"Full of Grace and Power" (Acts 6:8-15)

Transcript:

Well, our sermon this morning is from Acts, chapter 6, verses 8 through 15. If you have a pew Bible, this is on page 1086. 1086. Hear now the word of the Lord from Acts, chapter 6, verses 8 through 15. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the freedmen, as it was called, and of the Cyrenians and of the Alexandrians and of those from Cilicia and Asia rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. And they secretly 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 in 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. This is the word of the Lord.

Please be seated. And as you're taking your seats, let us join together our hearts in prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, we pray that you would help us to study this passage. Father, we thank you for again the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. And we think especially this morning of the first martyr of the church and Stephen, who bore powerful and graceful witness to Jesus Christ, who suffered, died, and was resurrected.

And so we pray this morning, as we study this passage, that by your spirit you would give us hearts to understand, eyes to see and ears to hear all that is contained in the good news of the Gospel of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray. Amen. Well, this morning we are studying the third passage in the book of Acts about the persecution that is coming against the Church. Now, so far, those who have been the targets of the persecution against the Church have escaped with their lives.

However, in the previous passage of persecution, the apostles were beaten, they were flogged for the testimony of Jesus that they bore. But at the end of this passage, not the part that we are going to look at today, but at the end of chapter seven, Stephen will die. As a result of his face, he will be put to death by stoning. This story then, raises two important questions, especially as we see this scene developing. First of all, what is it that is consistently, continually fueling the rage of the world.

But second, particularly as we look at first, the apostles that we have seen and the brave witness that they have borne, but now, Stephen, what is it that can generate this kind of bold, peaceful, non anxious confidence that the believers in Jesus Christ continue to display at every stage when they are faced with this kind of persecution? And the answer to both of these questions is in fact the same. The Church's settled confidence. That is not just an intellectual, theoretical thought that they somewhat agree with, but their settled confidence in the reign and the rule of King Jesus Christ, that he has received all authority in heaven and on earth as he reigns from heaven until the day when he will come again to judge the world. That Jesus Christ is the reason that the Church can have confidence because he is the one who holds the keys of death and of life and of resurrection.

But it's from this confidence, as the world watches the Church advancing boldly with the Gospel of Jesus, it is from this confidence that the world is provoked. They are put in a defensive position because they perceive the threat that Christ reign and rule the spells to their own power and authority. Well, the theme that we are going to see in this passage as we study it this morning is that the Gospel of Jesus threatens the authority of the world. The Gospel of Jesus threatens the authority of the world. And we will see this in three parts in this short text this morning.

First of all, grace and power, Grace and power as we study the initial example of Spirit Stephen. Second, growing persecution in the reaction to Stephen. Growing persecution. And then third, graceful presence, graceful presence as we see Stephen's reaction to the reaction against him. So we'll start in grace and power in chapter six, verse eight.

But before we do this, it's helpful for us to peek up the page to verse five, where we were initially introduced to Stephen. A very short introduction, but this was during Stephen's election as one of the first deacons of the church, one of the seven. We read that what the apostles said in proposing the election of deacons pleased the whole gathering. And they, the congregation, chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. So we are reading something about Stephen's character.

We are reading something about the external call that the church placed on Stephen as they recognize the internal work that the Holy Spirit was doing him, filling him with faith, leading him, stirring him to be a leader in the early church. And that connects with the initial description that we have in our passage today. Verse 8, after giving sort of a brief overview of the rest of the deacons, and talking about how the word of God continued to increase in verse seven. Well, in verse eight, we read that Stephen, full of grace and power, again we have a glimpse of his character. This is a man full of grace.

This is a man who is grace filled, talking about the love, the boldness with which he operated, talking about a man who was not afraid to bear witness for Jesus, as he would do in this passage and the next one that we will look at, Lord willing, next week. But also, not only was this a man who talked the talk, this is a man who walked the walk. He was a man who walked, who was full of power. And particularly we read of the power that he had in that he was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Now, one commentator, Lenski, points out that Stephen is the first man, in addition to the apostles, to perform miracles.

