STEPHEN THE MARTYR
Text: Acts 7:51-60
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. The first martyr of the Christian faith was Stephen. We have been studying about his defense against the accusations brought against him by the Jewish high council. In the end, of course, it leads to his death.
3. But there is something very important that we learn from Stephen’s death.
4. Read Acts 7:51-60.
Proposition: We need to be led by the Spirit and not resist his leading.
Transition: The thing we must not do is…
I. Resist the Spirit (51-53).
A. Must You Forever Resist the Spirit?
1. Stephen now moves to the culmination of his sermon. He has brilliantly refuted the charges against him. Now, he turns the tables and brings accusations against them. In v. 51 he says, "You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!”.
a. He tells them that they are stubborn people. The idea here is that they were unwilling to bow before the Lord and obey his commands. Because they prided themselves on their physical circumcision and their keeping of rituals.
b. However, Stephen points out, even though they were circumcised in body, their hearts were not circumcised.
c. God had criticized their ancestors for this, and Jesus has criticized them for this too. God doesn’t care what you are on the outside; he cares about what is on the inside.
d. Furthermore, he tells them that they resisted the Holy Spirit just as their ancestors did. When Tina and I were in bible college, we had a wonderful professor, Dr. Robert Kurka, and he used to say, “The Holy Spirit is like an 8,000 lbs gorilla; he does whatever he wants!”
e. The most foolish thing that a person can do is to resist the Holy Spirit. To resist him is to bring yourself spiritual death.
f. When we ignore Scripture, and the warnings of the Holy Spirit, we are in danger of dying spiritually.
g. This is what the Israelites had been doing for years, and that’s what is happening in the modern church in America today.
2. In v. 52 he says, “Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.”
a. Again, Jesus had criticized them for killing the prophets, and now Stephen also criticizes them for doing the same thing.
b. Not only had they persecuted the prophets, but also killed the ones who prophesied the coming of the righteous one - Jesus - who they had crucified.
c. Not only had they resisted the Holy Spirit and refused to listen to him, but they also even rejected those whom the Holy Spirit had sent to warn them.
3. Stephen continues his criticism of them in v. 53 where he says, “You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”
a. Not only had they resisted the Holy Spirit, and murdered the prophets, but they also deliberately disobeyed God’s law.
b. Time and time again they rejected God and his law, and as a result they were oppressed by the nations around them.
c. But God would always send a deliverer to save them.
d. Even though God had delivered his law to them through heavenly beings, the angels, they still disobeyed.
B. Do Not Take Your Holy Spirit from Me
1. Illustration: On our automobiles we have these little lights on our dashboards. They there for a reason, to tell us when something bad is happening to our vehicle that needs our attention. If we ignore these warning lights, eventually something really bad is going to happen…like your engine could blow up. Well, the same is true with our spiritual lives. When we are doing something that is harmful to us spiritually, the Holy Spirit comes and warns us to stop doing what we are doing. If we choose to ignore Him, it’s going to lead us to a bad place.
2. It’s never a good thing to ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit.
a. “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.” (Ps. 51:10-11).
b. David had a good reason to fear losing the Holy Spirit. He had seen his master, King Saul, repeatedly resist the voice of the Spirit, and it led to his destruction.
c. David realizes his own sin and knows that he must react differently to warnings of the Spirit than Saul had done.
d. We need to be like David and listen to the warnings of the Spirit, because if we don’t it will lead us down the path of destruction.
e. When the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, we need to listen to the Holy Spirit and repent of our sin.
f. John says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn. 1:9).
g. But if we resist the Spirit, the consequences will be severe.
Transition: The opposite of resisting the Spirit, is being…
II. Full of the Spirit (54-60).
A. Stephen Full Being Full of the Spirit
1. Well needless to say, this didn’t sit well with the Jewish religious leaders. In v. 54 we read, “The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.”
a. Luke tells us that these leaders were infuriated with Stephen.
b. It literally means “cut in half with a saw.”
c. His accusation had hit them right were it hurt. They were self-righteous, and arrogant people, filled with their own pride.
d. The fact that they were angered to the point of shaking their fists in rage at Stephen was proof that they were resisting the Holy Spirit.
2. Now, Luke shows the difference between the self-righteous religious leaders and Stephen in vv. 55-56 where he says, “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 56 And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”
a. While they were infuriated and filled with rage, but Stephen maintained his eyes on Jesus.
b. Notice what it says, “Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit.” They were resisting the Holy Spirit, but Stephen was welcoming the Holy Spirit and following his leading.
c. Because of this he was able to gaze into heaven, and he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
d. Stephen’s description indicates that Jesus rose to welcome his first martyr to give a witness at the cost of his life.
e. Notice also that Stephen used the same phrase that these Jewish leaders had heard Jesus’ use of himself, the Son of Man.
f. It was a recognition that Jesus, being the Son of God, became human like us to stand in our place on the cross.
3. Again, we see the contrast in the spiritual maturity of Stephen and the spiritual immaturity of the Sanhedrin. In vv. 57-58, Luke tells us, “Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.”
a. After hearing Stephen’s vision of heaven, they covered their ears and began shouting at him, like a bunch of spoiled rotten kids.
b. They rushed at him, and drug him out of the city and began to stone him.
c. Now, Roman law did not allow them to carry out the death penalty, but this was toward the end of Herod’s governorship when he had fallen into disfavor with the Roman government, so the Jews took advantage of his weakness.
d. The took off their outer garments to give them more freedom of motion to enable themselves to throw with more force.
e. This introduces a new character in the narrative of Acts, a man named Saul of Tarsus, who we will later on know as the Apostle Paul.
4. But I want you to notice, even in the midst of death, Stephen never took his eyes off Jesus. In vv. 59-60, Luke tells us, “As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.”
a. Stephen shows just how spiritually mature and filled with the Spirit he was because his thoughts are not for himself but rather on Jesus.
b. Even though he was being stoned to death, he doesn’t ask to be delivered from death, but rather he asks Jesus to receive him into heaven.
c. This illustrates what Paul would write later that our citizenship is not here on earth but in heaven.
d. Then notice what Stephen’s last act on earth was the same as what Jesus declared on the cross, “Lord, don’t charge this sin against them.”
e. When you can forgive someone, even while they are killing you, it shows that you are a true follower of Jesus!
B. Led By the Spirit
1. Without the Holy Spirit the church could not exist. It is He who inspired the writers of Scripture, and He who dwells in every Christian, giving us life in Christ. All our efforts are dust and ashes apart from Him.
a. A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money. The old guy fingered his worsted wool vest and said, "Well, son, it was 1932, the depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel. I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents.
b. The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 5:00 PM for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I’d accumulated a fortune of $3.50. (pause) Then my wife’s father died and left us ten million dollars."
c. When Jesus died for us, He sent us the Holy Spirit, enriching us with all we need to live in Him.
2. When we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, he always takes us to Jesus.
a. “13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” (Rom. 8:13-14).
b. Allowing ourselves to be led by the world leads to death.
c. It will lead us to physical death, and even worse, spiritual death.
d. However, when we are led by the Spirit, by his power we can put to death that part of us that resists the Holy Spirit.
e. When we do this, it leads us to life, joy, and peace.
f. More importantly, it leads us to Jesus! And he will say to us, “well done, good and faithful servant.
g. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” (Heb. 12:1-2).
Conclusion
1. In Stephen’s death we learn…
a. Don’t resist the Holy Spirit
b. Be led by the Holy Spirit
2. What’s the point preacher? When we follow the voice of the Holy Spirit, he will lead us to Jesus!
