Stephen’s Brilliant Defense, Part 1 (Acts Sermon 15)

Turn in your Bibles to Acts 7.  We continue this incredible journey through the Book of Acts. We’ve seen Acts 1:8 is the unifying theme verse for the entire Book of Acts, “You’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” We’re seeing in the case of Stephen, the great cost of being a witness for Jesus Christ. The very thing that Jesus predicted, that there would be great opposition to his apostles and indeed to his whole church as they sought to take this gospel message. They would be taking, as it were, enemy ground from Satan and from his puppets in the world, and that there would be a cost. There would be a price to being witnesses to Jesus. He clearly warned His disciples concerning this multiple times. 

I. Stephen: Catalyst and Defender of the Gospel

As we look at Stephen, we’re going to see one of the greatest defenses of Christianity in church history. The second-longest sermon I believe in the Bible behind the Sermon on the Mount. It is a powerful and clear fulfillment of the promise that Jesus made to all of us as we are witnesses for him. Jesus said in Luke 21, “They’re going to arrest you. They’re going to bring you before kings and governors on account of my name. But when they arrest you, do not worry. Make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you’ll defend yourself. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.”

We see in Stephen a clear example of that power through the Holy Spirit given by Jesus to his witnesses. This great man of God, this catalyst and this defender of the gospel. As we look at how he defends Christ and Christianity we’re brought into what’s known as the science of apologetics. Stephen’s ministry and defense is a clear example of the command that Jesus gave through the apostle Peter in First Peter 3:15, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that is within you.” That is called apologetics from the Greek word “apologeo,” which is “to set forth words towards something literalistically.”  It’s not the way we use the word from that, “apologize,” which is a weaker thing saying you’re sorry for something you did or didn’t do. That’s not what apologetics is. This is a much stronger thing. Apologetics is a reasoned defense of Christianity, of Christ and of the Gospel. Paul spoke in Philippians 1:7 of 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 reason, defense especially from the Scriptures. So 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.

So 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 in Acts 7. Last week, we saw the greatness of this man, Stephen. He was introduced to us as one of the seven, sometimes called deacons, the original deacons. The men chosen by the church and appointed by the Apostles to oversee the daily distribution of food to the Greek-speaking widows there in the church in Jerusalem. He was described in Acts 6 as full of the spirit and wisdom, but he did far more than that ministry, as great as that was. He was a defender of the gospel in some very hostile settings. In Acts 6: 8, it says, “Now, Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.” “And he went to synagogues…,” [verses 9-10]. Opposition arose however it says, from members of the synagogue of the freed men, as it was called, the Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia.” Now, these men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the spirit by whom he spoke.”  Stephen was incredibly gifted as a witness and a defender of the Christian faith. He reasoned with the Jews in these synagogues and he proved from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ and he was undefeated in those debates. They could not stand up against his wisdom of the Spirit by whom he spoke.

Almost certainly one of his debating opponents was a young man named Saul of Tarsus, who Paul says about himself. At that time, he was advancing in Judaism beyond anyone else of his own generation. He was an expert in Judaism. He sat at the feet of Gamaliel and learned much. He was from Tarsus, a leading city in the region of Cilicia where this synagogue was from. It was at his feet that those who murdered Stephen, at the end of Acts 7, laid their garments to some degree saying that he was the ringleader of the conspiracy against Stephen. I believe that Stephen’s biblical defense of Christianity were among the greatest goads that Jesus spoke about that led Saul of Tarsus to his conversion. He could not resist or contradict the scriptural reasoning that Stephen brought, and eventually, it led to his own conversion. 