Now, we are not told why Stephen has this gift to perform wonders and signs, but it very clearly associates him with the apostles who were also doing these wonders and signs. And that association with the apostles is very important as we think about what has happened in the book of Acts so far and what is about to happen to Stephen and the rest of this story. Because if we remember the story of the apostles Peter and John, one commentator, Schnabel, points out that we're seeing the same basic storyline happening again. That back in Acts chapter three, Peter and John had gone up to the temple and they performed a great sign and wonder by healing a man who was lame from birth. And then as this man leaped for joy as a fulfillment of the messianic prophecies of Isaiah, they began to share boldly the testimony of Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead.

And so after these signs and wonders that were accompanied with teaching, then they were arrested. That was the second part of the story. They were arrested, and then they were interrogated by the Sanhedrin. And that's exactly what's going to happen to Stephen here. He's performing these great signs and wonders clearly, as we read about words that he is speaking.

He's clearly not ceasing to bear witness to Jesus Christ. He's not an apostle, but he's following in the footsteps of the apostles and the example that he is giving and the testimony that he's bearing. And he too will be interrogated by the Sanhedrin. But we are going to see a major difference, because in that first interaction with the Sanhedrin, the apostles Peter and John were released with a warning. They got off on a warning in Acts, chapter 4, verse 21.

But the next time the apostles are arrested in Acts, chapter 5, verse 40, they were punished not just with a warning, but they were flogged. They were beaten probably 40 times, minus one in chapter five, verse 40. So there's an acceleration from a warning to a flogging. And now there will be another acceleration from flogging to what we see here in the example of Stephen in his death. So in this first initial, very short description of Stephen, what's our initial impression of him?

Well, this is clearly a man of strong character and mighty works who, in his words and the powerful works that he is doing, he has drawn the attention, anger of the world because again, he's not doing this within closed doors behind the church. Notice what he is doing. He is doing among the people. He's advancing the Gospel. He's bearing witness for Jesus Christ out in the marketplace, out among the people.

Well, the next thing we are going to see in the next section is going to give us sort of the reaction. It's going to give us an initial impression of these Jews who were opposed to. To Stephen and these enemies of the church. We're going to see, first of all that their opposition to Stephen develops in stages. Second, we're going to see the way they use underhanded tactics as this develops.

But also that we see the development from one stage to the next. It's not just sort of staying the same, going around in circles. There's an advancement that it's growing to the extreme that eventually, beyond the passage we're looking at this morning, but eventually it's going to move all the way to putting Stephen to death for his faith. So the second section we have then talks about the growing persecution. Growing persecution.

Well, in verse nine, we read about a synagogue. Then some of those who belong to the synagogue. What's a synagogue? Well, the synagogue is the Jewish precursor of the local church, just like we have here today. The synagogue is a very different place than the Temple.

The Temple was the place where sacrifices were offered, but a synagogue was a place. And they were scattered all over, not only Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, but throughout the world. Wherever there were Jews, there were synagogues. Synagogues were places where there were regular services held for the reading of scripture, the study of Scripture and for prayer, just like what we are doing now. And those synagogues were overseen by a bench or a board of elders who oversaw the people who were apart members, synagogue.

So the early church took a lot of their cues about what the early church would be, how it would be organized. Overseen, structured, how they would worship from the synagogue. Well, in this synagogue, then we read that most of the members. This is the synagogue of the freedmen. So it seems that most of these members had been formerly slaves, but at some point they had gained their freedom.

And so it was called the synagogue of the freedmen. And that may tell us something of the strength of their will. And we are also told something about where these members of this particular synagogue have come from. And they come from all over the known world. We read that they are from.

They are Cyrenians who are part of this. These were people who would have come from North Africa, that they were Alexandrians. These would have come from Egypt. Alexandria is a city in Egypt. And then we read about the Cilicians.

And these are from. This is north on the Mediterranean, north of Africa, under the northeast corner of the Mediterranean Ocean, in an area called Cilicia. And what's very important about Cilicia is that the region of Cilicia included the town of Tarsus. Now, Tarsus is a man that is associated particularly with a man whom we have not yet met, but we will very shortly, who originally goes by the name Saul, but eventually is called Paul the Apostle Paul. And so when Paul talks about his own origins, later in Acts, chapter 21, verse 38, and then 22:3 twice, he says that he is from Tarsus in Cilicia.

