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I would invite you to open your Bibles to Acts chapter 7, the very end of the chapter. Some of you are on Instagram and may have seen pictures of an event that took place yesterday near San Diego, California.
I'm referring, of course, to a surfing insta—no, no, no. Luke and Hannah Abendroth were married yesterday, so that was exciting. I saw none of it because I don't Instagram. But, there it is. You know what I like?
I like college sports. One of the things I like about college sports is when my teams are in the top ten. So this morning, of course, I have a top ten list for you that you don't want to be on. This is in 2021, so maybe not the most recent polling activity that we have, but according to Christianity Today, these are the countries that are most difficult to be a Christian in.
Some of these will not surprise you, but the details get worse and worse. Number one, if I were to ask you—and please don't respond—but if I were to ask you, you might not get this one correctly. The answer is North Korea.
Number one, most difficult place to be a Christian. Number two, Afghanistan. Three, Somalia. Four, Libya. Five, Pakistan. I mean, you'll notice that there are a lot of Islamic countries here. Number eight, Iran.
Number nine, Nigeria. Now, number ten might surprise you. India. India, this democracy, this place that we imagine is more like us or maybe more like England than other countries, but India's number ten.
And they note here, I mean, this reads like a top ten thing. You know, you go to Sports Illustrated or ESPN, they write this kind of stuff. Nigeria entered the top ten for the first time. Its coach was—no, no, no, but—says after maxing out, listen, open doors metric for violence.
In other words, they're just well known for violence. The nation with Africa's largest Christian population. So strength in numbers doesn't always hold. Ranks number nine overall, but is second behind only Pakistan in terms of violence.
In other words, Pakistan is the most violent nation against Christians. And Nigeria is number one in the number of Christians killed for reasons related to their faith. Sudan left the top ten again. You know, just like typical stuff here, writing about top ten lists.
Because on paper, at least, freedom of religion in its new constitution has made people less subject to oppression for religious purposes. But they say here that Christians from Muslim backgrounds, in other words, if you convert from Islam to Christianity, still face attacks, ostracism—I knew I was going to stumble on that.
Ostracism—being separated, you know, from family and friends and work. Discrimination from their families and communities. While Christian women, again, talking about the Sudan, Christian women face sexual violence.
India remains in the top ten for the third year in a row because it continues, quote, to see an increase in violence against religious minorities due to government-sanctioned Hindu extremism. Meanwhile, China joined the top 20 for the first time in a decade.
And this really surprised me because, you know, if I think about the countries in the world, I think China would make my top ten places that I would never want to go. And you say, well, why is that? Because you have no freedom of religion.
And here's what they say. Due to ongoing and increasing surveillance and censorship of Christians and other religious minorities. Now, again, when the criteria is just narrowed down to martyrdom. Who is forced to die for their faith?
Nigeria is number one. And the numbers are pretty stark. 3 ,530 deaths because of their religious affections in Nigeria. The second place country is Congo with 460. So they have nine times as many deaths in Nigeria.
Pakistan, number three. And then I thought this was interesting. On this top ten of places, you know, if you want to die as a Christian. If martyrdom is your goal, you go to these places. But they won't even list the names of number seven and number ten.
I don't know why. Then they say Pakistan led the world in forced marriages. With 1 ,000 Christians married to non-Christians against their will. Nine in ten Christians killed for their faith were in Africa.
The rest in Asia. So in case you're wondering if persecution is honest in the United States. Not in the sense that it is in other places in the world. Persecution is sadly alive and well for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
In many places around the world. Particularly in Africa and in Asia. So our text. And we're going to see again the martyrdom of Stephen this morning. And what that really looks like. And as I read this, as I studied this.
One thing just really struck me. And we'll talk about this more and more. Is how much hatred has to be in your heart for someone. To actually do what is done to Stephen here. It's amazing. The anger and the vitriol and the sheer hatred.
Acts chapter 7 verse 54. Now when they heard these things. They were enraged. And they ground their teeth at him. But he. Full of the Holy Spirit. Gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God. And Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
And he said. Behold. I see the heavens opened. And the son of man standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice. And stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him.
And the witnesses laid their garments. At the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen. He called out. Lord Jesus. Receive my spirit. And falling to his knees. He cried out with a loud voice.
