Antagonized By the Truth

Transcript

GR 1592
02/13/11
Antagonized by the Truth
Acts 6:8-15
Gil Rugh

Open up the book of Acts in your Bibles and the 6th chapter. It is moving through the early days of the church's history. We are studying the book of Romans together; most of you are part of that study. We are reminded as we look at the early days of the church of the greatness of God's grace at this time. This is when we've made the transition from God's focus in His blessing and favor directed toward the Jews, to turning that favor and salvation to be directed toward the Gentiles. But in the early days of the church's history, in God's grace and mercy, multitudes of Jews come to believe in Jesus Christ. We've noted on the first day of the church's history, when Peter got up and preached 3,000 Jews were saved. Then a little later we saw 5,000 men, and we've seen references like multitudes of men and women, and we're still in Jerusalem. And these are still Jews. So God in His grace has not abandoned His people, Israel. And even as He has moved them from the focal point of His work of salvation in the world in that time of transition, it's to the Jew first that He brings the message of Christ, and by His grace calls many thousands of these Jews to Himself.

In these early days of the church's history, we have one church, the church at Jerusalem; one city, the city of Jerusalem; and one group, the Jews. And as far as the Jews understand at this point, these Jewish believers like Peter and John and others, this is what God is doing—bringing salvation to the Jews. And even though the church has begun, their understanding of what God is doing and the stupendous change that has come about in the work of God in the world is not yet understood by them.

They have been days of blessing. But there are problems that have come up of several kinds-opposition and persecution from the Sanhedrin, that's going to come again. So come back to Acts 4:13. Here as Peter and John are before the Sanhedrin, and they observe their confidence and boldness of testimony, the Sanhedrin is not impressed. So we have ominous signs here that the leadership of the nation Israel remains adamantly opposed to the message of Jesus Christ, and the proclamation of salvation through Him. Their instructions to the disciples were don't preach any longer in His name.

In Acts 5 the Sanhedrin will again raise opposition. Peter and the apostles are brought before them in verse 27, and again they are told they are not to preach the name of Christ. Verse 33 tells us when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and intended to kill them. But Gamaliel, not a believer, shows some wisdom here. And he says, just let it unfold and see whether God is in this or not. They decide not to kill them. But they are beaten and let go. So is the opposition and persecution from the Sanhedrin. We're going to come back to that in chapter 6 in a moment, and this is going to build to a crescendo.

We saw in the first part of chapter 5 the situation with Ananias and Sapphira, and the potential of problems within the church, where God displayed clearly His concern for the holiness of His people and struck Ananias and Sapphira dead. And then the conflict we had at the beginning of chapter 6 with the care of widows. The Hellenistic Jews, those who had lived outside of the land of Israel, had been influenced by Greek culture and the Greek language. They felt that the Hebrews who were residents and natives there (both are Jews so don’t get confused) , now as they are mixed together in the church, thought that the Hebrews were not taking proper care of the widows that were part of the Hellenistic group. So there is another potential to fracture the church, and marring of its testimony. All these things were dealt with and the church continued to grow.

So Acts 6:7 tells us, the word of God kept on spreading and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem. Again, a reminder of God's grace and to that remnant. He doesn't just shut down His work with Israel and close them off from His salvation. He graciously extends His grace and calls many of the Jews, in these early days of the church, in Jerusalem to salvation in Christ. This is a large church now and with the emphasis on multitudes in Acts 5:14 and increasing greatly. And we have also already have seen at least 8,000 mentioned with the 3,000 and the 5,000. They are all Jews at this point in Jerusalem. So God is working greatly.

