"The Victors Crown"

When Ruth Bell, who later would marry Billy Graham, was a little girl, she had a passion for martyrdom. She grew up in China, where her parents were missionaries. She used to pray every night that the Lord would let her be a martyr before the end of the year. She wanted bandits to capture and behead her for Jesus’ sake. Her sister, Rosa, used to think, “How horrid!” So every night when Ruth prayed like that, Rosa would pray, “Lord, don’t You listen to her.” (A Foreign Devil in China, John Pollock [World Wide Publications], p. 174.)

While we should not pray for martyrdom, we should desire to imitate the bold witness of those who have given their lives for the sake of the gospel. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, left us an example of a godly, courageous witness.

READ ACTS 6:1-7

7 Qualified Men were Chosen

Good reputation - not just people who looked as though they might be effective. The requirement that they be known to be full or the Spirit and wisdom. The opposite is true today, we many times choose people for various ministries hoping that they will grow into the tasks. The candidates here had to have already possessed the qualities desired; those qualities had to be obvious to the total congregation.

2 Men rose to the top of the seven listed, Stephen and Philip. These two began to follow in the evangelistic model of the Apostles.

WHAT WE LEARN FROM THE CHOOSING OF 7 MEN

The early church took seriously both the spiritual and physical needs of the church.

The early church always seemed ready to make organizational changes to meet needs.

The early church practiced positive attitudes towards all of it’s members, there was no favoritism.

STEPHENS NAME IN GREEK MEANT “VICTORS CROWN” (OLYMPIC GAMES)

The bible speaks of another Crown for those who remain steadfast under trials.

James 1:12 ESV

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

The Bible clearly shows that we cannot save ourselves, however, the presence of God’s grace in our lives is most clearly demonstrated in the fact that we cling to him in the face of trials or even death.

1 Corinthians 9:24 ESV

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

BIG IDEA: Every Christian should aspire to be a Christian Hero.

Every Christian should aspire to be a Christian hero. I am not suggesting that we do things for personal gain or glory, but that we seek to inspire younger Christians to follow Christ as well. The Bible says that present that day was an up and coming young Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus. Perhaps no one hated the church more than Saul did at this time. Yet as Saul looked upon the man whose face was like an angel, the Spirit of God began to speak to him. Even years later Paul continued to talk about that day when he watched Stephen give his life for Christ. (see Acts 22:20) Perhaps it was the courage of Stephen that helped to inspire Paul to be courageous as well.

STEPHEN WAS A MAN OF GODLY CHARACTER

Godly Character is the basis for a courageous witness for Jesus Christ.

NOTE: High Godly Character showed itself in 5 different inner qualities in the life of Stephen.

1) He was full of the Holy Spirit

The quality is implied of Stephen in 6:10, where it states that his opponents could not cope with the wisdom and Spirit with which he was speaking. The Holy Spirit is not something that you can fake. The Holy Spirit is something that moves you outside of your comfort zone and gives you the courage you need to be a faithful witness.

Biblically speaking the evidence of being filled with the Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-Control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Being filled with the Holy Spirit does not imply sinless perfection but a progressive growing towards maturity in Christ.

2) He was full of Wisdom

The Greek word for wisdom is used only four times in the book of Acts and twice when it speaks of Stephen.

Proverbs 2:6 ESV

6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Proverbs 9:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Wisdom comes from the Hebrew word meaning “skill.” It is used of the craftsmen who had the skill to make the tabernacle and the furniture that went in it. Therefore, this is a skill that Stephen has developed throughout his walk with Christ. The skill shows a right conduct and obedience towards Christ. The difference between the wisdom that God brings and the wisdom that the world brings is summed up in 1 Cor. 1:18,24 “The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those of us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

As a faithful witness Stephen will now stand and refute the wisdom of the world.

3) He was full of Faith

Stephen is described in 6:5 as being full of faith and now Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7 shows that faith on full display as he shows the sovereignty of God who called Abraham out of a pagan country and through His covenant dealings with Abraham and his descendents, brought Jesus the righteous One to save His people, in spite of their history of rebellion. God is sovereign even in the matter of the cross of Christ.

You can only be full of faith if you believe in a Sovereign God who uses even the wicked deeds of people to accomplish His eternal purpose.

4) He was full of Grace

The same thing was said of Jesus Christ in John 1:4 who was “full of grace and truth.” Jesus was the very face of Grace. This shows that he had a personal experience with the unmerited favor that God showered on him through the Cross of Christ. Stephens Jewish opponents boasted in their observance of the law, although as we will see, they were blind to their own violation of it. But, Stephen boasted in the grace of God, freely given to undeserving sinners.