The fact that there were a number of Cilicias involved with this synagogue is perhaps very important because eventually, after all of this plays out, after Stephen is executed. In Acts, chapter 8, verse 1, we read that Saul approved of Stephen's execution. It is very likely that this was Paul's synagogue. It's very likely that Paul met Stephen here in what we are about to read and what's happening here. And this was the first example of Saul, then later Paul rising up in opposition and persecution against the Church.

We're not told that, but that seems to be the way that Acts is connecting the dots for us. Now, we read that also, not only these areas, but also, I should mention, Asia. Asia is the larger area which we would call Turkey today. And we read that these all rose up and disputed with Stephen the grammar here. As one commentator notes, this idea of rising up and disputing with Stephen didn't suggest that one day they scheduled a formal debate.

But it means that this was an ongoing process where as Stephen was saying things, these things, they were responding to him. And then when Stephen was responding, they were going back and forth and back and forth. And we don't know yet exactly what they are talking about, but we will find out exactly what they are talking about. That Stephen is bearing witness to Jesus Christ. And what he is saying is stepping on the toes of those in these synagogues.

And again, these are people who have lived outside of Jerusalem who voluntarily, after they'd gained their freedom, chose to move to Jerusalem. These are people who held things like the temple and the priesthood and the sacrificial system as of highest importance. That's why they moved there to be a part of all of this. And what Stephen says about Jesus in their mind seems to threaten all of that in what we are going to see. The problem was in verse 10, that they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

When he spoke and gave an exposition, a teaching from Scripture, what he said made so much sense that they couldn't well refute him. And not only in the words. This wasn't just some know it all who had lots of answers to every objection, but the great power that he manifested as he was standing in their midst and boldly proclaiming Jesus Christ was not just a human kind of strength of character. It was something that could only be given to him by the Spirit of God himself. Now, they saw this, but this did not draw him to Jesus.

This drew them away from Jesus, and this drew them to oppose the man who was bearing witness to Jesus. And So in verse 11, we see the first underhanded tactic that they employ then. They secretly instigated men. This is sort of a playing politics behind the scenes. They're sending people with words that they have coached them on what they should say.

And what these men are supposed to say is they say, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. Now, this sort of gives us a glimpse into the heart of the issue that we're going to see in the rest of this passage and also especially in. In the next passage where Stephen gives his defense. The issue is that they see Stephen as a threat to the Mosaic Law. Do you notice how tightly integrated what they say is in terms of the blasphemous words against whom?

Against Moses and God. As though this is just one package. Moses and God. God and Moses. Moses and God.

To oppose Moses in their minds was to oppose God. He's not really opposing Moses. He is opposing aspects of the ceremonial Mosaic Law. And we're going to talk about why he says this, but what's. What's really important to understand.

And, and this is sort of setting up what Stephen is going to respond in his very lengthy sermon that we're going to look at, Lord willing, next week. What Stephen is going to respond is going to say that he is not the one opposing Moses. They are the ones who did not listen to what Moses said would happen with raising up a prophet like him. And they have not believed in Jesus to follow Jesus as Moses would have wanted them to do. Well, moving forward, we see the second underhanded thing that this group does.

In verse 12, 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. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the council, or the word here is the Sanhedrin. And then in verses 13 and 14, we read the third underhanded thing that is done here. We read, they set up false witnesses. They couldn't oppose his ideas directly, so they called in false witnesses.

Now, this is really important because here is especially where we start to see the connection to what happened to the apostles earlier in the persecution that came against them. Because Stephen's persecution is in some ways like the persecution that Peter and John and that all the apostles faced. But it moves beyond those examples. And we're reminded that what we see here is a person that is similar to the persecution that Jesus himself faced. When commentator Lenski points out, like with Jesus, these men could have just sort of brought Stephen into a back alley somewhere and just murdered him, just taking care of him right then and there.

But they don't. They set up all, and they go through all of the processes that would be required for a trial. Yes, they cut some corners here and there. Yes, they bring in false witnesses to tip the scales, but they're trying to have a show of fairness and impartiality. And as Lenski says, very likely this is to hush their own consciences because they know that what they are doing is evil.