Stephen is an amazing man, and this is all what we covered last time. He’s at the forefront of the movement of the Gospel through its earliest checkpoints. That’s why I call him a catalyst. He was used by God, by the Holy Spirit to move the church along. “You’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem first and then, in Judea and Samaria next, and then to the ends of the earth.” The Apostles had already fulfilled the first of those checkpoints. They had filled Jerusalem with their teaching, their enemies charged them with. Jerusalem was super saturated with the Gospel.  But the time had come to move out from Jerusalem, to go out into Judea and Samaria, and we need that kind of catalyst sometimes. The church tends to stay put, to stay comfortable and we’ll talk about that, God willing in future sermons, but there’s that need to move out. Stephen’s life and his death indeed was a catalyst for that. After Stephen’s martyrdom, Saul of Tarsus began to destroy the church we’re told, and it resulted in the scattering of the church throughout Judea and Samaria, all except the apostles who I think were imprisoned.

The rest of the church was scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. They went and preached the Word wherever they went, just as the Lord intended, making Stephen thus, a key catalyst. He was 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 who is called the apostle to the Gentiles. He was the greatest missionary to the Gentiles that has ever lived and indeed carried the Gospel to the ends of the earth, continuing that work. Stephen is a catalyst for all of this, Acts 1:8, checkpoint by checkpoint.

Now, as I stop and as I look at Acts 7, I want you to just go ahead and look, it’s a long chapter.  Have you noticed? It’s really long and you know me, you know my approach to preaching? You know I take a long time, I go verse by verse, and I have a problem as a sequential careful expository of every verse of scripture when I come to a 60-verse chapter.  Someone once asked John Stott, “How long should a sermon be?”, and John Stott said, “I’m not saying any specific length, but a sermon should feel like 20 minutes.” There’s some people who preach for 20 minutes and it feels like 20 minutes. I hope that this sermon won’t feel like much longer than that, but I have a problem because it’s not just really a long chapter, and as I said, the longest sermon other than the Sermon in the Mount. It’s a cohesive whole. It’s a brilliant masterpiece of rhetoric, really. It builds and builds and builds and builds to an incredible climax. It’s really a seamless presentation of historical truth of Old Testament truth, with a point. It’s very much like Jesus’s garment, his undergarment that was seamless; they said when they gambled for his clothes, ”Let’s not tear it.” So that’s a problem I have as I come to Acts 7. I don’t want to tear it, but I have no choice because we just can’t get through all 60 verses. There’s so much. Every little phrase, every part of Stephen’s defense is a gateway into theological significance that is unfolded in much greater detail in Paul’s writings than the rest of the New Testament. There are really off-ramps that we could take and walk through in the case study of Abraham or the topic of circumcision or different things that are thoroughly dealt with in other places. As a preacher, I have to decide how many of those off-ramps to take and discuss. Some of them I will take because it’s important to understand what Stephen is doing, but it’s a challenge.

So the approach I’ve chosen to take is to give you an overview of the whole thing today of what his purpose is and how he goes about his work, including right to the climax and what he’s seeking to do. So kind of stealing my own thunder, but I have no choice. 

II. Stephen’s Four-Fold Purpose

You can really see what his purpose is in all of this, but then go carefully through the section that you’ve heard already read for us, the first 19 verses. What is his purpose? First of all, he has a four-fold purpose, Stephen does. He’s on trial before the Sanhedrin. He’s been accused of a crime or a series of crimes, religious crimes by the Sanhedrin, so he’s there to defend himself. His first purpose is to defend himself against the charge of blasphemy. Along with that though, secondly, he seeks to engage their attention to captivate their mind so that they track with them and don’t reject them immediately. He wants to captivate their attention. He does this by tracing out the history of the Jewish nation, one of their favorite topics. Thirdly, he wants to convict them of their persistent sin in rejecting the messengers of God and ultimately, rejecting the Savior that God sent. He wants to show them their sinfulness and their wickedness in rejecting the prophets and ultimately Christ.  And fourthly, he wants to proclaim Jesus as the Savior, the son of God, the Savior of the world. He wants to do those four things. So defense of himself, engagement, conviction, and proclamation. Those are his four purposes, and he does these brilliantly. 

