Stephen, the Man Who Knew the God of Glory (Acts 6:8 - 7:60)

Where: College Baptist Church

When: August 19, 2001

Why: To show how the better we know our God, the better Christian we become. The person who knows God intimately, can handle anything life can throw at them.

Text: Acts 6:8 - 7:60

Introduction

They say you can really know what a person is like and what he or she believes in when the chips are really down. Especially when faced with the possibility of death, the true character often comes out of a person.

Billy Graham has said that one of the five things that he always remembers when he opens God's Word to preaches is that we all have a fear of death.

Ed Landry is a dear friend and missionary with ACTION. If ever character was revealed in the face of death, it has been with Ed. Shocked a few weeks ago with the news that he has an acute form of leukemia that gives him only three years to live if he endures treatments- two years if he does not- he remains hopeful and typically full of humor- and full of desire to glorify God and see His Kingdom advanced. Ed writes, "We have had a renewed sense in our lives of the preciousness of life. Janet and I have had a close and wonderful marriage. It is ready for the storms that may lie ahead. If God grants an extension of life he knows it is for his Kingdom. If it turns out shorter than we would all like then it will be for His Kingdom. We are having great sharing opportunities in the hospital and personal correspondence to council, encourage and evangelize. Several nurses and some doctors are hearing the gospel clearly and with triumphant joy. Two of my doctors are Jewish and one is Muslim and another is a backslidden Lutheran. They are all listening."

The French philosopher Voltaire boasted that because of his influence Christianity would loose influence and die in just a couple of decades But on his deathbed he cried, "I am abandoned by God and man! I give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months' life. Then I shall go to hell; and you will go with me. O Christ! O Jesus Christ!" (Hughes).

"John Wesley died full of counsel, exhortations, and praise for God. His final words were, "The best of all is, God is with us. The best of all is, God is with us. The best of all is, God is with us. Farewell!" Adoniram Judson, the great American missionary to Burma, suffering immensely at death, said to those around, "I go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school, I feel so strong in Christ." Jonathan Edwards, dying from smallpox, gave some final directions, bid his daughter good-bye, and expired saying, "Where is Jesus, my never-failing friend?" (Hughes).

How would we respond in death? What really makes a difference in our lives? Would our knowledge of Christ and relationship with Him be revealed as our sustaining strength and joy?

Review

The church in the book of Acts has been baptized and filled by the Holy Spirit. God's Word is being proclaimed with great boldness. Miracles are regularly occurring. People are being saved. People are growing spiritually.

Yet this euphoric blessing and growth has not gone unchallenged. Satan has confronted the early church from without and within. Twice the apostles have been hauled off to the Sanhedrin. Imprisoned. Interrogated. Warned. Beaten. Twice attacks have come from within. The greedy lying to the Holy Spirit of Ananias and Sapphira brought God's judgement. Perceived partiality and favoritism over the distribution of food among the widows resulted in the choosing of Spirit-filled, godly individuals for the nuts-and-bolts of ministry.

Stephen was one of those individuals, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit (6:5).

Transition

Acts 6 and 7 reveal that Stephen was a man who knew his God. He had a personal, intimate knowledge and relationship with God. Paul declared, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things (Philippians 3:8).

The person who knows God intimately can handle anything life can throw at him or her. As disciples of Jesus Christ, it is crucial that we have a growing knowledge and intimacy with our God.

Stephen's clear vision of who God was carried him triumphantly through the greatest trial life can life can throw at a person.

Stephen's intimate knowledge of God is revealed through his life, through his knowledge of Israel's history, and through his death.

Stephen's intimate knowledge of God is revealed through his life (6:8-13)

Acts 6:8. ⁸Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.

Stephen was full of God's grace. We know that God's grace is unmerited favor. It's getting something we don't deserve and not getting what we do deserve. All the benefits and blessings of the Christian life are God's grace to us. Spiritual gifts, Christ-like character, the fruit of the Spirit, the ability to do the right thing, strength in trials and difficulties, are all examples of God's grace in our lives.

