Stephen’s Message, Pt. 1 – Journeys of Faith
Acts 6:15 – 7:16
Jeff Hughes – May 4, 2003
Calvary Chapel Aggieland
I. Introduction
a. Stephen’s faith in God and his walking it out placed him in harm’s way. Stephen boldly stood up for his faith in front of the Grecian Jews at the Freedman’s Synagogue, we saw this last week.
b. This week, we will see Stephen standing firm in front of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jewish nation, proclaiming that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the long awaited Savior.
c. Just like with the apostles, when they stood before the Sanhedrin to answer charges, Stephen would use this opportunity to try and evangelize this group, as the apostles had done.
d. Stephen didn’t hire an attorney, he didn’t try to make a plea bargain, he just kept trusting God, and proclaimed the gospel. God blessed Stephen for his faithfulness, which we will see both today and next week.
e. But, we notice that Stephen’s message to the Sanhedrin is very long. Now, if importance equated to length, this would be one of the most important sections of Acts. But, really, we don’t know what the purpose God had by including Stephen’s message in Acts, except to give us hope and inspiration when we fall into tribulation. It is important to us though, because God chose to put it here in His Word, and we will study it today.
f. There are two themes in Stephen’s message, and today we will look at the first of those themes. The first theme is that God, throughout history, has sent deliverers and leaders, by faith to lead and instruct the Jewish nation. But, time and time again, the nation rebelled and sinned against God.
g. It wasn’t that these men God raised up failed. On the contrary, these men did exactly what God had called them to do by faith in Him. Each of these men were called to make a Journey of Faith, and we will look at this in depth today, as we continue through Acts.
h. But, first, let’s have a short prayer, to ask the Lord to bless the study of His Word today.
II. PRAYER
III. Illustration
a. When Hudson Taylor went to China, he made the voyage on a sailing vessel. As it neared the channel between the southern Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra, the missionary heard an urgent knock on his stateroom door. He opened it, and there stood the captain of the ship.
b. “Mr. Taylor,” he said, “we have no wind. We are drifting toward an island where the people are heathen, and I fear they are cannibals.”
c. “What can I do?” asked Taylor.
d. “I understand that you believe in God. I want you to pray for wind.”
e. “All right, Captain, I will, but you must set the sail.”
f. “Why that’s ridiculous! There’s not even the slightest breeze. Besides, the sailors will think I’m crazy.”
g. But finally, because of Taylor’s insistence, he agreed. Forty-five minutes later he returned and found the missionary still on his knees. “You can stop praying now,” said the captain. “We’ve got more wind than we know what to do with!”
h. Hudson Taylor was a man who was making a journey of faith himself. Many lives would be touched through the work of His China Inland Mission. Stephen made a journey of faith to stand in front of the Sanhedrin to proclaim the gospel.
i. God calls and raises up men to do His work on the earth. Alan Redpath once said that God could write the gospel in the stars if He chose to, but instead, He chose to use men, ordinary men, to carry His message to the ends of the earth.
j. Using Stephen’s narrative here toady we will look at two other men who made that journey of faith to carry God’s message.
k. Our study today starts in Acts chapter 6, verse 15, and we will continue through verse 16 of chapter 7, as we continue to study through Acts. There’s a place for you to take notes in your bulletin if you would like, and if you need a Bible, just raise your hand. Acts is right past John in the New Testament, and just before Romans.
l. Follow along with me as we read.
IV. Study
a. Intro
i. 15 And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel. 1 Then the high priest said, "Are these things so?" 2 And he said, "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, 3 and said to him, ’Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. 5 And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7 ’And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ’and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ 8 Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. 9 "And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11 Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. 16 And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
ii. What we see is a narrative concerning the birth of the Jewish nation. Stephen is drawing a parallel here between his Jewish listeners and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
iii. He starts his message with a reference to Abraham, the man that is known as the father of the Jewish faith. He goes on to describe Abraham’s journey. He touches briefly on Isaac and Jacob, and we will finish up today looking at Joseph. Next week, we will see the end of Stephen’s message where he talks about Moses, Joshua, David and Solomon.
iv. In our passage today, we will look at six points. We will see the face of Stephen, the Father of a Nation, Faith in God’s Promise, the Favor of God, Famine in the Land, and last, in a Foreign Land.
v. Our first point has to do with the appearance of Stephen as he stands in front of Sanhedrin. We find this in chapter 6, verse 15, and verse 1 of chapter 7.
b. The Face of Stephen (Acts 6:15-7:1)
i. 15 And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel. 1 Then the high priest said, "Are these things so?"
ii. Last week, we saw Stephen debating in the Freedman’s Synagogue, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Stephen overcomes those he was debating.