Lord. Do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this. He fell asleep. And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day. A great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.
And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea. And Samaria. Except. The apostles. Devout men buried Stephen. And made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church. And entering house after house.
He dragged off men and women. And committed them. To prison. Last week we studied. What is the longest speech in acts. It both served as Stephen's defense. Against charges of blasphemy. Plus it was a sermon.
And if you recall I said. The best defense of good offense. Why? Because he basically turned the tables on them. Which is why they get so enraged. At the beginning of our section today. And it is sermon.
He summarized portions of Genesis. And Exodus. And other parts of the Old Testament. His themes. If you recall this. The faithfulness of God. The trustworthiness of his word. If you recall he was accused of what?
Blasphemy against Moses. And against the temple. Against God and his word. So he says. You can trust God. You can trust what he says. And he also talked about the faithfulness of Abraham. Joseph. And Moses.
And he also laid bare the faithlessness. And the idolatry. Of the history of Israel. But he was also pointing to the current listeners. He told them. You know when he said. You stiff neck people. They understood exactly what he was saying.
Just like. Your forefathers didn't believe God. You don't either. Jesus came to you. You rejected him. Now it should frighten all of us. If we think about it. And I. I like to think about this. Israel saw all these miracles.
They were delivered out of Egypt. They saw. You know all the. All the. The curses. The. The plagues. Is the word I was looking for. The plagues that were. Prophesied. And. Brought forth by Moses. They watched the people of Egypt suffer.
Then they're escaping in. Pharaoh of course. Changes his mind. And chases them. Pursues them. And they're trapped up against the Red Sea. And. They complain against Moses. And then God. Miraculously. Separates the sea.
What do they do. As soon as they get across. After seeing. How. God. Delivered them. What do they do. They immediately start. Complaining. When Moses is gone. They. Make themselves a calf. And start. Worshiping him.
How does that sort of thing happen. It's exactly the same today. People hear the word of God. They hear the gospel. On a constant basis. What do they do. They don't believe. Why. Because their hearts.
And their ears are. As we heard. Uncircumcised. In other words. God has not granted them. Ears to hear. Eyes to see. Hearts to believe. So they don't. Again and again. One of the themes of acts. As we see the children of.
Satan. We can call them. Because. We are. Or we were. All once. Children of Satan. Who've been transferred from. His kingdom. Into the kingdom of. God's dear son. The Lord Jesus Christ. These children of Satan.
Looking to stop. To thwart. The growth of Christianity. Basically. To stop it. To kill it. In its infancy. Initially. If you recall. Just think about the escalation. Right. Peter and John. Are brought before.
The Sanhedrin. And they're given a warning. Stop it. Stop preaching in the name of. This Jesus. And that's after they did. A miracle of their own. And when that warning. Doesn't suffice. Then what happens.
All twelve. Of the apostles are brought. Before the Sanhedrin. And their punishment is. Thirty nine lashes. Which is. Close to the death penalty. Now Stephen. A man known for being. Full of faith. In the Holy Spirit.
Doing these wonders. Among the people. Is seized by a mob. And put on trial. For preaching. And teaching. In such a manner. That he couldn't be refuted. This morning. As we look to the. Really the climax.
Of the. So-called trial. Really this mob action. We're going to see. Two moments. Of. I. I wanted to stay away. From two points. So we have two moments. Of criminality. Right. Because you know. That's how the police mind works.
But we have a murder. This is a murder. It's not a state. Sanctioned execution. This is a murder. This isn't a guilty criminal. This is flat out. Murder. Two moments of criminality. One the murder itself.
And two the aftermath. Of the murder. And each of these. Moments. As three. Events. Three sub points. As you will. Attached to them. We're going to see it. Really a false conclusion. Of a trial. And then events that.
Spiral out from that. Okay. First moment of criminality. The murder itself. And the event. The first event is. The runaway jury. I like that because. The title of the book. And a movie. Look at verse 54.
Now when they. Again the Sanhedrin. And this group of men. Who dragged him. In front of the Sanhedrin. These. Hellenists. When they heard these things. They were. Enraged. And they ground. Their teeth.
At him. Their inability. The inability. Of these Hellenists. Greek speaking Jews. To defeat the arguments. Of Stephen. Is what caused them. To lynch him. To grab him. To drag him. Before the Sanhedrin.
