Stephen, The First Martyr

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Introduction

We are back in Acts this week, looking at both chapters 6 and 7

And these chapters highlight a special character in the story of Acts: Stephen

Does anyone know who Stephen is?

Does anyone know what a martyr is?

Literally: ‘Witness’

Someone who dies for their faith

And in these chapters we see that Acts isn’t just the story of John and Peter continuing Jesus’s ministry

But God has invited each and every one of his followers to bear witness to his name

This man in introduced in the beginning of chapter 6, and by the end of the next chapter he is killed by the religious leaders

I believe that in these two chapters there is a ton we can learn from Stephen for our lives here today

Outline:

His Willingness to Serve

His Knowledge of God’s Word

His Willingness to Suffer

And for each of these characteristics of Stephen, we’ll look at his heart behind it

These things can be easy to just check the box for—without having our heart in it

I serve

I know God’s Word

I am able to suffer

But we see for Stephen that there is a depth of God at work behind these simple truths

But let’s read these chapters together:

Acts 6 // Acts 7:54-60

Acts 6 CSB

1 In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. 2 The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch. 6 They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith. 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.

Acts 7:54–60 CSB

54 When they heard these things, they were enraged and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. 58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he fell asleep.

So again, we’ll see:

His Willingness to Serve

His Knowledge of God’s Word

His Willingness to Suffer

Willingness to Serve

(And Filled with the Spirit)

Stephen is first introduced as a servant in the early Church

Chapter 6 begins with a problem within the church

As the church was growing there was a complain that arose…

Some of the widows were being overlooked

So the 12 disciples gathered and appointed servants to do this practical work of caring for the widows—and Stephen was one of these men

And what is remarkable about Stephen—and his willingness to serve—was that he was selected because of his reputation and presence of the Holy Spirit

He wasn’t just some warm body to do work to meet some practical need

He was recognized as a man of God

Acts 6:3 CSB

3 Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty.

Stephen’s willingness to serve, stemmed directly from him being full of the Holy Spirit

The Spirit compels us to serve one another

Serving others isn’t something we do to earn God’s favor—or to get him to like us more

True servanthood flows from a place of being so touched by God—that the only appropriate response is to give our lives (our time, resources) to God and his people

We serve—because we have been served

We love—because God has first loved us

Serving others is a part of who our God is

And if our goal is to become more like Jesus—It will entail serving others

Even Jesus stooped down to wash his disciples feet—and after he says:

John 13:14–15 CSB

14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.

You see—If we are going to learn what it means to have a willingness to serve—like Stephen—we have to ask the heart behind it

There are many motivating factors to being willing to serve…

Do you have any potential reasons?

To look good // Be admired by others

To Fix people

Annoyed by them and their problems

Compassion for them

Because its what you were raised to do // its what is expected

To earn God’s favor // To prove to him you’re good

I’m sure theres more

The point is… you can fake a willingness to serve

But you can also have a genuine willingness to serve and sacrifice—that comes from the wrong heart motivation

And a true follower of Jesus—is marked by a willingness to serve—because we have been served by Jesus

1 John 4:19 CSB

19 We love because he first loved us.

Sit with this short verse this week

Let this transform us

Knowledge God’s Word

(And His Place in God’s Story)

We didn’t read all of Stephen’s sermon—but if you do—it is so saturated in the Bible

He’s not preaching a sermon that focuses on himself and his life

He’s not preaching to entertain a crowd

He is preaching the Word of God

And he shares from Abraham to Moses to the Temple — That God has always been faithful to his unfaithful people

That he has sent messenger after messenger to reach his people

Stephen knew his Bible—He knew God’s word

And this is another essential trait in a follower of Jesus

But it also has it’s own dangers—especially when we treat it simply as a box to check

I don’t know about you… but I know several different people that know their Bibles extremely well—but they don’t reflect the character of Jesus at all

