Stephen: A Powerful Life, A Radiant Face (Acts Sermon 14)

Turn in your Bibles to Acts 6. We continue our study in this incredible Book of Acts, looking at verses 8- 15. God is an infinitely mysterious God and His will is like He is, infinitely mysterious. Paul celebrated that with his doxology in Romans 11, where he said, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgments in his paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor. Truly God’s judgments and his decrees are unfathomable. Truly, his paths are beyond tracing out.”

For me as a lover of church history, one of the most inscrutable, the most mysterious providences of God is that throughout history, some of the most gifted, powerful, effective servants have died young after a short but amazingly impactful journey here on earth.

Of course, leading the way is our blessed Savior, Jesus Christ, who began ministry we’re told when He was about 30 years old. Scholars tell us by studying the Sabbath cycle, the cycle of feasts, that He had about a three-year ministry, so He died young after a stunningly brief ministry of three years.

A few moments ago we sang Isaac Watts hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” The original stanza that he wrote was this, “When I survey the wondrous cross where the young Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.” So it has been with so many others. David Brainerd, the 18th century missionary to Native Americans died at age 29 of consumption. So did Robert Murray M’Cheyne, a great Scottish minister, 29 years old after a ministry that transformed the lives of thousands.

So did Jim Elliott, missionary to the Indians of Ecuador, speared to death at that same age, 29. He was the one who wrote famously, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  The Roman martyr Perpetua was probably 22 years old when she died by the decree of the emperor Septimius Severus in one of the early Roman persecutions of the church.

 William Borden of Yale, the heir to the Borden business empire, gave it all up to be a missionary to China. He died at the age of 25 en route to China to be a missionary to China. He was in Egypt en route and died of meningitis. After he died, a friend found a handwritten note under his pillow, which read, “No reserve, no retreat, no regrets.”   Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the few German pastors to defy Hitler died in the closing hours of World War II as one of Hitler’s very last victims at the age of 39.   Keith Green, a Christian songwriter and musician died in a plane crash at age 28. One of the last songs he wrote was to his wife describing his motives for marrying her. It’s called “Love With Me (Melody’s Song)”. In it he wrote, “We truly dare not waste our youth.”

So it was with the man we’re going to begin studying today, Stephen. He is truly one of the greatest leaders in the Bible, though his life was cut off so abruptly. Why do I consider Stephen such a great man? First he was the first Christian martyr, the first of I would say of millions that would follow over twenty centuries.  He was, in my opinion, the main human instrument in the hand of God for the conversion of the Apostle Paul. He was among the firsts I think to see clearly the significance of the death of Jesus Christ for the end of the Old Covenant and its animal sacrifices, I’ll argue in this sermon. He was chosen from among thousands of Christian men to be one of the seven to care for the daily distribution of food to the Greek-speaking widows in the early church, and was almost certainly the leader of the seven since he’s listed first.

He was a bold proclaimer of the Gospel in the face of severe opposition. His passion, wisdom, doctrine, and spirit-led boldness could not be resisted or refuted. He was a worker of great signs and wonders, one of only three men in the New Testament other than the Apostles to do miracles, the others being Philip and Barnabas. As we will see in the next chapter, in Acts 7, he was a brilliant preacher, the preacher of the second-longest sermon recorded in the Bible behind only Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.

Finally, he was honored by God with a supernaturally radiant face, glowing with the glory of God, the only man other than Moses and Jesus to be so honored while he lived on earth. As he was dying, he was honored by God to see a vision of heaven open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God ready to receive him.  This is the greatness of Stephen. By God’s grace, we’re going to begin to get to know him today as we walk through the Book of Acts.

I. Stephen’s Impeccable Character

 We’re going to start with Stephen’s impeccable character. How does the text describe him? Here in the text in verse 8 it says, “Now, Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.”  The last time that we looked in the Book of Acts, we saw in verse 3 of the same chapter, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them.” Two verses later, “They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” 

Let’s walk through these descriptions. In verse 5, “Full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” To be filled with the Spirit means to be consistently controlled by the Holy Spirit, the indwelling Spirit. The Spirit guided Stephen, the Spirit controlled Stephen. The Spirit empowered Stephen. He was controlled by the Spirit of God.   In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul contrasts the mind of the flesh with the mind of the spirit.  Everything starts with the transformed mind. Stephen’s thoughts were constantly dominated by the Holy Spirit of God. He was sound in his doctrine and very deep in his understanding of it. He didn’t merely hold to the basic tenets of Christian doctrine, the milk, but he went much deeper as we shall see.

His thought-life was controlled by the Spirit in terms of his daily lifestyle. He was generous and he was wise, hence the description, “Full of the spirit and wisdom,” in verse 3. The task of overseeing the daily distribution of food to the Greek-speaking widows of the church took amazing practical wisdom, a rubber-meets-the-road kind of insight on how to handle such a complex logistical issue. He had a logistical mind and a generous heart. It matters very much in a ministry like that, not just what you do, but how you do it, how you treat people, how you treat the widows.

Beyond that, his mind was characterized by holy thoughts, to be full of the Spirit, meaning the Spirit controlled his thoughts moment by moment as Paul wrote in Philippians 4, “Finally, brothers, whatever’s true, whatever’s noble, whatever’s right, whatever’s pure, whatever’s lovely, whatever’s admirable. If anything excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.” A pure mind, a pure thought life.

Being full of the Spirit also meant that his life displayed the fruit of the spirit continually.  In Galatians 5, “The fruit of the spirit is love.” It’s characterized by love, joy. He was a man filled with joy and peace. The combination of joy and peace is contentment, patience, kindness. We see that in his dying prayer. For those who are persecuting, goodness, faithfulness- which is a commitment to the promises that you’ve made, gentleness and self-control. That was Stephen, the fruit of the Spirit flowing in his life.

