Stephen defends himself from charges of blasphemy and preaches boldly about the deity of Jesus Christ, the sinfulness of unbelief, and the need for all to be saved.
These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.
This morning we come to study one of the greatest defenses of Christianity in church history… the second longest sermon recorded in the Bible behind only the Sermon on the Mount. It is a powerful and clear fulfillment of the promise Jesus made to his persecuted witnesses:
Luke 21:14-15 make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
I. Stephen: Catalyst and Defender of the Gospel
A. Apologetics
Stephen’s ministry and his defense are a clear example of the command Christ has given us to be his witnesses and to defend the faith:
1 Peter 3:15-16 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
ALWAYS READY TO DEFEND THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL
This is what is generally called “apologetics,” from the Greek word apologeo… to set forth words to defend something. It is not the way we use the word “apologize,” which is a weaker thing, saying you’re sorry for something you did. This is a much stronger thing, a reasoned defense of Christ and the gospel. As Paul said to the Philippians,
Philippians 1:7 you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
The “defense” of the gospel is defending it from all slanderous attacks. The confirmation of the gospel is proving its truth by reasoned defense, especially from the scriptures.
As Jude says,
Jude 1:3 I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
To contend for the faith means to fight for it. But we fight with words and ideas and passion, not with physical weapons:
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Apologetics is the skillful work of demolishing Satan’s false arguments against Christianity and establishing for all time the truth of Jesus Christ and the salvation he came to bring.
Stephen does that brilliantly here.
B. Stephen’s Greatness
Last week we saw the greatness of this man, Stephen. He was introduced to us as one of the Seven, the men chosen by the church and appointed by the apostles to oversee the daily distribution of food to the Greek-speaking widows in Jerusalem. He was described as “full of the Spirit and wisdom.” Because of his name and this ministry, he was almost certainly a Hellenistic Jew, a man whose native language and culture were Greek but also fully committed to his Jewish heritage. Since he was listed first among the Seven, he was probably their leader… the one who organized the complex ministry of food distribution every day for the widows.
But he did far more than that… Acts 6:8 tells us this about Stephen:
Acts 6:8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.
Full of God’s grace and power, and doing great wonders and miracles! One of only three men in the New Testament other than the apostles to whom miracles are ascribed… the other two are Philip the Evangelist (described in Acts 8), and Barnabas who did miracles on his first missionary journey with the Apostle Paul.
But especially, Stephen was a powerful defender of the Christian faith in the face of powerful opposition:
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.
Stephen was incredibly gifted as a witness and defender of the faith. He reasoned with the Jews in these three synagogues, proving from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. And he was undefeated in his debates… Jesus did indeed give Stephen words and wisdom that none of his opponents could resist or contradict. Almost certainly one of those was the young man, Saul of Tarsus, who was advancing in Judaism beyond all those of his generation… he was from Tarsus in Cilicia, and it was at his feet that those who murdered Stephen laid their garments. Stephen’s biblical defense of Christ and Christianity was the foremost of the “goads” that Christ set in the heart of Saul, prodding him toward faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.
Therefore Stephen is at the forefront of the movement of the gospel through its earliest checkpoints. Remember how Jesus had commanded,
Acts 1:8 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The apostles had already achieved the first of these… witnessing in Jerusalem, as the high priest said at their trial before the Sanhedrin:
Acts 5:28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching…”
Now, the time has come to move out. But the church often needs external pressures to force it toward a fuller obedience. We tend to stay put and focus on what is familiar.
After Stephen’s martyrdom, Saul of Tarsus will lead a violent persecution in Jerusalem resulting in the scattering of the church and the spread of the gospel exactly as the Lord intended:
Acts 8:1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Stephen is thus a key catalyst in this… a Greek-speaking Jewish man whose powerful example and witness led to the spread of the gospel throughout that region and the conversion of the Apostle Paul, the “apostle to the Gentiles” and the single greatest instrument in church history for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Stephen was a tool in God’s hands toward that end.
C. My Difficulty in Preaching Acts 7
I am an expository preacher… I go carefully through the text I am preaching on verse by verse, not wanting to miss any of the beautiful truths the Holy Spirit has invested in every passage.
But I also know there is a limit to how much truth any congregation can hear in one sermon.
Herein lies the problem… Stephen’s sermon is a brilliant masterpiece, building carefully step by step, unfolding Israel’s redemptive history to a powerful climax. He lures in his guilty hearers, somewhat boiling the frog with examples to hit an awesome climax that shocks them into the reality of what he’s really saying.
It is a seamless presentation of truth, much like Jesus’ linen garment:
John 19:23-24 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another.
So it is with Stephen’s defense… “Let’s not tear it!!” But this chapter is sixty verses long! And each part of Stephen’s defense is dense with significance… a gateway into deeper truths Stephen is making.