To put him. Ultimately on trial. How do they respond. To Stephen's statements. In verses. 51 through 53. Just listen. As I read. Just for. By way of. Final review. You stiff neck. People. Uncircumcised.
In heart. And ears. You always. Resist. The Holy Spirit. As your fathers did. So do you. Which. Of the prophets. Did your fathers. Not persecute. And they. Killed those. Who announced beforehand. The coming of the.
Righteous one. Whom you now. Have betrayed. And murdered. You who receive. The law. As delivered. By angels. And did not. Keep it. Commentator. Water. Says this. He says. When Stephen. Defends himself.
By relating. Israel's. History. And summarizes. His speech. With the remark. That the members. Of the Sanhedrin. Are guilty. Of breaking the law. He becomes. The prosecutor. And his listener. The defendants.
They think. He's on trial. And he says. In reality. You are on trial. Well. How dare he. How dare. He say that. About them. From their. Perspective. They were the ones. Defending God. He was the one. Blaspheming.
And yet. He has the. Audacity. To accuse them. Of disobedience. I like. What the. King James. Does. When it. Talks about them. Being cut. To the heart. Because the. It says here. They were. Enraged. Enraged.
Which is. Kind of a. Summary. In fact. That word. From the. King James. Cut. To the heart. The phrase. Instead of. Enraged. They were cut. To the heart. Because the word. Heart. Cardio. Variation of it.
Is actually. In. The Greek. So. The ESV. Just kind of. Steamrolls. Over that. Just says. Enraged. I find it. Interesting. That. This idea of. Grinding. The teeth. I mean. I found it. Annoying. Like. Really.
Annoying. The other day. One of the grandkids. I won't name him. By name. Started. Like. Grinding. And clicking. His teeth. And I thought. You know. Maybe he's doing this. As an example. For the message.
It's really. Obnoxious. But that's it. That's an odd thing. When we think about it. But you know. If you go to. I remember. You know. When I was in the military. One of the guys. Instead of clapping. Would do this thing.
I'm not going to do it. Right now. Because I haven't done it. For a while. It takes some practice. Where you can actually. Loosen your index finger. And then slap it up. Against your middle finger. Right.
And they do that. They do that. In some places. Instead of clapping. It came from Panama. Originally. That's where. He learned it. But these cultural things. Like grinding of teeth. Or gnashing of teeth.
We wouldn't do that. Here. You know. People would be like. What is your problem? You know. He's having a seizure. Or something. But this is a way. Of expressing their anger. When I first read that. When I first read.
The idea. Of gnashing of teeth. You know. What do you think? I think of. Weeping. Wailing. Gnashing of teeth. Where Jesus talks about it. With regard to. What people do in hell. But it's not. But in our passage.
It's just another way. Of expressing the rage. The anger. That they feel towards Stephen. I mean. If they were to go like this. You know. Like. And to threaten him. And everything. We'd understand that.
But gnashing of teeth. Is a little bit unusual. But that's how. They are just. Beside themselves. If you know. One hundred. Is as angry. As you can get there. At 110. They're just over the top. And then.
The second event here. Is the heavenly vision. The heavenly vision. But he. Stephen. Full of the Holy Spirit. Gazed into heaven. And saw. The glory of God. And Jesus. Standing at the right hand. Of God.
Kistemacher notes. That Luke uses. Exactly the same words. To describe. Gazing into heaven. As when the apostles. Looked up. When Jesus ascended. Into heaven. In Acts one. In other words. He's just transfixed.
He's totally focused. I mean. Imagine. He's got these people. Gnashing their teeth. At him. They're. They're. Angry. I mean. I. Would imagine. Their faces are red. They're just. Ready to go at him. And he's just looking.
At heaven. He's. Full of the Holy Spirit. And he's. Enabled. To see. Into heaven. As. Isaiah had. But instead of saying. To himself. Woe is me. For I am lost. For I'm a man. Of unclean lips. And I dwell.
In the midst of. People. Of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen. The king. The lord of hosts. He doesn't say that. If. You think about it. He started this trial. With what? Like. They. They said. The face of an angel.
Kind of an angelic glow. And at the conclusion. Of this trial. So to speak. The conclusion. Because it gets. Interrupted. He sees. What men. Rarely see. We have very few recordings. In scripture. Of people.
