Acts 6:8-7:60: Faithful to the End

Acts 6:8-7:60: Faithful to the End

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Acts, and today the next passage we come to is Acts chapter 6 verse 8 through chapter 7 verse 60. So I’ll be reading a selection of verses that come from this passage. 

First, Acts 6:8-14:

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 

Then, moving down to Acts 7:54-60:

54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 

We’ve been going through the book of Acts passage by passage. And this morning, the next passage we come to on that journey is a rather large one—Acts 6:8-7:60. So let’s pray before we dig into that. [Prayer]

One of the most impactful stories I’ve come across is that of Richard Wurmbrand. I first read his book Tortured for Christ when I was a teenager, actually, and it certainly made an impact on me. Richard Wurmbrand was an Evangelical Lutheran pastor in Romania back when the country was under communist control. And since he made no effort to hide his Christian beliefs, he was imprisoned several times for a total of 14 years. Not only that, but while he was imprisoned, he was tortured in the most horrific and gruesome ways you could imagine. Things were done to him that I don’t even think I can mention in this room. Finally, though, the communist government was in such terrible economic shape that it allowed Christians from the West to ransom Wurmbrand for the price of $10,000 and bring him to America, where he was eventually able to testify before Congress and tell them about what was going on behind the Iron Curtain. He actually took his shirt off and showed to the Senate subcommittee the scars that covered his body. So this guy is the real deal. He remained faithful to the gospel and continued telling people about Jesus regardless of what it cost him—and that includes telling the prison guards about Jesus. He writes, “It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted [the communists’] terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching [and] they were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.” 

And I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear stories of men like Richard Wurmbrand, it’s a real challenge to me because it reminds me that I also need to be ready to endure whatever the Lord might call me to endure for the sake of his Name. You know, if we’re honest, I think we’d all have to admit that we like to be comfortable. That means our natural tendency will always be to avoid anything that might cause us discomfort or difficulty. Kind of like lightning. As you may be aware, lightning seeks out the path of least resistance. A lot of people think it always strikes the tallest objects, but that’s actually not true. It seeks out the path of least resistance—the way it can get to the ground while expending the least possible energy. And that’s most people’s natural tendency as well. We’re naturally inclined to travel the path of least resistance in our lives, which usually involves avoiding anything that might make us uncomfortable. We like comfortable lives. And that can be a problem, because—as we see throughout the New Testament—being a faithful Christian can be a very costly thing. 

And the main passage of Scripture we’ll be looking at this morning is a perfect example of that. As we’re going to see, Stephen’s faithfulness cost him quite a bit. In fact, from an earthly perspective, it cost him everything. He lost his life because he wouldn’t back own from telling people about Jesus. And as we’ll see, the reason Stephen was able to be so faithful in the present was because he was certain about the future. That’s the main idea of the passage. Stephen was faithful in the present because he was certain about the future.

Now, you may remember from last week that Stephen was one of the seven men appointed to oversee the food distribution ministry in the early church. His name is actually the first one listed in Acts 6:5. But we then read this about him in verses 8-15: 8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. 

So Stephen wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was performing miracles by God’s power and using those miracles as a platform to tell people about Jesus. And when some devout Jews started to argue with him and engage in public debate, Stephen didn’t back down. And he was apparently pretty persuasive because verse 10 says that “they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.” So, since they couldn’t win against him in the “fair fight” of an open dialogue, they found a way to have him arrested and produced false witnesses to accuse him of saying things he didn’t actually say. Basically, there were willing to do whatever they had to do and cross whatever lines they had to cross in order to bring him down. That’s how adamantly opposed they were to his preaching. 

And that’s a good reminder for us that the gospel, by its very nature, is an offensive message. You know, I used to have this unspoken assumption that if I could just be diplomatic enough in sharing the gospel or if I could share it with enough thoughtfulness and sensitivity and explanation, then I could be a faithful witness without offending people. Yet, that’s just not true. Even though I would certainly encourage being as thoughtful and sensitive as possible in sharing the gospel, it’s just not true that if we always share it that way we’ll never offend anyone. The fact is that the gospel is offensive in many of the things it teaches. 

