WWUTT 1053 Stephen the First Martyr?

Stephen was a man who was appointed as one of the first deacons in the church, but the reason why he filled that role was so the

Word of God would continue to increase. And Stephen was a part of that when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the book of Acts chapter 6, and finishing up the chapter today.

So the last couple of days we've been talking about the installation of deacons in those first seven verses.

We're going to start in verse 8 and read through to the end of the chapter. This is the arresting of one of those deacons whose name was

Stephen. Starting in verse 8, And they instigated men who said,

We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes.

And they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council. And they set up false witnesses who said,

This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that this

Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.

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

Now, Acts chapter 7 then gets into Stephen's speech, and we're going to save that for next week.

It's actually the longest speech that is recorded in the New Testament other than Jesus' discourses in like Matthew, Luke, and John.

It's interesting that the book of Acts focuses upon Peter and Paul mostly.

They're kind of the main characters of Acts, and yet Stephen has the longest speech. But anyway, like I said, we'll talk about that next week.

Coming back to verse 8, Stephen, full of grace and power, and we had already read when Stephen was appointed to this service as a deacon, it says in verse 5 that Stephen was a man full of faith and of the

Holy Spirit. The next deacon that's mentioned is Philip, and these are the only two guys that we see come up again in the book of Acts.

The other five deacons appointed don't ever get mentioned again.

But Stephen was not only committed to helping to serve the needs of the body, his greatest concern was that the word of God would be proclaimed.

That was exactly why he took the task that he did when he was appointed as a deacon, and that was what I mentioned yesterday, that you have these folks in the church who get appointed to help meet those physical needs for the purpose of the word of God increasing.

Back to verse 7, and the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem.

The number of disciples would not have increased just through doing acts of service for one another.

As a matter of fact, not one Christian could be made because someone did something nice for somebody else.

The only way anyone ever comes to faith in Christ is because they heard the gospel and they believed it.

Yes, we're to do acts of service, and we can use those charitable acts as an open door to share the gospel with somebody, but doing acts of charity for someone else does not make anyone a

Christian. It is only the gospel that brings about saving faith. Romans 10, 17, faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.

So the reason why, once again, you had this appointed office that was set up, the office of deacons.

I know the word deacon doesn't get used there in verses 1 through 7, but that's really what's being done.

These men being appointed to help meet those needs of people that were within the church, those physical needs that they had.

The reason why that office is set up is so that those who are teaching can teach and not have to stop doing that in order to wait tables, in order to do something that any other abled -bodied person in the church would be able to do.

So Stephen is most concerned with the preaching of the word of God.

You see that being the fruit of his heart in that he is one of those persons who preaches the word of God.

He's also doing miracles, and Stephen is the first person that we have so far in the book of Acts performing great signs and wonders other than the apostles.

Now this is still happening during a time of apostolic ministry, so it's not that miraculous signs and wonders were limited only to the apostles, but it's within the realm of apostolic ministry that's going on here in these first years of the church.

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

This follows with the pattern that we see throughout the book of Acts, that there will be a miracle performed, there will be a speech that will be delivered.

The gospel proclaimed, and then the people will respond with hostility. You see that happen to Peter and John.

We see it happening to Stephen here in chapter 6 and 7, and then we're also going to see it happen later on to the apostle

Paul as well. He performs a miracle, he preaches the gospel. There are those contending against the gospel who will come against him.

So that's what we see happen to Stephen here. Then some of those who belong to the synagogue of the freedmen, as it was called.

So different synagogues had different names. Just like the churches in your community will have a different name.

I'm the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church. We have many Baptist churches in our community that have different names, including the

First Baptist Church. That, by the way, is about the best name that a church can have in a community.

And when I mean best name, I mean it's like the first named church that a person will look for.

What's First Baptist Church? Where is that located? So if you've got a church in your town that's

First Baptist Church, they already have the most popular name for a church in the country. It's not advantageous for them to change that name, especially in this age of Google because you got new people that move to a community and they'll type it up on their

Google search First Baptist Church in the town that they live in. And they'll probably want to go to that church unless they're raised

Presbyterian or Methodist or something like that. And that's the church that they're looking for. Most folks are going to go after the

First Baptist Church first anyway. But we have synagogues in this time that also have individual names that distinguish them from other synagogues.