It says in verse 8, “He was also full of God’s grace and power.” To be full of grace means that God continually poured His grace, His saving grace on Stephen, and through Stephen to others. Grace always has to do with sin, with God saving intention and purpose in Christ to save us from our sins in all of its depth and dimension, it was God’s grace, and he was full of grace.   We get the initial grace that comes with salvation, but then we need more grace as the Book of James says, “And he was full of grace.”Stephen was a conduit of grace, grace was pouring through him to others. God’s grace is his ongoing determination to save sinners from sin, and we could see that in Stephen’s life.

It’s also seen in his spiritual gifts.  In all of the good things the Spirit worked in Stephen. It works in Christian people to bless others, Christians and non-Christians alike. To the lost, Stephen was a bold and faithful witness. To other Christians he was a stream of blessing, like the daily distribution of food, as well as his amazing teachings. Just his personality, but it also mentions power. He’s full of God’s grace and power, and this obviously initially refers to the miracles that he worked, signs and wonders.

Look again at verse 8, “Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.” As I’ve already said, Stephen was one of only three people listed in the New Testament to do signs and wonders other than the apostles. Philip will do signs and wonders in his ministry in Samaria, in Acts chapter 8. And Barnabas did miracles with Paul on their missionary journey described in Acts 14 and 15.  This verse says that the miracles that God enabled Stephen to do were great miracles. It implies he did many of them because the Greek verb tense is imperfect, he was continually doing miracles, a continuous pattern of signs and wonders of miraculous signs among the people.

the greatest power of Stephen’s life was the power of the word of God, the power of the Gospel.

But by far the greatest power of Stephen’s life was the power of the word of God, the power of the Gospel. “I’m not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for salvation.” All of the miracles are temporary. They’re actual things, but they have to do with temporary circumstances, healings, things like that, but the power of the word of God, that’s eternal. He was a man full of God’s grace and power. He led a powerful life. He was God’s chosen instrument to do apostolic-level ministry, though he was not an apostle. So summing up, God worked vertically, Stephen was holy. He was zealous, filled with love for God. He was humble and he was a powerful faithful servant of Christ, vertically. Horizontally, he was selfless, wise, a loving servant of widows. He was a bold proclaimer of the Gospel toward lost Jews. That was Stephen, his character. We are going to speak in a moment of his amazing boldness and his courage in the face of opposition.

II. Stephen’s Courageous Ministry

Let’s talk about his ministry. Look at verses 9-10, “Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called) Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia–who began to argue with Stephen.” These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. He’s got opposition. Anyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. We’re going to dive more carefully into the nature of this opposition later in the sermon.

We need to understand that Stephen’s ministry of proclamation was done in an overtly hostile setting. By this then we see Stephen’s remarkable spirit-empowered boldness. This is an application for all of us. The Scripture is written to inspire us and to give us illustrations, to give us role models to follow, or even negative role models to avoid, examples of sin like Ananias and Sapphira. But here we get Stephen, and so there was a practical application to say, “God, make me bold in my generation.”  You are not likely to face the level of persecution Stephen did, but you want to be bold. You have the same Gospel, you have the same spirit, you have the same fear. I think that’s part of the reason the Holy Spirit has given this account of Stephen, he was bold.

Stephen proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ boldly. Christ and Him crucified as the Apostle Paul said was the center of his proclamation ministry. Beyond that, as I said, he saw, I think clearly the full implication of Christ’s death on the cross and the end of animal sacrifice. The Jews would’ve been enraged at such a message. They were fiercely protective of the Temple as central to their religious world. So this message generated tremendous heat and opposition as he proclaimed these things.

He was doing this preaching in synagogues. The setting of his preaching was synagogues. A synagogue was an assembly of Jews who would meet together on the Sabbath to worship God and to study the Scriptures together. Any Jewish man was invited to comment on the Scriptures or to bring a message of exhortation for the community. Stephen would take advantage of these opportunities to proclaim his message.

The Talmud indicates that at that time there were 480 synagogues in the Jerusalem area. The synagogues listed here were likely three different synagogues because the people listed came from very different backgrounds or locations. Which synagogues did Stephen preach at? First we have the Synagogue of the Freedmen as it was called, so-called Synagogue of the Freedmen. It was made up of descendants of Jewish slaves who were captured by the Roman general Pompey in 63 B.C. and taken to Rome. They were later granted their freedom and allowed to return to Jerusalem, and they started a synagogue together there in Jerusalem, the Synagogue of the Freedmen.

Then you’ve got Cyrenians and Alexandrians. They are Jews from North Africa. Cyrene is in modern-day Libya on the Mediterranean coast. Simon of Cyrene was the man that the Romans forced to help carry Jesus’ cross when He was crucified. Alexandria was in Egypt of course, and there was a very strong Jewish population there after the exiles that continued for centuries, so there were Jews from Alexandria.

Then you’ve got Cilicia and Asia. Both of those are in modern-day Turkey. Very significantly, Saul of Tarsus was from Cilicia. Tarsus was a city in Cilicia. It is very likely, I consider it almost guaranteed, that Saul was involved in these debates with Stephen and lost the debates. It was significant, as we will argue, for Saul’s conversion. He could not stand up. They, these Jews, could not withstand the Spirit or the power with which he was preaching.   Let’s talk about that. Stephen’s preaching described in Acts 7 will give a very clear, detailed overview of what he preached and the incredible depth and wisdom of his approach. We’ll get a chance to walk through that, God willing, over the next few weeks. He had the highest level of respect for God and for their Jewish heritage. He absolutely was not blaspheming God or Moses or the Law of Moses or the temple as we’ll see, not at all.

I believe he was proclaiming that the Old Covenant was fulfilled and now obsolete, that it was fulfilled and now obsolete because of Jesus’s death on the cross. Jesus said in the Sermon of the Mount, “Do not think that I’ve come to abolish the law and the prophets. I’ve not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” Stephen understood the significance of the moment when Jesus died in Matthew 27:50-51, “When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit and at that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn into from top to bottom the earth shook and the rocks split.”  The curtain in the Temple represented the holy barrier that all sinners had from the presence of God. It separated the Holy Place where the priest ministered daily from the Holy of Holies or the most Holy Place where only the high priest could go once a year.

this tearing of the curtain in the temple meant access to the very throne room of God, worked by Christ’s blood on the cross.

