You may recall that we were introduced to Stephen a few weeks ago.
We learned that he was one of the seven men chosen to serve the church by serving the widows of the church.
In our last sermon together, we saw his heroic stand before the Freedmen’s Synagogue and the Sanhedrin (the full Jewish court).
Remember that he was full of grace and power. Remember that he was performing great wonders and signs. Remember that he was full of the Holy Spirit. Remember that his face was like the face of an angel.
Do you remember all of that?
Well, last time, the sermon was called “The Stand of Stephen (Part 1).” I’ve cleverly entitled this sermon, “The Stand of Stephen (Part 2).”
This sermon is going to be a bit different because we’re covering an entire chapter.
This chapter contains sort of a sermon from Stephen that is broken up into themes or sections.
So, we’re going to look at a lot of Scripture, and hopefully learn a lot from God.
Before we go any further, let’s go to God in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.
(prayer)
I want to look at verse 1 before we go into the main part of the passage.
It says in verse 1,“‘Are these things true?’ the high priest asked.”
Well, the things to which the high priest is referring are the accusations that were brought against Stephen. Remember, he was accused of speaking against Moses and God, he was accused of speaking against the temple and the law, and he was accused of saying Jesus would destroy the temple and change the customs of Moses.
So, the high priest wants to know, “Are these things true?”
Well, let’s hear what Stephen has to say.
First, as we dive into this passage, notice that Stephen provides . . .
I. A review of Israel’s past.
Ok, I’m going to read a lot of this passage. Let’s look at verses 2-50:
2 “Brothers and fathers,” he replied, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, 3 and said to him: Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.
4 “Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land in which you are now living. 5 He didn’t give him an inheritance in it—not even a foot of ground—but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless. 6 God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for four hundred years. 7 I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship me in this place. 8 And so he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
9 “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household. 11 Now a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan, and our ancestors could find no food. 12 When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time. 13 The second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all, 15 and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there, 16 were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
17 “As the time was approaching to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt 18 until a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt. 19 He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them abandon their infants outside so that they wouldn’t survive. 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home for three months. 21 When he was put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son. 22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.
23 “When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He assumed his people would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. 26 The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’
27 “But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying: Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me, the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?
29 “When he heard this, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. 30 After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came: 32 I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.
33 “The Lord said to him: Take off the sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt.
35 “This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?—this one God sent as a ruler and a deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.
37 “This is the Moses who said to the Israelites: God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. 38 He is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors. He received living oracles to give to us. 39 Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him. 41 They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made. 42 God turned away and gave them up to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
House of Israel, did you bring me offerings and sacrifices
for forty years in the wilderness?
43 You took up the tent of Moloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship.
So I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. 45 Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them, until the days of David. 46 He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 It was Solomon, rather, who built him a house, 48 but the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says:
49 Heaven is my throne,
and the earth my footstool.
What sort of house will you build for me?
says the Lord,
or what will be my resting place?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?
Ok, that was a lot. Let’s break down some major themes throughout this section of Scripture.
Notice, first of all, that Stephen reviews Israel’s past.
What we encounter are facts of Israel’s history that would cause very little disagreement from the leaders of the Sanhedrin.
Stephen talks about how God appeared to Abraham when he was living in a land without God, and God called Abraham to leave his country because He was calling him to a new land and a new promise.
Stephen recounts how God prophesied to Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land, yet God would multiply Abraham’s offspring into a great people.
Stephen reviews how God provided the covenant of circumcision to Abraham, providing a son and a grandson to Abraham, who were named Isaac and Jacob.
He spoke about how more sons came from Jacob, who composed the twelve patriarchs, or twelve tribes of Israel.
He spoke about how Joseph was betrayed and sold to Egypt by his brothers, but God used that moment to rescue the clan of Israel.
In this large chunk of Scripture, Stephen reviewed the calling of Moses and how God used Moses to help deliver His people out of Egypt.
He spoke about how the people of Israel rejected God’s servant, Moses, and God became angry with them.
He spoke about how Joshua led the people in the wilderness, how God gave them the Tabernacle as a place of worship, and how the Tabernacle remained until the days of David.
He recalled how Solomon built a temple for God to be worshiped.
Then, however, Stephen begins to make a shift. He’s going to turn the heat up more in just a moment, but for now, notice what he says in verse 48.
Stephen says, “but the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands.”
Then, in verses 49 and 50, Stephen goes on to quote Isaiah 66.
Stephen is sort of pressing into what he was accused of doing earlier: speaking against the temple.
However, Stephen does not give his opinion on such matters; he simply speaks what God said through the prophet Isaiah.
So, that was a summary of all that Stephen said. Stephen delivered a review of Israel’s past.
However, Stephen now starts to turn up the heat.
Next, Stephen delivers . . .
II. A revealing of Israel’s present.
Let’s look at verses 51-53:
51 “You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also. 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. 53 You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it.”
Stephen comes out swinging in this section, doesn’t he?