A Person who understands and embraces this grace as seen in the Cross freely shares it with others, no matter what the cost. Stephen did not curse his executioners as they hurled stones at his head, he showed grace and mercy by forgiving them.

5) He was full of Power

Notice that God had granted Stephen to perform signs and wonders. Whether this power came upon him after the apostles laid hands on him or before, we are not told. Except for the 12 apostles, only Stephen, Philip (8:6-7), and Barnabas (15:12) in the early church are reported to have performed miracles. The tense of the verb (“was performing,” 6:8) indicates that Stephen was doing these miraculous works frequently.

God’s power is most clearly seen when the world sees us joyfully, and patiently, enduring trials, not just when we are miraculously delivered from them.

When unbelievers see us going through trials with joy and thanksgiving, it provides the platform for powerful verbal witness.

NOTE: His Godly character shows itself in one outer Quality: An Angelic Countenance.

We are not completely sure what the face of an angel looks like, but Stephen had such a glow about him as he stood before the council that it was undeniable. Perhaps Luke later got this report from Paul, who was there.

My first trip to Eastern Europe (Moldova) I noticed that most people do not smile much as you pass them on the street. So, when someone comes to know Christ it is a visible noticeable difference in their face.

READ: ACTS 6:8-15

STEPHEN IS ARRESTED

Despite all of Stephen’s outstanding qualities in ministry it appeared to still provoke fierce antagonism.

Synagogue of the Freedom: the Hellenistic Jews from the synagogue of the Freedmen; were descendants of Jewish slaves captured by Pompey in 63 B.C. and taken to Rome. When they were later then expelled from Rome, some went to Jerusalem and formed a synagogue there. Stephen may have been a member of one of these Synagogue’s.

First they tried to refute him by debate, and when that did not work they used false witnesses, stirring up people and dragging him before the Sanhedrin.

accused of speaking against the temple (“this holy place”).

accused him of speaking against the law.

Charged him with claiming that Jesus would destroy the temple and the customs of Moses.

NOTE: At the heart of the charge against Stephen was to that of those against Jesus.

“He says that this Jesus will destroy this place and the customs of Moses by delivering them.” This was not a simple yes or no question between Christianity, the law, and the Temple.

Note: Let’s keep in mind the nature of Stephen’s speech that the high priest levelled at Stephen was, “Are these charges true?” Stephen needed to defend himself in such a way as to develop an apologia for his radical gospel.

3 Key ways that Stephen’s sermon speaks to us today.

1. God acts out of mercy and patience towards those who humbly repent.

Even though though Israel had always resisted the Spirits working God had repeatedly acts out of mercy, patience towards them.

NOTE: God is eager to forgive and move on with those who are repentant and humble in Spirit.

Exodus 34:6–7 ESV

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

He wants to encourage us by reminding us that God is patient and long suffering with a rebellious people - that he is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and forgiveness. He is not eager to punish. He is eager to forgive and move on with the repentance of a humble people.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

“The question then what keeps people from seeing the truth of the Gospel”

When we bear witness for Christ we are Speaking to the Heart of the Blinded

2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Why couldn’t these men see what Stephen saw, that Jesus Christ is God’s Messiah and Savior? Why weren’t they persuaded by the great wonders and signs that he performed? Why weren’t they convinced by his superior logic and debating skills?

The biblical answer is that the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel.

NOTE: Remember Jesus asked the Jews who did not believe in Him, “Why do you not understand what I am saying?” Remember those in Athens took Paul to the Areopagus because they could not understand what this babbler is saying. When we talk to people about the Lord, we must pray that He would open their eyes and their hearts to the message. Every Sunday for those who understand and have embodied the gospel of Christ you need to be praying that God will open the eyes of those who are blinded.

Religious people are often the hardest to reach with the Gospel

Religious people are often the most hardened in their opposition to the Gospel.

We often think the drunk in the bar, the drug addicts, or prostitutes, even the most hardened criminals of society are those who are most blinded and hardened against the gospel. This is not so, it usually is the church-going religious folks are those who appear to be the most blinded. This was certainly true of the Hellenistic Jews that Stephen is preaching to. They knew God, but did not know God in a personal way and they did not have their sins forgiven. They are about to bludgen Stephen to death, an innocent man in the name of religion. Religion often keeps a person from Salvation because it fosters self-righteousness and pride. A religious person must humbly admit that he is a sinner by coming to the cross of Jesus Christ alone for Salvation.

When we bear witness to blind, hardened sinners, we should expect opposition.