He has to, first of all, defend himself against the charge of blasphemy. Look back in chapter 6:11 it says, “They secretly persuaded some men to say, we have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.” And then, in verses 13-14, “They hauled him before the Sanhedrin and produced false witnesses who testified, ‘This fellow never stopped speaking against this holy place [the temple] and against the law.’” That is the law of Moses.

Specifically, I think it’s the animal sacrificial system, “For we’ve heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, the temple, and change the customs Moses handed down to us.” So summing up charges, blasphemy against God, blasphemy against Moses, blasphemy against the temple and blasphemy against the laws of Moses, specifically I think the sacrificial system. These are very serious charges. They carried with them the death penalty in ancient Israel, in Leviticus 24:16, “Anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death.” Blasphemy was the very charge that the Sanhedrin, the same Sanhedrin and same charge that hung Jesus to condemn Him to death, though it was Pontius Pilate that actually crucified him, executed him.

It was the issue of blasphemy and Stephen is under the same charge. How does he defend himself against the charge of blasphemy? First, he wants to engage their attention. He wants to not say something that will immediately cause them to eject and stop listening. He’s going to draw them in. The Jews as a nation love nothing more than immersing themselves and celebrating their own history, Jewish history. They loved being proclaimed the sons of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. They were the inheritors of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all of those glorious centuries of Jewish history. As such, they were captivated by Stephen.

They were engaged with what Stephen was doing. It was a very amazing presentation. He held them spellbound until they saw what he was doing, until they saw his purpose. Stephen’s  history  is history with a purpose, and I want to step back and say indeed, all of the Old Testament history is history with a purpose. It’s one of the difficult things as you begin a new year and you say, I’m going to read through the Bible in a year and it won’t be long before you bump into history, I mean right away. Then, you’re going to follow the history of the Jews and their laws and they’re all woven together and all that. You get into 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, you’re like, “What is all this?”

There’s a purpose behind all of it, and frankly, Acts 7 is a shortcut to get at some of God’s purpose and all of that history. It’s history with a purpose. He’s going to show that the entire history of the Jewish nation is a display of the wickedness and stubbornness of a people that consistently rebelled against God, unbelief rebellion against God. I was having a conversation with somebody about this a couple of days ago and saying to some degree, you have Adam representing the entire human race of the Garden of Eden, and then you have the Jews representing all peoples and nations too in a similar way.  With the same outcome, Adam sinned in the garden, and the Jewish nation sinned consistently and no other tribe or language or nation should say we would’ve done better. It’s a history of rebellion frankly, of tragedy and sin. He’s going to say that the Jewish fathers, so to speak, that preceded the generation that preceded were the true blasphemers, not Stephen. They were the blasphemers and the Sanhedrin is included for they have taken up that same approach. Along the way, he achieves his goals. He defends himself against the charge of blasphemy, blasphemy against God. 

He starts right away by showing clear reverence that he had for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God of glory he calls him. We’re going to walk through these in details, but just he’s going to defend himself. In other words, Stephen has the greatest reverence for the God of glory. He’s not a blasphemer. He’s going to mention God eighteen more times in his message. He’s no blasphemer. Neither is he a blasphemer against Moses. He’s going to bring up Moses and speak very reverentially and respectfully about Moses. He’s going to show full respect and honor for Moses, concerning the temple. He’s going to trace out the temple and how the Jews wrongly thought about it and how God doesn’t dwell in temples made by human hands. The temple was just a type in a shadow of something beautiful that was to come, the salvation that Christ came to bring in the heavenly dwelling place in the new heaven, new earth. It’s a type in shadow of that.

Concerning the law of Moses, he’s going to prove that all of this pointed toward Christ. He’s no blasphemer against these things, but he’s going to turn the whole thing around on him. They are the true blasphemers. They have not followed in the footsteps of the faith that the Father Abraham had. They’re just like the Israelites who rejected Joseph and then, rejected Moses, and then all the prophets. They didn’t keep the law of Moses, so God sent the prophets to tell them they’re sinning against the law, and they killed the prophets. 

