The Marks of a Faithful Servant, Part 2
Notes
Transcript
We are picking back up in Acts 6:8-7:60 this morning, so go ahead and open your Bibles up to that passage. We are covering a lot of territory this morning, so I would encourage you to keep your Bible open and handy so you can follow along with us.
Last week, we began looking at the life of a man named Stephen. He was a faithful servant of God, and we looked at how his life showed that during our time last week.
We saw that he demonstrated God’s character through the wisdom, grace, faith, and power he showed. As those who strive to be faithful servants of Christ, we should seek to cultivate that same character.
We also noticed that Stephen reflected the glory of God in a unique way. We may not see God work in exactly the same way, but we can still show the world how majestic God is as we give him the weight he deserves in our lives.
This morning, we are picking back up as we look more at Stephen’s life and death.
We are going to flesh out this truth this morning, as our last mark of a faithful servant from Stephen’s life: Faithful servants defend the faith out of their connection to Christ.
We saw hints of this last week, but I want to circle back around and dive deeper into the way Stephen went about standing for Christ.
To get back into the story, let’s start back at 6:8-14...
We will take time to look more closely at what Stephen said, but out of this section, I want to give us an action step we need to take to defend the faith.
If you are going to be faithful servants who defend the faith out of our connection to Christ, then we must first...
1) Get ready.
1) Get ready.
One challenge that we have as we read through accounts like this is that we don’t know how long it took for these events to transpire.
How long had Stephen been following Jesus? How long was he pointing people to Christ in a public way? Unfortunately, we don’t know.
However, we do know that God had prepared him for what he was going to be doing.
We can see that in the fact that, as we talked about last week, he was full of wisdom and full of the Holy Spirit.
If you and I are going to be able to defend what we believe and point people to who Jesus is, then we need the same.
We talked about both of these last week, but let me remind you that what we are seeing in Stephen’s strong stand for Christ didn’t just come up randomly in the spur of the moment.
In that unique partnership that we sometimes wrestle to understand, God had been preparing Stephen as Stephen worked to grow in wisdom.
Last week, we defined wisdom as the ability to know what to do and when to do it.
We said that we start gaining wisdom by developing a healthy understanding and fear of the Lord.
The Bible tells us that we are to pursue wisdom:
Get wisdom, get understanding; don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth.
Don’t abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you; love her, and she will guard you.
Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.
If you and I are going to stand with Christ, we need to pursue godly wisdom.
The great news is that you can grow in wisdom no matter how old you are! If you couldn’t, then God wouldn’t have told us to do it.
Jeff Iorg, president of Gateway Seminary in California, writes this:
“You can grow in wisdom. Your best sources for wisdom are God’s Word and works. Learn from his Word. Observe his works and learn from them...
Another good source is wise people. Seek wise counselors—friends, parents, and mentors—and learn from them.” (Jeff Iorg)
[1]
The Bible tells us that we are to strive for wisdom. Learn who God is and how He works.
Here’s what is interesting, though: not only do we strive for wisdom, the Bible also says it is a gift from God!
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.
So, which is it? Do we strive for wisdom, or do we ask God for it?
Yes!
As we will see in a minute, Stephen had a great knowledge of God and His Word.
However, if we look back at what we find in verse 10, we see that it wasn’t just human wisdom that allowed Stephen to defend the faith—it was because the Holy Spirit was working in him to give him the wisdom he needed.
As we study God’s Word, we do so prayerfully asking God to help us see Him and ourselves rightly and to grow in wisdom.
Then, God works through us to bring that wisdom out in tough conversations where we are talking with people who don’t follow Jesus.
By the way, this is something we are all called to do:
but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
The sermon we are getting ready to look at was built on the wisdom God granted Stephen as he sought to know who God is and show Him to the world.
That wisdom was such that no one could argue with him, which is what put him in a strategic position to defend the faith.
With prepared hearts, then, we need to be willing to take the next step to defend the faith out of our connection to Christ:
2) Build bridges.
2) Build bridges.
Since they couldn’t out-argue Stephen, they decided to lie about him.
Look at the accusations they brought about what Stephen believed and was teaching (6:11, 13,14).
The main accusations were that he was saying things about God that weren’t true, that he was teaching people to disregard the Law, and that Jesus was going to destroy the temple.