This is especially true when we speak to blinded religious sinners. I have found that anytime someone who is caught in their own self righteousness, they tend to see the sin in others lives while ignoring their own. To put it bluntly their poop don’t stink. The truth that Stephen now preached convicted these men of their sins and threatened their pride, so they tried to refute it. When that failed, they attacked the messenger. That is a common ploy of the enemy. Why you can’t defeat the message, go after the messenger, either by deceit or by violence. These men used both against Stephen.

Jeremiah, once his sin was out in the open, and pointed out to him clearly, he took the offence and began to attack the messenger.

I have heard well-known evangelist say, “People are eager to hear about Christ. All we have to do is tell them.” True, God has prepared many hearts to respond. But don’t be surprised if you encounter fierce opposition. Satan doesn’t sit on the sidelines when someone like Stephen boldly proclaims the truth.

Transition

He now wants us to be warned that there is an end to his patience. There is a resistance to the holy Spirit that goes so long and so far that God hands a person over tot he power of his own sin. You see this in the words of verse 42: “God turned and gave them over to worship the host of heaven.” so the second way God wants to minister to us today is to awaken us to the truth of the matter is that we can resist him so long and want other things so much more than we want him, that he finally:

Turns away

stops convicting

stops giving the feelings of guilt

hands us over to our sin (ultimately to the demonic gods like Moloch.

2. Where there is resistance to the spirit God he gives us over to the power of sin.

Romans 1:24 ESV

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

Acts 7:42 ESV

42 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?

Both the promises of God and the warnings of God are words of Grace.

The best way to hear God’s encouragement and warning is to look at the high points of Israel’s history where we see both their rebellion and his mercy.

Note: Stephen picks out four major epochs of Israel’s history, dominated by four major characters.

REFERENCE: ACTS 7:1-50

OT History

Stephen’s whole defense gave the answer that Judaism as the relationship between God and his people predated the temple, the law and even the land of Israel; all of these were expressions of Judaism rather than its core.

Jewish History prior to Moses

Supporting Idea: God’s history with his people began with God’s call to Abraham to leave his country for an unknown destination.

The Choosing of Abraham -

Abraham makes it half way to the promised land and settles in Haran. But God is merciful and does more than merely tell Abraham to get up and get going to the promised land; he actually moves him, exercising some special power over Abraham.

GODS MERCY - begins with choosing Abraham out of all the people of the earth to inherit the promised land; and God’s patience begins by giving Abraham an extra push to get all the way to the promised land when he had settled half way in Haran.

JOSEPH -

Though Stephen never mentioned the Lord’s name, the parallel between Joseph and Jesus would likely surface in the minds of his listeners. Both were loved by their fathers; both were sent to a foreign land; both brought blessing to people in those lands; and both were restored to positions of glory at the end of their stories. We here Egypt mentioned six times in verses 9-16.

One of Abraham’s great grandsons, comes to Egypt from the promised land. the patriarchs jealous of Joseph sold him into Egypt. Here is another example of resisting the will of God. They were jealous that God was speaking to them through Joseph and even implying that they might some day honor Joseph as the superior.

“But God was with him, and he rescued him out of the hand of his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him governor over Egypt. They rejected God’s word in Josephs dreams, but God, instead of judging them, used their sin to bring rescue to them when they ran out of food and had to come begging to Egypt and their hatred for their brother.

Moses

God raises people up as a deliverer for his oppressed people in Egypt, but when Moses makes his first appearance to help his people, they resist him, as they did Joseph.

So they rejected their deliverer as they will reject Jesus their Savior.

THE GOLDEN CALF AND WILDERNESS WANDERINGS

The people continued to cast Moses aside and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, asking Aaron to make for them a god to go before us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt.

NOTE: it was at this point that God gives them up t o the reality behind all idols, that is demons. “You took up the tent of Moloch.

A TEMPLE “MADE WITH HANDS”

David and Solomon (7:44-50)

Now Stephen goes to settlement of the promised land and the establishment of the monarchy, that a religious structure is mentioned for the first time, namely the tabernacle of the Testimony which the people had with them in the desert.

NOTE: Stephen’s main point here is that it is not wrong in building the tabernacle and the Temple, but, it should never be regarded as in any literal sense God’s home. God does not live in a house but in men.

The Thesis of the first part of Stephen’s sermon is very clear. It is that the God of Israel is not some pilgrim god, who is not restricted to any one place.

READ: ACTS 7:51-60

Stephen was fully ready to become the first true Martyr, who sealed his testimony with his own blood. His death was full of Christ. Luke records three sentences which pointed this out.

1) When the Sanhedrin, infuriated by his accusations, ground their teeth at him, snarling like animals, Stephen, filled with the Spirit, had a vision of the glory of God, and cried out: “look I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Several guesses have been made as to why Jesus was standing instead of sitting. The most likely reason that he stood up either as his heavenly advocate or to welcome his first martyr.

