Acts // Part 23 - Stephen Is Seized

August 19, 2012 Speaker: Phil Baker Series: Acts

Topic: Book Exposition Passage: Acts 6:8–15

On March 4th we began a series entitled “You will be My witnesses” which is an exposition of the book of Acts. Last week we began chapter 6 and studied verses 1-7. While together we learned that a major problem arose in the early church between the Hellenistic Christians and the Hebrew Christians. The Hellenists thought that their widows were being deliberately left out of the daily distribution of food and supplies by the Hebrews. They complained to the apostles and asked if they would take over the responsibility. The apostles refused because they didn’t want to be pulled away from preaching the gospel. However, they instructed the Hellenists to find seven men from their ranks to do the job. The Hellenists picked their guys and one of them was a man named Stephen.

Stephen was an exemplary man of God who possessed the necessary qualities required for a deacon. Many of us know to Stephen to be first Christian martyr, and that is rightfully so, but there is much more to him than that. His ministry was the catalyst that catapulted the church out of Jerusalem into the rest of the world. Up till now Peter has been the dominant figure in the church and storyline and Jerusalem has been the dominate location. But our text indicates a shift in the direction of the church and the storyline. The story jumps off of Peter and Jerusalem onto Stephen and his ministry to the Hellenists or foreign Jews. It then highlights Stephen’s arrest, trial, sermon, and martyrdom. From there the story shifts to church-wide persecution which leads to the conversion of the greatest minister to ever live, the Apostle Paul, who took the gospel to Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire.

So in a way you have Peter and the Jews of Jerusalem on one side, Stephen and the Hellenists in the middle, and then Paul and the Gentiles (Roman Empire) on the other side. The first 9 chapters of Acts show us God’s strategy and process for evangelizing the world. The gospel was first presented to the full Jews, and then to the half Jews, and then to the non-Jews. And along the way God used three key men to lead and oversee the task, Peter, Stephen, and Paul. Let’s focus on our text and draw out more details about Stephen which will help us to better study the following chapters of Acts.

Read Acts 6:8-15

Pray

Examine

Verse

8And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

Commentary

Stephen was a man of immense character. Back in verse 3 Peter stated that a deacon had to have a good godly reputation and be full of the Spirit and wisdom. Stephen was selected because he fit the bill. In fact, he was the first to be selected from a group of what may have been thousands, maybe even tens of thousands. Being the first chosen from a group like that demonstrates his incredible godly character. In verse 5 Luke wrote that Stephen was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.

The faith of Stephen is vividly seen in chapter 7.

In verses 1-51 Stephen testified to how he believed that God is the sovereign ruler over history and over his own life.

In verse 51 he testified to his belief in the Holy Spirit.

In verse 52 he testified to how he believed that Jesus is the fulfillment of messianic prophecy.

In verses 55-56 he testified to how he believed that Jesus had been resurrected and was seated at the right hand of the Father.

In verses 54-60 his faith in the Lord allowed him to face death calmly.

In verse 59, Stephen, by faith, called out for the Lord to receive his spirit while the religious leaders were stoning him to death.

All of these things are demonstrations of the incredible faith that he possessed. Sadly, many Christians today could not be described as full of faith. Like the father of the demon possessed boy healed by Jesus, their cry is, “I do believe; help my unbelief”. While trusting God with their eternal destiny, they find it difficult to trust Him with the concerns of everyday life. Stephen, however was not like that. He trusted God fully and concentrated on doing what God wanted him to do and he gladly left the consequences in God’s hands.

Not only was Stephen full of faith but also of the Holy Spirit. That is the privilege of every believer. To be full of faith is to trust God; to be full of the Spirit is to obey fully His will. Stephen believed God and submitted to the leading of the empowering, purifying Holy Spirit. Those two qualities epitomize the strength of the Christian life. In verse 8, Luke introduces us to two more things that made up Stephen’s character, he was “full of grace and power”.

Because Stephen trusted God, and walked in the fullness of the Spirit, he was given the grace to face persecution, even death. Neither fear nor hatred controlled him, only trust and submission. He could be gracious even at the point of death because of his confident trust in God and resignation to the divine purpose. Having committed himself fully into God’s hands, he was willing to endure anything in the strength of enabling grace. God’s grace also flowed out of his life to others. Perhaps that was one reason why the church chose him to minister to widows. Stephen was even gracious towards his executioners, praying for their forgiveness as their stones crushed out his life. The only way that a believer can live like Stephen is by dying to his or her sinful self. People who are busy looking out for their own interests will have little time or inclination to abandon themselves and experience the grace Stephen experienced.