Seeing in. To the throne room. Of God. Stephen. Stephen. Simply marvels. And stares. Transfixed. By what he sees. Oblivious. To everything. That's going on. Around him. To see. Such a vision. Is a moment.
Of the work. Of the holy spirit. And an amazing blessing. But then. Think about what happens next. Because he sees this. And he could say. You know. This is just my. Quiet time. My time with the lord.
I'm just going to keep it to myself. He tells them. He tells these. Enraged. Hellenists. And Sanhedrin. Around him. This is like. The ultimate. Kind of. Throwing the gauntlet down. Challenge. To them.
So he tells them. What? He sees. The heavens open. Verse 56. And he said. Behold. I see. The heavens open. And this is. The nature. Of the verb. Here. Is that. It's permanently. Open to him. And this is a testimony.
These religious men. Knew that. Almost nobody. As I said. Had ever. Ever looked into heaven. It's not normal. Because. Why? Nobody can look at God. And. Live. The holy presence. Of God. Is too much. For sinful man.
Even Moses. He comes into the presence. Of God. And what does God say? I mean. He's just. Seeing the glow. The burning bush. God says. Take off your sandals. For you're in. You're on holy ground. But he sees.
Straight into the throne room. Of God. And he sees. The glorified son. Look at him. Look at verse 56. Again. The second part of it. And the son. Of man. Standing. At the right hand. Of God. Now. There are three important.
Little nuggets here. This is the only place. In the new testament. Where someone. Other than. Jesus Christ. Uses this title. Son of man. To refer to Jesus. The only place. So he looks. And they've. I've no doubt.
The Sanhedrin. And others. Have heard Jesus. Refer to himself. As a son of man. And here's. Stephen saying. I see the son. Of man. I see him. Well. They know. Who he's talking about. It's Jesus. What does that mean?
Means that he's. Claiming. That Jesus. Is the messiah. Just as Jesus. Did. When Jesus. Used that title. Of himself. He was referring to this. In Daniel chapter 7. Verses 13 and 14. I saw. In the night visions.
And behold. With the clouds. Of heaven. There came one. Like. A son of man. And he came to the. Ancient of days. And was presented. Before him. And to him. Listen. Here's. Here's. Why they would just be.
You know. Go from 110. Up. And to him. Was given. Dominion. And glory. And a kingdom. That all peoples. Nations. And languages. Should serve. Him. His dominion. Is an everlasting. Dominion. Which shall not.
Pass away. And his kingdom. One that. Shall not. Be destroyed. So. He says. I see. The son of man. At the right hand. Of God. He's. He's testifying. Of Jesus. The God man. And just. As a side note. If you're testifying.
To your faith. In Christ. If you're giving witness. To somebody. What do you have to do? You have to. In some way. In some way. Tell them. Yes. Jesus. Is. A man. He was fully. Human. But you have to. Also have to tell him.
He's divine. And so. That's what he's doing. I mean. In shorthand. But when we say. When we want to talk to people. And we want to give them. The gospel. They have to understand. Who Jesus is. So whether you're talking.
Just to your friend. Or whether you're talking to. Three hundred strangers. They have to. Understand. That. The Jesus. The Jesus. You're talking about. Is the Jesus. Who comes from. Scripture. Who is both.
Divine. And human. Fully divine. Fully human. But also notice. The second nugget here. Jesus. Is. Standing. Now. That's interesting. Because. When we see. Jesus. Most often. What do we see. At. You know.
Post-resurrection. Post-ascension. Seated. For example. Ephesians. One. Verse. Twenty. That he. God. The Father. Worked. In Christ. When he. Raised him. From the dead. And seated him. At his. Right hand.
In the heavenly. Places. Now. That's meant. To show. That he's. At the right hand. He's got. Authority. And dominion. All the things. We read about. Daniel. That he's. Seated. At the place. Of honor. Of the father.
We see. That also. In Jesus. Own words. Matthew. Twenty. Six. Verses. Sixty. Three. And. Sixty. Four. But Jesus. Remained. Silent. While he's. While he's. On trial. And the high priest. Said to him. I adjure you.