First of all, it teaches that there’s a holy and righteous God who has a claim on our lives. Right there, that’s a very uncomfortable thing to think about—because the reality is that each one of us is unholy and unrighteous. And that brings us to another offensive teaching: human sinfulness. Even though we like to view ourselves as good people for the most part, the Bible says something quite different. It teaches that we’re sinful and wicked to the core of our being. As Romans 3:10-12 states, 10 “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” So the problem isn’t that we’re basically good people who might make a few bad decisions sometimes. It’s that we’re sinful people in a state of continual rebellion against God—not exactly the kind of thing people like to hear about themselves. 

And what’s even more unpopular is that idea that God will judge us for our sin. I mean, how could he not? If he’s the righteous judge and we’ve committed what amount to acts of cosmic treason against him, how could he not give us what our sins deserve? Yet most people don’t like to think about that. They’d prefer to think of God as a gentle old grandfather who would never punish anyone. So it’s offensive when you tell people that that gentle old grandfather might exist in their imagination but doesn’t exist in reality. The God of the Bible is altogether righteous and absolutely committed to upholding justice. And that’s bad news for us, because we’re on the wrong side of that justice. 

However, there is good news here. In fact, there’s incredible news. This God of righteousness and justice is also a God mercy and love. And God loves us so much that he sent his own Son Jesus to suffer the punishment for our sins on the cross. That’s why Jesus died on the cross. It was the only way to keep us out of hell while at the same time satisfying God’s justice. Essentially, Jesus endured hell on the cross so that we wouldn’t have to endure hell in hell. He stood in our place and suffered for our sins. Then after three days he resurrected from the dead so that he’s now able to save everyone who will put their trust in him. 

But that brings us to yet another offensive teaching. According to the Bible, Jesus is the only way we can be saved. As we saw just a few weeks ago in Acts 4:12, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Jesus is the only way to heaven. That’s the kind of teaching that’ll get you excluded from a lot of “polite company” real quick. In addition, in order to benefit from what Jesus has done, we have to lay down every last remnant of our pride. You see, we’re not saved through some combination of Jesus plus our own efforts. It’s not Jesus plus our morality or Jesus plus our religious observances that saves us but rather Jesus alone. That means in order to be saved, we have to lay down our pride and repent of all of our attempts to gain God’s favor through our own efforts and put our trust entirely in Jesus. As I heard one preacher say, “Have you repented of your good works?”

So, as you can see, there are no shortage of ways in which the gospel is offensive. And no matter how diplomatic and thoughtful and sensitive you are in sharing the gospel, there’s no way to keep people from being offended at times—sometimes very deeply and openly offended. This is a scandalous message we’re talking about, so we shouldn’t be surprised if some people don’t respond very well when we share it with them. It’s not our job to change their hearts—and we can’t do that anyway. We can’t make someone respond in a certain way. The only thing we can do is share the gospel as faithfully and thoughtfully and humbly as we can and leave the results to God. 

Then, as we look at the next chapter of our main passage—Acts 7—we see a very long speech that Stephen gives. Remember, they’ve just arrested him on trumped up charges and falsely accused him of saying certain things he didn’t say. So now, he’s given an opportunity to defend himself before the high priest. Yet Stephen uses that opportunity not to defend himself in the way we might expect but to actually call the Jewish leaders to repentance. Now, just a guess here—I’m thinking that’s probably not what Stephen’s defense attorney advised him to do. But that’s what he did nonetheless. 

Stephen launches into this lengthy speech—covering 53 verses—in which he first recounts much of Israel’s history. He talks about how God appeared to Abraham and told him to move to a far-away country, promising that one day, that land would become his possession. Then Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs, including Joseph. Joseph’s jealous brothers, of course, sold him into slavery in Egypt. However, God’s hand was upon him and he rose to be second-in-command of Egypt and ended up providing food for his father and brothers during a severe famine. Over the course of the next few centuries, however, the Egyptians began to abuse the Israelites and enslaved them. So God raised up Moses as the person he would use to deliver the Israelites from their Egyptian captivity—which is exactly what he did in a very dramatic fashion. 