Their fathers consistently rejected God and his messengers at every step in their history. They sold Joseph into slavery because they were jealous of him.  But God had appointed Joseph to be their savior from famine, but they rejected him and he later saved them. They did the same thing with Moses, they rejected Moses from being their ruler and judge and all that, but he was the very one that God had appointed to be their deliverer from slavery. It’s the same pattern. They rejected God in Mount Sinai by making the golden calf. They rejected God’s true purpose in the temple. They effectively made an idol of the temple rather than seeing how it pointed to salvation in Christ. These things were just a type and a shadow, and the reality is Christ. 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. So they’re the true blasphemers and all of this comes at the end of the message.  Look at verse 51-53,”You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears. You’re just like your fathers. You always resist the Holy Spirit. 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, you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels, but have not obeyed it.” That’s where he is going. This resulted in their overwhelming rage at him, murderous rage. Verse 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. He didn’t predict that he would preach Christ this way, but he did it while he was dying, while they were killing him. He never knew that God would honor him with the vision of heaven opened, and of Christ. Look at verse 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. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the son of man standing at the right hand of God.’” Now, keep in mind these were the very words Jesus had spoken to this very same Sanhedrin that caused them to convict him of blasphemy.The very thing. In Matthew 26, the high priest said to Jesus, “I charge you under oath by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ the son of God. ‘Yes it is as you say,’ Jesus replied, ‘but I say to all of you, in the future, you’ll see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the mighty one and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his close and said, ‘He has spoken blasphemy. Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.’ He said to the Sanhedrin, ‘What do you think?’ And they all answered, ‘He is worthy of death.’” Now here’s Stephen saying the same thing. Stephen saw Jesus 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. I’m just telling you where we’re going in Acts 7. This is the overview. It’s his fourfold purpose to defend himself against the charge of blasphemy, to engage and hold their attention so he can, let’s be honest, “boil the frog.” That’s what’s going on, isn’t it? Little by little by little, he’s paying out stories of rebellion and they don’t see what’s happening, and then finally they get it. “Those great Jewish fathers, you revere so much, they weren’t so great and now look at yourselves.” So little by little he’s going to “boil the frog” on them until they finally see what he’s getting at. He’s going to convict them of the sin of hard-hearted rebellion against God, and then, proclaim Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God at the right hand of God. He does all that. That’s the overview. 

Now, let’s walk through the defense in detail. First of all, we have to set the dramatic setting. He has been … There’s a conspiracy against him that has charged him of this blasphemy. It’s been orchestrated probably by Saul and some others. He’s arrested and hauled before the Sanhedrin, which is the group of the Jewish elders who are charging this religious trial. They’re carrying on this trial and he’s brought before them. In 6:15, it says, “All who are sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” I talked about this last week, I think there was a radiant glow on his face. Not too bright, I don’t think. Not overwhelming like blinding, but I think there was a different look to Stephen. I don’t know what else this would mean other than the face of an angel. Remember how an angel appeared the night that Jesus was born and the glory of the Lord shown around. And then chapter 7:1, “The high priest asked him, ‘Are these charges true?’” And off we go.

III. The God of Glory and the Faith of Abraham

He begins with the God of glory and the faith of Abraham. Look at verses 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.  Leave your country and your people. God said, and go to the land I will show you. 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.’” He begins with a familiar address. “Brothers and fathers, I’m a Jew like you are,” he says. “You’re my brothers in the Jewish faith. You Sanhedrin, you’re older than me. You’re an authority. You’re your fathers in the faith.” So he has respect for them. “I’m no radical fire-breathing blasphemer. I’m a Jew like you are. I’m part of the Jewish family.” Peter says, “When we give our defense for Christ, we should keep a clear conscience. Don’t use anger, don’t use insults or attacks or any of that. Be a godly person even if they’re being ungodly.” So he carries himself that way and says, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham.“

“The God of Glory”, what an incredible title for God. It’s actually unusual. It only appears once in the Old Testament, Psalm 29. In Psalm 29, it says, “Ascribe to the Lord, the glory to his name. Worship the Lord and the splendor of his holiness. The voice of the Lord is over the waters, the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.” This title, the God of Glory, sums up all of his attributes. The glory of God is the radiant display of his attributes or his perfections. The new heaven and the new earth will shine, will glow with the glory of God. It’s a wonderful title.