I think Stephen saw clearly the themes that would eventually be laid out with perfect clarity in the Book of Hebrews. The author to Hebrews would later make it very plain that this tearing of the curtain in the temple meant access to the very throne room of God, worked by Christ’s blood on the cross. Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way open for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Jesus died on the cross to bring us sinners near to a Holy God.

The temple itself, like the tabernacle before was all about barriers and restrictions and walls, whether made of cloth or stone. “It is this far you may come in no further.” It’s like God said to Moses out of the burning bush, “Do not come any closer.” It’s like God said at Mount Sinai, “Do not come in the mountain or you’ll die.” That’s the Old Covenant. That’s what it’s all about. It’s about walls and barriers. You may not come into the presence of God, but when Jesus died and that curtain in the temple is torn by the hand of God top to bottom, what was He saying? “But you may come close.” God wants us to be close. He wants an intimate relationship with us. That’s what Emmanuel means. That’s what “God with us means,” He wants to be close with us. He wants to be our God and we His people. That’s what Jesus came to do. That also made the animal sacrificial system and the temple sacrifices obsolete. That moment, that day, not later, that day they were obsolete.

All of the animal sacrificial system was pointing toward Christ. It was fulfilled that day because, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.”  [Hebrews 10:4], and in Hebrews 8:13, “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon pass away.”  It hadn’t passed away yet. Some foolish Jewish priest sewed the curtain back up or put a new one up. It went on for decades as a false barrier that Christ had rent open, and the  animal sacrificial system continued. The temple sacrifices continued after they were obsolete. Someone had to tell them the truth, and I believe Stephen was part of that message from God.

The Samaritan woman talking with Jesus brought up the issue of place of worship. The Samaritans and Jews disagreed about the place of worship. “’Our fathers worship on this mountain in Samaria. You Jews claim the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus answered, ‘Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth. For they are the kind of worshipers the father seeks. God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.’”[John 4]  What does all that mean? “The time is coming Samaritan woman, when the temple will be meaningless, you won’t need to go there to worship. God is everywhere. You can worship him everywhere. The time is coming when that whole thing will be shut down.” What an incredible thing he said to a Samaritan woman.

The Levitical priesthood therefore was obsolete. It’s no accident that in Acts 6:7 it says, “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” Imagine being told by Stephen, “You’re out of a job. You don’t need to do that anymore.” But some of them obeyed and believed and stopped, followed Christ, understood that by one sacrifice He has made holy forever those who were drawn near, by faith in Him. A time for those cyclical repeated sacrifices was over.  On what basis was he making these claims? Look what his enemies said he was saying, that’s where I’m getting all this. Look at verse 11, “They secretly persuaded some men to say, ‘We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.'” Then verse 13:14, “This fellow never stopped speaking against this Holy Place, the temple and against the law.” The Law of Moses focused on the temple. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.” What do you think they’re talking about? Animal sacrifice.

I’m going to discuss these attacks in a moment, but we can see at least the possibility, a strong possibility that Stephen understood it, and was declaring in Jesus the end of the animal sacrificial system forever. It was true Christian doctrine, wasn’t it, from the moment He died. It’s not like it was made up. Why didn’t they get it right away? They didn’t get a lot of stuff right away. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus walking with a resurrected Christ didn’t get it. “How foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken,”  Jesus said. It took them a while. There was a momentum to this, but some are just gifted. They’re just gifted, and they see it, and they get it, and they’re able to proclaim to everyone the truth of this.

It is true. Animal sacrifice was obsolete the moment Jesus died. They could have shut it all down that day. They should have shut it down. Do you think God accepted that bloody animal as a worship sacrifice the day after Jesus died? He did not. God’s mind was set on this. It was done. It was done.  Look what Stephen himself said in the next chapter about the temple because he had to deal with blasphemy against the temple. In Acts 7: 48-50, he says, “The most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me or where will my resting place be?’ says the Lord, ‘Has not my hand made all those things?'”

What do you think Stephen’s getting at there? The real blasphemers about the temple is you all, he would say to them, because you continue to misunderstand what the temple was all about. How it was a shadow and a symbol of the real heavenly dwelling place where we’ll spend eternity with God, and its time is done. We don’t need the shadow anymore. The reality has come. We’ll get to all that, God willing.

Stephen was a very, very effective proclaimer of these truths. He was a man full of God’s grace and power. His words were extremely powerful and bold. We’re going to see that as we walk through his message in Acts 7, specifically this description, Acts 6: 9-10, “These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the spirit by whom he spoke.”  The Jewish men of the synagogues rose up to argue with Stephen to seek to refute his messages, but were told plainly that they were completely defeated by this incredible man they could not stand up against. It says in this translation, “They could not withstand, they could not resist. They could not refute his arguments.”

This irresistible wisdom, it reminds me clearly of the promise Jesus made in Luke 21: 15 about when you’re arrested, you’re brought before tribunals, you’re brought before governors and kings. You’re going to be hauled in front of these people. Don’t worry ahead of time what to say. “I will give you words and wisdom.” Listen to this, “That none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.” That sounds exactly like what was said about Stephen. It’s literally the same Greek word. “They will not be able to stand their ground against the wisdom that I give you.”

That’s why I believe the word Spirit in verse 10 refers to the Holy Spirit. Some commentators, think it refers to Stephen’s spirit, which is fine. I don’t think it’s an either-or. I think Stephen had a lot of spirit when he was preaching, and I think we worship God with our spirits. Jesus said, “Worship in spirit and truth.” I think that spirit should be lowercase S, but this one I think was the Holy Spirit that came on Stephen as he was preaching. I think Stephen had passion and vigor and energy spirit, and that’s true, but he also had an overflowing dose of the Holy Spirit, which is exactly what Jesus said he would give them. Mark 13:11, “Whenever you’re arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever’s given you at that time for it’ll not be you speaking but the Holy Spirit.”