D. Overview, then Details
My best approach is to give you an overview of Stephen’s overall purposes and goals, then show in detail how he does his work
II. Stephen’s Four-Fold Purpose
1) To defend himself against their charges of blasphemy
2) To captivate their attention by tracing out the history of the Jewish nation
3) To convict them of persistent sin in rejecting the salvation God has sent
4) To proclaim that Jesus is the Savior, the Son of God
Defense… Engagement… Conviction… Proclamation
He does these brilliantly
A. Stephen Defends Himself Against the Charge of Blasphemy
1. The charges stated
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 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. Summing up: blasphemy against God, against Moses, against the Temple, and against the Laws of Moses (especially the sacrificial system)
3. The seriousness of these charges
Leviticus 24:16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death.
4. This was the very charge that condemned Jesus to death
Mark 14:63-64 The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. 64 “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy of death.
5. How does Stephen defend himself from the charge of blasphemy?
a. By meeting his second goal: ENGAGING THEIR ATTENTION
i) The Jews loved nothing more than reciting their glorious history, from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through the centuries of glorious Jewish history
ii) They were CAPTIVATED by Stephen, help spellbound, until they saw his true purpose
iii) It was history with a purpose… showing that the entire history of the Jewish nation was a display of the darkness and wickedness of the sin of unbelief and rebellion against God
iv) The “Jewish fathers” were the true blasphemers, not Stephen
v) Along the way, he achieves all his goals
b. Defending himself from the charge of “Blasphemy against God”: he begins right away, showing his clear reverence for the God of their father Abraham:
Acts 7:2 The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham
In other words, I have the greatest possible reverence for the God of the Jewish nation, the God of Abraham.
In addition, he will mention God at least eighteen more times. He is no blasphemer.
c. Against Moses: he will trace out the history of Moses, showing full respect and honor for Moses
d. Against the Temple: he will show God’s true purpose in the temple
e. Against the Law of Moses… he will prove that all of these things pointed toward Christ
Then powerfully, he will turn the whole thing around on them
THEY are the true blasphemers! They have not followed in the faith of their father Abraham, they are just like the Israelites who rejected Joseph and Moses and all the prophets… and they did not keep the Law of Moses.
Their fathers consistently rejected God and his messengers at every step in their history… they sold Joseph into slavery, whom God appointed to be their savior from famine; they rejected Moses whom God appointed to be their savior from slavery in Egypt; they rejected God at Mt. Sinai by making the golden calf; they rejected God’s true purpose in the Temple, making an idol of the Temple rather than seeing how it pointed to salvation in Christ. These things were just a type and a shadow, the reality is Christ… and just as they rejected Joseph and Moses, they also rejected every prophet God ever sent. And now, they have rejected Christ… just like their fathers.
They are the true blasphemers in this:
Acts 7:51-53 “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him– 53 you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.”
This resulted in their overwhelming RAGE… murderous RAGE
Acts 7:54 When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.
This gave him the opportunity to meet his final goal: proclaiming the radiant glory of Christ. But he did it in a way he could not have foreseen… with his dying breath:
Acts 7:55-56 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Keep in mind, this was the very claim that Jesus made that caused the High Priest to tear his robes, proclaim Jesus a blasphemer and condemn him to death:
Matthew 26:63-66 The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?” “He is worthy of death,” they answered.
But as Stephen saw him, Jesus was STANDING at the right hand of God, ready to receive him as the first Christian martyr. This led to Stephen’s death by stoning, as we shall see (but not today)
So, this is overview… Stephen’s four-fold purpose: defend himself against the charge of blasphemy, engage and hold their attention, convict them of the sin of unbelief and rebellion, proclaim Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.
Now let’s walk through his defense in detail.
The dramatic setting:
Acts 6:12 – 7:1 They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 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.” 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. Then the high priest asked him, “Are these charges true?”
III. The God of Glory and the Faith of Abraham
Acts 7:2-4 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ 4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.
A. Brothers and Fathers
1. Stephen begins with this family address… we are all Jewish men
2. I am no radical blasphemer. I am a Jew as you all are
3. Brothers… fellow Jews; fathers: the leaders of Israel in authority in the Sanhedrin
4. Peter said we should “keep a clear conscience” as we defend our faith in Christ
5. Don’t use carnal anger or insults or underhanded tactics
6. Be pure as light as you defend Christ
B. The God of Glory
1. He shows clear respect for the God of Israel; again, declaring “I am no blasphemer! I have the highest reverence for the God of Abraham!”
2. The title he gives God is actually unusual… it appears only in Psalm 29:3
Psalm 29:2-4 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. 3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.
3. This title sums up all that God is… his glory is the radiant display of all his attributes; God’s glory will illuminate the New Heavens and New Earth for all eternity; God does everything for the praise of his glory
4. Stephen is a messenger of the God of glory… as clearly seen from his 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.