However, throughout Stephen’s description of these things, he subtly alludes to ways in which God’s people were rebellious. And that rebellious disposition became even more pronounced in the days of Moses. During their desert wanderings, the Israelites rejected Moses as their leader over and over again and at one point even made a golden calf to worship instead of worshiping the one true God. How quickly they forgot how God had rescued them from Egypt! Stephen then gets to the climax of his speech in verses 51-53: 51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” 

So Stephen doesn’t hold back here. It’s not exactly the most seeker-sensitive way of approaching things, but he tells them, straight up, that they’re just as “stiff-necked” as any previous generation of Israelites have ever been. He also calls them “uncircumcised in heart and ears.” You see, physical circumcision for Israel was a sign of being a part of God’s chosen people and was therefore something the Israelites took great pride in. The Israelites prided themselves for having that status. So, when Stephen says that they have uncircumcised hearts and ears, he’s essentially saying, “Look, guys, you may be ethnic Israelites on the outside, but on the inside, you’re not really a part of God’s chosen people at all because you’re rejecting God’s plan for your salvation.” 

The story then continues in verses 54-60, where things to from bad to worse for Stephen: 54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 

It’s pretty remarkable, isn’t it, how Stephen actually prayed for the forgiveness of those who were killing him. I mean, picture it. They’ve got him down on the ground and are mercilessly throwing rocks at him—rocks that are big enough to kill a person—and he’s there, covered in his own blood, praying for their forgiveness. The last words out of his mouth are a plea for God to forgive them. That’s pretty radical. Who does that? Well, if you’ve read the Gospel of Luke, you know Jesus actually did that. In Luke 23:34, we read that as Jesus hung on the cross, he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus prayed from the cross for the forgiveness of those who were crucifying him. And Stephen does the same thing while he’s being stoned here in Acts 7. 

Brothers and sisters, that’s the kind of love we’re called to display. Jesus spells it out for us in Luke 6:27-28: 27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” You see, we’re called to reach out to this world not just with the truth of Christ but also with the love of Christ—a love that we demonstrate even toward our enemies. That’s what sets us apart in the world. That’s what gets people’s attention so that they listen to the message we share. Going back to Acts 7, we need more witnesses today who are like Stephen—who aren’t ashamed to boldly proclaim the scandalous message of the gospel but who also demonstrate love even toward those who show nothing but hostility and hatred in return. As Richard Wurmbrand has observed regarding the martyrs of church history, “Not all of us are called to die a martyr’s death, but all of us are called to have the same spirit of self-sacrifice and love to the very end as these martyrs had.”

And get this: the reason Stephen’s able to show love toward his enemies in this way is because he’s supremely confident about his own future. The text says he was “full of the Holy Spirit”—that is, enabled by the Spirit and empowered by the Spirit. And this enablement and empowerment came in the form of the Spirit giving Stephen an unshakeable certainty about the future, which, in turn, is what enabled him to demonstrate such love even toward his enemies. In the words of our main idea, Stephen was faithful in the present because he was certain about the future. In order to pray for others while you’re the one dying, you got to be certain about where you’ll spend eternity. And Stephen had that certainty. As we see in verse 59, before Stephen prayed for his enemies to be forgiven, he first prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And he obviously believed that Jesus would. 

That’s the kind of confidence we can have through the gospel. If you’re looking to Jesus for your salvation, you don’t have to wonder about your eternal destiny. You don’t have to wonder whether your good works will outweigh your bad works or whether you’ve done enough religious things to get into heaven—because where you spend eternity isn’t based on any of that. It’s based on Jesus and his perfect righteousness. You don’t have to worry about whether or not you measure up because you know that Jesus does measure up. And since you’re clothed with his righteousness, your future is secure. That’s the peace we can have as Christians. It’s a peace that isn’t available anywhere else—in any other religion—since all other religions are based on human performance. Only in Christ can we have this level of assurance about where we’ll spend eternity. And that’s how Stephen was able to respond as he did to those who were killing him. He was faithful in the present because he was certain about the future. He knew that what was being taken away from him—his life—was only a small fraction of the treasure he possessed. 

It would be kind of like someone stealing a billionaire’s wallet. Sure, the thief might get away with a few hundred dollars or so, but that’s nothing compared to the vast sum of money the billionaire has in the bank. As long as the billionaire’s careful to make sure there’s no way the thief can access the money in the bank, he’s doesn’t have anything to worry about. His fortune is secure. And that’s the mentality we can have whenever faithfulness to Jesus costs us something in this life. As Jim Elliott so famously said, “That man is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Anything we might lose in this life is infinitely surpassed by the reward Jesus promises to those who follow him. And I think it’s safe to say that that’s the mentality Stephen had as well. He was faithful in the present because he was certain about the future. 