Finally, Stephen was full of power. That was a direct result of his being filled with the Spirit. In Acts 1:8 Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit came He would bring power. And then on the Day of Pentecost the Spirit came and filled 120 Christians with power. Stephen may have been part of that original group although I suspect that he was saved at Pentecost. When he got saved the Holy Spirit indwelt him and filled him with power. The great fruit that came from this power was that he performed great wonders and signs among the people. This suggests that he was far more than simply a deacon. Instead, his deeds of power show his close link to the apostles. Interestingly in the New Testament church only the apostles, Stephen, Philip, and Barnabas performed miracles.

So Stephen was this tremendous brother in Christ who had impeccable character. He had an excellent reputation as a godly man, he was full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, faith, grace, and power. A man like this is very dangerous to the kingdom of darkness. He is a weapon in the hands of the Lord whom God can use to strike deadly blows against the principalities and the ruler of the air and whom God can use to destroy strongholds, arguments, and lofty opinions raised against the knowledge of God. Look at 9 with me.

Verse

9Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen.

Commentary

The synagogue was Stephen’s preferred place to preach the gospel. Jerusalem had many at this time, about 480. Many of them were Hellenistic. Stephen loved to engage other Hellenists on their own turf with the message of Jesus. Luke tells us that men from 3 Hellenistic synagogues rose up and disputed with Stephen. The synagogues Luke listed are:

The Freedmen synagogue The Cyrenian and Alexandrian synagogueThe Cilicia and Asian synagogue

All three existed in Jerusalem, all three were Hellenistic, and all three were visited by Stephen. And when Stephen went to them he preached as Peter had preached at Solomon’s Portico. He made a compelling case for Christ through careful exposition of the OT. He preached about the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and he boldly pointed out how Israel failed to receive their Messiah and murdered Him. There is no doubt that he called for his hearers to repent of their sin, trust in Christ, and to be baptized as well.

Let’s talk about theses synagogues for a moment.

Freedmen Synagogue

The Freedmen Synagogue was founded in Jerusalem by the Jewish slaves that had been captured and taken to Rome by Pompey in 63BC. Upon their release they returned to Jerusalem and founded their own special synagogue. Their descendants were running it during the time of Stephen.

Cyrenian & Alexandrian Synagogue

The Cyrenians and Alexandrians were from two major cities in North Africa. Cyrene was the hometown of the man who carried Jesus’ cross to Golgotha, his name was Simon. Alexandria was another major city. Both Cyrene and Alexandria had large Jewish populations and people from both cities joined and established synagogues in Jerusalem.

Cilicia & Asian Synagogue

Cilicia and Asia were Roman provinces in Asia Minor. People from both of those places also established synagogues in Jerusalem. Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, used to live in Tarsus which was located in Cilicia. As a Hellenist from Cilicia, Saul may have attended this particular synagogue in Jerusalem on a regular basis. Stephen preached the gospel at this place which may have been Saul’s first exposure to the good news. Saul may have been one of the men who rose up and disputed Stephen when he came to preach. There is also reason to believe that Saul was present at the Sanhedrin during Stephen’s trial because Acts 8:1 says that he was present at his execution. If you read ahead in Acts you will see that there was no time period between the trial and the execution. Right in the middle of the trial the religious leaders rushed Stephen and drug him outside the city gates and stoned him to death. Saul was there giving approval.

- It could be that Saul knew Stephen because Stephen visited his synagogue.

- It could be that Stephen first exposed Saul to the gospel.

- It could be that Saul was one of the men who rose up and disputed with Stephen.

- It could be that Saul was present at Stephen’s trial.

What does disputed mean?

Disputed is translated syz�"teō (suza-teo) in Greek and it means to engage in formal debate. The synagogue men who rose up and disputed with Stephen did not create a scene by openly quarrelling or arguing with him.

It would appear that they set a date and time to sit and discuss his teachings and their views. Luke doesn’t give us any details or clue us in on the subject matter. Stephen’s sermon in chapter 7 may perhaps clue us in on what they talked about. We’ll get there in the coming weeks. What happened next? Look at verse 10.

Verse

10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

Commentary

Their human reasoning was no match for Stephen’s God given wisdom. The phrase “the Spirit with which he was speaking” probably does not refer to the Holy Spirit but to the emotion, energy, zeal, sincerity, and fervency with which Stephen spoke. He thus had two requirements for effective public speaking and triumphing in debate: unarguable truth and potent delivery. The impact of those two things was more than they could handle. Look at what happened next.

Verse

11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

Commentary

Losing to Stephen really ticked these guys off. But losing the debate was only part of it. The real reason for rejecting Stephen and his message was because they loved their sin, self-righteousness, and idolatry. These men were full of religious pride. They believed that their path was the right path. And then Stephen showed up in their synagogues and preached against their beliefs. Find a local Kingdom Hall or Mormon Temple, go into it during a worship service, open up your Bible and proceed to demolish their theological positions and make sure you point them to the biblical Jesus. And then hang out afterwards and debate and debunk the leaders. Do you think that the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons would be ticked? Sure they would! That is essentially what Stephen did and it stirred the hornets’ nest. But the real reason for their anger and hostility was spiritual pride, that’s the bottom line.