iii. These guys were angry about getting out debated by Stephen, so they stir up the people against him by spreading lies. At this point, Stephen is taken, by force, to stand in front of the Sanhedrin to answer the charges against Him.
iv. The charges were four-fold. They accused Stephen of blasphemy against God, blasphemy against Moses, blasphemy against the law, and blasphemy against the temple.
v. These charges were no a doubt without merit and purely false, but, conviction of these offenses was punishable by death. The only way they made them stick was by bribing men to give a false witness about Stephen.
vi. Today, we see how Stephen responds. We get to see Stephen under pressure. Verse 15 tells us that as the council, the Sanhedrin looked at Stephen, they saw his face as the face of an angel.
vii. God was showing His glory through Stephen. This is a notable occurrence, because it had only happened to one other person in all of Scripture, and that was Moses.
viii. We read this account of Moses in Exodus chapter 34, verses 29 and 30 - 29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
ix. God had shown both His approval and His glory through the face of Stephen. Through this, God had also shown His approval of the New Covenant through Jesus Christ, and His approval on this messenger of that Covenant, Stephen.
x. The early church at Jerusalem had seen God raise up Stephen in the body, by blessing him with wisdom and the Holy Spirit. God was now raising Stephen up again, by honoring Stephen as He had honored Moses.
xi. It was through this message of Stephen, and God’s blessing of Stephen that another man’s life was touched and influenced, a man that as we will see in the coming weeks will carry the gospel message to the very ends of the earth. That man was Saul of Tarsus.
xii. As we see from verse 1 though, the High Priest did not seem to notice God’s glory shining through the face of Stephen. This could indicate that the High Priest either did not see, due to his hard and cold heart.
xiii. He was after all a Sadducee, a Jew who neither believed in the resurrection, or angels, or the writings of the prophets. This was a very narrow view of God, and it reflected in the life of this very narrow and shallow man, who had condemned Jesus to death.
xiv. This goes to show us just how far the priesthood and the worship of God had degraded to in Jerusalem.
xv. The other possibility was that the High priest did notice, and just didn’t care. This is a very real possibility. These guys had condemned Jesus, who was the Messiah, who worked many signs and wonders among them.
xvi. They didn’t care about signs from God, or wonders. Many of these guys just cared about two things – money and power. Two things that don’t count for much in God’s economy.
xvii. The High Priest asks Stephen if the charges against him were true. We see Stephen start to answer in verses 2 through 4.
c. The Father of a Nation (Acts 7:2-4)
i. 2 And he said, "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, 3 and said to him, ’Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.
ii. Stephen begins his message addressing the whole of the Sanhedrin gathered there. He calls them brethren and fathers. “Brethren” was a common term that Jews used to address one another. He used it to show that he himself is of Jewish heritage, just like they were. He calls them fathers out of a show of respect. These were the elders of the people, these guys were supposed to be older and wiser, leaders in the community. He calls them fathers out of respect.
iii. Stephen then asks them to listen, out of respect to him, as a Jewish man. He then calls God the God of glory. We see this as a title for God in only one other place in scripture, Psalm 29, verse 3. This is a very fitting title for the almighty because God’s glory encompasses all that He is.
iv. God is glorious in himself, He is all knowing, all powerful, eternal, and omnipresent. God is to be glorified by His people. God told Moses in Exodus 33 that Moses could not see His face. Moses could not see God in all His glory, and the reason for it is because if Moses saw God’s face4, in all His glory, Moses would die. We as mortal men cannot fathom God’s glory.
v. Stephen then tells us that God appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia before Abraham moved to Haran. Abraham was the father of both the Jewish faith and the Jewish nation.
vi. What Steven did in verse two was acknowledge the glory and sovereignty of God, and to acknowledge the place of Abraham as the father of the Jewish faith. He was in effect, pleading not guilty to the charge of blasphemy against God.
vii. Stephen also reminds the Sanhedrin that Abraham was called by God while he was still in the city of Ur, in Mesopotamia, which is the modern nation of Iraq. God’s call of Abraham while he was still in Ur was a undisputed fact. The historians Philo and Josephus also bear this out in their writings.
viii. But, what I want us to notice here is that Stephen is making a subtle suggestion to the Sanhedrin here, he is making them think. God wasn’t confined to a temple, and moved over the face of the earth to call Abraham out of a sinful land of idol worshippers.
ix. Stephen’s point was that if God wasn’t confined to an area then, why would He be confined to a certain area now? The answer was - He wasn’t.
x. God told Stephen - ’Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ Abraham had received a word from God to move out of his home into another land, and as we see in verse 4, Abraham obeyed. He came out of the land of Chaldeans where he lived, and into the area of Haran, some 500 miles from where he was living in Ur.
xi. Abraham’s obedience set the tone for his life. It was this obedience to God’s call that allowed the rest of the plans God had for Abraham unfold.