In this particular case, this synagogue is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen. Where did that name come from?

Two possibilities. One is that they call themselves the freedmen in light of their

Jewish heritage, that they go all the way back to Israel being freed from Egypt and inheriting the promised land.

And so given that heritage, they've called themselves the Synagogue of the Freedmen. They've been set free.

Freedmen was also a Greek term that referred to those who had formerly been slaves and had been set free.

So it's possible that the synagogue was started by those who had formerly been slaves.

So therefore, the name of the synagogue was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen and of the

Syrenians and of the Alexandrians and those from Cilicia and Asia rose up and disputed with Stephen.

So what this is signifying here, what this is indicating by mentioning that there were those who were of Cyrene and of Alexandria and Cilicia and Asia that came up against Stephen.

This is demonstrating here that these were mostly Jews from the from the dispersion.

They had been dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. These were not Jews that were native or common to Jerusalem, not born and raised in Jerusalem, but rather had been scattered throughout the

Roman Empire. So these are Hellenists. These are going to be primarily Greek speaking

Jews. And they rose up and disputed with Stephen, who himself was a Hellenist. So you have the

Hellenists coming against the Hellenist. Verse 10, but they could not withstand the wisdom of the spirit with which he was speaking.

And this is all according to exactly what Jesus said when he told his disciples,

John 15, 18, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Stephen is a Hellenist and he's being hated by the other Hellenists because he's not of this world.

He is of the kingdom of God in Christ. Going on in John 15 to verse 20, remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

Whoever hates me hates my father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin.

But now they have seen and hated both me and my father. But the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled.

They hated me without a cause. But when the helper comes whom

I will send to you from the father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father, he will bear witness about me.

And you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning.

So we add another dynamic to this here as Jesus says, they hate my father. So they hate me.

And therefore they're going to hate you, Stephen, who is a disciple of Jesus, performing great signs and wonders, just as Jesus did.

And the people hated him. So the apostles and the disciples, likewise, who would perform great signs and wonders, authenticating that the word they spoke was from God and not from men, yet people are going to hate them because they hate

Jesus, because they hate the father, according to what Jesus said in Luke 15. Now in I'm sorry,

John 15 in Luke 12, verse 11, Jesus said, When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the

Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you are to say.

And that's exactly what we have in Acts 710 or sorry, Acts 610.

But they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which Stephen was speaking.

They try to bring false accusations. Stephen's able to respond. And every argument that Stephen makes in response to whatever it is that his critics are saying, he's just owning everybody with every word because it comes from the spirit of God and not from himself.

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

So now they're bringing forth witnesses, which also happened to Jesus, by the way.

Same thing happened to Jesus in Matthew 26, starting in verse 59. The chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death.

But they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said,

This man had said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.

And the high priest stood up and said, Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?

But Jesus remained silent. So as they were doing to Jesus, so they were also doing to Stephen.

They were bringing up false witnesses to try to bring a charge against Stephen that would therefore bring the people on the side of the priests that were there in that place so that they might put

Stephen to death. That was ultimately what they wanted to do, sending a message to the rest of the apostles who were not following the instruction of the temple officials.

They said, Stop speaking in the name of Jesus. Stop doing what you're doing. Peter said, Yeah, we can't help it.

We have to testify to what we have seen because we are witnesses to these things.

By the way, do you know what the Greek word is for witness? It's Mardis, the very same word that the word martyr comes from.

And that word martyr is associated with a person who has been put to death because of the witness that they have given.

And of course, we know that's what's about to happen to Stephen. At the end of chapter seven, he gets stoned to death. He becomes the first martyr in the church.

The temple officials were afraid to put the apostles to death because of the popularity that they had with the people.

But they're still going to attempt to send a message to any of those who are believing in Christ or testifying in the name of Christ.

By putting Stephen to death, they're hoping to quiet all of this, showing that they mean business.

Now, there are priests that are coming against Stephen here.

And even when we get to chapter seven, it says in chapter seven, verse one, and the high priest said, are these things so?