These men could not withstand the truths. They were blown over like a straw house in a hurricane. It was just the same when Jesus rolled out scriptures and insights that they had never seen, though they’d always been there, they’d always been there. Remember when He asked whose son is the Christ? “The Son of David,” they answer. “How is it then that David speaking by the Spirit calls him Lord? [Psalm 110] the scripture says, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ If then David calls him, Lord, how can he be his son?” And it says, “No one could say a word in reply.”And from that day on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.” That’s Jesus winning, like “checkmate.” There was nothing they could say. They had never seen it before. And it was the same thing with Stephen. Stephen was bringing prophecies to bear that clearly predicted the life, the death, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and the significance of his bloody death, and they could not resist or effectively contradict his words. They were blown away by them, blown out of the water.

I think it also put in some way a ticking time bomb of truth inside the heart of Saul of Tarsus that would go off on the Road to Damascus.  As I’ve already mentioned, Saul who we know better as the apostle Paul was from Tarsus and Cilicia as a top student of the chief rabbi there in Jerusalem, Gamaliel. It is quite likely that as the star pupil, remember that Paul said, “I was advancing in Judaism beyond any of my age. I was the number one Jew alive at that time.” Quite a statement to make, but he saw that he was an expert Jew, and there’s a lot of pride in that. Before his conversion, he considered Stephen and the like, as rubbish, but that’s who he was. Do you think he arrogated to himself the responsibility to defend Judaism against this blasphemer? He did. It doesn’t say that, but I think so. He was there, I think in the synagogue from Cilicia and lost the debate. He could not withstand the wisdom or the spirit by which Stephen spoke. He was completely bested, blown away by the exposition of clear prophecies.  His pride must have burned that night, Saul of Tarsus, his religious zeal raged, his frustration with himself at being unable to defeat this blasphemer. The prophecies in the scriptures sticking with him, and he couldn’t answer them. He couldn’t refute them.

At the end of the next chapter, Saul’s going to appear in the account. We don’t have to wonder. He’s there, giving consent to the enraged murder of Stephen by the Sanhedrin.  Look ahead at Acts 7: 57-58, “At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.”  I’m going to argue when we get to that passage, but I’ll say it now. This is a very significant symbol. It’s like he was almost a ringleader of the plot against Stephen. Just like when they laid their money at the feet of the apostles, like a sense of authority here, though, Saul was not a member of the Sanhedrin.  Then in Acts 8:1 it says, “Saul was there giving approval to his death.” He thought that it was right to kill this  blasphemer. Stephen died just like Jesus with blessings on his lips for those who were killing him. “He fell to his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he has said this, he fell asleep.” [Acts 7:60]  I think his prayer was effective in the case of Saul of Tarsus. God could have killed him. “If anyone destroys God’s church, God will destroy him.” Paul wrote those words, but God didn’t destroy him on the road to Damascus, He saved him. He didn’t hold his sin against him.

Later in the Book of Acts, we’re going to find out something profound about Saul’s conversion process. Acts 9, “Jesus cries out.” There are three accounts of Saul’s conversion. It’s interesting, three times. The last one says, “Jesus cried out, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads,’ he said. Then I asked, ‘Who are you?’ [Saul talking] ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.'” What is that “goads”? Goads we’re told are sharpened stakes put behind a fractious beast of burden, who’s in the habit of not wanting to pull a plow. Is in the habit of not wanting the yoke across its stiff neck, so it kicks back against the master. So they put some iron stakes, sharp enough to gently encourage the animal not to kick. The whole key with the goads is the goads have to win. They can’t be made of twigs because then it’ll kick even more. These goads aren’t going anywhere, and they’re inducing a change of mind and heart. “You’re kicking the goads,” Jesus said to him.  It is a metaphor for the force God puts on an unconverted person before they’re converted, leading them to Christ. Like the dragnet let down into the lake. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. There’s this strong drawing and those goads, they’re inducements.

 A lot of things were going on for Saul. He was persecuting the church. He’s dragging off Christian men and women putting them in prison. They were behaving a certain way, blood of martyrs, a seed for the church, that was going on. He was hearing what they were saying. But I believe the first and most powerful goad of all was Stephen.   Saul never solved the prophecies and scriptures and doctrine that Stephen rolled out. Why? Because they can’t be solved. They’re true. It is the Gospel. It’s the reason why animal sacrifice was set up. It’s the very purpose of everything. I believe those goads from Jesus to Paul led to his eventual conversion. And it began, I believe with this amazing man, Stephen.

That’ll be an awesome sermon in Acts 26 whenever we get there. This is how Saul was converted. There were human factors.  Don’t you want to be a goad in someone’s conversion? Don’t you want to put some things in their minds and hearts? Like Greg Kuckel talks about putting a rock in their shoe, just a question that they can’t shake. Something you may not have long, you may just have an elevator ride with somebody. Something you say just triggers something in them. We have a role to play.

III. Stephen’s Vicious Opposition

 Let’s talk about Stephen’s vicious opposition, his opponents. We’ve already mentioned and discussed what they said. Look at it again. Verse 11, “They secretly persuaded some men to say, ‘We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.’” So the charge is blasphemy.  These are the same charges leveled at Jesus and His claims to be Messiah and the Son of God. Blasphemy is a charge punishable by death in ancient Israel. Leviticus 24:15-16, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death.’”

In Stephen’s case, the blasphemy was specifically tied to the temple. Verses 13-14, “They produced false witnesses, who testified, ‘This fellow never stops speaking against this Holy Place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.’”  What are their evil techniques? They’re secretly training men to say these things, coaching them. “This is what you’re going to say. This is how we’re going to do it.” It’s a secret plot. They’re also good at stirring up the fickle crowd. They stirred up the crowd against Stephen.  The Jewish crowd blew one direction one day and a different direction, a different day. Stephen’s miracles probably made him popular at one point, but the Jewish leaders knew how to incite a mob. This is what they did with Jesus during the trial before Pilate, Mark 15:11-14, “The chief priest stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead,’What shall I do then with the one you call King of the Jews?’ Pilot asked him. ‘Crucify him!’ they shouted. ‘Why? What crime has he committed?’ asked Pilate, but they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’”

Go back to the beginning of that paragraph. The Jewish leaders stirring them up, inciting them, controlling them. They were false witnesses. Let’s understand what that means, false witnesses. They produced false witnesses who testified these things. The Book of Hebrews makes it plain that the Old Covenant ceremonial law was fulfilled in Jesus’ death and therefore obsolete. In verse 14, “We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs. Moses handed down to us.” Jesus is going to destroy the temple and Jesus is going to end the Old Covenant animal sacrifices. True. Really?