Stephen was also full of God's power. Power is the promise that was given in connection to the filling of the Holy Spirit. It is the promise of 1:8 to make the disciples bold witnesses of the good news about Christ. It is the strength of God to do and be anything that He asks us to do and be to His glory.

Again, we see opposition rising up against the glory of God. Any opposition against God's glory in our lives has it's roots in Satan who has always wanted God's glory to be his.

The opposition came from within Synagogue of the Freedmen. There were synagogues all over Jerusalem where people would gather to worship God, read the Scripture, and hear teaching. It was an idea that had begun when the children of Israel had been scattered by God to other nations and the temple wasn't available for worship. They would gather by language or ethnic background where they spoke the same language or had a common background. It was a pretty diverse society.

This particular synagogue was for the "freedmen." It seems these were people who had been slaves in other parts of the empire but had been granted their freedom. With their freedom, they returned to the land of promise and the city of Jerusalem. This synagogue was made up of individuals from Cyrene and Alexandria in northern Africa, and from Cilicia and Asia which we now know as Turkey.

Since it seems that Stephen spent a lot of time debating at this synagogue, he may have been a freed slave or from one of these provinces. There's a good chance that Saul attended there since he was from Tarsus, a city in Cilicia.

Stephen's intimate knowledge of God carried over to all parts of his life. He couldn't stop talking about how Jesus was the fulfillment of God's promise of the Messiah. Filled with the Spirit, he had such authority that the non-believers weren't able to effectively argue against him. He always won. They were frustrated and angry, and filled with what they perceived to be a righteous anger.

They stirred things up, made up some accusations filled with some half-truths and violently dragged Stephen to the high council of the Sanhedrin. This is the third time a Christian has been brought to the Sanhedrin. Each time they council has become increasingly aggressive. Each time the disciples realized that this is the same group of people who had crucified Jesus.

As Stephen stands before the Sanhedrin, an amazing thing happens. ¹⁵All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel (6:15). Apparently God's presence was so clearly experienced by Stephen that his face glowed with God's glory. Only one other time had that ever happened- when Moses had come down from Mt. Sinai (Exodus 34:27-29).

TRANSITION: Stephen is full of God's grace and God's power. His intimate knowledge of God is revealed through his life, his actions, his wisdom . . . even gloriously through his appearance.

Stephen's intimate knowledge of God is revealed through his knowledge o Israel's history (7:1-53)

Chapter 7 is primarily Stephen's defense before the Sanhedrin, those puffed up, religious aristocrats. It is the longest sermon in the book of Acts, full and deep with significant truth. In a nutshell, Stephen follows the history of God's dealing with His people, demonstrating how His way of dealing with His people has changed over time. Knowing that his life hangs in the balance, Stephen speaks boldly.

Stephen's intimate knowledge of God is revealed as we see him continually referring to the work and character of God throughout his trial.

He is the God of glory (7:1, 2). Then the high priest asked him, "Are these charges true?" ² To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.

John MacArthur notes, "The title (God of glory) appears only here and in Psalm 29:3. It is the most rich, complete description of the almighty, holy, sovereign God, since His glory is the composite of all His attributes (cf. Ex. 33:18-19)" (MacArthur, parenthesis added). Stephen goes right to the beginning of their history and demonstrates God's sovereignty over Abraham as an individual and their lives as a nation.

He is the God who leads (7:3-4). ³ 'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.' ⁴ "So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living..

Stephen's God of glory, the matchless, sovereign One, is not detached and distant. He is also God who leads. He shows the way. He has purpose and a plan. Do not be worried or dismayed or overwhelmed.

He is the God of promise (7:5). ⁵ He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.

Stephen's God was the God of promise. He led Abraham with a promise- a promised land, promised descendants. He is a God true to His promises. His Word never fails. Abraham (and Stephen) was fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised (Romans 4:21).