It's limited to Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. And we noted that estimates of the number of priests, Josephus said 20,000 priests were resident in the region of Israel. He tended to perhaps expand his numbers a little beyond reasonableness, but everyone is in agreement that we are talking about thousands of priests. Now the majority of them would come and do a two-week time of service as their allotment at the temple, then they'd go back to wherever they resided and go about tasks or jobs that were just what they did to support themselves. So it's not that all these maintained that support that the upper level did in Jerusalem. And it's from the number of the priests, though, this multitude of priests, a great many of them are coming to salvation. That will make an impact on the Jews because no matter where these priests are, they are part of the priestly family, they are part of the priestly ministry. And so their turning to Christ has an added impact on the people and they would have influence because they are teachers in Israel. So you see great things going on.

But we are coming to a significant change. When we pick up with verse 8 we are going to talk about Stephen. With Stephen, there is going to be a large amount of material devoted to Stephen—the rest of chapter 6 and all of chapter 7. The longest sermon in the book of Acts is Stephen's sermon in chapter 7. He is important because this is going to be a transition. As a result of what happens to Stephen and his ministry and subsequent execution, believers are going to be driven out of Jerusalem and they are going to have to leave the city. That will spread them throughout the rest of Judea, and beyond Judea and into Samaria and beyond. So when we get to chapter 8 Philip will carry the gospel to Samaria; when we get to chapter 9 the Apostle Paul will be converted; in chapter 10 Peter will preach the gospel to the Gentiles as a group for the first time; and then with chapter 11 the gospel comes up to Antioch where Paul and Barnabas are ministering together. Peter will be arrested in chapter 12, and chapter 13 will begin the ministry of the Apostle Paul, which is a ministry to the Gentiles. Really up to chapter 6 we come to Stephen and by the time we come through chapter 7 which is all about Stephen, we will be moving the church out from these early days of blessing, its Jewish insular characteristic and carrying it to other people.

We pick up with verse 8. Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. Stephen was mentioned in verse 5 as one of the Hellenistic Jews, the men who were selected to oversee the care of widows in the church at Jerusalem. And we noted since it was the Hellenistic Jews that were complaining that their widows were being neglected, the church selected seven men. And verse 3 said they had to be men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom. They'll be put in charge of the task. Stephen is one of those men; he's identified in verse 5 as a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. So we have a man of good reputation, a man who manifests clearly in his life and ministry the work of the Holy Spirit in his life. He is a man of wisdom, he is a man of great faith, and he’s a man being used of the Holy Spirit.

So in verse 8, he is full of grace, which emphasizes the work of God in his life. We all as believers experience the grace of God, but here is a man who is full of grace. In other words, the work of God in his life and through his life is abundantly evident for all to see. In this context, let me just remind you of what we already noted when we studied those opening verses. A task like caring for the widows may look like a second level task, and in one sense it is. The apostles have to be free from those responsibilities to devote themselves to the ministry of the word. But the godly character and work of the Spirit in a life in a person going to carry on this ministry of overseeing the widows is every bit as high. And Stephen's ministry won't be limited to that; he'll be used of God in the proclamation of the word, as we're going to see.

He is full of grace and power, and one of the ways the power is manifested is he was performing great wonders and signs among the people. This is a unique thing. It’s rare in the book of Acts that someone other than the apostles is said to be doing signs and wonders. Back in Acts 2:22, when Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he made reference to the ministry of Jesus Christ. In verse 22 he said, “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst.” So the miracles, the signs, the wonders that Christ did were a manifestation and a demonstration that God was working through Him, that He was the One that He claimed to be.

Over in Acts 2:43, everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. Many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. They are continuing the ministry of Jesus Christ. He is not validating them personally; they are not on the level of Christ obviously. But they are validated as valid representatives of Christ in the world, acting on His behalf. And that same power that was seen operating in Christ is now seen operating in them as they continue to proclaim the truth concerning Christ. But here it is done through the apostles.

Over in Acts 5:12, at the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people. Again these miracle gifts, miracles being performed; the only others outside of the apostles. Paul later, but he is an apostle, was added to the apostle's band that will do miracles. The only others outside of the apostles seen doing these miracles in the book of Acts are going to be Stephen, Philip and Barnabas. Stephen, we'll see him in a moment in chapter 6; then Philip in Acts 8 and his ministry with the Samaritans; and then Barnabas in Acts 15:12 in association with the ministry of Paul.