I insist. I am. More than. Implore. But I. Adjure you. By the living. God. Tell us. If you are. The Christ. The son. Of God. Jesus. Said to him. You have. Said so. But I. Tell you. From now. On. You will see.
The son. Of man. Seated. At the right. Hand. Of power. And coming. On the clouds. Of heaven. So. Why. In this vision. Of Stephen. Is he. Standing. And here's the. Letdown. We don't know. Some scholars. Say.
This is nothing. Maybe. But I. Agree. With those. Who say. That this is an. Indication. Of Jesus. Preparing. To. Welcome. Stephen. Into his. Presence. She's the son. Of man. Standing. On the third. Little nugget. Here. At the right. Hand. Of God.
He sees. Jesus. The son. Of man. At the right. Hand. Of God. The men. Of the Sanhedrin. Conspired. They worked. Overtime. They worked. The crowd. To make sure. That Jesus. Was arrested. They. Worked. The Romans. To make sure. He was arrested.
Then. Every step. Of the trial. Process. They made. Sure. That Jesus. Was convicted. And then. He was crucified. And now. Stephen. Standing there. With these men. At 110. On the anger. Meter. Says. I see.
The son. Of man. Standing. At the right. Hand. Of God. He has. The greatest. Place. Of honor. These men. Knew. Exactly. What Stephen. Was saying. And it's. This. Jesus. Is. God. He was. On trial. For. Blasphemy.
So. Now. What does. He do? He doubles. Down. He says. Jesus. Is. Divine. And why. Is that. Because. He's filled. With the Holy. Spirit. He can see. Into heaven. He has. There's no reason. For him. To doubt it.
But. To them. To these. Unbelievers. Who are. Uncircumcised. In ears. And. Eyes. May I imply. And. Of heart. They hear him. Talking. What do they hear? They don't hear. Anything. Other than. This man. Saying. That there is. Another. God.
There's. God. The father. And then. There's. This. Jesus. He is. Also. Divine. To them. That means. What. Two. Gods. They say. We're. Monotheists. You're. Not. So. The third. Event. Here. Is. The stoning. Of Stephen. The mob. Descends. On him. In verse. Fifty. Seven. But. Cried. Out. With. A loud. Voice. And. Stop. Their. Ears. And. Rush. Together. At. Him. Now. Again. This. Is. This. Is. A. Cultural. Deviation. For. Us. What. Think. About. Stopping. Your. Ears. And. Yelling. What. Do. You. Think. About. Immaturity. You. Think. About. A. Little. Kid. Who. Doesn't. Hear. What. He. Wants. To. Hear. You. You. Say. Well. You. Know. What. Instead. Of. That. Toy. You. Wanted. For. A. Christmas. We. Got. You. A nice. Apple. What. A. Kids. Do. I. Don't. Want. Hear. About. That. They. Scream. And. Essentially. Put. Their. Fingers. In. Their. Ears. Now. You. Might. Think. Well. That's. That's. Really. Childish. But. Here's. The. Point. They. Don't. To. Hear. Any. More. Blasphemy. They. Don't. Want. To. Hear. Any. More. That. Steven. Has. To. Say. And. You. Know. In. One. Sense. I. I. Don't. Want. Their. Zeal. And. Why. Can. I. Say. That. Because. I. Think. In. Our. Own. Culture. You. Know. When. People. Take. The. Lord's. Name. In. Vain. Which. Is. Happens. So. Often. Or. Some. Other. Way. That. Speak. People. Speak. Ill. Of. God. I. Mean. We. Live. In. A. World. Where. Blasphemy. Is. Just. Like. Lunch. It's. Just. Something. That. Proceeds. It's. Just. Natural. We. Hear. Untruths. About. God. Every. Day. But. I. Don't. Think. It. Would. Do. Much. For. My. Christian. Witness. If. I. Were. Worked. In. The. Jail. Years. Ago. And. When. Some. People. Found. Out. It. Was. Funny. To. Me. When. People. Found. Out. I. Was. In. Seminary. Was. Like. All. Like. Priest. Or. Something. Because. People. Would. Start. Like. Cursing. In. Front. Of. Me. And. Then. Going. Sorry. You. Know. Didn't. Mean. To. Offend. You. I. Mean. In. One. In. Thought. Well. Good. At. Least. You. Know. You've. Done. Something. Wrong. Right.