Yeah. Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple. Luke 21:5-6,  “Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, ‘As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.'” That’s the temple destroyed.

Did Jesus have anything to do with that in the year AD 70? Where did he go after He ascended from earth? He went through the heavenly realms to sit down at God’s right hand at the hand of power and authority. All the nations are like dust on the scales and a drop from the bucket. It is His story to tell. He is sovereign and in charge. He sent the Romans. It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t like He didn’t know what was happening. He sent them.   It was God the Father saying in history, “Animal sacrifice is done. You don’t seem to get it. I’m going to shut it down.” And it’s been shut down since that time. Hence, Jews going to the Wailing Wall and yearning for the temple to be rebuilt in their unbelief. Their tragic unbelief. But God shut it down. Jesus did change the customs or end them, made them obsolete. He did, and He would destroy the temple.

So then how are they false witnesses? If that actually is what Stephen was saying, whether Stephen was saying it or not, I think he was, but it is true. I think he was saying those things. How are they false witnesses? F.F. Bruce says, “They’re called false witnesses, as those who brought similar testimony against Jesus are called. But in both cases, the falseness of their testimony consisted not in wholesale fabrication but in a subtle and deadly misrepresentation of the words actually spoken.” They put a spin on it.  In addition, they probably mixed in some falsehoods like they did with Jesus in Luke 23:2. As they stand before Pilate, “They began to accuse Jesus, saying, ‘We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.'” Did Jesus oppose the payment of taxes to Caesar? No. Remember He said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God, the things that are God’s. Pay the Romans, their taxes.” Did He claim to be Christ a king? Yes.

This is what the devil does. He mixes in some truth and some falsehood and makes it all seem plausible. They’re false witnesses. Most of all, they’re false witnesses because they didn’t see the truth of the entire presentation. They were against it, they were opposed to it, they were fighting it. That’s how they were false witnesses. In the same way as Jesus, Stephen’s enemies mixed in some things he never said at all to incite the Sanhedrin to find him guilty.

IV. Stephen’s Radiant Face

In verse 15, we see Stephen’s radiant face, “All who are sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen and I saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” Now what does that mean?  If you read Ezekiel, they had four faces, one like this animal, one like that animal. I don’t think he looked like that. I think it’s more like the night that Jesus was born when an angel of the Lord came to the shepherds outside Bethlehem and the glory of the Lord shone around him. I think it was that. It was a shining light that came from him.

We know that this happened with Moses, don’t we? Moses went up and spent time with God on Mount Sinai and came down. In Exodus 34, “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant and they were afraid to come near him, so he put a veil over his face.”

The same thing happened to Jesus in the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:2, “There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” I don’t think Stephen’s face shone like the sun. I would put it more like 15 watts, I don’t know, 30, something like that, but not normal. They’re peering, looking intently at his face. It’s like, what’s up with that?

We do know that as he died, God gave him an honor that he doesn’t usually give people, which is to see heaven open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

I think also he showed zero fear. Usually you can imagine like an ashen complexion. All the blood is out of the face and there’s sheer terror. He’s not afraid to die at all. He’s not afraid of them. Zero fear of them. So I think it’s a combination of the human psychological factor of having absolute confidence that God was with him. But I think it was more than that. I think he was one of the three men in the scriptures who had a supernaturally glowing face.  We do know that as he died, God gave him an honor that he doesn’t usually give people, which is to see heaven open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. So that he would give him this kind of honor should not surprise us.

V. Applications

What applications can we take from this? This unique moment in human history? Stephen was a unique man, one of the greatest men who has ever lived despite his incredibly brief life. If he were here, what would Stephen tell you to do? He would tell each and every one of you to believe in the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. To understand that His bloodshed on the cross was so you wouldn’t have to die the death you deserve to die for breaking God’s laws.

And we’ve all broken them, all of us. And God has provided one way of salvation through his only-begotten son. Jesus shed His blood on the cross that we might have eternal life. Believe in Him, trust in Him. It’s the same message that Stephen was preaching in those synagogues. Don’t be stiff-necked and hard-hearted like you will accuse the Jews in the next chapter.   What does that mean to be stiff-necked and hard-hearted? It’s to resist the Holy Spirit to fight against what the Spirit’s saying. Don’t do that. Believe in Jesus and know that your sins are forgiven.

Secondly, stand amazed at such a servant of God. He’s an amazing person. We’re going to see as we walk through Acts 7, just how amazing and wise and deep he was. The great men and women of church history are part of our family. We’re part of an amazing family. The moment you trust in Christ, you become a member of the family of God. You become a child of God and you join that family.  Stephen is your brother.

Stephen, we believe, was given a conqueror’s welcome as he went into heaven. A rich welcome as another scripture says. First Corinthians 12:26 says: “If one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers with it; but if one part is honored, the whole body rejoices with it.” We’re all honored when martyrs are honored, it’s their crown. It’s their honor, but we are part of their family and we’re honored along with them.

Every saint that has ever lived or is alive now or ever will live, will be part of our heavenly inheritance. As Ephesians 118 says: “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to what he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.”  Part of what we get in our inheritance is we get the saints. Brothers and sisters in Christ who live like this and are part of our heritage.

Thirdly, see God’s hand in raising up Stephen and killing him in order to convert Saul of Tarsus, and then ask, what am I willing to do? What role am I willing to play for someone else’s conversion? What can I do to die to myself, to die to my reputation, to die to my convenience so that other people can be saved? What role can this church play in the Triangle region in 2025 to see people converted? It’s not going to be free. It’s costly. What role can we play?