So Stephen is an outstanding and unique person here, in the way God is using him and having His message and ministry validated in this special way. Mighty things are going on; the Spirit of God is working. Verse 7 told us about great numbers being saved and adding to the church in Jerusalem; Stephen being mightily used of God. But, verse 9, some men from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, some from Cilicia and Asia rose up and argued with Stephen. The Synagogue of the Freedmen, these are Jews who at one time had been slaves or were the sons of slaves, the descendants, depending on how far back this goes. Some would take it back to the time of Pompeii, 60-63 B.C. where multitudes of Jews were put into slavery and moved out of the land. When they came back, these are Hellenistic Jews, and you see that by reference to the various regions they come from—all outside of the land of Israel. They are now back and part of this synagogue. And if they are former slaves, or sons of slaves, they come back and it would be natural to join in this particular synagogue in Jerusalem that they have something in common with. They are Hellenistic Jews, who lived outside the land and they also share in common the background of slavery.

So interesting—the opposition to Stephen, who himself is a Hellenistic Jew, is going to be fomented by other Hellenistic Jews here. But these individuals, they are all Jews of course, rose up, verse 9, and argued with Stephen. The opposition doesn't come primarily from the miracles, but it comes from the message that he is proclaiming. And some of that will come out as we move along. Some of it will come out more clearly in his sermon in Acts 7 and the accusations brought against him, and what Stephen has to say in his defense, which is clear and bold. He is in the same line as Peter and the other godly men.

Turn over to the end of chapter 7. After he has rehearsed the history of Israel in ongoing stubbornness and rebellion and rejection of the truth, he says in verse 51, “You men who are stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just what your fathers did.” You persecuted all the prophets, and then you betrayed and murdered the Holy One of God. And you received the law from God but you didn't keep it. I mean that same direct boldness in addressing the Sanhedrin that we've seen in Peter and the other apostles. And that characterized, obviously, Stephen's ministry. And it causes a stir among the Jews, particularly here, and these other Hellenistic Jews enter into arguing and debating with Stephen.

But verse 10 tells us, “But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.” He is a man full of grace and of the Spirit. The power of God is at work in his life.

Come back to Luke 21, to what Luke said (who was the human author of the book of Acts). Back in Luke 21:12, “But before all these things they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name's sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. But you will be betrayed…” and he goes on.

So you see that's what we have happening in Acts 6 with Stephen. I mean, he's not planning here and thinking, how am I going to make my defense? The opportunity comes, he is bold and clear, and God gives him wisdom in presenting the truth of the word of God and the work of the Spirit in and through him. They are not able to cope with that; they can't come up with arguments that will stand. But that doesn't cause them to become open to the truth.

So verse 11, “Then they secretly induced men to say, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.’” So when the truth of God is presented clearly with biblical wisdom, and the power and clarity that the Holy Spirit brings, that does not guarantee salvation. Sinful men, when they cannot stand and present arguments opposing the truth, they resort to other methods. So they go to underhandedness, and they get other Jews to come to the fore and be those who will bear false witness against Stephen, and say they “heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God”. And this has a potential to stir up the Jews.

We see something of this in a contrary way, but in the Muslim world. Somebody just starts a rumor that somebody says something against Allah and everybody is ready to go to pieces. It doesn't matter whether there is any validity to it or not. The Jews don't have such strong religious convictions any longer, and we don't see it as much in the religious area except perhaps in the ultraconservative Jews. But they'll react rather violently on occasion.

But that's what is going on here; they are trying to stir up the people. And they are trying to lay the groundwork for some accusations that will occasion them having to be brought again (Stephen having to be brought before the Sanhedrin, because to speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God—that's a serious offense in Judaism at this time).