They can quote scripture with chapter and verse references

They’ve read through the Bible multiple times

They’ve read commentaries and are extremely knowledgeable

But that isn’t what I’m talking about

The Bible isn’t some academic pursuit

It is not a book of stories and wisdom detached from our personal lives

It’s not a book full of pithy statements for us to share on social media

But as we read the Bible faithfully—the Bible reads us

Hebrews 4:12 CSB

12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

You see—Stephen not only knew his Bible—but he knew his place in the Bible

He knew that the Bible was about the story of God

And he knew his place in the story

He wasn’t the main character—the world didn’t revolve around him

And all history was pointing to this man Jesus, who was crucified and raised from the dead

He didn’t see the bible as mythology but as real history

Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David—all of these were real people that God was working through

And for us… we have the same invitation

It’s so easy to read our Bibles and forget that this is real

We have so much fiction in our worlds—from books, movies, and video games—that often our natural response is to put the Bible in the same categories as these other stories

But the Bible is real

This man we read about today, Stephen, was a real man—who really died for following Jesus

Jesus is real—He walked this earth, healing those who were afflicted, preaching the good news of his kingdom—inviting all who heed his call

You see, it’s not just about reading our Bibles—its about living out the Bible

It’s not just about knowing God’s word—but hearing from God

Practically we do this by slowing down in our reading time—being present—listening to God through his word

Willingness to Suffer

(With Eyes on Jesus)

We talked about this last week too, but Stephen was marked by a willingness to suffer

But just like his willingness to serve, and his knowledge of God’s word—this also has the potential to just be another box to check

We have to ask the heart behind it

Where can a willingness to suffer come from?

Indifference

To look good/strong/courageous

Penance/Punishment

And none of these were the motivating factor for Stephen

He knew a few simple truths

Jesus suffered

Stephen would have to suffer

God is not absent in his suffering

It’s not just his willingness to suffer—but his eyes were literally on Jesus through his suffering

Let’s read his death again

Acts 7:54–60 CSB

54 When they heard these things, they were enraged and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. 58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he fell asleep.

Through his suffering—his eyes were on Jesus

Where do you look in your suffering?

A solution to fix it?

Hopelessness?

Hatred?

The people around you?

Stephen, through it all, had his eyes fixed on Jesus

But more importantly—he found that Jesus was looking back at him

That none of his suffering went unnoticed

None of this caught God off guard

But God was pleased with Stephen to follow in the footsteps of Jesus

Not that God was pleased with him dying

But God knows—walking the path of Jesus leads to suffering

God himself walked that path and was crucified

God delights in the faith that Stephen had to face his suffering and be unmoved

1 Peter 1:6–7 CSB

6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

But for us today—We don’t live in the same context as Stephen, Peter, John, and the rest of them

We have no threat to our lives or safety in following Jesus

We aren’t under any threat by gathering here this Sunday morning

I can assume that none of us will have to give our lives in the face of direct persecution

I think for us, there is a more difficult truth:

It is not about a willingness to die for Jesus—But to live for him every day

It’s not about a big display of self-sacrifice

But the thousands of little deaths, everyday, where we put God and others first, when we deny our flesh, take up our cross, and follow Jesus

And this determination to follow Jesus despite any hardships or suffering that might come—is what makes Stephen stand out as a true disciple of Jesus

Conclusion

But more than any of these characteristics of Stephen, they all point to Jesus

He came as a servant, steeped in God’s word, willing to suffer death

A willingness to serve

That stems from being filled with the Spirit

A deep knowledge of God’s Word

That is lived out practically

A willingness to suffer

While keeping his eyes on God and his mission

Down deep our faith isn’t marked by the surface things that people can see

But the deep roots of relationship

It flows out of a loving relationship with our God

As we close, I want us to take some time to come back to Jesus in communion

He came to serve you

He is the heart of the story of scripture

He was willing to suffer the cross for you

Post-Communion

When we look at the life of Stephen and Jesus—We have some questions we can ask ourselves:

In what capacity do I serve those around me?

What is my motivation to serve others?

How well do I know God’s word?

Am I letting it speak to and change me?

What is my response to undeserved suffering?

How can I keep on eyes on Jesus through it?

What does it mean to live for Jesus each day?(Today)