The Stoning of Stephen- Acts 7:54-8:1

Stephen, that gentle and gracious deacon of the Hellenist widows, has been accused of blasphemy against God and against Moses. He is brought on these charges (at the instigation of false witnesses) and appears before the high priest. The high priest asks, “Are these things so?”

Stephen begins a sermon defense spanning 52 verses and covering Israel’s history while focusing on Moses and the Tabernacle/Temple of God. He ends his sermon with a rebuke that leaves no room for indifference.

There are several lessons before us in the remaining portion of chapter 7, and I believe this are important for us to remember today. Not only will they help us develop and maintain a biblical view of life, they will also encourage us in our growth toward Christlikeness.

In spiritual war, God demonstrates His work in His children’s lives while growing His Church.

I. Stephen’s Stoning Demonstrates the Spiritual War

The first lesson we observe in this short passage (though there are many more) is the reality of the spiritual war. By spiritual war I mean the war of good versus evil, God against Satan and the world, of light versus darkness.

This war has raged since the beginning (though we have no idea exactly when Satan fell), and has manifested itself in a variety of forms and means. For example, the early history of Israel shows how Satan uses the forces of evil through physical attacks (war with other nations) and spiritual deception and entanglement (think of the issues with idol worship and immorality).

Paul reminds us of this war in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Our enemy is the devil and his minions are have been seeking to overthrow God for a long time (see Isaiah 14:12-21 and Rev. 12:4-5, 7-12).

It is absolutely vital that we remember this, particular in situations where we are facing persecution like Stephen. These men who gang up on Stephen and ultimately murder him are not the enemy. The persecutors are the goal. Darrell Bock, in his book Cultural Intelligence, which I highly recommend, says this, “People are not the enemy. They are the goal.” Listen to Paul’s words from 1 Timothy 1:12-14, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”

Here is Paul, who is witnessing Stephen’s death (cf. 8:1), an enemy if there ever was one. But Stephen, a man who loves and knows God’s Word, does not see people, even persecutors, as the enemy. In fact, he prays for his persecutors. The persecutors are the objective.

God has chosen His people from before the foundation of the world in Christ and has given His children the wonderful and unimaginable privilege of sharing with them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Briefly turn with me to 2 Timothy 2:24-26, because this helps further clarify this distinguishing between our enemies. Notice the following:

The character of the servant

The goal of the servant

The grace of God

The inability of the slave

The enemy of God—the Devil

Stephen’s stoning demonstrates this spiritual war. The vitriol and blind rage of these people, human beings enslaved by their sins and dead in their trespasses in sins (cf. Eph. 2:1-3). They stone this servant of the Lord. But they are not the enemy. People are never the enemy. They are the goal, as Bock reminds us.

In spiritual war, God demonstrates His work in His children’s lives while growing His Church.

II. Stephen’s Stoning Declares the True Work of God in His Life

We live in spiritual war. While we go about our daily lives, school, work, appointments, lunches, showers, reading, sleeping, and everything else, we are doing so in the midst of a war.

But God, sovereign as He is, never wastes anything and works everything for His purpose, uses this spiritual war to declare His work in His children’s lives. In other words, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trails, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes...” as Peter writes in 1 Pet. 1:6-7.

Notice Stephen’s responses. The people rush at him and “gnashed him with their teeth,” which is a description of their anger. While this is going on, Stephen (full of the Holy Spirit) gets a glimpse of Christ in heaven. He vocalizes this vision, which only infuriates the people further.

They take Stephen out of the city and stone him. It was a vicious (and legal, by the way) death. But notice how he responds. Luke records this, “And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

His stoning declares God’s working in his life. It is in the midst of persecution that God reveals, both to Stephen and to us, the wonders of God’s working in our lives (cf. Rom. 8:28).

Persecution tests our faith in a way that pleasantness does not. And while we should not seek persecution (nor give reasons to be persecuted), we should not avoid it with all efforts. Let the trials of your faith, as Peter tells us, demonstrate the genuineness of our faith.

III. Stephen’s Stoning Develops the Church

Jesus told the disciples in Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” One point sticks out from chapter 2-8:1: the church is only at Jerusalem. They have not branched out. Now, we have no idea why, we just know that they did not leave the holy city.

Though there has been persecution up until this point, it has never been this dire or rampant. Saul furthers this persecution, and Luke notes that the church was scattered. Notice his wording, “a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

What would seem to impede the growth of Christ’s church actually facilitates the growth of Christ’s church. Christ tells Peter “I will build my church,” in Matthew 16:18 and does not specify how because, as sovereign Lord, He is free to use whatever means He chooses. At times, he uses the regular preaching of His Word and ordinary means of grace (i.e., prayer, Scripture, church, ordinances). At other times, He uses a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit on an enormous scale (e.g., Acts 2).

At other times, Christ uses persecution to grow His church. The church, through the vehicle of persecution, is scattered and accomplishes the goal of Her Lord (Acts 1:8). We will see further fruit of this when we get to chapter 9, and it will be obvious how the Lord used persecution to grow His church.

In spiritual war, God demonstrates His work in His children’s lives while growing His Church.

What practical applications can we gain from these lessons?

3 Applicational Thoughts

Daily remind yourself of the spiritual war.

Transform your view of persecution and trials to match God’s Word.

Trust the Lord of the Church that He is growing it in the way He deems best.