He is the God who is present (7:9-10a). ⁹ "Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his troubles."

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, his twelve sons . . . Stephen traces the promise of God. With Joseph being sold into Egypt, he declares that even though he was sold into slavery, God was with him. Stephen's God is the God who is present.

Psalm 139:7-10. ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. ⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

He is the God who provides (7:10b-16). Stephen goes on to tell of how God rescued Joseph and raised him up as the prime minister of Egypt. They the world was gripped with seven years of famine. Stephen's God is the God who provides. He knew. His sovereignty placed Joseph in a position to be used. God provided on the grandest scale food to sustain his people.

He is the God who sets His people free (7:17 ff.). Stephen traces the God's hand through the birth of Moses, his protection as an infant, and his growing years in Pharaoh's palace. Moses tries to deal with the children of Israel's bondage on his own terms. After murdering a slave driver, he flees in fear to the desert. Eventually, God leads him back to deliver his people.

Stephen reveals that the God he believes in, is purposeful and powerful. He delivers us. He frees us from bondage.

He is the God who is holy (7:33). When Moses was in the desert, there was a burning bush. It was the presence of God. ³³ "Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground.

God promises, God protects, God delivers . . . He is holy. He is without sin. He is awesome in His holiness. Take off your sandals, Moses.

He is the God who disciplines (7:35-43). In spite of the fact that their God was holy, Stephen points out how with such regularity, Israel sinned against their God. They disobeyed. But not just disobey. They were complete and enthusiastic in their disbedience. Thou shalt have no other God's before me? Why, Stephen declares, they not only had other gods, they even sacrificed their children to the pagan dieties. God disciplined them sending them as captives of war into Babylon.

We know from Hebrews that God's discipline flows out of His love. He is holy and hates sin, but He lovingly gives us opportunity to repent and return to Him.

He is the God who dwells in our hearts (7:44-50). Stephen reveals that God is one who dwells in our hearts. There was the Tabernacle, the symbol of God's presence with them. There was the Temple where ritual sacrifices were made demonstrating the peoples' faith in God and picturing the coming Lamb of God. But, Stephen declares, The Most High God does not live in houses made by men. A building can't contain the Most High God.

We know now through the New Testament Scripture that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). God dwells in us! ²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (Ephesians 2:21, 22).

TRANSITION: Stephen clearly knew his God. His life revealed an intimate knowledge and relationship with God, as did his grasp of Hebrew history. Stephens intimate knowledge of God is also revealed through his death.

Stephen's intimate knowledge of God is revealed through his death (7:51-60)

The threat of death has not slowed Stephen down. He knows his God. The stamp of the God of grace and power is fully upon this man. With a power that is not of this world, he thunders to the Sanherdin as his defense in this puppet court swells to a climax: ⁵¹ "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! ⁵² Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him- ⁵³ you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."

7:54-56. ⁵⁴ When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

Stephen knew the triune God, the Trinity, the three-in-one! Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He was fully yielded to and controlled by God the Holy Spirit.

As, they gnashed their teeth at him, as they cursed and threatened him, he saw the glory of God in heaven. Stephen knew the God of glory. Stephen knew God the Father.

Stephen saw the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, standing at the right hand of the Father. Other Scriptures refer to Jesus as seated at the right hand of God the Father. But as His redeemed child Stephen is now facing imminent, slow, crushing death, Jesus is on His feet. Perhaps His hands are outstretched. He is ready to welcom home His child, the first of countless saints to lay down their lives to the glory of God. Stephen knew God the Son.

7:57-60. ⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." ⁶⁰ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

As stones piled up around him, hitting him, crushing him, as he is being battered and broken, as blood begins to gush from many wounds, Stephen reveals a final truth about God. Perhaps it is the most welcome. He is the God who forgives.

Lord, do not hold this sin against them. Does that echo something else we have heard before? Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.