Falsely Accused Series

FALSELY ACCUSED

TEXT: ACTS 6:8-15

Introduction

1. Illustration: The author, Antonio Socci, claims the untold story of the 20th century is the murder of 45 million Christians, mostly at the hands of communist and Islamic regimes, and that massacres continue to this day. Drawing heavily from the World Christian Encyclopedia, published last year by the Oxford University Press, Mr Socci traces the persecution of Christians through the centuries, from the crucifixion of Jesus to the lions at Circus Maximus, the assassination of Thomas Becket and the execution of Thomas More, the Boxer rebellion in China, Mexico's revolution and the Turkish massacres in Armenia. He calculates that in the past 2,000 years some 70 million Christians have been killed, two-thirds in the past 100 years alone, a bloodbath blamed mostly on the Soviet Union as well as communist China and Nazi Germany. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/jun/04/religion.booksnews).

2. What is a martyr? The dictionary defines a martyr as “someone who is killed because of their religious beliefs.”

3. Today we begin looking at the very first martyr of the Christian church, and his name is Stephen.

4. Let’s begin by looking at what our text tells us about Stephen. Read Acts 6:5, 8-15.

Proposition: Like Stephen, we need to be bold in the face of opposition.

Transition: First, let’s look at…

I. Stephen the Spirit-Filled Preacher (8-10).

A. Full of Grace and Power

1. The only thing that Scripture tells us about Stephen is found in this section and the next chapter. However, what it tells us is amazing. First, Luke tells us back in v. 5, “Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit).”

a. The first thing that Luke tells us about Stephen is that he was a man of faith.

b. In one sense his faith was ordinary. He had faith in Jesus just like other Christians.

c. On the other hand, his faith was extraordinary because he was willing to trust Christ enough to risk everything to follow him. He was literally willing to put his life on the line for the cause of Christ.

d. If you look at the great people of faith in the Bible, you will find that they were all risk takers. Everyone from Abraham, Moses, David, and now the believers in the NT, were all risk takers for the purpose of the Kingdom.

e. Second, Luke tells us he was full of the Holy Spirit.

f. Nearly all the believers in the early church were full of the Spirit, but Stephen was so completely engulfed with the Holy Spirit that he stood out from the crowd, so much that Luke draws special attention to it.

2. In v. 8, Luke shows us what was special about Stephen, “Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people.”

a. It was because he was so full of the Holy Spirit that he was full of grace and power.

b. He was so full of the Spirit that God’s grace came pouring out of him.

c. This does not mean that he was weak, as the next chapter will show us, but even under persecution and false accusation he was able to demonstrate the graciousness of God.

d. In addition to displaying God’s grace, he was able to perform miraculous signs and wonders.

e. He is the first non-apostle to perform miracles in the Book of Acts, and the first non-apostle to have his sermon recorded.

f. It is uncertain how long his ministry lasted, but it is certain how powerful it was while it lasted.

3. Now we know that whenever someone is doing something for God that Satan will try and stop it. In v. 9 Luke tells us, “But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia.”

a. Some men from the Synagogue of the Freed Slaves opposed what Stephen was doing for the Lord and debated with him.

b. These men were former Roman slaves who had been freed and now came to Jerusalem and started their own Synagogue.

c. They were Jews from different parts of Africa, Italy, and Asia.

d. Obviously, they didn’t agree with what Stephen was preaching and stood against him in public.

4. However, “None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke.”

a. Another aspect of Stephen’s character is that he was a great preacher.

b. First, these men couldn’t stand against the wisdom with which Stephen spoke.

c. “Wisdom” (sophia) appears only four times in Acts (6:3, 10; 7:10, 22). It was an “inspired wisdom” (REB), because the Spirit gave Stephen the words to speak, in keeping with the promise of Christ, “For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict” (Luke 21:15). (Fernando, Acts, The NIV Application Commentary, 245).