The Face of the Faithful

Introduction

It can be hard to distinguish when a person has genuinely changed. Often times, what we might figure to be inward repentance is nothing more than outward restraint. There’s a scene in Schindler’s List in which Amon Goeth (Girt), who is a sadistic SS commandant, is talking to Oscar Schindler, a man who is technically part of the Nazi Party, but secretly saving as many Jews from death as he can. In this conversation, Schindler tells Goeth (Girt) that real power is when a person has every justification to kill, but doesn’t. As you watch, you can see that Goeth is moved by these words. Soon a young Jewish man makes a mistake and Goeth (Girt) pardons him and lets him go rather than killing him as he normally would. Another scene comes and the young man, unable to get the stains out of Goeth’s (Girt’s) tub is, once again, pardoned. For a moment, it would seem that Schindler’s words and transformed this monster; yet, as he walks away from Goeth’s (Girt’s) house, a shot rings out, then another, missing the young man. The third one kills him. Goeth (Girt) had not changed; Schindler’s words had done nothing more than temporarily restrain the evil within his heart.

I see something similar happening in Acts. In Acts 4, the Sanhedrin arrest Peter and John, threatening them with violent threats as to what would happen if they continued preaching in Jesus’s name. They arrest them again in chapter 5. This time, even though they were enraged enough to kill them, Gamaliel convinces them not to. Like Schindler, he gives them good advice.

Acts 5:38–39 ESV

So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,

Still though they beat them before sending away. Unfortunately, Gamaliel’s wisdom, could not bring the Sanhedrin to repentance. It only restrained them for a moment. Collectively, they were an earthquake on the brink of administering disaster.

Enter in Stephen. He’s not an apostle; he’s not one of the original 120. He’s a regular guy, filled with the Spirit, and a newly appointed deacon in the church there at Jerusalem. Sadly, he would be the first to die for his Savior by this far-reaching earthquake that was coming . And as we look at his story this morning, I want us to notice that it comes in three scenes. There are three scenes that show the Spirit’s work in Stephen’s life. The first scene focuses on Stephen’s Power. The second on Stephen’s Preaching. And the final scene focuses on Stephens Plea.

Stephen’s Power

Stephen’s Preaching

Stephen’s Plea

Stephen’s Power

The first scene of Stephen’s story really began in the previous section, the section that Pastor Drew preached on last week. Stephen was one of those proto-deacons, who was tasked with the job of caring for the widows. The apostles required that the these men be full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom. And so we were introduced to him as one of these seven men that the church picked as a servant for herself. If we were watching this as a play, that portion of Scripture would have come across as if there was a hic-up, some side characters come on the stage to help, and they leave without saying a word. But Luke doesn’t do that. Rather than give us only side characters, Luke moves us into side quests that once again prove that the early church was a Spirit-empowered witness to the Kingdom of God.

Luke brings back two of these men who were selected by the church, showing that it wasn’t just tables that they were serving, but it Jesus’s kingdom as well. It’s interesting how there were twelve apostles, yet Luke only deals with two of the originals—Peter and John, and all but ignores the others. He writes of Jesus’s brother James who, at first, thought Jesus was crazy. He writes mainly of Paul who was originally a persecutor of the church. And here, he writes of a Greek-speaking Jew who somehow came to know Jesus, and loved him so much that he was worthy enough, not simply to suffer for Christ, but to die for him.

Stephen didn’t become this way on his own. He was empowered by the Holy Spirit, and we see this in the opening lines about Stephen’s story.

Acts 6:8–10 ESV

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 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. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

Do you see the keywords that Luke brings in about this man: full of grace and power. They could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit. He had already written in verse 5 that Stephen was full of faith. This wasn’t Stephen’s character after taking on the role the church called him to perform; this was the reason why the church called him in the first place. The Holy Spirit was evident in his life already.

By the way Luke writes it, it wasn’t just the church that was aware of his Spirit-empowered witness. Synagogues all over Jerusalem had heard his preaching and seen his miracles. Incidentally, this is the first time that we find someone working miracles other than an apostle. These were all Greek-speaking synagogues, filled with dispersed Jews who had made their way back to Jerusalem and Judea. Rather than being in awe of what they had seen and heard, they were upset about it.