Jump to 7:1...
I wish we had time to fully unpack Stephen’s message this morning, but let’s try to look at the highlights so you can get a sense of the argument he is making.
In each section, he addresses their accusations in subtle ways that show he isn’t teaching what they think he is.
He begins by building bridges that connect to their shared culture and history.
Keep in mind who his audience is: The Jewish leaders who did not follow Christ.
It is interesting to notice that he doesn’t start with Jesus.
In fact, he goes back all the way to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people.
They accused him of disregarding their customs, so he goes all the way to the beginning to show his connection to them.
Instead of disrespecting anyone, he lifts Abraham up as a great servant of God.
Next, he shifts and begins to talk about Joseph.
Joseph was one of the patriarchs, and his story was familiar and highly respected.
As he tells Joseph’s story, though, he begins to make a point.
His brothers rejected him, even though God had a plan to deliver his family through Joseph.
Stephen also introduces the idea that when God’s people reject the one God sent to deliver them, they bring suffering on themselves.
He then picks up with Moses, the one he has been in trouble for disregarding.
After going over the facts of Moses’ birth and early childhood, he points out a time when Moses tried to deliver God’s people and they rejected him.
When they ran him off, they ended up suffering in slavery for another 40 years before God brought Moses back to Egypt and delivered them.
We see that in verses 35-36.
After talking about how they rejected Moses, Stephen points out how the Israelites disregarded the Law they speak so highly of, even while it was being given to Moses!
He has been accused of changing the customs God gave them through Moses, but instead, he points out that God’s people have never really obeyed what the Law told them to do.
This wasn’t just about rejecting Moses and the Law anymore. They had rejected God Himself.
And, because of their rejection of God and His servant, God sent them into exile in Babylon (43)
Finally, he addresses the issue of the Temple.
The Tabernacle that Stephen mentions here was the tent God told the people to make as the place where sacrifices would be made and where His presence would symbolically rest.
Eventually, God allowed Solomon to make the Temple, which was a glorious and permanent structure.
Stephen quotes from Isaiah to show, though, that God wasn’t limited to that Temple, as special as it was. Look at verses 48-50.
His presence was everywhere, and everything belonged to Him.
Now, let’s pause here and see what is going on.
Stephen has been taking their shared culture, the stories of the Bible they both believed, and building a bridge.
What if we do the same?
What if, instead of immediately jumping in and showing those who don’t know Christ where they are wrong, we started with areas of common ground as we develop friendships with them?
Let’s take the topic of racism and racial injustice, for example.
I have serious concerns with some of the movements and ideas that are being promoted as ways to address racism in this country.
However, what if I start the conversation with my friends who don’t know Jesus with the things we have in common?
For example, we believe that God created every human being in his image, therefore, we need to treat everyone with dignity, regardless of their race or what sin they struggle with.
What if we look through the Old Testament and see how many times God condemned Israel for not caring for the poor, or looked at the New Testament and saw where Jesus and Peter and Paul crossed over racial lines and showed that God is a God of justice and that there is no biblical grounds for racism?
What if we acknowledged that there have been times where the church has failed to address these sins correctly?
Instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, what would happen if we were able to find common ground to start our discussion?
I realize that, as I am saying this, some of you are ready to pick up stones and throw them at me, just like they did with Stephen.
Stay with me here.
What if, in wisdom and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we examined our lives and our culture and what is happening in this day and time, and we built bridges with those who do not follow Christ?
Before you start throwing hymnals at me, let’s be clear on this: I am not in any way shape or form advocating that we compromise the truth.
Look back at Stephen’s message…did he waver at all in declaring the truth?
No! Not at all. Instead, he started by laying a foundation and a common framework so he could move to the next step in defending the faith.
He wasn’t trying to ingratiate himself with the Jewish leaders, and he wasn’t trying to get out of persecution.
Instead, he was building a bridge, and the Holy Spirit was drawing them in, so that he could then...
3) Point to Christ.
3) Point to Christ.
All through his message, Stephen was building to a climactic moment.
The people of Israel had rejected the people God sent to deliver them time and time again. In doing so, they had even rejected God Himself.
They had it all wrong when they thought about the temple, and he drives this home in his quote in 7:48-50.