He calls the religious leaders stiff-necked, meaning they are stubborn. Further, he says they have uncircumcised hearts and ears, meaning they don’t believe as true Jewish people and they don’t hear as true Jewish people. He basically says they are non-Jewish in their belief and in their hearing of the law of God.
Remember, he is speaking to the Sanhedrin! They are the supposed experts in Judaism, and they have the highest authority in Judaism.
Stephen doesn’t stop there. He also says that they have resisted the Holy Spirit of God. The ones who were supposed to hear from the Spirit of God and help the people understand the Spirit of God are instead resisting the Spirit of God.
Then, Stephen makes it personal. He says that their ancestors were persecuting the true servants of God, and they are too.
He said their ancestors killed the ones who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, Jesus, and they themselves actually killed the Righteous One, Jesus.
Finally, Stephen points out that they have rejected the law of God, which was given to them miraculously by God under the direction of angels.
Essentially, Stephen is saying that they have squandered and killed the good gifts that God gave them.
Wow, Stephen says it directly and clearly, doesn’t he?
Don’t forget that Stephen is a man full of the Holy Spirit. This was God’s message for these people to hear, delivered by God’s servant, Stephen.
However, even though Stephen was filled with the Spirit, even though he was speaking the truth, Stephen was about to face a difficult realization.
Let us see now . . .
III. A realization of Stephen’s future.
Let’s look at this difficult passage together. Look at verses 54-60:
54 When they heard these things, they were enraged and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57 They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. 58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he fell asleep.
Stephen’s future was unfolding before him in this passage.
First of all, we see that the Jewish leaders became very angry.
It says they were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth.
Gnashing teeth would almost be like groaning or growling. They were super angry.
Yet, even though they were full of anger, Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit.
In fact, Stephen was so in tune with the Spirit that God provided a miraculous gift for him, allowing him to see into heaven, see the glory of God, and see Jesus standing at God the Father’s right hand.
I have to think that this moment provided a supernatural peace and understanding of what was to come for Stephen.
Even though Stephen was about to face one of the worst moments of his life, he was simultaneously experiencing one of the best moments of his life.
When Stephen told them what he saw, they lost it, dragged him out of the city, and killed him by pulverizing his body with stones.
Notice what Stephen said while this was happening:
In verse 59, Stephen says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
Also, in verse 60, Stephen says, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”
Then, we see that it says Stephen fell asleep, meaning that he died.
Notice also in 58 that the men stoning Stephen took off their garments so that they could really get into the physical process of killing Stephen.
As they did so, they kept their garments under the watch of a man named Saul.
Remember that name, as we’ll come back to him again and again in the coming weeks.
Before we leave this section, remember the two things that Stephen said: “Receive my Spirit” and “Don’t hold this sin against them.”
Does this sound familiar? Did anyone else say such things as they were killed in an unjust and evil manner by the Jewish authorities?
Well, of course, our Lord Jesus said such things.
Jesus said in Luke 23:46, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.”
Jesus said in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.”
As Jesus suffered for His faithfulness to the mission of God, so Stephen suffered for his faithfulness to the mission of God.
We see a realization of Stephen’s future. Stephen would pour out his life in faithfulness to God and for the mission of God.
Well, what are we to make of all of this?
It seems that this was clearly God’s path for Stephen. What happened after this would create a shift in the growth and expansion of the church (more on that in the coming weeks).
However, let this bottom line summarize what we’re learning today:
Bottom Line: God’s plan for prospering the gospel includes the persecution of His people.
On the surface level, this may sound crazy. You might think, “How could God allow His people to suffer?”
However, the suffering of God’s people is an abundant reality in the Scriptures, and God uses our suffering for His glory.
Consider how God used the suffering of His people in Egypt to show His glory in the Exodus.
We’re going to learn later how God used the suffering of the early church to expand the reach of the gospel.
Think about how God brought about His mission and His glory in the suffering of His own Son.
2 Timothy 3:12 says, “In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
Luke 14:27 says, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
Romans 5:3–5 says, “And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Persecution is a part of Christianity. Suffering is a part of Christianity. It was then, and it is now.
Further, it seems in many ways that suffering may actually strengthen our relationship with God.
So, consider the reality that God’s plan for prospering the gospel includes the persecution of His people.
Challenge yourself this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Pray for those who persecute you.
Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:44, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Also, remember the attitude of both Jesus and Stephen: “Father, forgive them.”
If you’re experiencing persecution in any form, pray for those who are persecuting you, that they may come to the forgiveness of God and be used for God’s glory.
If you think it’s impossible for God to change an enemy of Christianity, I can’t wait to tell you more about Saul of Tarsus.
Weekly Challenge #2 – Pray for the persecuted.
There are persecuted Christians all over the world right now.
I recommend to you the resource The Voice of the Martyrs. Check it out online and learn more about the persecuted church.
For now, commit this week to pray for those who are persecuted or mistreated for their faith.
Weekly Challenge #3 – Pray for faithfulness.
Finally, pray for yourself, that you would be faithful.
We never know what awaits us in this life, but we do know this: God is in control, and He has called us to faithfulness.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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