Since they could not refute the power of the Spirit in Stephen’s life, these synagogue leaders lied about his preaching. They accused him of speaking against Moses, the law, God, and the temple. These actions should sound familiar. A man of God seized by religious leaders and brought before the high priest, bringing false witnesses to accuse him so they can shut him up.

And what we find is that Stephen proceeds to lambaste his opponents. He calls them every name in the book and gives and good as he gets. No. That’s not what we see at all. Instead, we see one more description:

Acts 6:15 ESV

And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

In essence, there was no fury, no frustration, no fear upon his face. But it is more than just that. Luke wasn’t saying that Stephen had a cute baby face. With all this talk of Moses (and there will be more to come), Luke is showing there is a resemblance of Stephen with Moses. You may recall that every time Moses spent time with God, he’d come back with face shining. In other words, his countenance resembled the One with whom he beheld. And when Jesus was on the mountain and the glory of God came down, Jesus’s face was transformed and shone like the sun. So in like manner, we see that Stephen, full of the Spirit, wisdom, grace, power, and faith, has the countenance of an angel.

Beloved, if we hope to become like Jesus, we must continuously be near him and with him. We become like that which we behold. Why is that a husband and wife of many years can come to think each others’ thoughts before them? Because they have beheld each other for so long. Why is it that a person who starts to hang around the wrong crowd suddenly has a personality change? Because bad company corrupts good morals as the person beholds and then becomes.

Why is it that something once disgusted and offended us no longer does, and then soon entices us? Because the more we behold it, the more we become it.

How many of us are frustrated at our lack of spiritual growth? Could it be that we do not spend time beholding our risen Savior? We are neither in his Word nor in prayer with him? Are we reading the Bible to grow in knowledge or in Christlikeness. They are not the same. Some of us are more knowledgeable of the Bible than we were five years ago, but are we more like Jesus? I’ve quoted it before, and I’ll quote it again, “Whoever, then, thinks that he understands the Holy Scriptures, or any part of them, but puts such an interpretation upon them as does not tend to build up this twofold love of God and our neighbour, does not yet understand them as he ought” (Augustine).

Brothers and sisters, we cannot be conformed into the image of Jesus without beholding the character of Jesus.

Stephen’s Preaching

So we move on to the second scene; it moves us from the synagogues to the Sanhedrin, for it’s not just Stephen’s power that comes from the Holy Spirit; it is also his preaching. And as we will see, Spirit-empowered preaching does not always lead to a profession of faith from the unbeliever. In fact, it can lead the witness into a precarious situation. But here is a easily overlooked fact that I want you to notice: when given the opportunity to defend himself, he instead preaches on God’s direction and Israel’s deflection. There’s no doubt that Stephen would have gotten to the gospel message if he had been allowed to, but let’s take a look at what Stephen said and why he said it.

Keep in mind that he is standing before the Sanhedrin, questioned by the high priest Caiaphas, just as Peter and John had been twice before. As he stands before them, he opens his mouth and begins showing how they misunderstood their own history. In essence, they had misunderstood God’s place, God’s purpose, and God’s plan throughout their existence.

First, let’s look at God’s place.

Stephen starts his sermon reminding the Sanhedrin of the father of the Jewish people: Abraham.

Acts 7:2–3 ESV

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.’

The point that Stephen wanted to make here is that Abraham was not in the Promised Land when God appeared to him in all his glory. He had to go to the land of promise. And so he ended up leaving Ur, moving to Haran, and then finally going to Shechem. It was there that God promised the land as far as he could see, but also told Abraham it wouldn’t actually belong to him, indicating that the land—though it was promised—was not necessary for the people to be God’s people. In fact, neither Isaac or Jacob hardly owned any land there. They were wanderers, nomads with no home of their own. It wasn’t until they came to Egypt—not Canaan—that the people grew to such a large number that they began to look like a nation and became a perceived threat to the king of Egypt. So the people were still God’s people even though they were not in the Promised Land because God could not be confined to a plot of land, and so neither would his people be.