One of only three men in history given this honor—Moses and Jesus being the other two
Stephen is NO BLASPHEMER, but a messenger of the God of glory to a people walking in darkness.
C. Our Father Abraham
1. The God of glory APPEARED to our father Abraham
2. How did God do this? We don’t know, but God called Abraham a prophet in Genesis 20:7, and prophets had visions of God when they were called to their ministries
3. While he was still in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran
Acts 7:3-4 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ 4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.
a. The sequence of Abraham’s calling is complex
b. It seems God’s initial call to Abram in Ur of the Chaldees just moved him to Haran
c. The second part of his call came in Haran to go to the land in which they were now living
4. The original call of Abram included this timeless promise that Stephen does not mention, but all the Jews knew well:
Genesis 12:3 all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
D. The Faith of Abraham
1. By faith, Abraham obeyed God’s call to leave his country and his family
2. In Ur of the Chaldees and also in Haran, it seems Abram was a pagan moon-worshiper
Joshua 24:2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods.
3. This is why Romans 4, Paul, speaking of Abraham, said God justifies the wicked, or the ungodly
4. Abraham thus began a lifetime of walking by faith, leaving paganism and progressively obeying the call of God in his life
5. This life of faith continued to the end of his days
Acts 7:5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.
6. The author to Hebrews reiterates and emphasizes this fact… Abraham died not having received the promised land
Hebrews 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
7. Stephen’s reference to the covenant promise God made to Abraham is vital to their national identity and to his case
8. God had promised that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars in the heavens:
Genesis 15:5-6 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars– if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
9. Paul quotes that as Abraham’s saving faith… he believed the promises of God despite the obstacles
10. When God then promised Abraham that he and his descendants would possess that land, he said, “How can I KNOW that I will receive it?” God then led Abraham through the covenant-cutting ceremony and passed through the pieces himself and made that promise that Stephen cited
Acts 7:6-7 God spoke to him in this way: ‘Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’
11. Stephen then addresses the issue of circumcision, as Paul will prove later, showing it had NOTHING to do with the promise made to Abraham
Acts 7:8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.
E. The Challenge: Are You Really Sons of Abraham?
1. Stephen is little by little showing the pattern of unbelief throughout the history of Israel
2. Abraham had a son, Isaac, the son of the promise
Acts 7:8 And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
3. These were the physical descendants of Abraham
4. This was the source of the pride of a Jews… we are SONS OF ABRAHAM!!
5. But Jesus challenged that directly:
John 8:32-34 you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” 34 ¶ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
John 8:37-40 I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 ¶ “Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do the things Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.
John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.
In other words, just having Abraham as your biological father does not save you.
6. Paul will make this plain
Romans 4:11-12 Abraham is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
Romans 2:28-29 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.
So, the hidden question of Stephen’s defense is: are you really children of Abraham? Are you walking in the footsteps of Abraham’s faith?
Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would love me and believe in me… not try to kill me.”
Tragically, at the end of Stephen’s defense, they will prove as their forefathers did—they were children of the devil by killing Stephen as their forefathers killed the prophets and as this very Sanhedrin had killed Jesus Christ.
IV. The Patriarchs, Joseph, and Jesus
A. Stephen Continues to Set Up His Climax:
Acts 7:51-52 You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute?
1. There is no great honor in being a Jew in and of itself
2. The patriarchs of the Jewish nation were jealous and murderous
3. Joseph is the case study
Acts 7:9-10 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
B. Patriarchs’ Jealousy and Hatred; God’s Amazing Providence
1. Big picture, Joseph was God’s ordained savior for the Jews from the famine that struck that region
2. But the patriarchs’ hatred of Joseph was essential to the story of his elevation to rule all of Egypt
3. It was also fulfillment of the promise God had made to Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a country not their own
4. All of this sets up the Exodus from Egypt under Moses
5. God’s astonishing sovereignty over all history is breathtaking… nothing that happens is outside of God’s meticulous predestined plan
6. But the patriarchs are held accountable for their jealousy, murderous intentions, hatred, and their selling their own brother into slavery
C. Joseph is a Type of Christ
1. God predicted the coming of Christ through many prophecies in the Old Testament
2. These prophecies are in two patterns: verbal predictions and types… types are things acted out that give living pictures of Christ
3. Verbally predictive prophecies:
Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
4. Types: when Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac, Isaac was a type or picture of Christ… as was the ram in the thicket caught by its horns; indeed every animal sacrifice was a type of Christ
5. Joseph was a type of Christ
a. He had dreams about his future exaltation
Genesis 37:6-8 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
b. He had another dream in which the sun, moon, and eleven stars all bowed down to him
c. Even his doting father Jacob had problems with this:
Genesis 37:10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”
d. The dream was somewhat fulfilled when Joseph became ruler over all of Egypt
Acts 7:9-10 God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
e. When the famine came, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt for grain to save their lives… then they bowed down and prostrated themselves before him, not knowing who he was
Genesis 42:6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.
f. Joseph remembered his dreams then
g. Their hatred of their future savior was a type or picture of Israel’s rejection of Jesus, their ultimate savior
h. The sun, moon, and stars bowing down to Joseph would never be fulfilled in him, but in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, before whom all the universe prostrates itself
6. Joseph himself saw their hatred and jealousy as essential to the Jewish nation’s survival
7. Stephen describes the movement
Acts 7:11-15 Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.
