we perceived love that he laid down his life for us: therefore we ought to be able to lay down our lives for the brethren.

When you look down at your Bible and see the words in English, know that a man, with the gospel as his focus, gave up his own life so that you could have a chance to read it for yourself.

Main Point of the Text (MPT)

Just like Tyndale, there were others that came before him that gave up their life so that the gospel might be heard.

If you will go ahead and open your Bibles to Acts 6.

Two weeks ago, I spoke to what many consider the beginning of the role of deacon in the church.

Some might argue against it, but I believe that with the Greek word diakonos, aka deacon, meaning servant, describes exactly the role we talked about during our last sermon in Acts.

When we left off a few weeks back, Luke had informed us of a complaint that arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.

The twelve Apostles, as we discussed, due to the disciples, meaning those who had became followers of Christ, increasing in number, had summoned the congregation and told them, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables”, instructing them to select from among them seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task so that they could devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

The whole congregation approved of what the Apostles had instructed as they knew that everyone of them had been given certain gifts by God (1 Corinthians 12) and that it was important that each serve their God given role using their God given talents, as a talent is a gift, even if that talent is serving tables, all so that the gospel could be spread and the kingdom expanded.

The congregation presented seven men that fit the qualifications that the Apostles had laid out: Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.

And after the Apostles prayed over them and laid their hands on them, verse 7 tells us that the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

The congregation, following the instruction by the Apostles, had installed the seven men that were needed as the results speaks for themselves.

Our Scripture for today concerns one of these seven, Stephen, the first Christian Martyr and over the next few weeks we will be exploring his story as we will learn that his death was the catalyst for the gospel to start making its way outside of Isreal.

And so, if you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word and we begin Stephen’s story.

Scripture Reading: Acts 6:8-15

Prayer

Body

Point 1: Christlike Power

Scripture: Acts 6:8

Explanation:

As this story unfolds we will learn more about Stephen’s character, but let’s take a look at what we know so far:

From his name, we know that Stephen was a Hellenist, or as we learned a few weeks back, a Jew who had most likely adopted some aspects of the Greek culture, such as speaking the Greek lanagauge, and their way of life, all while maintaining their Jewish religious traditions.

Based upon the Apostles, there were four different qualties that they looked for:

Good reputataion: He was known amongst the other disciples and outsiders as a man, whom if spoken of, was spoken well of, they could testify to the character of Stephen and be able to report of the good they had bore witness of when in his presence.

Full of the Spirit: He understood where his power, his talents, and his desire to spread the gospel came from, that it was not of man, but of God, and given to him through the recieveing of the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31). The Holy Spirit was his helper (John 14:26), aiding him in his service to God.

Full of wisdom: Wisdom was a spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 12:8) that the Holy Spirit had given him and being a Hellenist himself, he would have been very useful in helping to solve the issues between the two groups that were at odds, but he would need to not only lean on the Holy Spirit, but practically approach each situation understanding that he was dealing with men, of whom, can be very hard to please.

Could be in charge of the task, so leadership: These seven men, including Stephen were to be put in charge of this task, assuming the role of a leader, and so they must possess the characteristics of a leader (humitility, love, maturity, etc.) such as making decisions, handling tense situation, and using their Spirit given wisdom to come up with solutions so that the Apostles need not get involved.

This is what we can gather about Stephen from his name and from what the Apostles were looking for in the seven men that the congregation were to choose, but at the beginning of our Scripture today we learn a little more about Stephen.

Acts 6:8 informs us that Stephen was full of grace and power and had been performing great wonders and signs among the people.

Full of grace, full of power, and the abiltiy to perform great wonders and signs, doesn’t this sound like someone we know and love? Yes, Jesus Christ, alot of Stephen’s qualities were Christlike:

Full of grace: Stephen had exerperienced God’s grace and most of the time for someone to give grace it’s because they been given grace before. There is nothing like God’s grace.

I love what Paul David Tripp of Paul Tripp ministries says, “grace is not a thing, but a person–the Holy Spirit” and is not a “one-time transaction, but a living and active and constant Presence”.

He says that grace is transformative, constant, and beautiful. That it rescues us from eternal death, and rescues us from ourselves daily by making us new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). When “the old has passed away; behold, the new has come” this is what grace looks like.

Full of power: Stephen had experienced and seen God’s power through his own ability to perform great wonder and signs, just as Jesus had.

He had given himself to God, as a servant to Jesus and His Church, allowing himself to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

With the Holy Spirit came power, power of adminstration, discernment, evangelism, exhortation, faith, giving, healing, helping, hospitality, knowledge, leadership, mercy, serving, shepherding, and wisdom, all gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) that Stephen would have had to possess in his new role.