Then finally, rejoice in the fulfillment of the animal sacrificial system. The lessons of the animal sacrificial system are number one, all sin deserves a death penalty. Number two, the death penalty can be paid by a substitute. And number three, the substitute cannot be an animal because the blood of bulls and goats can’t take away sin.  What is all that? It’s waiting for an answer. It’s waiting for a fulfillment. John the Baptist said it when he pointed Jesus to and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Rejoice in that animal sacrificial system. Its establishment by God, the lessons it taught and still teaches, but the fact that it’s obsolete and fulfilled by Jesus.

Close with me in prayer.

Father, we thank you for the beginning we’ve had to walk through this text and to learn about Stephen. We thank you for the depth of his doctrine. We thank you for the truths that he proclaimed. We thank you for the beauty of the Gospel. We thank you that a new and living way has been open for us into the presence of God. I pray that you would help us to walk in and receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Even if we’ve been Christians for decades, we still are in that time of need. We need more grace.

And for those who walked in here this morning, unconverted, I pray that they would have heard the Gospel believing in it now, trusting in Christ so that their sins are forgiven. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

God is an infinitely mysterious God, and his will is like his is—mysterious.

Paul celebrated that with his doxology in Romans 11:

Romans 11:33-34  Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  ³⁴ “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”

Truly God’s judgments and decrees are unfathomable! Truly his paths are beyond tracing out!

And it is one of the inscrutable, mysterious providences of God that, throughout history, some of his most gifted, powerful, effective servants have died young after a short but amazingly impactful journey on earth.

Of course, leading the way in that was our blessed Savior, Jesus Christ, who began ministry when he was about thirty years of age, and scholars tell us he died after a stunningly brief ministry of only three years. So Isaac Watts wrote,

When I survey the wondrous cross, where the young prince of glory died… my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride.

“The YOUNG prince of glory died.”

So it has been with others…

David Brainerd, the 18^th century missionary to the Native Americans, died at age 29.

So did Robert Murray McCheyne, the great Scottish minister… 29 years old after a ministry that transformed the lives of thousands.

So did Jim Elliot, the missionary to the Huaroni Indians of Ecuador… speared to death at that same age, 29. The one who wrote famously, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

The Roman martyr Perpetua was probably 22 years old when she died by the decree of the Emperor Septimius Severus in one of the early Roman persecutions of the church.

William Borden of Yale, the heir to the Borden business empire, gave it all up to be a missionary to China at the age of 25, but died en route in Egypt of meningitis. After he died, a friend found a handwritten note under his pillow, “No reserve! No retreat! No regrets!”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the few German pastors to defy Hitler, died in the closing hours of World War II as one of Hitler’s very last victims… at the age of 39.

Keith Green, Christian songwriter and musician, died in a plane crash at age 28. One of the last songs he wrote was to his wife describing his motives for marrying her… It’s called “Love with Me: Melody’s Song” in it he wrote, “We truly dare not waste our youth!”

So it was also with the man we will begin to study today, Stephen. He is truly one of the greatest leaders in the Bible, though his life was cut off so abruptly.

Why do I consider Stephen to be such a great man? He was the first Christian martyr. He was in my opinion the greatest human instrument in the conversion of the Apostle Paul. He was the first to see clearly the significance of the death of Christ for the end of the Old Covenant and its animal sacrifices. He was chosen from among thousands of Christian men to be one of the seven to care for the daily distribution of food for the Greek-speaking widows in the early church… and was almost certainly the leader among the seven since he was listed first. He was a bold proclaimer of the gospel in the face of severe opposition, and his passion, wisdom, doctrine and Spirit-led boldness could not be resisted or refuted. He was a worker of great signs and wonders, one of only three men in the New Testament other than the apostles to do miracles… the others being Philip and Barnabas. And as we will see in the next chapter, Acts 7, he was a brilliant preacher… the preacher of the second longest sermon recorded in the Bible, behind only Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Finally, he was honored by God with a supernaturally radiant face, glowing with the glory of God… the only man other than Moses and Jesus to be so honored while he lived on earth.

This is the greatness of Stephen… and by God’s grace we will get to know him today.

I. Stephen’s Impeccable Character

A. How the Scripture Describes Him

1. Here in this text

Acts 6:8  Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.

2. Already saw last time

Acts 6:3  Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them

Acts 6:5  They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit

B. Walking though these descriptions

1. “Full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”

a. To be “filled with the Spirit” means to be consistently controlled by the indwelling Spirit… the Spirit guided Stephen, controlled him, empowered him

b. In Romans 8, Paul contrasts the mind of the flesh versus the mind of the Spirit… everything starts with a transformed mind

c. Stephen’s thoughts were constantly dominated by the Holy Spirit

d. He was sound in his doctrine, and very deep in his understanding of it… he didn’t merely hold to the basic tenets of Christian doctrine, but went much deeper as we shall see

e. His thoughtlife was also controlled by the Spirit… he was generous and wise, hence the description “full of the Spirit AND WISDOM”; the task of overseeing the daily distribution of food to the Greek-speaking widows of the church took amazing practical wisdom, a logistical mind, as well as a generous heart

f. But beyond that, his mind was characterized by holy thoughts; to be “FULL OF the Spirit” meant the Spirit controlled his thoughts moment by moment

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable– if anything is excellent or praiseworthy– think about such things.

g. Being “full of the Holy Spirit” meant also that his life displayed the fruit of the Spirit consistently

Galatians 5:22-23  the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  ²³ gentleness and self-control.