This title, the God of Glory, sums up all of his attributes.

But he’s also saying, I’m no blasphemer. I have the highest respect for God, for the God of glory. And indeed, if his face was shining, it was with the glory of God. He’s a messenger of that God of glory. And again, notice he connects to the Jewish heritage, our father Abraham. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham. Now how did God do this? We don’t know. You read the Genesis account and God has all kinds of interactions with him. In Genesis 20:7 Abraham was called a prophet. Prophets often had visions from God. You can read about it in the later callings of Isaiah or Ezekiel. They would have visions of God. So perhaps the God of glory appeared in a radiant, glorious display to Abraham.  We really don’t know. The text doesn’t tell us, but He appeared to Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia. It says before he lived in Haran, “Leave your country and your people.” Verse 3, God said, “And go to the land, I will show you. 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.” 

We are now tracing out the movements of Abraham, and those movements were movements of faith. It was by faith in God that he did these things. He was effectively on a pilgrimage of faith. The sequence of Abraham’s motions, his calling is complex. It’s not easy to figure out. It seems God’s initial call to Abram in Ur of the Chaldees came and that just moved him to Haran. The second part of his call came in Haran to go to the so-called promised land, the land where they were now living. Therefore, we’re seeing the faith of Abraham. By faith, Abraham obeyed God’s call to leave his country and his family now in Ur of the Chaldees and also in Haran. It seems that Abram like his ancestors was a pagan, just a pagan moon worshiper. We learned in Joshua  chapter 24, ”Long ago, your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the river and worshiped other gods.” So it seemed that he was just a pagan moon worshiper when God appeared to him and called him.

This is also why in Romans 4 the apostle Paul, speaking of Abraham, says, God justifies the wicked or God justifies the ungodly. It’s a very surprising thing for a Jew like Paul to call Abraham wicked, but nobody is justified out of righteousness into righteousness, but rather out of wicked sinfulness, and that was Abraham. He was called out of sin into righteousness. Abraham thus began a lifetime of walking by faith, leaving paganism, leaving paganism even the place where he lived and progressively obeying the call of God to do things that he would never have done any other way. This life of faith continued to the end of his days. Look at verse 5, “God gave him Abraham 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.” Look at all the promises made that hadn’t been fulfilled in that one verse. It’s a life of faith in the promises of God, of moving out, trusting in the word of God. 

The author to Hebrews reiterates and emphasizes this fact. Abraham died not having received the promises. He didn’t get the land. Stephen’s reference to the covenant promise that God made to Abraham is vital to their national identity, and to his case, God had promised that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars in the sky, even though at that time he had no heir.  He had no child. Abraham and Sarah had no child, but God made him that promise, in Genesis 15, one of the great chapters of the Bible. God took Abraham out and said, “Look up at the stars and count them if you can.” Then He made this promise, “So shall your offspring be, and Abraham believed God and it was credited him as righteousness.” That’s how he was forgiven of his sins. That is justifying faith that Paul celebrates in Romans 4. That’s what it is. Abraham believed the promise of God and it was credited to him as righteousness, despite all of those obstacles. When God then promised Abraham that he and his descendants would possess the land, Abraham at that time Genesis 15 said, “How can I know I’m going to get this land?”  So they went through what I call the covenant cutting ceremony, which was known to the people of the ancient Near East where they took an animal and they killed it and put its pieces apart and there was a pathway between them. The kings, who would make covenants with each other, would walk through that pathway. Abraham got the animals ready, but then God appeared in a fire pot representing His presence and He went through the path alone. The symbolism of the kings walking through is basically, there’s the guts and bloody pieces of animals on left and right, and they’re saying, may that happen to me if I break this covenant.  But God went through alone. Again, keep in mind the question Abraham asked him at that time, how can I know I’m going to get this land? What is God saying? May I be blown to bits if I don’t keep this promise. It’s an incredible commitment that He made. He made that promise and Abraham believed that promise. At that time, God spoke the words that Stephen quotes, verse 6, “Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, where they’ll be enslaved and mistreated for 400 years. But I’ll punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward, they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.”  Imagine being a Jew 200 years in, in slavery in Egypt. All you’ve got at that point is the promise and you better believe it because that’s all you’ve got because you’re going to spend your whole life in slavery. But that was the promise that stood over those 400 years.