Application:

Are those qualities that you are looking for God to fill you with?

Tony Merida, pastor of Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, NC says that there is something we must remember, that you are controlled by whatever fills you.

You can apply this to anything, for me, I used to, still wish I was, big into lifting weights. I have always been told I have a weight lifters body like the Rock, can you see the resemblance?

The thing about lifting weights is that you don’t just go into a gym on the first day, pick up the heavist weight, and be able to lift it, no, it takes time. Lifting was a journey for me and I really enjoyed any type of press. One of my favorite lifts was the strict press, where you hold a barbell in front of you and without bending your knee push the barbell over you head.

I still have the video from about two years back when I was at Crossfit Bending Iron and attempted my heaviest weight to date, 275 lbs.

There had been many times before when I would come in the gym and put that weight on the bar, attempt it a fail. It wasn’t because I didn’t have the strength, I had built that up, it was because I had doubt in my abilties.

I was full of doubt, but I remember the day I finally got it, it was in a gym full of people who knew I could do it, they saw me load the weight on the bar, circled around me, began cheering for me, the doubt fell away, confidence was put in it’s place and while it wasn’t pretty, a lot of shaking, but 275 lbs went up, locking it out at the top, I had finally be able to do what my doubt had kept me from and it felt good.

What are you filled with? Fear? Jealousy? Greed? Lust? Pride?

If filled with fear, not fear of God, but fear of not having control, it will control you, making you anxious, angry, and irrational. A life led by fear is not a healthy one.

If filled with jealousy, you will fill empty, incomplete, and you will steal the joy from others as their success will infuriate you since it is not yours.

Greed can cost you your life, put you family out of a home, or damage your relationships as you become addicted to it.

Lust will ruin your marriage, cause you to be seperated from those you love, make you feel isolated, and always keep you wanting more, not being allowing yourself to find the beauty in what you have.

And pride will ruin you as you try to control the different situations in your life, causing you to continually fail, bringing down your confidence as you search to answer the question of why aren’t you good enough.

Humans experience all of these, but when filled with the Holy Spirit, he helps you to overcome them (John 14:26), providing you with the power you need replace fear with assurance, jealousy with contentedness, greed with generosity, lust with love, and pride with humility.

The world will test you, but just as Christ said, take courage, for He has overcome the world (John 16:33).

Point 2: Christlike Wisdom

Scripture: Acts 6:9-10

Explanation:

In reaction to Stephen performing great wonders and signs among the people, Luke tells us in verse 9 that some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen.

This Synagogue of Freedmen, called the Synagogue of the Libertines in the KJV. The word libertine is from the Latin and originally referred to a man who had been a slave but had been set at liberty.

Scholars assume that this was a group of Cyrenian, Alexandrian, Cilician, and Asian Jews that had been most likely been taken into captivity by the Romans, made into slaves, but eventually set free. Some even speculate that Paul, being from Cilicia (Acts 21:39), was one of these men, but it has never been confirmed.

God’s Word doesn’t tell us exactly what Stephen said to them, but whatever it was caused them to be unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

Paul, who at this time was named Saul, Saul of Tarus, is a perfect example of someone who would have been unable to cope with Stephen’s wisdom and Spirit as we will will read at the beginning of Acts 8 that he was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.

Paul was someone who was there when Stephen preached his sermon that day and according to Paul’s testimony in 1 Timothy 1, he was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man, who acted out ignorance in unbelief.

This would show through in the reaction of the men from the Synagogue of Freedmen, who were exactly like Paul, being unable to cope, meaning that they were unable to resist the wisdom and the Spirit that Stephen spoke, which led to their actions in the following verses.

Stephen knew his wisdom wasn’t his own, but that it had came from the Spirit and what was it that brought him confidence to speak to these men?

Not his confidence in himself, but his confidence in Christ.

It was Christ who foretold of these events when in Luke 21:12 He spoke of things to come, telling His disciples that, “they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony."

This was that moment for Stephen.

Christ continues in Luke 21 by telling them, “So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves” (Luke 21:14).

Stephen had a decision to make, to defend himself or do what was necessary, spreading the gospel no matter the cost.

Christ's made a promise to anyone who would choose not to defend themselves, that He would give them utterance and wisdom which none of their opponents would be able to resist or refute (Luke 21:15).

Stephen was experiencing a promise being fulfilled, Jesus was in control of this situation and Stephen’s trust could be placed in Him.

Application:

Stephen’s wisdom, recieved from the Holy Spirit, provided to him through Christ death, resurrection, and acension was all that he needed to win his argument with the Synagogue of Freedmen.