2. “Full of God’s grace and power”

a. To be full of grace means that God continually poured his grace ON him, covering his sins and transforming him from sin… as well as pouring his grace THROUGH him to others

b. God’s grace is his ongoing determination to save sinners through the saving work of Christ

c. God’s grace is also seen in his spiritual gifts and all the good things the Spirit works in Christian people to bless others, Christians and non-Christians alike

d. To the lost, Stephen was a bold and faithful witness; to other Christians, he was a stream of blessings (like the daily distribution of food, as well as sound doctrine… amazing teachings

e. POWER… definitely refers initially to the miracles God chose to do through Stephen

Acts 6:8  Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.

f. As I’ve already said, Stephen is one of only three people who were NOT apostles and who did miracles; we will see that Philip will do miracles in his ministry in Samaria (Acts 8) and Barnabas did miracles with Paul as described in Acts 14-15

g. This verse says the miracles God enabled Stephen to do were great miracles… and it implies he did many of them, because the Greek verb tense is imperfect, implying a continuous pattern of wonders and miraculous signs among the peole

h. So Stephen was God’s chosen instrument to do apostolic-level ministries

3. We will speak in a moment of his amazing boldness, his courage in the face of opposition

4. Summing up

a. Godward, Stephen was a holy, zealous, humble, powerful servant of Christ

b. Manward, Stephen was a selfless, wise, loving servant of widows and bold proclaimer of the gospel toward angry lost Jews

II. Stephen’s Courageous Ministry

Acts 6:9-10  Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)– Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen,  ¹⁰ but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.

A. Opposition Arose

1. We will dive more carefully into the nature of this opposition in the next part of my sermon

2. However, we need to understand that Stephen’s ministry of proclamation was done in the most hostile setting

3. So we can see Stephen’s remarkable, Spirit-empowered boldness

B. Stephen was Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ Boldly

1. Christ and him crucified was the center of Stephen’s proclamation

2. Beyond that, I believe he saw clearly the full implication of Christ’s death on the cross as the end to animal sacrifice

3. The Jews would have been enraged at such a message! They were fiercely protective of the Temple as the center to their religious world

C. The Synagogues Described

1. The setting was in the synagogues

a. A synagogue was an assembly of Jews who would meet together on the Sabbath to worship God and study the scriptures

b. Any Jewish man was invited to comment on the scriptures or to bring a message of exhortation

c. The Talmud indicates that there were 480 synagogues in Jerusalem at this time

d. The synagogues listed here were likely three different synagogues, because the people listed came from very different backgrounds or locations

2. The Synagogues described

a. The Synagogue of the Freedmen: Made up of descendants of Jewish slaves who were captured by the Roman general Pompey in 63 BC and taken to Rome; they were later granted their freedom and allowed to return to Jerusalem where they started that synagogue

b. Cyrenians and Alexandrians were Jews from North Africa; Cyrene is in modern-day Libya on the Mediterranean coast… Simon of Cyrene was the man the Romans forced to help carry Jesus’ cross when he was crucified; Alexandria was in Egypt and had a very large and significant Jewish population there

c. Cilicia and Asia were both in modern-day Turkey; very significantly, Saul of Tarsus was from Cilicia and it is very likely that Saul was among those who heard Stephen’s messages and rose in opposition to what Stephen was proclaiming

D. Stephen’s Preaching Described

1. Acts 7 will give a clear and detailed overview of his style of preaching

2. He had the highest level of respect for their shared Jewish heritage

3. He absolutely was not blaspheming Moses or disrespecting him or the Laws of Moses

4. But I believe he was proclaiming the Old Covenant as FULFILLED in Jesus’ death on the cross

a. Jesus did not come to ABOLISH those laws but to FULFILL them

Matthew 5:17  Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

b. Stephen understood the significance of this moment:

Matthew 27:50-51  And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.  ⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.

c. The curtain in the temple represented the holy barrier that all sinners had from the presence of God… it separated the holy place from the most holy place

5. I think Stephen saw clearly the themes that would eventually be laid out with perfect clarity in the Book of Hebrews

a. The author to Hebrews would later make it very plain that this tearing of the curtain in the temple meant access to the very throne room of God was worked by Christ’s blood shed on the cross

Hebrews 10:19-22  Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,  ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,  ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God,  ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

b. The temple itself was all about walls and barriers keeping sinners out from God’s holy presence; Christ’s atonement fulfilled that exclusion and removed it forever

c. It also made the whole animal sacrificial system obsolete

Hebrews 10:4  it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Hebrews 8:13  By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

6. Therefore, from the moment Jesus died and the curtain in the temple was torn in two, the temple itself was obsolete as a place for sinning Jews to meet the holy God

The Samaritan woman brought up the whole question of the right PLACE for worship:

John 4:20-24  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus shockingly revealed to her:

  ²¹ Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

7. The Levitical priesthood was obsolete as well; it is no accident that in this very chapter we are told this:

Acts 6:7  So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

E. Evidence for these Claims About Stephen

1. What the opposition said about him

Acts 6:11  Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”

Acts 6:13-14  “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.  ¹⁴ For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

I will discuss these attacks in a moment… but we can see at least the possibility that Stephen was declaring in Jesus the end to the sacrificial system forever. It was true Christian doctrine, as the Book of Hebrews makes plain.

2. What Stephen himself said before they killed him

Acts 7:48-50   the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says:  ⁴⁹ “‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?  ⁵⁰ Has not my hand made all these things?’

F. Stephen’s Effectiveness

1. Stephen was a man full of God’s grace and POWER

2. His words were extremely powerful and bold, as we will see at the end of his message in Acts 7

3. Specifically this description:

Acts 6:9-10  These men began to argue with Stephen,  ¹⁰ but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.

The Jewish men of the synagogues rose up to argue with Stephen… to seek to refute his messages

BUT we are told plainly that they were completely defeated by this incredible man

“They could not stand up against” = “withstand” = “resist” = “refute”

Greek is “anthistemi” = to take a stand against; it was like they were blown back as in a hurricane… their arguments were shredded by Stephen like houses of straw

Irresistible Wisdom: reminds me of the promise Jesus made:

Luke 21:15  I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

That’s literally the same Greek word. They will NOT be able to stand their ground against the wisdom that I give you.