These guys knew that they could not beat Stephen in debate. He made them look foolish because the truth he spoke prevailed against their foolish notions of religion. Knowing that they could not beat him they then sought to get rid of him. Verse 11 says that they instigated or recruited and coached false witnesses to accuse Stephen. This was the same tactic used against Jesus at his trial. Even the trumped-up charges of blasphemy were like those against his Lord. The false witnesses accused Stephen of speaking “Blasphemous words against Moses and God.” This was a serious charge because it came with the death penalty. Blasphemers were executed. Right off the bat we can see that their intent was to have Stephen put to death rather than jailed or exiled. Notice how they said that Stephen’s blasphemies were against Moses and God.

Blasphemies against Moses were denunciations against the law. Speaking against the law’s ability to save was blasphemous.

The Jews believed that strict obedience to the law resulted in salvation. When a person challenged that belief they called them a blasphemer against Moses. In reality there is nothing in the Bible or in the Torah which is the Jewish bible that says that obedience to the law saves. On the contrary, it states repeatedly that obedience to the law should be the result of saving faith in the promised Messiah. Faith produces salvation and obedience, rather than obedience produces faith and salvation. The Jews had it backwards. They still have it backwards. They believe that through obedience they could earn their way into heaven. This is the belief of all other religions. But Christianity is the opposite. Jesus came down and obeyed the law perfectly because we could never do so. He went to the cross and bore all of our sinful iniquities and unrighteousness, He died a bloody shameful death in our place absorbing the wrath of God against our sin, He was buried and in three days He rose conquering death and Satan. Jesus imputes His perfect righteousness to us so that we may be justified and adopted by the Father.

And what is required to receive this wonderful salvation, repentance and faith, not obedience to the law. Justification by faith is one of the most important doctrines in the Christian faith and it is one of the most attacked. The synagogue men opposed Stephen for preaching that doctrine. They called him a blasphemer.

What is blasphemy against God? Blasphemy against God would’ve been denunciations against the temple. The Jews believed that the temple was God’s scared home on earth. But when Jesus died on the cross the veil of the temple was ripped from top to bottom and that signified that God was no longer present there. Through Christ God has established a new earthly dwelling place which is in the hearts of His people (1 Cor 6:19). But the religious leaders and the people kept the temple running while believing that God was still present and pleased with them. In reality, the temple was nothing more than a house of idolatry. Jesus pointed that out. The Jews worshipped the wooden box in the back room that housed the 10 commandments. The ark and the law was their god. That is what they worshipped. When Christian preachers like Stephen came on the scene and pointed out their idolatry and how the temple was nothing more than stone and mortar they accused them of blasphemy against God.

These are the allegations that the false witnesses were about to bring against Stephen before the council. Look at verse 12.

Verse

12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council,

Commentary

Why not get more people ticked off and involved, that could make your case look more legitimate right? That is exactly what the synagogue men and false witnesses did. They knew that the common folks were zealous for the law and Moses and for the temple and for God so they took their deception to the streets and got all kinds of folks twisted up. Incredibly, the fear of the people that had forced the authorities to arrest the apostles without violence in 5:26 had dissipated, and those same people violently seized Stephen.

Stephen was popular when he healed the sick and performed signs and wonders. But like the fickle crowd that turned on Jesus right after hailing Him as the Messiah, these people were swayed to change their minds and attack the preacher.

Verse 12 says that some of the members of the Sanhedrin, elders and scribes, got sucked into the tornado of deception and hostility. It says that they then brought Stephen before the council. It is doubtful that the entire council was present and ready to receive the case so it could be that they waited outside until all the members could be summoned and gathered. Once inside they pushed Stephen to the center and lined up the false witnesses. Look at verse 13.

Verse

13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”

Commentary

F.F. Bruce wrote that the false witnesses didn’t put words into Stephen’s mouth but they misrepresented what he actually said. In other words they twisted up his teachings. Kind of like how political opponents do in TV adds. The false witnesses took Stephen’s words and ripped them from their context, jumbled them around, and formed new sentences with different meanings. Again, their claim would be that Stephen had blasphemed against the temple which represented God and the law which represented Moses. That is what they cried out before the Sanhedrin in verse 13. In 14 they displayed their contempt for the Lord by saying Jesus of Nazareth. Nazareth was a dumpy hole in the wall town and the common belief amongst the people was that nothing good could come from Nazareth. Saying Jesus of Nazareth was equivalent to saying Jesus of Nothing Good. They then claimed that Stephen boasted about how Jesus of Nazareth would destroy this place. They were speaking about the temple. This was total twisting of words.