But. In. The. Other. Hand. I. Couldn't. Say. Well. Okay. Give. Me. Three. Hail Marys and to our fathers and we'll call it even. I could say I forgive you, right? But I think about it and go, well, I just tell them, I'd say, it's not me you need to worry about, right?
And depending on how that went, sometimes there'd be a gospel presentation. I'd say, let me tell you about the one who you've sinned against and how you can be forgiven. But in this case, with these people, to say these things was to invite, and he wasn't, but it was to just take these rabid people and just kind of push them even into more, what's the word, rabidity, you know.
They were just super angry and they got madder all the time. And look at verse, so they they stick the fingers in the air, they start yelling at him because they don't want to hear it anymore. They're done with this.
They take him, they seize him. Verse 58, the beginning of it says, they cast him out of the city and stoned him. Now it's kind of interesting to just think about it for a minute. Why did they cast him out of the city?
Why bother with that? Why not just kill him where he is? Because doing that, shedding his blood inside the city, then does what? It defiles the city. You know what's interesting, you know, because I did spend some time on the internet this week, stoning, of course we know it still takes place in some places.
I mean we've read about stonings even in Afghanistan where women are stoned even for simple things like wanting an education or something like that. It's a really an awful way to die. But stoning somebody in Israel is super easy.
Why is it easy? Well, because there are lots of rocks. You don't have to look around, they're just right there. It takes no planning at all. It's not like, you know, I've mentioned this analogy before, but it's not like they could just say, well let's take him outside and hang him, because somebody have to go get a rope, because not everybody had a rope.
Everybody had rocks. That was easy. But as I thought about this whole process, and I didn't want to read, you know, to you guys exactly the death that takes place in a stoning, because I thought it'd be rather grisly, but if you could just imagine for a moment, you know, if there was a way to dodge the rocks, people would.
If there was a way to flee being stoned, you would. So there has to be some means of keeping movement restricted other than having people hold them, right? So they either have to be tied in place or penned in or something like that.
And I thought about it, I go, you know, the first stone would have to inflict some pretty serious damage, because you have to at some point immobilize the victim, and then you just think rock by rock by rock, awful way to die.
And that's what they're doing to Stephen. Second part of verse 58, and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. Luke does this. He introduced, when he was telling us about these proto-deacons, as I called them, he introduced us to Stephen, and he introduced us to Philip, who's going to be in our next bit of scripture.
And right now, he's just introducing the character of Saul. Doesn't really give us a whole lot of details. We'll find out more about Saul later. And of course, we know Saul becomes Paul. But the witnesses who lay down their garments at the feet of this young man named Saul are the first ones to cast stones.
Remember the verses in John that aren't in the Bible? Let he who is without sin cast the... and I say it's not, because it's not the best manuscripts. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. This is the idea.
Deuteronomy 17, 7. The hand of the witnesses, in other words, these men who had grabbed Stephen up, shall be the first against him to put him to death. And afterward, the hand of all the people, so shall you purge the evil from your midst.
That's how stoning was done. The witnesses first. In other words, if you were going to testify against somebody, you had to be prepared to throw the first stones. So when they do that, they take off the robes, they hand them to, you know, the coat check boy, Saul.
To call these men, though, witnesses is to use the customary term, the term that's used there in Deuteronomy 17. They're supposed to be testifying or witnesses to his blasphemy. Well, what's the problem here?
What's blasphemy? We know this. Blasphemy is something that is false about God. Had Stephen said anything false? No. Stephen had told truth that was contrary to the Jewish faith, was contrary to the Jewish religion as was practiced then.
Why? Because they didn't understand the nature of the Messiah, and they still don't. This is no small difference. You know, you hear this all the time, and I've talked about it before, the great world religions, some politicians will say, the great faiths of the world.
But as is always true, there are only two religions. There's divine accomplishment and human achievement. Jesus is to be worshiped. Other religions don't worship him, not as God, not as the God. We believe in a triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In fact, our Confession of Faith says this, in this divine and infinite being, talking about the triune God, there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word, or Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided.
This is our God. The Jews refused that God. We don't worship the same God. They stopped, if they ever did. Actually, they never did, because those who believed and trusted in God believed that there was a Messiah who would come and die for their sins.