Stephen then addresses the issue of circumcision as Paul will prove later. It had nothing to do with the promise. It came later, the covenant circumcision. How proud were the Jews of circumcision? It was everything. It was circumcised versus uncircumcised. They called Gentiles uncircumcised dogs. Stephen said circumcision had nothing to do with it. Verse 8, “Then he gave Abraham the covenant circumcision.” Ithad nothing to do with the promises. Behind all this is a challenge. Are you really sons of Abraham or not? Stephen is little by little showing a pattern of unbelief throughout the history of Israel, Abraham and his son Isaac, the son of the promise, verse 8, “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.” These were the physical descendants of Abraham. This was the source of pride. The pride of the Jews. We’re sons of Abraham and of that lineage, that biological lineage, that genealogy, that flow, that’s who we are.

But are you really sons of Abraham, really? A man is not a Jew if he has only an outwards appearance, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical Paul says in Romans. A man is a Jew if he has an inward circumcision of the heart by the Spirit, not by the written code. That’s Paul in Romans 2. Jesus challenged us directly. He said, I know you are Abraham’s descendants. This is John 8:37-40,  “I know you are Abraham’s descendants, yet you are to kill me because you have no room for my word.” I’m telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence. And you do what you have heard from your father. ‘Abraham is our father,’ they answered. ‘If you were Abraham’s children,’ Jesus said, ‘then you would do the things that Abraham did. As it is, you’re determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.  Abraham did not do such things. 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.’” That was Jesus to these same Jews. John 8 asked, “Are you really sons of Abraham?” Paul is going to put it this way in Romans 4:11-12, “Abraham is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised.” Those are Gentile Christians that were not circumcised. He’s the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised in order that righteousness may be credited them. He is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. 

Do you see Stephen tracing that out here? The footsteps of the faith of Abraham? What about you? Are you following a life of faith? Then you really are sons of Abraham. That’s what’s going on here.   The hidden question of Stephen’s defense is this, are you really children of Abraham or not? Are you walking in the footsteps of Abraham’s faith or not? Jesus said, “If you are Abraham’s children, you would love me and believe in me, not try to kill me. But because you want to kill me, you’re children of your father, the devil, you’re children of the devil.”  At the end of this chapter, what do you think these men are going to prove? What did they do to Stephen?  We’ve already seen what they did. Are they not also sons of the devil by killing Stephen? What did he do that deserved to be murdered? He told them the truth.

IV. The Patriarchs, Joseph and Jesus

Then Stephen transitions to the patriarchs, Joseph and Jesus, and now he’s starting to set up his climax. “You stiff neck people with uncircumcised hearts and ears, you’re just like your fathers. You always resist the Holy Spirit. Was there ever a messenger or a helper that you did not persecute?” Let’s look at some case studies. He doesn’t fly his banner here. He doesn’t say, “I want to show you just how terrible you all are.” He didn’t do that. He just said, “Now, we’re up to the patriarchs. Let’s find out what happened?”  Because the patriarchs [verse 9]were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt, but God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him ruler over Egypt in all his palace. In the patriarchs we see jealousy and hatred. We also see God’s amazing providence. The big picture is that Joseph was God’s ordained savior for the Jews from the famine that was going to come, that would strike that region that would inevitably have killed them, if Joseph hadn’t been in the position he was in. The patriarchs’ hatred of Joseph was essential to him going to Egypt.  He wouldn’t have gone any other way. It was essential to the story. 