Jesus never boasted about destroying the temple and neither did Stephen. Jesus said to His adversaries, “Destroy this temple, and in 3 days I will raise it up.” Jesus was speaking about His own physical body and resurrection, not about a temple of stone. Since that false accusation succeeded in getting Jesus condemned, they were quick to use it against Stephen.

Another charge calculated to enrage the people was that Stephen taught that Jesus would “change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” Stephen, like the apostles, proclaimed Jesus as the fulfillment of all that the Old Covenant ritual typified. The New Covenant, prophesied by Jeremiah, had superseded the Old. The moral law had not changed, but the ceremonial law was done away with. Reality had replaced ritual. Stephen will show in his sermon that he had enormous respect for Moses and the law. Their choice of words however, made him out to be a revolutionary, seeking to overturn the established divine order or law.

What was going on with Stephen while this life threatening salvo was being launched against him in the presence of the highest religious court in the land? Look at verse 15.

Verse

15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Commentary

This scene presents a striking contrast. Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin accused of being an evil blasphemer of the law, Moses, of the temple, and of God. Yet when the members of the council looked at him, when they gazed at him, “his face was like the face of an angel.” At that moment, the religious leaders were not staring at the face of evil, but into the countenance of a man who radiated the holiness and glory of God. This was God’s way answering their false charges. God answered by putting His glory on Stephen’s face. Throughout all of history there has only been one other person to experience this and that person was Moses. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai to make a covenant with God’s people through the law, his face shined with the glory of God. The radiance of God’s glory on Moses’ face was the sign that God was pleased with Moses, the law, and the covenant.

It is the same with Stephen. His countenance radiated with the glory of God and that was the sign that God was pleased with him, with his message (the gospel), and with the new covenant that Jesus had brought. Wow! Stephen was more than the first martyr. His character is the kind of character that we should all seek to possess. Stephen’s ministry to the Hellenists marked the beginning of God’s campaign to bring the gospel to the entire gentile world. Stephen’s countenance was pretty cool too. We should seek to radiate the glory of God through our words and deeds. May His face shine upon us and through us.

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Closing

The men who rose up against Stephen believed that if they stamped him and his teachings out that their problem would go away. But what they didn’t understand was that Stephen didn’t speak his own words. Stephen spoke the Word of God, the gospel. And the Bible says in Isaiah 40:6-8 & 1 Peter 1:25 that the Word of God endures forever and ever. There was nothing that those synagogue men could do to change, alter, or eliminate God’s enduring truth, nothing.

And we must understand that our own disbelief and disputing’s do not change, alter, or eliminate God’s enduring truth. You can reject that Africa is a continent and geographical location, you can dispute it, but your disbelief and disputing will not alter or change reality. Africa remains regardless of your personal beliefs. It is the same with God’s truth. When little children cover their eyes and faces with their hands they think that you can’t see them. Well you can cover your ears, eyes, and face and bury your head in the sand, and divert your thinking, and keep yourself busy with things to do, but none of those things will change, alter, or eliminate God’s truth. Why, because it endures forever and ever.

You can embrace other belief systems; Islam, Mormonism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Atheism, Judaism, or whatever, and yet, none of those things will change, alter, or eliminate God’s truth.

Why, because it endures forever and ever.

Your disbelief and disputing will never alter, effect, or eliminate this reality. Don’t be a fool by thinking that you somehow have the ability to cancel out or override the Truth.

Don’t be a fool by believing the post-modern lie that your own individualistic beliefs no matter what they are equate to truth because truth is subjective. That kind of thinking results in judgment, hell and damnation.

Don’t be a fool by believing that you are somehow special and will therefore be treated in a special way by God. The truth is you’re just like the rest of us here and like everyone else in the world. You’re a sinner who needs a Savior; a sinner who needs a Rescuer.

The Bible says in Romans 1:16 that the message Stephen preached, the gospel, is the power of God unto salvation. And then in John 12:48 it says that the gospel will be the rule of law that is used against those who disbelieved on the last day. Friends, the gospel has the powers to save and to judge, convict, and condemn unrepentant sinners unto everlasting damnation.

In light of the fact that you cannot change, alter, or eliminate God’s Truth, and that you are a sinner and enemy of God who deserves His wrath and judgment, would you prefer to be saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ or condemned to everlasting punishment by it? If you are not in Christ then you have important decision to make.

The Bible says if you repent of your sin and place your faith and trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the gospel, you shall be saved. I bid you friend, do not tarry, pray to the Lord at this very moment. Bring your sins before His throne of grace and ask him to cleanse you. Ask Him to save you. Ask Him to be your Lord, Savior, and Master.