Spirit Filled Mission - Opposition and Stephen

Outline:

Stephen gets up on stage....

Brothers and sisters, people of Jerusalem and all who call Abraham father… I stand before you to proclaim to you the good news of Jesus of Nazareth. A man who is the Messiah we have been waiting for, the man who was killed by His very own scribes and authorities, but rose again conquering death. He taught us for forty days, opening up the scriptures to us and how they point to Him before we watched Him ascend on a cloud, to be seated at the right hand of God our Father.

He has told us to proclaim His gospel to you, to tell you all about Him and how you can know salvation and citizenship of God’s kingdom. He sent us His Holy Spirit to show you confirmation of His completed work and the power of God to save. The signs you have seen are all due to this outpouring, in precisely the way the prophets foretold. Come, draw near, know salvation, His name is Jesus!

Angry leaders...

#1: We’ve got to stop this message going out! They’ve already been warned and beaten, what else can we do to stop this preaching?

#2: We’ve got to do whatever is necessary to stop them stirring up the people… if only we had some people who had some dirt on them, and especially this guy...

#3: Dirt isn’t that hard to find… I’m sure we could ‘construct’ some dirt on him and get some people to publicly testify to them..

#1: Well I don’t mind doing it...anything to stop this preaching that’s making us look bad. (Pause)

#1: Everyone, listen, this guy, Stephen has been speaking against Moses! Denying his as a prophet!

#2: I heard it too! He said the Lord our God was just a man, and one who said He would destroy the temple, and get rid of the laws and customs Moses gave us.

#3: Quick, grab him, take him before the council for this blasphemy!

Stephen before the council

Stephen was taken before the council where he was questioned by the High Priest.

2 “Brothers and fathers,” he replied, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,d 3 and said to him: Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.A ,e

4 “Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land in which you are now living.f 5 He didn’t give him an inheritance in it—not even a foot of ground—but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him,g even though he was childless. 6 God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for four hundred years. 7 I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship me in this place.B ,h

8 And so he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.j

9 “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household.l 11 Now a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan,m and our ancestors could find no food. 12 When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time. 13 The second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all,n 15 and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there,o 16 were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

17 “As the time was approaching to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt 18 until a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt.C 19 He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them abandon their infants outside so that they wouldn’t survive.r 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home for three months. 21 When he was put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son.s 22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.t

23 “When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He assumed his people would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. 26 The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’u

27 “But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying: Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me, the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?D ,v

29 “When he heard this, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.w 30 After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came: 32 I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.A ,a Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.

33 “The Lord said to him: Take off the sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt.B ,b

35 “This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge? —this one God sent as a ruler and a deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.c 36 This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt,d at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.e

37 “This is the Moses who said to the Israelites: God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.E ,f 38 He is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors.g He received living oracles to give to us.h 39 Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.i 40 They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.F ,j 41 They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made.k 42 God turned away and gave them up to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

House of Israel, did you bring me offerings and sacrifices

for forty years in the wilderness?

43 You took up the tent of Moloch

and the star of your god Rephan,

the images that you made to worship.

So I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.G ,n

44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.o 45 Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them,p until the days of David. 46 He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.q 47 It was Solomon, rather, who built him a house,r 48 but the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says:s

49 Heaven is my throne,

and the earth my footstool.

What sort of house will you build for me?

says the Lord,

or what will be my resting place?

50 Did not my hand make all these things?I ,t

51 “You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears!v You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also. 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?w They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. 53 You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it.”

Angry Leaders:

#1: How dare you accuse us of murdering God’s anointed!

Stephen: Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the tight hand of God!

All - rush at Stephen to drag him out of the city. (Shout in anger if game for it! Take Craig off stage)

Preach

Reflection

Doing things a little different this morning, as you can tell! But there is power in the bible being spoken out, and I especially enjoy it when it’s a rough record of an address that would’ve actually taken place. Thanks to the worship team for being game to play along!