Still, once they were in the Promised Land, we see that God went from city to city in a tent known as the tabernacle. For over four-hundred years, God’s place was mobile. It wasn’t until David brought the Ark of the Covenant and tabernacle to Jerusalem that he remained there. Even then, he still was in a tent, not a temple. That didn’t happen until Solomon built a permanent structure. So for nearly five-hundred years, God’s place was among his people—the commoners. And while God blessed the building of his temple, as Stephen noted,

Acts 7:48–50 ESV

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?’

Remember that the accusations made against Stephen were that he proclaimed that the holy place—the temple—would be destroyed. It’s as if he were saying, “What difference does it make if it was destroyed?” They had totally misunderstood God’s place.

But more than that, they had misunderstood God’s purpose. Though Stephen doesn’t mention it, it would have been obvious that God had called Abraham and his descendents to bless all the families of the earth. He stated that he himself would bless those who blessed them and dishonor those who cursed them. And he would do that through various means of deliverance of his people. We see this first with Joseph.

Acts 7:11–14 ESV

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.

God delivered his people from certain death by way of Joseph. But God also delivered them again later. They had been enslaved by Egypt, and God sent Moses.

Acts 7:33–34 ESV

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.’

Moses then led them through the wilderness for the next forty-two years. And at the end, just before they entered the Promised Land, he informed them that there was coming another one who would be a prophet just like him—one who would deliver them.

Acts 7:36–38 ESV

This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 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.

So, the people misunderstood God’s place among them—that he could not be kept in a box or a land, even if it was beautiful. They misunderstood God’s purpose—to deliver them not simply from physical harm and captivity, but spiritual as well. But they also misunderstood God’s plan, and because they misunderstood it, they rebelled against it.

And this is the crux of Stephen’s preaching. He slyly brings it in at first and then explicitly states it at the end. Notice how he said,

Acts 7:9 ESV

“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him

God was with Joseph, but the patriarchs—all of his brothers—were jealous of him. Do you remember the story, the dreams that he had? The eleven sheaths of grain bowed before his own. The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed before his star. His brothers, and even his father, were incredulous! They couldn’t believe what they were hearing! And then his brothers, seeing the coat of many colors that his father had given him, had been pushed too far. They could not stand the very man whom God had anointed over them; they must rid themselves of God’s man.

Then we get to Moses.

Acts 7:35 ESV

“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.

Acts 7:39 ESV

Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt,

And so here, God’s plan of deliverance through Moses was whole-heartedly rejected by the people. Who made him a ruler and a judge? God did! Yet they refused to obey him and instead had Aaron make them a golden calf, which they worshipped!

He’s subtle with Joseph, he’s suggestive with Moses, but he is straightforward with his conclusion.

Acts 7:51–52 ESV

“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,

Those in the Sanhedrin that were questioning him—and by proxy questioning the legitimacy of Jesus the Messiah—are no different than the Patriarchs, the people of Moses’s day, and those in the days of the prophets. They wanted to kill Joseph, they sought to overthrow Moses, and they actually did kill the prophets. They had the Son of God crucified, and now they wanted to stamp out the Church.

Beloved, we live in a world in which people want to speak on God’s behalf, but have no idea his plan, purpose, or place. And so they oppose God. It can come in so many forms: progressive Christianity, politics—whether on the left or the right (both distort God and Jesus to their own benefit), influencers on the internet, but it can happen in our own hearts and our own church if we aren’t careful. It’s easy to think that God is on our side, and what we have planned, God has planned. We walk into situations like Joshua did before entering Canaan, and seeing a man, he went and asked, “Are you for us or our adversaries?” The man responded, “No. I am the commander of the Lord’s army.” God is not beholden to our plans, and he is not a God who will be boxed in to our preferred locations. And so, we must be prayerful rather than presumptive.

Stephen’s Plea

Which takes us to the third scene. We’ve gone from the synagogues to the Sanhedrin, and now we move to the skirts of the city.

