Spiritual Nobility
Acts 6:8-15
Intro
This passage marks a transition in the book of Acts. Up to this point, Peter has been the dominating figure, fulfilling his calling by taking the gospel to the people. Another figure of importance looms on the horizon: the apostle Paul, who is introduced at the end of chapter 7.
Bridging the gap between these two giants is Stephen. Peter ministered primarily to the Jewish people and Paul would primarily minister to the Gentiles. Stephen’s brief ministry was mainly to the Jews from Gentile lands surrounding Jerusalem. It was Stephen’s ministry that catapulted the church out of Jerusalem and into the rest of the world.
Stephen was in many ways a forerunner to Paul. He boldly confronted the synagogues of foreign Jews in Jerusalem, possibly even entering them to debate their members. Stephen faced fierce opposition, even to the point of physical persecution. It is even possible that Paul’s first exposure to the gospel came through Stephen. Stephen’s death must have left a great impression on Paul; to see Stephen being stoned to death, while he held the coats of the people and hear Stephen ask God to forgive them for what they were doing.
Stephen was a key figure in the early history of the church. But apart from historical role, he was significant because of his character. He was proof that the impact of a man’s life and ministry has nothing necessarily to do with length of time. His ministry, though brief, was essential to God’s plan for world evangelism. He showed that the efforts of one courageous person can have far reaching effects.
It is no surprise to me that the world failed to recognize Stephen’s greatness. The world measures success by popularity, prestige, or material wealth, and thus fails to understand true greatness. After all, they killed Jesus, beheaded Paul, executed Peter, and persecuted the church. Although the people judged Stephen and killed him, he was one of the noblest and most powerful men who ever lived. The text we have before us today presents three evidences of Stephen’s spiritual nobility: his character, his courage, and his countenance.
Read Text
I. His Character (v. 8)
a. Verse 5 and 8, described Stephen as “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.”
i. Stephen was totally controlled by faith, the Holy Spirit, grace, and power.
ii. His sermon before the Sanhedrin that caused him to get stoned, revealed the content of his faith, He truly believed that God ruled history and was confident of God’s sovereign control of his life.
iii. His confident trust in Jesus’ care for him allowed him to face death calmly.
iv. Sadly, many Christians today could not be described as full of faith.
1. Just like the father of the demon possessed boy healed by Jesus, their cry is “I do believe; help my unbelief”
2. While trusting God for their eternal destiny, they find it difficult to trust Him with the concerns of their everyday life.
v. Stephen thought trusted God fully and concentrated on doing what God wanted him to do.
vi. Stephen placed the consequences of his faith in God’s hands.
b. Not only was Stephen full of faith, but also of the Holy Spirit.
i. This is the privilege that all believers have, to be full of faith is to trust God; to be filled with the Spirit is to obey fully His will.
ii. Stephen believed God and submitted to the leading of the empowering, purifying Holy Spirit.
iii. Those two words epitomize the strength of the Christian life: Trust and Obey
c. A third spiritual reality, flowing from the trust and obedience, that characterized Stephen was grace
i. Because Stephen trust God, and walked in the fullness of the Spirit, he was given the grace to face persecution, even death.
ii. Stephen did not allow fear or hatred to control him.
iii. Stephen was gracious even at the point of death, because of his confident trust in God and resignation to the divine purpose.
iv. The only way a believer can live like Stephen is by dying to their sinful self.
d. Finally, Stephen’s character was full of power.
i. This is a direct result of His being filled with the Spirit.
ii. The fact that Stephen was performing great wonders and signs among the people, suggests that he was powered by the Holy Spirit and not himself.
iii. Stephen’s life displayed God’s grace and power because he was filled with obedient faith and with the Holy Spirit.
II. His Courage (vv. 9-14)
a. Stephen’s character was a match for any attack and a fierce one was coming
b. Stephen caused such a stir by his preaching that the men of the Jewish synagogues rose up against him in debate.
i. The phrase “rose up” indicates that they were stirred up to action and enraged, not merely standing up from their seats.
c. Whatever the precise issues of the debate were, Stephen won.
d. The text says that his opponents “were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.”
e. Unable to defeat Stephen in a fair debate, his opponents changed tactics, and they induced men to say that Stephen was speaking blasphemy against Moses and God.
i. They knew how zealous the people were for Moses and God and they could easily stir up a large crowd by bringing these false charges against Stephen.
ii. They twisted Stephen’s words to further stir the crowd and the Sanhedrin.
f. Throughout this ordeal, Stephen’s courage shines through.
i. Despite the intense opposition he encountered, he never backed down or compromised his faith in God.
ii. As his enemies complained, Stephen just incessantly reiterated the gospel message.
iii. In Acts 7:51-53 he boldly rebuked them saying,
“You men who are stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murders you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angles, and jet did not keep it.”
iv. Stephen’s courage stamped him with the mark of greatness.
III. His Countenance (v. 15)
a. Verse 15, paints for us a striking contrast to the previous verses.
b. Here stood Stephen in front of the Sanhedrin accused of being an evil blasphemer of God, the temple, and the law.
c. Yet when the Sanhedrin looked at him, they saw the face of an angel
d. Stephen radiated the holiness and glory of God.
e. God himself answered the false charges by putting His glory on Stephen. Moses was the only other person in history to experience this.
f. By God doing this, He showed His approval of the New Covenant and its messenger.
g. Stephen sought the approval of God, not of man.
Closing
Every believer here should remember Stephen and imitate those qualities in his life that made him the man with the face of an angel. Does your life reflect those qualities the God gave to Stephen or are you lacking? Maybe you fall short in those areas, because you don’t have a proper relationship with God. Today you can change all of that and nail it down. You can leave here today knowing that you are a child of God and that you have the ability through God to achieve those qualities that God so desires for us all to have. Are you a product of God’s grace or of this world