Luke introduced, again, Saul as this young man helping in the murder of Stephen, and it is murder. Like I said, he was innocent of blasphemy, and there's not even a recorded verdict. In other words, the Sanhedrin doesn't say, we've heard enough, we find this man guilty.
What happens? They become so enraged that they take him outside the city and they stone him. Stephen emulates, really follows, Jesus in his death. Look at verses 59 and 60, and as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Of course, that sounds exactly like, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. Appealing to Jesus not to charge these men who were murdering him with murder.
And when he had said this, he fell asleep. As you listen to that, do you think to yourself, I wonder if Stephen was trusting his soul to Jesus Christ. Absolutely! He prays to Jesus. He addresses him as God.
He knows he is about to enter into eternity with Christ, so he says, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Stephen's last act on earth was to ask Jesus not to lay this murder to the account of those murdering him.
Loving what? His enemies. How can that happen? How can a holy God not hold these men accountable for the servant, or the murder of his servant Stephen? What's the answer? How can that be? Only by converting these murders, these men who are gnashing their teeth, screaming, plugging their ears, acting like crazed maniacs.
Only by converting them to faith in Christ. For a moment, turn over to Acts 22. Acts 22. And this is part of Paul's defense on another occasion when he's in Jerusalem. And I'm going to begin reading in verse 17.
This is Paul speaking. And he says, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance. And I saw him saying to me, make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me, about Jesus.
And I said, Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue, he's recounting his guilt here. And I said, Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another, I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.
And when the blood of Stephen, your witness, was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him. And he said to me, go, leave Jerusalem, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.
Go back to Acts chapter 8. Stephen was, as we said before, a Hellenist. A Greek-speaking Jew from outside of Israel who'd come in and then been converted to Christ. He had Greek, he spoke Greek, he had Greek customs.
Did Jesus answer Stephen's prayer? Stephen says, don't count it against these people. Well, we know he did, at least in the case of Saul, because he tells us. Later on, Paul becomes what? The missionary to the Gentiles, to the very people where Stephen had come from.
In other words, if Stephen ever intended to be a missionary to the Gentiles, the people who lived outside of Israel, the non-Jews, essentially he passes the torch to Saul. He doesn't do it, but the Lord does it for him.
He's praying for these people who are killing him, and at least one of them becomes probably the greatest missionary of all time. Does God answer prayer? Yes. Yes. Augustine said this, he said, if Stephen had not prayed, the church would not have had Paul.
And I thought about that, and I go, you know what? What do we believe? We believe what Scripture says, which is, the prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much. And in this case, it did accomplish much.
Again, if we think big picture, what were the Jewish zealots, the leaders, trying to do? They were trying to prevent the spread of Christianity, but the Lord Jesus said he would build his church. He commissioned the apostles.
Christianity was not going to be stopped by an angry, out-of-control mob. The murder of Stephen was meant for evil, but God used it as a catalyst for the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He intended it for good, no matter what these men intended.
So we've seen the murder itself, that was my first point. The second point is just another 40 minutes, don't worry. You're laughing, I don't get it. The aftermath of the murder, the second moment of criminality, the aftermath of the murder.
What happens after Stephen is stoned? Event number one is the persecution, the great persecution begins. Look at verse 1 of chapter 8, and Saul approved of his execution. He's holding the garments, he's all in.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Now where was the gospel to go to, beginning in Jerusalem, then Judea, and then Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth?
So now we can already see it going out to Judea and Samaria, but a religious fervor in Jerusalem against the Christian church started. That's what this great persecution is. But who was it who suffered the brunt of it?
It was the non-Jerusalem residents, the people who were from outside of Jerusalem, the non-Jerusalem Jews who'd come to faith in Christ. In other words, these Hellenists. And we know that because there are future references to Christians in Jerusalem, and because this verse tells us that they were spread out all over the place, they were scattered all over the place, except the apostles.
Well, why not the apostles? The text doesn't tell us. But it could be that they chose to remain and the Lord protected them. It could be that the Sanhedrin were unwilling to risk another high-level conflict.
We don't really know. What we do know is that the Hellenists were scattered. Persecution led to the spread of Christianity. The second event is the burial of Stephen. Verse 2 tells us, devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
Now you see that term, devout, you go, okay, were they Jews or were they Christians? Well, they had to be Christians, right? Jews are not going to make a great lamentation over him. It was believers who took care of this devout man.