8. Joseph’s exaltation to rulership in Egypt guaranteed that there would be grain to save their lives
9. So Joseph spoke with astonishing graciousness, wisdom, and perspective after Jacob died and the brothers were terrified that Joseph would now have his revenge
Genesis 50:18-21 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
10. So it was ultimately in the case of Jesus… what these, the descendants of the sinful jealous patriarchs did to Jesus was ultimately the salvation of the true Jewish nation from the real danger… eternal damnation in hell
11. What they meant for evil, God meant for good.
12. But it is good news for those men only if they repent of their unbelief and rebellion and trust in Christ
D. The Exodus Set Up
1. Stephen concluded the Joseph part of his story by these words:
Acts 7:15-16 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
The promised land itself is a type of a future gift of grace… none of those men received the promised land, but died in faith waiting for the true promised land, the New Heaven and New Earth
Hebrews 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
Hebrews 11:16 Instead, they were longing for a better country– a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
2. Stephen has now brought us in Jewish history to the Exodus… and there we will start next time, God willing
V. Applications
A. Come to Christ
1. The great tragedy of the Jewish nation is their centuries of stubborn unbelief and hardness of heart, refusing to see the clear evidence of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God
2. Don’t let that be true of you! You have even more evidence than they had who listened to Stephen’s sermon… you have all four Gospels, perfect records of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus… all the evidence you need to believe in him
3. Stiff necked means stubborn, hard of heart… resisting; all of us have some of that nature in us
4. If God has saved you, praise him for taking out your heart of stone… if he hadn’t done that, you would have been guilty of the exact same thing
B. Praise God for Fulfilling His Promise to Persecuted Witnesses
1. Jesus promised to give us words and wisdom that none of our adversaries would be able to resist or contradict… Stephen’s bold, clear, brilliant defense is proof of that
2. Celebrate the long history of courageous witnesses, even martyrs who courageously laid down their lives for the gospel
C. Boldly Witness
1. So step out in faith and boldly witness and see how the Lord will equip you and empower you as well
2. We have a brief time to live in this world
3. This is our time to speak up for our Lord
4. Study Stephen’s defense and learn from him… see how he clearly explained from Israel’s history the proofs of Christ’s message
D. Stand in Awe of God’s Sovereignty in History
1. Everything Stephen cited from Jewish history had a distinct purpose by God
2. God was orchestrating everything, even the wicked unbelief and rebellion of generation after generation of Jews for a glorious end of salvation for his elect
3. They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, for the saving of many lives
E. Pray for the Persecuted Church
1. Some bold men and women are presently in the crucible of testing right now, even today
2. Pray for them!
3. Top ten persecuting countries in 2024: 1) North Korea; 2) Somalia; 3) Libya; 4) Eritrea; 5) Yemen; 6) Nigeria; 7) Pakistan; 8) Sudan; 9) Iran; 10) Afghanistan… India is #11
4. Pray that God would give them supernatural boldness as he gave to Stephen
5. Zeroing in on North Korea:
According to Open Doors, being discovered to be a Christian in North Korea is essentially a death sentence. Either believers are deported to labor camps as political criminals where they face a life of extreme hard labor which few can survive or they are killed on the spot. The same fate awaits their family members. There may be between 50-70,000 Christians in labor camps in North Korea
6. Trouble also in Afghanistan, now that the Taliban is running the country
Persecution.org had a story on the increasingly perilous situation for Christians in 2022 in Afghanistan:
The story spoke of the Taliban’s so-called courts—kangaroo courts cobbled together among the men of their groups to try and convict anyone who doesn’t submit to their religious convictions.
“The rising starvation rates and increasing poverty in Afghanistan create an even higher security threat to these believers since now the Taliban are offering financial compensation to anyone who reports on Christians. In an interview with Mission News Network, Lana Silk, CEO of USA at Transform Iran, said, ‘The Taliban are offering money for Afghans to turn in any Christians they know. And Afghans are desperate, further heightening the security risk [to] Christians.’ Unless ransomed by their families, Christians captured by the ‘courts’ face brutal torture and even death. If redeemed, the survivors and their families, often bankrupt from the exorbitant ransom demands, must flee their homes to avoid repeated kidnappings from the various Taliban gangs.”
PRAY for the persecuted church all over the world!