And then Stephen replies with his speech. But back in chapter six, verse seven, it says that as the word of God continued to increase the number of the disciples multiplied greatly as well, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the truth.

Here's the thing. There were actually thousands of priests likely living in Jerusalem.

A priest was not so exclusive a title that there was only a few of them.

There were quite a lot. And some of them were even quite poor. So having the position of priest did not make them automatically a person of high standing in Jerusalem.

There were some very lower class individuals who would likely who also would have been priest. And so the charity that was being done in the church likely first attracted them to the message that the apostles were preaching.

And then they listened to the message and then, of course, became Christians, repented of their sin and followed Jesus Christ.

And so there were even a great number of priests who were turning from teaching law to now teaching law and gospel.

In light of the law, we have sinned against God. We see where we have transgressed against God's holy word.

But the gospel has been proclaimed that we might know through faith in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven the sins that we have committed against God and we have everlasting life.

So even some of these temple officials were leaving their positions in the temple to become

Christians in the church. Even a great many number of priests became Christians.

But there are still these elders and scribes that are coming against Stephen. There are false testimonies that are being shared, trying to find something to blame him for, trying to get some people on the side of the temple officials as they want to put this man to death.

Although there were thousands of people in the church at this point, several thousand people now having become

Christian and added to the church. There were many thousands more in Jerusalem who were not

Christian. So there were still some people very upset at what the apostles were preaching and teaching and would have sided with those elders and scribes that wanted to silence them.

Verse 12, they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes came against him and seized him and brought him before the council.

And they set up false witnesses who said, this man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law.

For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.

Remember, that was the exact same accusation that was being made of Jesus in Matthew 26. Finally, there were a couple of guys that came forward and said, this man said,

I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days. In John chapter two, it says that Jesus was referring to himself, that he would be buried in a tomb, he would die, be buried in a tomb for three days and then rise again.

And so the disciples are still preaching that same message. And those witnesses come against Stephen in the same way that witnesses came against Christ.

And they said he's speaking against this holy place, probably because he was saying something like the living

God does not dwell in temples made by human hands, similar to something that Paul is going to preach coming up later on in Acts chapter 17.

And then when they say he's speaking blasphemous words against the law, well, it's probably because Stephen was saying the law can't save you.

You can follow the law and that won't save you. You have to be cleansed by Christ.

You have to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and he will justify you for giving you of your sins, making you right before God.

And then he will clothe you in his righteousness that you may be able to keep the law of God in a way that is pleasing to God, not just acknowledging him with your lips, but having a heart that is close to the

Lord as well. And those who were teachers of the law hated this message because they wanted the people to believe you can follow the law and be saved.

You can do just as we do look at how good we are and how we keep the law. But these disciples, these apostles were making them look like fools.

Verse 14, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.

So likely what Stephen was preaching was what Jesus said in Matthew chapter five. I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.

And also what Jesus preached in Matthew 24, that not one stone of the temple would be left on top of one another, but that the

Lord would throw them down. And that would happen in 70 A .D., but also talking about the return of Christ and the judgment that would come upon the whole world.

Verse 15 says and gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that Stephen's face was like the face of an angel.

One of the things that they're accusing Stephen of is saying blasphemous words against Moses.

But then Stephen's face glows like Moses did when Moses came down from Mount Sinai and his face was glowing from having been in the presence of God.

This very same thing was happening in their presence as they're making these accusations of Stephen and the glory of God is upon Stephen in such a way that his face shined so brightly.

They thought it looked like the face of an angel. Then we have Stephen's speech, and that's what we're going to get to next week in Acts chapter seven.

My friends, we must be reminded time and time again that our good deeds will not save us.

The best things that we could possibly do are described in Isaiah 64, six as being like filthy rags before a holy

God. Jesus clothes us in his righteousness. He commands the church at Laodicea to buy from him garments that have been washed white.

And so wearing the righteousness of Christ, we are justified before God and able to worship him in a way that is pleasing unto the

Lord because we have a righteousness that is not from ourselves, but has been given to us by Christ Jesus, our

Lord. So let us do as Christ had said in Matthew six, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all the things that we need will be added to us as well.

Romans 1 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an

Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an