Now, what do these false witnesses do? Another commentator, Bruce, writes that these false witnesses, remember, were also brought against Jesus. And the way in which they bear false witness is. And what Bruce writes is not in wholesale fabrication, but in subtle and deadly misrepresentation of the words that were actually spoken. Now, it is true that Jesus himself taught that one greater than the Temple is here, Matthew 12:6.

Moreover, it is true that Jesus himself said, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. However, to think that Jesus was denigrating or speaking against the temple is to miss the point of what he was saying. What John goes on to tell us In John chapter 2 verses 18 through 21, is when Jesus talked about destroying the temple so that in three days the temple could be raised up. He was talking about the temple, his body. And we also need to remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:17.

Jesus said, do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. You see, the truth of the matter is that Jesus did signify the end of the temple and of the Levitical priesthood and of the animal sacrifices that were instituted in the law of Moses. But the broader additional truth that you must understand, that first truth, if you want to make sense of it, is that Jesus ended those practices because they had always pointed forward to him to his body as the temple, to him as the ultimate and final priest, to his death as the once for all, atoning, sacrifice for sinners. Jesus brought the ceremonies of the Mosaic Law to an end, not because Jesus rejected them.

He brought them to an end because he fulfilled them. He completed them. What they had done was to point forward to him. And so when he arrived, those ceremonies were brought to a completion. And once done, they would not continue.

Well, as Stephen will teach in his speech in Acts chapter seven, again, this issue is not about Moses. It's not about rites and rituals. The issue, really the underlying issue, the reason the world hates him and opposes him has to do with faith and obedience to God. Again, they are the ones opposing what Moses told them to do, not him. Just as the Jews had faithlessly opposed God's servants and forsaken God to worship idols and false gods throughout their history, so now these Jews in their midst were opposing Jesus and the servants that Jesus had commissioned.

In other words, what Stephen has to bear witness about means that there will be no way for him to win this debate. Because this debate is not about truth and faithfulness. It is about preserving the power and authority structures that the people of this particular world were clinging to. Well, if that's the case, if the deck is stacked against him, if there are underhanded tactics used at every stage, if Stephen realizes this, how does he respond? He likely can see that his doom is coming toward him very quickly.

Knowing that the death sentence has probably been decided, even if it has not yet been pronounced or executed, how does he respond? And this is, I think, one of the most extraordinary things that we read in the whole bible in verse 15, that he responds with a graceful presence. Part 3 Graceful presence we read, in gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his Face was like the face of an angel. This word for gazing is used in several other points in the Book of Acts. And it always carries the idea of intentional staring at something, especially when people are really not quite sure of what to make of what they are seeing.

For example, Darrell Bock writes, this verb is used of how the 11 were gazing upon Jesus as he ascended into heaven. They're watching him, not sure what exactly they are seeing. Well, these, these people, the Sanhedrin, are gazing at him and they're struck by. They're trying to make sense of it because it doesn't seem to follow what they would expect.

And so we read here why they are struck by this, that what they came away from was his face was like the face of an angel. He's not anxious. He really responds in a very graceful kind of way. How does he do this? Again, Stephen is confident.

Christianity to him is not just a set of ideas. It is not just a moral code of conduct. It is not just an inspiring help him through the day sort of a thing. Christianity for Stephen is the confidence that Christ is reigning invisibly but truly from heaven with all power and authority in heaven and on earth. And so because Stephen was confident of this, he's happy to bear bold witness for Jesus, even knowing where this will likely lead.

And so in the upcoming speech, he's going to pull no punches, but he is going to prophetically bear witness against their failures to keep the law throughout their history, especially regarding Jesus the righteous One, whom they have now betrayed and murdered. That's what he says in Acts, chapter 7, verse 52. So what do you take from this? Well, the application from this passage is again we see another insight, a glimpse of how we are to handle the kind of opposition and the kind of persecution that we may face in life. Is this.