It was also fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a country not their own, where they would be enslaved and mistreated 400 years. God had to orchestrate all this. All of this sets up the Exodus from Egypt under Moses. God’s astonishing sovereignty over all history is breathtaking here. Nothing happens outside of God’s meticulous, predestined plan, but the patriarchs are accountable for their jealousy, their murderous intentions for their hatred and their selling of their own brother into slavery. They’re accountable for what they did. Joseph is a type of Christ.

God predicted the coming of Jesus from the Garden of Eden, “the seed of the woman will come and crush the serpent’s head.” God began to predict the coming of the Messiah, but He does it in two basic patterns. There are typically predictive prophecies, and there’s verbally predictive prophecies. Verbally predictive prophecy is where God just says, This is what’s going to happen. Like Micah 5:2, “Bethlehem Ephrathah was the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah.” A clear verbal, predictive prophecy. Typically predictive prophecies are acted out in space and time. They’re acting out in Jesus and aspects of salvation so that we can learn from them. For example, when Abraham almost killed his son, Isaac, Isaac was a type of Christ.  The ram in the thicket caught by its horns, indeed every animal sacrifice that ever was, was a type or picture of Christ. Does that make sense? Joseph is a type or a picture of Christ. Remember, Joseph had a dream in which in the dream, he and his brothers were binding sheaves out in the field. And as there were binding sheaves of wheat, his sheaf of grain stood up and all the other sheaves bowed down to his sheaf. Then, he had the good sense to tell that dream to his brothers, “Hey, you want to hear a dream I had last night is really exciting?” They answered, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of the dream that he had. Then he had another dream. This one’s even better. And in that dream, the sun, the moon and the eleven stars all bowed down to him and Joseph said, “Oh, you didn’t like that dream? Wait until you hear this one.” He told the dream to his father, and his father didn’t like it much either. He said, “what is that dream you had? Your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you.” This dream was partially the first dream and was definitely fulfilled when Joseph became ruler over all of Egypt. Look at verses 9-10, “God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.“

God made him ruler over Egypt in all his palace. There it is. When the famine came, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt for grain to save their lives, and they bowed down and prostrated themselves before him not knowing who he was. Genesis 42:6, “Now, Joseph was a governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. When Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.” Joseph remembered his dreams then. Their hatred of their future savior was a type or picture of Israel’s rejection of Jesus, their ultimate savior. The sun, moon, and stars bowing down to Joseph would never be fulfilled in him, but will be fulfilled in Christ.

Why is that? Because Christ rules over all creation. Isaiah 24:23 said, “The moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed for the Lord Almighty will reign…gloriously.” Jesus rules over all of those things. The universe bows down before Jesus and worships. Joseph himself saw their hatred and jealousy as essential to the whole story. It was because they hated him that they ever went in slavery to Egypt. It’s the same way with Jesus because of the hatred and rejection of the Jewish nation, He was crucified. Pilate didn’t want to kill Him, but it was because the Jews rejected their own savior that salvation came. It’s a type or picture of Christ. 