You know what is interesting about the verses he quoted from Isaiah? He left off the end:
My hand made all these things, and so they all came into being. This is the Lord’s declaration. I will look favorably on this kind of person: one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and trembles at my word.
He left out the last part of this verse, and it is incredibly significant!
The Jewish leaders would have known the rest of this passage, and they would have thought they were the ones who were humble, submissive, and trembling at His Word.
After all, they had the Temple, and they had the Law that they kept incredibly rigidly…doesn’t that mean that God looked favorably on them?
As they heard Stephen’s sermon, they may well have thought the bridge he was building led Stephen straight to where they were.
They may have expected him to say, “You are right! I have missed it, so I humbly submit to you.”
However, that’s not Stephen’s point at all!
Read 7:51-53...
They aren’t submissive to God’s Law, and they never have been! They are proud, stiff-necked, and have rejected and murdered the one God sent to deliver them, just like the nation always has.
He has been building a bridge with them so he could show them that the bridge doesn’t lead where they think it does!
They are missing the point, and Stephen has taken great pains to set up that point.
All the setup was directed at pointing them to the fact that they needed Jesus!
As you and I seek to build bridges, we need do the same.
We aren’t compromising or appeasing or wavering on what we believe. Instead, we are building bridges to show who Jesus is!
Taking the issue of racial injustice, we show that God is a God of justice who calls all people everywhere to be saved, whether they are white, black, indigenous, or another person of color.
We are all equally in need of a Savior, and ultimately, it is through surrendering to His lordship and serving in His kingdom that we see the reconciliation of every nation and tribe and tongue, standing around the throne and worshiping Him.
Listen: the message of the Gospel will always be offensive.
You are looking at a world wrecked by pride and saying, “You can’t fix this. Not only that, but you have rejected the only one who can. It is only through surrendering to Him that you can find life. Once you do, it means you won’t live the same way, because you aren’t in charge of your own life anymore.”
That has always been and will always be offensive, but it is the message God has called us to proclaim.
When is the last time you have done that? When is the last time you have looked someone who you don’t think knows Jesus in the eye and pointed to how badly the world needs Him?
Is there anyone you are building bridges with so you can point them to Christ?
It may get worse when you do, by the way!
Read the rest of the chapter with me...
How? How in the world could Stephen stand so strong in the face of an angry mob?
Because, if you have noticed, there is a theme running through all the verses we have read today: Stephen’s life looked almost identical to Jesus’.
He had surrendered to Christ in such a way that he was living just like Jesus had.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Stephen was doing miraculous works, just like Jesus.
Remember how they couldn’t beat the wisdom Stephen spoke with? They couldn’t beat Jesus’ wisdom either:
No one was able to answer him at all, and from that day no one dared to question him anymore.
What did they accuse Stephen of? Contradicting Moses and talking about destroying the temple, right?
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death,
but they could not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. Finally, two who came forward
stated, “This man said, ‘I can destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’ ”
What did Stephen see as the mob was filled with rage? (56)
“You have said it,” Jesus told him. “But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Stephen was taken outside the city to be stoned, just like Jesus was crucified outside the city.
And then finally, what did Stephen pray as he was dying?
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided his clothes and cast lots.
And Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Saying this, he breathed his last.
Yes, Stephen had been prepared all right.
He was prepared with wisdom and by being filled with the Holy Spirit.
He built bridges with the Sanhedrin, appealing to common history and topics as he addressed the accusations.
Ultimately, though, it all came together as he pointed the people the the One who died at their hands, but also who died for them.
Stephen’s life was so connected to Christ that his life and death mirrored the One he claimed to serve.
That’s how he could point people to Christ, in spite of the rage, the opposition, and the danger.
He was doing exactly what his Lord had done, and it was visible in every aspect of his life.
Is that true of you?
You won’t likely be accused of disregarding the Law of Moses or have rocks thrown at you until you die.
However, does your life reflect Christ in everything? In the way you walk in wisdom and seek to be filled with His Spirit?
Do you intentionally build bridges with people so they will know Jesus, or are you compromising what God has said in His Word so people will like you?
Is your life saturated with who Jesus is, so much so that you can’t help but see Him in the way you treat other people, spend your time, spend your money, etc.?
Remember, those who are his faithful servants are marked by the ability to defend their faith, based off their connection to Christ.