And I love how, in Stephen’s final moments on this earth, Jesus gives him a heavenly vision that’s designed to bolster his confidence in these things. Stephen states in verse 56, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” The “Son of Man,” by the way, is a title frequently used in the New Testament to speak of Jesus. So Jesus gives Stephen this heavenly vision in order to strengthen his faith and assure him that his hope isn’t in vain. It’s interesting to note that, usually in the New Testament, Jesus is pictured as being seated in heaven at the Father’s right hand. But here, he’s standing—probably in order to show his care for Stephen and also his readiness to welcome Stephen into heaven. 

And I can only imagine what was going through Stephen’s mind as he saw Jesus standing there. Perhaps Stephen saw those nail-scarred hands and was reminded of all that Jesus had suffered for him and became even more determined to be faithful to Jesus to the very end. Perhaps he saw Jesus in his splendor and glory and was reminded of how worthy Jesus is of all that we can give and was also encouraged in that way to be faithful to the end. Regardless of what exactly was going through Stephen’s mind, though, one thing’s clear: seeing Jesus for who he is creates within us a willingness and even an eagerness to give our all for him. When we see how supremely glorious Jesus is, how supremely gracious he is, and how supremely wonderful he is in every way, there’s no doubt that he’s also supremely worthy of all that we have to give. 

Richard Wurmbrand, who, as you’ll remember, was the pastor who was tortured for 14 years in a communist prison cell, wrote this about those who are able to endure trials with joy. “There was once a fiddler who played so beautifully that everybody danced. A deaf man who could not hear the music considered them all insane. Those who are with Jesus in suffering hear this music to which other men are deaf. They dance and do not care if they are considered insane.” When we hear the music of Jesus—his glory, his love, his worth, and his promises—it puts within our hearts a joy that would otherwise be unexplainable and makes us willing to do things that would otherwise be insane—even to the point of giving our lives for the gospel. The key to it all is seeing Jesus for who he is—just as Stephen does here in Acts 7. 

And the same goes for any kind of trial that we face—not just persecution but also the wide array of other trials that we often experience in our lives. Our greatest need in any kind of suffering is to see Jesus for who he is—sovereignly ruling from the throne of heaven over all the seeming chaos in our lives. 

And just like Jesus revealed himself to Stephen during Stephen’s moment of need, he does the same for us during our times of need. Even though God will certainly lead us through some incredibly difficult experiences in our lives, he also promises to be with us every step of the way. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve sensed that. The times in my life when I’ve been the closest to God and have sensed his presence the most have been the times when I’ve been experiencing the most suffering. And that’s no coincidence. Jesus is there for us in our times of need just as he was for Stephen. So let me encourage you, instead of allowing trials pull you away from God, as people sometimes allow them to do, let those trials instead drive you closer to God than you’ve ever been before. 

We can see a wonderful example of this in the journal of John Paton. Paton was a missionary in the 1800’s to a group of islands off the coast of Australia known as the New Hebrides. And the notable thing about the New Hebrides is that the indigenous people on these islands were cannibals. In fact, 19 years before prior to Paton’s journey to the New Hebrides, two other missionaries had bravely traveled there only to be killed and eaten by the cannibals just minutes after they set foot on shore. So Paton faced unbelievable dangers on these islands and came within inches of death time after time. And he records one of those near-death experiences in this way in his journal. The islanders were pursuing him with the intent of taking his life, so he climbed up into a tree in order to hide from them. And he writes this about his experience in that tree: “The hours I spent there live all before me as if it were but of yesterday. I heard the frequent discharging of muskets, and the yells of the Savages. Yet I sat there among the branches, as safe as in the arms of Jesus. Never, in all my sorrows, did my Lord draw nearer to me, and speak more soothingly in my soul, than when the moonlight flickered among those chestnut leaves, and the night air played on my throbbing brow, as I told all my heart to Jesus. Alone, yet not alone! If it be to glorify my God, I will not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree, to feel again my Savior’s spiritual presence, to enjoy His consoling fellowship. If thus thrown back upon your own soul, alone, all alone, in the midnight, in the bush, in the very embrace of death itself, have you a Friend that will not fail you then?”