That is why I believe the word “Spirit” in verse 10 refers to the Holy Spirit. Some commentators think it refers to Stephen’s spirit, as in vigor, passion, energy; I think Stephen had all of these. But Christ had specifically promised that the Holy Spirit would give them their words when brought to trial:

Mark 13:11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

It was just the same when Jesus made arguments about his person and ministry from the Old Testament scriptures… like David calling the Messiah “My lord” in Psalm 110:

Matthew 22:46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Stephen was undoubtedly bringing prophecies to bear that clearly predicted the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And they could not resist or effectively contradict these words. They were blown out of the water.

G. A Ticking Time Bomb in the Heart of Saul of Tarsus

1. As I’ve already mentioned, Saul, whom we know better as the Apostle Paul, was from Tarsus in Cilicia; as a top student of the chief rabbi Gamaliel, it is quite likely that Saul led the effort to defeat Stephen’s arguments

2. BUT this brilliant young Pharisee was completely bested, blown away by the Spirit-empowered exposition of clear prophecies in scripture by this man Stephen

3. His pride must have burned that night… his religious zeal raged, his frustration with himself at being unable to win the argument with this blasphemer

4. At the end of the next chapter, he will appear for the first time at Stephen’s trial giving consent to the enraged Sanhedrin’s murder of this amazing man

Acts 7:57-58  At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,  ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

5. Stephen died just like Jesus, with blessings on his lips for those killing him:

Acts 7:59-60  While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  ⁶⁰ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

6. BUT later in Acts we will find out something profound about Saul’s conversion process

Acts 26:14-15  ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’  ¹⁵ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.

Goads are sharpened stakes positioned behind a fractious beast of burden to train it not to kick back at his master

This is a metaphor for the inducements and persuasions the Lord had placed on the mind and soul of Saul, pressuring him to become a Christian.

I do believe with all my heart, the most important goad ever placed there was Stephen… his character, his personality, his appearance, his speech before the Sanhedrin, the Holy Spirit’s power on him, and especially his irrefutable scriptural arguments.

GOADS from Jesus to Paul to repent and believe in Christ. Through this amazing man Stephen

III. Stephen’s Vicious Opposition

A. Let’s Talk Briefly About Stephen’s Opponents

1. We’ve already discussed them and what they said

2. Look at it again

Acts 6:11  Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”

B. Charge: Blasphemy

1. These were the same charges levelled at Jesus in his claims to be Messiah and the Son of God

2. Blasphemy was a charge punishable by death in ancient Israel

Leviticus 24:15-16  Say to the Israelites: ‘If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible;  ¹⁶ anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death.

3. In Stephen’s case, the blasphemy was specifically tied to the temple and its worship

Acts 6:13-14  They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.  ¹⁴ For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

C. Techniques

1. Secretly training the men to say these things… effectively coaching them

2. Stirring up the fickle crowd

a. The Jewish crowd blew one direction on one day, and a different direction another day

b. Stephen’s miracles made him popular with some

c. But the Jews knew how to incite a mob

d. They did it with Jesus during his trial before Pilate

Mark 15:11-14  the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.  ¹² “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.  ¹³ “Crucify him!” they shouted.  ¹⁴ “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

D. Understanding their False Witnesses

1. The text says that FALSE witnesses spoke these things against Stephen

Acts 6:13-14  They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.  ¹⁴ For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

2. The Book of Hebrews makes it plain that the Old Covenant’s ceremonial law was fulfilled in Jesus’ death and was therefore obsolete… so Jesus would in fact end the customs the Jews had handed down

3. AND amazingly, Jesus did predict the total destruction of the temple

Luke 21:5-6   Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said,  ⁶ “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

4. And once he sat down at the right hand of God, he was in a powerful position to orchestrate this very thing in AD 70 by the Roman army

5. In the end, Jesus WOULD destroy the temple by his sovereign power

6. SO… how were they false witnesses?

F.F. Bruce: “They are called ‘false witnesses’ as those who brought similar testimony against Jesus are called. But in both cases the falseness of their testimony consisted not in wholesale fabrication but in subtle and deadly misrepresentation of the words actually spoken.”

In other words, not actually seeking to understand with open minds and charitable hearts what Stephen was saying.

In addition, they almost certainly mixed in some utter falsehoods, as they did with Jesus Christ as well.

Luke 23:2  And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.”

Half wrong, and half right. Jesus directly commanded his people to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s) (i.e. taxes) “and to God the things that are God’s”. So he did NOT oppose payment of taxes to Caesar. But he DID claim to be Christ, the king. Pilate shrewdly dismissed the false one and zeroed in on the true one. And he found him no threat to Rome.

In the same way, Stephen’s enemies almost certainly mixed in some things he never said at all to incite the Sanhedrin to find him guilty.

IV. Stephen’s Radiant Face

Acts 6:15  All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

What does this mean? I believe it can only mean one thing: radiant glory was shining from him. Like when Moses came down off the mountaintop with Almighty God:

Exodus 34:29-30  When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.  ³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.

In the same way, Jesus’ face on the Mount of Transfiguration:

Matthew 17:2  There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.

This honor given to Stephen was as unique as him seeing heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God to receive him.

So, when ordinarily a prisoner hauled before the Sanhedrin would have an ashen and terrified face, craven and trembling, Stephen had the face of an angel, radiant with power and glory.

It was a unique moment in human history. And Stephen was a unique man. One of the greatest men who has ever lived, despite his incredibly brief life.

V. Applications

A. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, as Stephen would have wanted

1. If Stephen were here, he would be pleading with all of you to trust in Christ for the salvation of your souls

2. He would warn you of the wrath to come… with no malice or pride in his heart, but instead a deep love both for God and for you

3. He would preach that the blood of Christ is sufficient to atone for all your sins

B. Stand Amazed at Such a Servant

1. The great men and women of church history are part of our illustrious family

2. Stephen would be given a conqueror’s welcome into the heavenly realms

3. But HIS honor is OUR honor

1 Corinthians 12:26  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

4. Every saint is part of our inheritance

Ephesians 1:18  I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints

C. See the Hand of God in Raising Up Stephen to Convert Paul

D. Rejoice in the Fulfillment of the Ceremonial Law and the End to Animal Sacrifice