xii. From Haran, Abraham moved into the area of Caanan, modern day Israel, and he did this by faith. Stephen commends Abraham’s faith to the call of God, to press on into the unknown.
xiii. Abraham had faith in God, that His promises were true, and we see this in the next three verses.
d. Faith in God’s Promises (Acts 7:5-7)
i. 5 And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 7 ’And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ’and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’
ii. So even though God moved Abraham to the area of Caanan by faith, He gave Abraham no inheritance in it. We know from Genesis chapter 23 that the only piece of ground God allowed Abraham to have in the new land was his burial plot, and as Stephen says here, that was not enough to set his foot on.
iii. All Abraham did receive was a promise from God. Abraham received that promise while he still had no children, but God’s promise was to give the land of Cannan to Abraham as a possession, an inheritance to his many descendants after him. Abraham’s name meant “father of many nations” God had given it to him.
iv. But, Abraham believed God, and His promises to him. He believed in the promises of God by faith, and the only fruit that Abraham would see from that promise of God would be the birth of his son, Isaac.
v. God told Abraham that his descendants would not take possession of the land immediately, but rather, they would suffer as slaves for four hundred years in a foreign land. That must have really stretched Abraham’s faith.
vi. But God promised that Abraham’s descendants would come out of the land of slavery, and take possession of the land of Caanan, and dwell there, and serve Him.
vii. This indeed would come to pass, as we see in the book of Genesis, but Abraham didn’t know that. He didn’t have the book already written to look ahead at; he just had to take God at His word, by faith.
viii. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 8 tells us this - By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
ix. Abraham was a man of faith, he had faith in God and His promises. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
x. Why then, is faith such an elusive thing to us sometimes? The answer is that we are human. We are fallen human beings. It is much easier to go with the flow, or follow the path of least resistance, and that is how many people go through life.
xi. A story is told about a man was lost in the desert and was near death for lack of water. Soon he came across a pump with a canteen hung on the handle and a note. The note read as follows: "Below you is all the fresh water you could ever need, and the canteen contains exactly enough water to prime the pump."
xii. It takes GREAT FAITH to pour out the whole contents of the canteen for a promise of unlimited water.
xiii. The question to us this morning is what would you do in that situation? Would you believe the note, or drink the canteenful of water that was easily available?
xiv. Maybe God is challenging you in an area of your life to give something up or to let something go. Maybe it’s money, maybe it’s some kind of activity, maybe God wants you to make a career change or to move, and you haven’t yet decided to step out on faith.
xv. The real facts are that if God wants you to do something in your life, and you are resisting, you are missing out. You are the person not being blessed, because you won’t have faith and just do it out of obedience. God has asked me several times in my life to do very silly things, and I saw a blessing, I saw God’s favor at work when I stepped out and did them.
xvi. That happens to Abraham, too. We see God’s favor on him and his descendants in the next three verses.
e. The Favor of God (Acts 7:8-10)
i. 8 Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. 9 "And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
ii. Abraham obeyed God and had faith. God made a covenant with him that still stands today. His descendants would be God’s chosen people. The symbol of that covenant was circumcision.
iii. It was an outward symbol that the Jewish nation was proud of. But, it was just a symbol. It symbolized purity. It symbolized that this nation was set apart by God as His people.
iv. God showed His favor to Abraham by blessing him with a son, Isaac in his old age. He and his wife we both elderly folks, and God blessed them with a son. Faith paid off.
v. Isaac had a son named Jacob, and Jacob was a schemer. He was a trickster. Jacob got the blessing of the firstborn, even though he wasn’t because His brother had sold it to him for a bowl of beans. God again showed His favor and blessed Jacob, giving him a new name, Israel. This shows us that God will favor whom He chooses, and not man.
vi. The same thing happens with Jacob’s sons. His son Joseph was the favored son, and his 10 older brothers were envious, so they sold him as a slave, and passed him off as dead to his father Jacob.
vii. But, even through this, God showed His favor. God was with Joseph, and delivered him many times in Egypt. God delivered Joseph out of a terrible situation when he was a slave to the Pharaoh’s bodyguard, Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife wanted to have an adulterous relationship with Joseph, and Joseph wasn’t biting, he kept his eyes on God. He kept the faith.
viii. God moved Joseph out of that situation, by having him thrown in jail, for several years! Didn’t sound like a good move to me… But God had other plans, Joseph never lost sight of God, and God’s promise to bless him. Joseph kept his faith in terrible situations, and God would again show his favor.
ix. He put Joseph in a situation to show off the wisdom and insight God had given him, and Joseph gained the favor pf Pharaoh, and was raised up to be second in command of all Egypt.