Stephen’s address to the council has always been one of my favourite passages in the whole bible. I love the overview of the story of the people of God that he gives, showing how people have always got it wrong when God sends someone to step into the situation and bring salvation. I love how Steven lays out the new situation, that temple worship is no more, pointing to the new reality that God’s presence isn’t about a place but instead about a people. God’s dwelling place with man, no longer by means of a physical building, now the Holy Spirit, the presence of God is present in His people.

I also admire Stephen, many will know that he is the first recorded martyr, he was a man killed for his faith. Finally the opposition has truly become nasty, going from a telling off, to being beaten and finally death. It paints a picture for all followers through the ages since, that this is a fate that believers can face, a fate that points people to God by means of observing this final act of faith. We might think this was just something that happened back then, but even today there are those opposed to the message of the gospel, and willing to take lives to silence it; not knowing that it instead speaks a louder message of the reality of God for those who believe, and the need to share this message to those not willing to hear.

I’m reminded of the soldier at the cross, who when Jesus died; he (having been part of the brutal murder of Christ) realises the reality that surely this was the son of God. Martyrdom can have the same impact in our day, though I’m pleased to say in the current season we in England seem to be mostly safe from this being required of us. Nonetheless, let us not fear it should it come, for we too if not prior to death but surely after, will behold the risen exalted Christ, standing at the right hand of the Father.

Key points

So what do we need to take away from this act of martyrdom that Stephen undertook?

Firstly, I think we should take away the fact that God had planned for Jesus to come and save us from the beginning. God was and is sovereign, and even Stephen’s martyrdom was part of the plan (as challenging as that can be to us today).

It’s good for us to consider God’s plan for our own lives. Some of us perhaps, may even be called to go to places where dying for our faith is a very real possibility, but as someone said to me this week, ‘always say yes to God.’ If He’s calling you, trust His sovereign plan for your life. God is sovereign, God has a plan, let’s do all we can to walk in it.

Secondly, we should consider what Stephen was like with his message. He was careful, he was intentional with how he spoke.

Do you notice at the start how he says ‘Brothers and Fathers’? He addresses these people in a way that isn’t instantly condemning, he speaks respectfully to them, takes them on a journey. Perhaps in our witness to people we can get so caught up on proclaiming truth, that we can forget to love and respect people as we speak truth? Let us seek to make sure that people are equipped to hear what we have to share, let us treat people with love and respect, meeting them where they’re at. We don’t know if as we speak to them, if this is the first time they have encountered Jesus (Christ in you the hope of glory), let’s help them to build a relationship with Him.

Yet, at the right point Stephen turns it around and points out their sin in this whole situation. Yes they don’t like it, and I’m sure none of us would necessarily, but sometimes in our witnessing we need to point out how there is something between people and God, and then explain how Jesus made a way to fix that relationship. Stephen didn’t get to that, he was killed first, but I think for us we often do the loving people bit well, we walk with them and tell them about Jesus but can lack courage (due to fear of opposition) to share the truth that something in their lives is at fault.

How uncomfortable do we find it to point out others’ faults? Some find it easier than others, but we need to explain to people how in the light of the majesty of God, it is us who need to change, and how Jesus in fact is the one who makes that possible. We need to trust the Spirit of God to help us discern when might be the right time to share difficult truths.

To close

Let us take courage therefore. Courage in the truth that standing against opposition is part of God’s plan for our lives, so it isn’t to be feared. If God is with us, then what can anyone do to us. Let us not be afraid of those who can harm the body, but instead have reverence towards the one who can overcome death, and give us imperishable bodies with which to worship Him for all eternity.

Let us take courage to be respectful towards those who oppose us. We have no need to be defensive but instead serve our purpose far more effectively by honouring and walking with people as they discover the saving power of Jesus and are presented with an opportunity to delve into it and get to know Him. Let’s not be afraid of starting that journey.

Finally, let us take courage to share the hard truths, as well as the good. We need to do this as we are led by the Holy Spirit, so let’s pray that He equips us and leads us day by day, as we walk our lives caught up in the mission of God.

Let’s Pray