Bear bold witness gracefully for Jesus. Bear bold witness gracefully for Jesus. How do we gain this kind of perspective? I think this comes so counterintuitively, but what we are seeing here is a man who is bold because of his confidence in the reign and rule of Jesus Christ. Now, we need to double click on that a moment.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ tells us that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who at a point in real flesh and blood human history himself took a human nature so that he might live in our midst as a human being like us in every respect, except for sin, a perfect human life, so that he might not only become righteous himself, but that he might take his righteousness and eventually credit it to others, us through faith. That Jesus Christ came into this world not only to live perfectly, but also that he might die a cursed death that we deserved for our sins, as he suffered in our place, so that then he might rise from the dead on the third day to defeat death, so that ultimately he might raise us from the dead. And he did this ultimately so that he might ascend to heaven, where he, the God man, is now seated at the right hand of His Father, reigning over all in heaven and earth, and that one day he might come again to save those who were eagerly awaiting him. This is the great pronouncement of what the gospel promises. This is the hope that Stephen held to.

This is why he was so confident. And I want to ask, is this your confidence? Not just a set of ideas that you agree with? Maybe you could pass a test. Maybe this gives you warm feels from time to time.

Maybe it encourages you here and there. Maybe you feel really good singing songs about this. But is this when push comes to shove, when the persecution hits your front door? Is this your only comfort in life and in death? Is this your hope?

If not, would you look to Jesus today? The Son of Man is in heaven, reigning, and he promises to save to the uttermost all who look to him in faith. Because it's that kind of looking to Jesus in faith, it's that kind of settled confidence that gives us the graceful boldness to act as Stephen does when the time comes. You know, when I read about Stephen here, I'm reminded of a helpful definition I once heard for leadership in general. He's leading, even if these people are not following him.

We today are following his example. A helpful definition of leadership, whether within the church or when bearing witness to the wider world, is that leadership is a non anxious presence. Now, what's happening to Stephen, the reason this reminds me is that here we are seeing the anxiety, the anxiousness ramping up all around. These are angry people, these are threatened and wounded people. These are people who perceive that if what Stephen says is true, they can no longer continue to live their lives the way they have been.

And so they are continuing to ramp up and escalate what they are doing against Stephen. And how does he respond? He doesn't follow that escalation. He's not continuing to say, oh yeah, and give it to him even harder. He's so peaceful.

His face is like the face of an angel. He does not match underhanded tactics with underhanded tactics. Rather, what we have seen, the example in these brief sketches that we have had of Stephen, is that first of all, this is a man whom the entire congregation knows as a man full of faith and the Spirit. He's someone who has served boldly and gracefully within the church to be recognized and called as an officer. He's been filled with grace and power, doing great wonders and signs outside the church among the people.

He faithfully debates those who oppose the gospel of Jesus. And he does so with wisdom and in the power of the Holy Spirit. And even when he himself suffers under false accusations, false arrest and the false testimony that is brought against him, his face is serene and graceful and confident and non anxious. He's not perturbed by this in the least. Like an angel.

It's so important to be settled in your mind that the world will hate you. The world will hate you because of your testimony for Jesus. Because the world hated Jesus first. And if they did that to your master, how will you, his servant, escape it? Are you better than your master?

You need to know that the world will use underhanded tactics because the world first used underhanded tactics against Jesus. You need to know that you will suffer for him. That it is certain that those who are faithful will be persecuted because Jesus suffered and bled and died first. But it's so important to know even more than those things, to know even more that Jesus, the Son of man, is right now reigning at the right hand of God. And if King Jesus is for you, who can be against you?

If King Jesus is wielding all of the authority of heaven and earth for your benefit, what does it matter of what the world can do for you? And if in eternity to come he's the one who will reward you, then why would you trade a short term cowardly response for the infinite eternal good that God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, will do for you throughout all time. If God is sovereignly working all things together for the good of those who love him and who are called according to his purpose, what can make us anxious today? What we have here is a powerful example of the Holy Spirit of God so transforming a believer that he is able to walk and do whatever he finds. And this same spirit is at work in you today.

And I know that the one who is in you, he who is in you, is greater than he who is in the world. Let's pray. Gracious Father, we do pray that you would give us this boldness, this confidence, this peace. A non anxiousness from a settled conviction, not just a theory, a settled conviction that Jesus Christ truly does reign from heaven. Father, we are so weak and frail, but we pray that this settled conviction would seep into our blood and our bones.

That it would fill and direct and animate everything we do. Particularly as we bear bold, courageous witness for Jesus Christ in the midst of a watching world. We pray this in Christ's name, Amen.