x. God had plans for raising him up. God would bless the family of Israel, the family of Jacob, through Joseph, even though his brothers had sold him into slavery. They needed blessing, because there was a famine in the land.
f. The Famine in the Land (Acts 7:11-14)
i. 11 Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people.
ii. A famine swept through the land of Caanan. Jacob and his eleven sons were running out of food. Just like the Joseph was rejected by his brothers, Jesus was rejected by the nation of Israel.
iii. Jacob’s sons faced famine in the land, and were starving. Just like the sons of Jacob, the Jewish nation was suffering from a spiritual famine for rejecting Jesus.
iv. Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt though, and he sent his ten sons there, by faith, to bring back some grain. The first ration of grain wasn’t enough, and they had to return for more. The second time they went, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers as the deliverer that God had placed in Egypt to save them.
v. Just like that, the gospel is a message that we will receive eternal life and spiritual blessing through trusting in Jesus Christ. Just like Joseph was the savior to his brothers, Jesus is our savior.
vi. Joseph moved all of his family to Egypt and blessed them, giving them land and possessions, having prepared a place for them to live.
vii. I want us to notice here that the brothers didn’t recognize Joseph for who he was. This is important because it is the same way with the nation of Israel. They will not recognize Jesus until His second coming.
viii. The reality is that if we are saved, if we have a relationship with Jesus, one day, He will call us all home to heaven to be with Him. Jesus told us in John chapter 14, verse 2 - In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
ix. Now, that’s something to have faith in. That is a journey I want to make. No more pain, no more war, no more sickness, no more strife. Just peace, love, hope, and Jesus.
x. Jacob and his family wanted to make a journey, too. They wanted to be with Joseph, and live in comfort, rather than to stay in drought-ridden Caanan. So, they took off to join Joseph in Egypt.
g. The Foreign Journey (Acts 7:15-16)
i. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. 16 And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
ii. Jacob and his sons move to Egypt. In the course of time, these men died in Egypt. Hebrews chapter eleven gives some insight into both men’s deaths.
iii. Hebrews 11, verses 21 and 22 tells us - 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and, he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, as he was nearing the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones.
iv. Both of these men died showing their great faith. Jacob, who dies, blessing each of his sons, and also the sons of Joseph.
v. Joseph, looking ahead to the promises that God gave to his great-grandfather, Abraham, concerning the deliverance of the nation of Israel from Egypt gives his sons instructions to bring his bones back to Caanan when he dies.
vi. All of these men were carried back to Cannan for burial. They believed God, and looked to the promise of the land to come, that would come, as history bears out.
vii. Today, you can go over to Israel and see the cave and the field that Abraham bought, in faith of the promises that God gave him.
viii. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebecca, and Leah are all later buried in the same Cave of Machpelah.
ix. The cave was uncovered several years ago beneath a massive building, revealing artifacts from the Early Israelite Period (some 30 centuries old)
x. Upon the capture of Hebron in the 1967 war, the Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, the late Major-General Rabbi Shlomo Goren, was the first Jew to enter the Cave of Machpelah for thousands of years.
xi. A cave that Abraham bought, in faith, during a journey of faith, following the promises of God.
xii. God had plans for Abraham and the nation of Israel. We will look at some more Jewish history next week, as we continue to look at Stephen’s message, as we continue through chapter 7 of Acts.
h. Conclusion Point
i. This brings me to my final point this morning. The question I have is, why did Stephen spend so much time developing this message of faith to the Sanhedrin?
ii. The answer is because Stephen believed in Jesus by faith, and he was building that same case to the Sanhedrin. God always worked through faithful men throughout the history of Israel, with God’s faithful being rejected again and again. Just like Jesus. The choice was theirs, again – to accept Jesus, or reject Him.
iii. Where are you at on your faith journey this morning? Are you at a point in your life where God has His finger on something in your life? You need to step out in obedience.
iv. If you haven’t begun that faith journey, or you feel like your journey got sidetracked, in a few minutes, we’re going to pray, and I invite you to make that decision in your life today.
v. But first, I‘d like to close with a short story.
i. Conclusion
i. Many of here this morning us need to be more like the little girl that the farmer found lost in his field. The farmer said to her, "Don’t cry, little girl; I’ll take you home." The little child snuggled up to him, and with a smile, said, "I knew you would; I was waiting for you." "Waiting for me?" said the man. "What made you think I was coming?" "I was praying you would." The little girl said. The farmer replied, "Praying? When I first heard you, you were saying A B C D E F G. What was that for?" She looked up again and said, "I’m just a little girl. I was praying all the letters of the alphabet and letting God put them together the way He wanted to. He knows I was lost, and He knows how to put them together better than I do."
ii. What a difference God can make in our lives if we would only let Him put the letters of our lives together.
j. Let’s Pray.
V. Closing Prayer