“Stephen has been confessing Christ before men, and now he sees Christ confessing his servant before the Father in Heaven.”

Unwilling to listen to what Stephen was saying they then covered their ears and tried to drown out his voice by their yelling. Worse they were determined to silence him. So they bull rushed him, dragging him out of the city and began to stone him. Since the Romans had taken away the Jews right to capital punishment, it would seem that Stephen’s stoning was more of a lynch mob than an official execution.

Now all too discreetly Luke introduces into his narrative a man who will soon dominate it.

2) Now in the middle of the death blows Stephen utters his second sentence: “Lord Jesus receive my Spirit.” Very similar to the same words that were recorded in Luke’s gospel of Jesus praying before he dies.

3) Now on his knees Stephen utters his last word. He spoke a third sentence as he cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’. Whether it was deliberate or imitating his Lord Jesus Christ these last two sentences were not by accident.

The Message of Acts 3. Stephen Is Stoned (7:54–60)

Luke concludes his story with a dramatic contrast between Stephen and Saul. Stephen fell asleep (60b), which Bengel called ‘a mournful but sweet word’ and F. F. Bruce ‘an unexpectedly beautiful and peaceful description of so brutal a death’.41 By contrast, Saul was there, giving approval to his death (8:1a). We shall return later to Stephen’s influence on Saul. At this stage it is enough to note how brightly Stephen’s tranquil faith shines against the dark background of Saul’s murderous anger (8:1, 3).

NOTE: Most peoples interest in Stephen is that he is the first Christian martyr. However, Luke’s purpose for spending so much time on Stephen’s story is to show the role that Stephen played int he development of the world-wide Christian mission through both his teaching and his death.

The Church was possibly shocked, even stunned by such a brutal violent death, however the result of Stephen’s testimony in word, and deed, through life, and death, prompted the greatest mission thrust the world has ever known.

3. Godly, courageous witnesses must leave the results up to God.

God often works in ways that confound the wise. To sacrifice a man of Stephen’s caliber after such a short ministry seems unfair and inefficient and illogical at best. To allow a scoundrel like Caiaphas to rule as high priest over the Jews for 18 years seems wrong. Why not strike the wicked man dead and allow Stephen and other godly men to have long and fruitful ministries? God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform!

Let us not forget that through Stephen’s death, Paul god saved. But first the Church must be scattered through persecution, resulting in a more widespread witness. Whether the die young by violent deaths, and the wicked live long and prosper, is God’s sovereign business. Our business is to be faithful to His Great Commission and leave the results up to Him.

late 1970s missiologists estimated a population of one million Christians inside China. Fifteen years later, after severe persecution by the Communists, experts reported thirty to fifty million believers. It also seems important that the first martyr was a layman, not a professional minister of some type. People willing to lay their lives on the line for the Lord hardly need any special training or certification for such ultimate sacrifice.

Amazingly, there have been more martyrs in the twentieth century than all previous nineteen centuries. This kind of statistic boggles the minds since we think of martyrdom as arising from medieval practices or the struggles of the Reformation. Countless Stephen’s have met their Lord during the last hundred years and are still doing so in countries around the world. Stephanos or Stephen is the word for crown, and Stephen will wear on someday.

CONCLUSION

Years ago the Romanian pastor, Joseph Tson, ran away from his Communist country to study theology in England. In 1972, when he was ready to go back home, he discussed his plans with his fellow students. They pointed out that he might be arrested at the border. One student asked, “Joseph, what chances do you have of successfully implementing your plans?” Joseph smiled and said to himself, “Now this is typically Western thinking.” He later wrote, “Chances of success? I never thought in those terms. My thinking was in terms of obedience. I knew that the king said, ‘Go,’ and I had to say, ‘Yes, sir,’ and go.”

Tson turned the question around and asked God, “What if I ask You about success?” The Lord gave him Matthew 10:16, “I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves.” The Lord said to him, “Tell me, what chance does a sheep surrounded by wolves have of surviving five minutes, let alone of converting the wolves? Joseph, that’s how I send you: totally defenseless and without a reasonable hope of success. If you are willing to go like that, go. If you are not willing to be in that position, don’t go.” (Pastoral Renewal, [6/86, p. 178).

Ask God to give you the godly character of Stephen so that you will be a courageous witness for Jesus Christ. Leave the results to Him. Whether you lose your life as a martyr or whether God protects you, you will, like Stephen, wear the victor’s crown

APPLICATION: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR LIFE TODAY

Allow God to give you the freedom to talk openly and boldly about Jesus and your own witness of faith.

Trust God to provide whatever courage and peace you need in times of struggle, and times of death.