The people could not stand what they were hearing. Luke tells us that they were grinding their teeth. I tend to grind my teeth when upset. The jaw locks down, teeth are clinched together, and like tectonic plates they start moving side to side, backwards and forwards. An earthquake of the soul is about to happen when there’s grinding of teeth. All it neds is a catalyst.

And Stephen gives it to them.

Acts 7:55–56 ESV

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.”

That would do it! The earthquake had begun. They could no longer listen to this man, so they took him to the skirts of town in order to stone him. Unlike Jesus’s calculated execution, Stephen’s was unplanned. It was a mob out of control.

But let’s talk about what caused this because there are different understandings as to why Stephen saw Jesus standing. One is fairly sentimental. Jesus was welcoming and ushering Stephen home. It was as if he were standing in honor of the this, the first martyr.

Other’s say that Jesus was standing as if defending Stephen. He was his advocate before the Father.

And there are good scholars and preachers who adopt these views, but typically, when the Bible talks about Jesus in heaven, he is seated at the right hand of God. In other words, he is God’s right-hand man. He is there seated as our advocate, our high priest even. He is not standing.

The only time we see Jesus standing is here and once in the Old Testament. It’s interesting that when Stephen informed the mob about what he saw, he said, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” He doesn’t say he saw Jesus, but the Son of Man. This harkens back to Daniel 7.

And you will see there that the Son of Man is standing before the Ancient of Days, and all dominion is given to him. He is not only King of the Universe, but its Judge as well. So it would seem to me that Stephen, who was on trial by the Sanhedrin, saw the Sanhedrin on trial before Christ. The very one who judged Jesus was about to face a judgment of their own. How dare Stephen say that these religious leaders could be judged by the one they condemned?!

They would not stand for it, and so they chased him to the edge of Jerusalem, and Stephen seeing Jesus in all his glory about to pronounce judgment upon his executioners, pleaded with him—not for his own life, but for the lives—the forgiveness of these men.

Acts 7:60 ESV

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.

Receive my spirit and forgive these men—echoes of Christ on the cross. Imagine those being your last words. Imagine taking to heart what Jesus had taught on the sermon on the mount:

Matthew 5:10–12 ESV

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:43–45 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.

That kind of life, that kind of plea, cannot be done without the Spirit of God at work in our hearts. Stephen was a Spirit-empowered witness martyred for his Spirit-empowered preaching, praying a Spirit-empowered plea for the forgiveness of his murderers, just as Jesus had done.

Brothers and sisters, the chances of us becoming martyrs here in the US are pretty low, but the chances of us having opportunities to be witnesses for Christ are endless. We may not think that we have many, if any, enemies, but what if that’s because we’ve never spoken Christ’s name among those who would oppose us—the very ones we’re afraid to witness to? These very well may be wolves in sheep’s clothing, never baring their teeth until the name of the Shepherd is mentioned in any meaningful way. I think we tend to know that too; we’re just more or less content to play along. It is no wonder we rarely see such Spirit-empowered transformation in people’s lives.

Conclusion

As we finish up with Acts 7, we’ve seen Stephen’s Power, Preaching, and Plea all because he was filled with the Holy Spirit. And it got him killed. The Sanhedrin could be restrained no more, but neither could Stephen. He unleashed a love greater than most people have ever seen up close. One shows you what can happen to a heart without Christ; the other shows you what the Holy Spirit cand do in one once it’s united to Christ.

Brothers and sisters, our world does not need us to be better versions of ourselves. It doesn’t need more Bible-trivia geeks who know all the right verses but neglect the loving of neighbor and enemies. It needs un to continuously behold Christ...in his humility, his grace, his mercy, his forgiveness, his courage, and his power. We become what we behold.

The word “Christian,” is not just a religious designation; it is a relational one. It means “disciples of Christ,” meaning we who are united to Jesus through faith are being transformed into the likeness of Christ himself.

So let us behold Christ, for we cannot be like him if we do not behold him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Would that we would stand and behold our Lord and Savior so that when others see us they see him. Fill us with your Holy Spirit to empower us with a testimony that either convicts or enrages. Let us not speak of him in a way that leaves people indifferent. In Jesus’s name, we pray. Amen.