Stephen describes this patriarch’s story. Look at verses 11-15, “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan bringing great suffering and our fathers could not find food. When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit.” On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. After this, Joseph sent for his father, Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. Then Jacob went down to Egypt where he and our fathers died.” Joseph’s exaltation to rulership in Egypt guaranteed that there would be grain to save their lives. Joseph spoke with amazing graciousness and wisdom and perspective. After Jacob died and his brothers were now terrified that Joseph has been waiting for this. It seems he’s going to get his revenge for what they did to him. They come and they bowed down before him and they threw themselves before Joseph, a second fulfillment of that dream.  “We are your slaves,” they said. They’re in terror, but Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You meant it for evil against me. God meant it for good to accomplish what is now being saved, the saving of many lives. So then don’t be afraid, I’ll provide for you and your children.” This is, I think, Joseph’s finest moment. He reassured them and spoke kindly to them. He had no bitterness toward them at all. As it was ultimately in the case of Jesus. What these, the descendants of that sinful … of those sinful, jealous patriarchs did to Jesus was ultimately the salvation of the true Jewish nation from the real danger, and that is hell.  It is hell and what they meant for evil, God meant for infinite, good for you and me. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. But it’s good news for these men in the Sanhedrin, only if what? They repent of their wickedness and their stubbornness and their hard hearts and fall down and worship Jesus, only then will it do them any good. 

While all this sets up the Exodus, Stephen concluded the Joseph part of the story by these words, “Then Jacob went down to Egypt where he and our fathers died. 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.” Why is he talking about that? They still hadn’t received the promised land, not a foot of ground, so they had to dicker and buy a place to bury their dead.  The author of the Hebrew says this, “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. 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.” 

Are we not also aliens and strangers in this world? Our inheritance is not in this world, not a foot of ground. This world is destined to be burned at the end of time and a new heaven, a new earth is coming, and that’s what we’re going to inherit. As Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will  inherit the earth.”  Meanwhile, the author of Hebrews wants us to live like they did, aliens and strangers following in the footsteps of the Father, Abraham, waiting for the promise to be fulfilled.

Are we not also aliens and strangers in this world? Our inheritance is not in this world, not a foot of ground.

V. Applications

The application of every sermon is “Come to Christ.” Trust in him. If Stephen were here and he knew any of you were lost, any of you outside the faith, would he not plead with you with tears to come to Christ? We all have our own version of being stiff-necked, hard-hearted people, rebellious against God, violating his laws. Jesus said, it’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, his own perfect righteousness offered to you as a gift.  Abraham believed God and it was credited him as righteousness means you’re given a gift of forgiveness of your sins. Trust in Christ, trust in him. 

Now, if God has saved you, thank him for that salvation. You’re no different than those sinners. You have that same bitterness. You have that same unforgiveness. You have that same jealousy and covetousness and hard-heartedness. If you have come to a genuine faith in Christ, it’s because the Holy Spirit took that heart of stone out of you and gave you a heart of flesh. Give Him the glory for your salvation. Praise God in fulfilling that promise to you. Praise God for fulfilling the promise to persecuted witnesses.  He was with Stephen in all this. Do you see it? Do you see the courage he gave this man? Celebrate the long history, twenty centuries of courageous men and women, who are willing to die to keep the Gospel pure and get it to us. God was faithful. Jesus was faithful to them. 

Thirdly, boldly witness. We’re going to be praying on Wednesdays 6:30 in the morning for boldness and witness. If we are bold, if we’re courageous, we’re going to have enemies, we’re going to get persecuted. Maybe it’s not going to be to this degree, but let’s boldly witness to the people that are surrounding us who are lost, this is our time. Stephen is gone. These are our people to reach. This is our time. Study Stephen’s defense, learn from him. Learn from what he did.

Then fourth, stand in awe of God’s sovereignty over history. Isn’t this beautiful? History with a purpose. It always has a purpose. There’s a story being told here of the glory of God in the salvation of sinners like you and me.

 Close with me in prayer.

Father, as we begin to look at Stephen’s brilliant defense, and as we see all of the radiant and powerful truths flowing behind it, help us to be in awe of you, in awe of the Bible, in awe of the truth of the Scripture, in awe of what you did in Stephen. And Lord, help us to imitate Stephen’s faith and be willing to be bold and courageous in our generation, speaking the truth. Father, I want to pray that you would raise up some men and women to come and pray on Wednesday mornings.  Lord, pour out your spirit on this church. We need you. We need your spirit to move in us so that we can be faithful in Durham and in Raleigh and Chapel Hill in this region. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.

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!