They mourned over him, but not as those who had no hope. Darrell Block says, their act of wailing, I thought this was good, their act of wailing is both defiant and a statement of their perception that Stephen was righteous.
Well, defiant in what sense? Because the Jews were happy to be rid of Stephen. And they, for somewhere between 20 and 70 days, raised the memory of Stephen ceaselessly by their loud wailing for him. In event number 3, the merciless Saul.
The merciless Saul. But Saul was ravaging, verse 3, ravaging the church and entering into house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prisons. Now just think about this for a moment.
When Stephen, later on in 1st Timothy, would say that he was the chief of all sinners, certainly had the murder of Stephen in mind because he participated in that. But I think he also had this in mind, as he just sat there and just, he's writing Timothy on how to run a church, Corinth, and he says, as he looks back on his life, he thinks to himself what?
Timothy, be like me. He might have thought that in some ways, but mostly what he was thinking is, I can't believe I get to write this letter. I can't believe the Lord is using someone like me, the chief of all sinners, to teach you anything.
I thought that's a good example for all of us. As we preach the gospel to ourselves, as we remind ourselves of the grace of God that he shed out on us in Christ, we have to think, how blessed am I? After all that I've done, God set his affections on me.
As Paul thought about it, despite being a murderer and a ravager of the church, even somebody who would go house to house, and yes this indicates they probably, again we don't know, but I probably were going more to house church, that kind of thing, to stay away, to stay under the radar.
So he went from house to house, and I'll bet he had no knock warrants. But anyway, one of the commentators said something about, you know, how zealous was Saul, so zealous that he's even taking women to prison, which would be seen as really over-the-top, because women weren't held accountable, just like they were just supposed to follow their husbands.
So taking them to prison would be, just would show how far he was willing to go. These men who had murdered Stephen, and even Saul, you know, this is something we we often hear, that people are sincere in their faith.
What does that mean? If you're sincere, but your sincerity is in a false God, a false object, even the right God, but a false portrayal of him, then your sincerity, it's like my seminary prof used to say, people are sincere, but they're sincerely wrong.
There's no value in that. In conclusion, I would just say this, Paul would write, Romans chapter 1, that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. What does that mean? I think we see it here in Acts.
What does it mean? It means that nothing can stop it. If God said something in motion, who can stay his hand? Who can ask him, why have you done such a thing? And since no one can stop it, no one for whom it is intended will ultimately resist it.
And you say, well how can you say that? Because in our text today, we saw Saul the ravager, Saul the murderer, Saul who wanted nothing to do with Jesus Christ, Saul who was even willing to execute his minister, Stephen, ultimately comes to faith in Christ.
Back to my kind of thinking about First Timothy, Paul writes, Jesus came to save sinners. We just think about that, Jesus came. That suggests right away the eternality of Jesus Christ, that he had no beginning, that he always existed, and then as the second person of the Trinity, he entered creation, took on limitations of human flesh.
By the way, he did not set aside his deity. That is a heresy that I won't go into for the sake of time. He was entirely righteous. Tim was talking about how we need that righteousness. We don't get into heaven based on just having our sins paid for.
He was righteous, he did everything rightly, and he never did anything wrongly. He never sinned. And then in the words of the hymnal person, in my place condemned he stood. He took the punishment for me, took the wrath of God that I deserved, and then God raised him from the dead on the third day.
And this is the God we worship, this is the God we proclaim, and this is the God that Stephen saw and praised. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this word this morning, thank you for Stephen, thank you for the the work of the Holy Spirit through him.
The boldness, the clarity to know that these men were livid, to hear them even gnashing their teeth, and yelling, and putting their fingers in their ears, and doing everything they could not to listen to him, and yet being so consumed by your spirit, so consumed to declare what was good, and right, and what he saw, that he did it.
That he testified to Jesus Christ even in front of these men, and that even as he was dying, he asked for their forgiveness. Father, you are a great God who works all things together for our good, even things that we can't possibly see as good.
Teach us, even as we work through this book, to trust you more, to lean on you more, to not look at our circumstances, but to instead trust the one who has pledged to redeem our souls. We pray for these things in Jesus' name, Amen.