The wisdom he spoke and the Spirit that empowered him led to a victory that would cost him his life, but not before he was able to preach the gospel to the people, the elders, the scribes, and as we will see, the Council, or Sanhedrin.

If you have came to belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior, the same Spirit that was inside Stephen that day is the same Spirit that is inside of you.

Just like Stephen, we must make up our minds for when the time comes where we either get to defend ourselves or preach the gospel, which will we do?

Maybe you are sitting there today and thinking back to an opportunity you had to preach or spread the gospel, but you didn’t. Why was that?

Were you not confident? Did you feel unprepared?

As we will see in the upcoming weeks, Stephen came prepared, even in a moment’s notice, he was able to recall both the OT and Jesus’s teachings in order to construct one of the most impactful sermon ever preached in the Bible.

Your opportunity has already begun and it starts with preparing yourself for what is to come through the studying of God’s Word, being in prayer, and experiencing life being guided by and trusting in the Holy Spirit.

This is how Stephen obtained his wisdom, through the different gifts God had given him and so must you.

To recieve wisdom, you must seek it, and where you seek it from matters, so seek it from God.

Point 3: Christlike Endurance

Scripture: Acts 6:11-15

Explanation:

With their inability to cope with what Stephen had spoken, it led to animosity as verse 11 speaks of their actions against Stephen, it tells us that following his words:

First, they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

Then, this caused a stir amongst the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council.

Finally, they put forward false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law; for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.”

Just as Christ did, Stephen to would face a trail where his endurance would be key.

These men invented lies about him, they conspried against him, they caused him to be arrested, they put him in front of the Council, they falsely testified against him, and helped bring charges on him.

Going back to Matthew 26, one would find this trail similar to the bogus trial that Jesus faced.

It wasn’t blasphemous words that Stephen taught against Moses or God, it was the fulfillment of the prophecies given to us in the OT that he taught, speaking to how Jesus had fulfilled them, he spoke of the gospel, of which, when we dive into his sermon, he proves that the entire Bible points to.

To further prove that Stephen’s actions were not of man, verse 15 tells us that upon fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel.

It’s almost like God wanted to prove that this was not of Stephen, but of God, because who else’s face had shone like this before? Moses, in Exodus 34:29, after an exchange with God on Mount Sinai, as he was coming down, the Word says that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.

Back then, when Aaron and the sons of Israel needed a sign that Moses was meeting with God, He gave them one and in Stephen’s situation, He does it once again which bring about Stephen’s opportunity to preach the gospel unlike it had ever been preached before.

Application:

We will face opposition just as Stephen did, just as Christ did, and while our consequence might not be death, we must be prepared to endure.

We have a need for endurance. I love how John Piper puts it, “But how is endurance gain? You may know the answer, pain.”

While it’s an unfortune reality, it is the truth that this gift from God comes in a painful package.

Paul compares our unfortunate reality to a race in 2 Timothy 4:7 when he writes to his beloved mentee Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”

Unfortuntely, I can resonate with his example all to well as even though I may not look like I did, I ran cross country in high school.

I had joined because my twin joined and somehow he made running look fun, and to be honest, it was, it was freeing, because when you ran, you could forget the world and just focus on the challenge that was right in front of you.

I found that’s what I loved, the challenge, overcoming my obstacles, which as a 225 lb man running against 135 lb men was intense (I mainly trained with the women as they would push me) and I remember the months spent training for our first event at Panther Creek Park in Owensboro, KY.

I had just started cross country that summer and my weigh was playing a toll on me. I had started out doing way to much which led to me entering the week of my first race with horrible shin splints and bursitis, or an inflmmation of my hip joint, extremely painful.

The day of the race the pain was still there, but the pain wouldn’t stop me as it was finally time to prove to myself that I could do a 5K.

I finsihed my race, but at the end I collasped due to pain and they had to carry me off the finishline.

Some may call me stupid, but to me, the pain was worth it, because that day changed my entire perspective, my hard work had paid off and from that experience I grew as a person, running many 5Ks after that once my body had healed.

We, and even the disciples, live in a world where unbelief in Christ is more prevlant than belief in Him is, but it’s a world where our God given endurance might just be the catalyst to the next revival.

We will see that Stephen’s endurance, even until death led to the expansion of the kingdom as the result led to a great persecutiuon of the church causing all to be scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria preaching the Word (Acts 8:1;4).

While that might not have been Stephen’s hope, it was God’s plan and today, we hold our Bibles in our hands because not only of someone like Tyndale, but someone like Stephen, whose death was not in vain, but was the catalyst for the rest of the world to meet Jesus.

Altar Call

What is your goal in life?

Read Philippians 3:7-16 - The Goal of Life