So we have what's going on in verse 12, they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes. So now the lies... We say, what did people think? I mean, Stephen has not only proclaimed a powerful message, it has been validated by signs and wonders and miracles, the demonstration of God's power. But they are so antagonized by truth, truth that they cannot even refute, they resort to lies to try to bring Stephen down and get him condemned.

Back up to Matthew 5, Jesus speaking in the Sermon on the Mount and giving the Beatitudes. Verse 10, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you”, and note this, “and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” Note that, “because of Me”, because of your testimony for Me, on My behalf. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” This is a consistent pattern of unbelievers, they reject the truth. And when confronted by the truth, and the work of the Spirit in using the truth, unless the grace of God works in a special supernatural way in the heart, they will be antagonized and begin to persecute the messenger.

I keep emphasizing this because we as believers, we hear this. But our first response when we present the gospel, and someone reacts negatively, is to say, “Maybe I didn't do that right. Maybe I should have...” I'm not saying we shouldn't be careful and constantly looking to improve. But the bottom line, you can't improve on the gospel and we are not allowed to alter the gospel. So, the fact of the matter is most of the response that is negative toward the gospel, is because you presented the gospel. I mean, that's why Jesus said, “Blessed are you”. He knew that people could become antagonistic and do things the wrong way. But that's not the problem, basically. When you've presented the message of Christ and people tell lies about you, it's not because they misunderstood, it's because they understood. And then we compound the problem by telling them, well probably you were too direct, probably you were too blunt, probably it wasn't the right time, and we just dump on one another. And we should be telling them how blest you are of God to have been privileged to be identified in such a way that they did persecute you, that they did tell lies about you. Matthew 5:11, for they “insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you”. They are doing what we've just seen with Stephen.

Come over to John 15:18, familiar verses: “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” Do you have that underlined, I chose you, because of this the world hates you? I have that marked in my Bible. That's the status. It's not you that make them hate you because of what you do; it's because of who you are. You are a chosen one of God as a believer in Jesus Christ. The world hates you. You haven't even opened your mouth, but that is there. When you open your mouth to tell them the gospel, then it becomes clear to them that you are not one of them. But you see the foundational issue here. “Remember”, the next verse starts out, “the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.” They don't know God. “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” In other words, greater light brings greater responsibility.

Verse 23, “He who hates Me, hates My Father also.” Verse 26, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” That's the ministry of His disciples. We're seeing that in the opening part of Acts, Peter and John and others. And then that is passed on to other men and they bear testimony, passed on to other men, and here we are having had those who brought the message of Christ to us, who testified about Christ to us. And what was it? The Spirit of truth who was sent from the Father testified through the children of God. But what does that do? It stirs up animosity because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. So when we speak as God's representative, it is the Spirit of truth speaking through us and the world is not open to truth, the truth of God, or the people of God.

So come back to Acts 6 and Stephen's situation. It's unique, but it's not unique. We don't know what is going to happen when we present the gospel. We see great things happening and multitudes getting saved, but you know what is going to happen to Stephen. He's going to die a very ugly and painful death; he's going to be stoned to death. Well, Stephen probably just wasn't as careful as he could have been. He could have had a longer ministry if he had just… We're told that it is the Spirit of God using Stephen. You know what? We like to admire the apostles and these men like Stephen, but in our heart of hearts we don't know that we really want to be like them. I don't know that I want to go out there and be that bold. I mean, if multitudes are going to get saved and become part of the church and grow, I want to be as bold as I can. If they're going to throw stones at me, I think I'd just like to keep my mouth shut. But we have to be what God has called us to be, and the Spirit of truth works through us, and God uses His word according to His purposes.

So we come back to Acts 6:12. They stirred up the people, the elders, the scribes. They came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council. Here is a man of godly character; we've seen that in the opening verses. He was picked because he has a godly testimony; he manifests the grace of God at work in his life, he manifests the work and power of the Spirit of God in his life. And they are dragging him before the Supreme Court of Israel. The people and the leaders, the elders, the scribes, they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council. This is the third time in Acts that we have seen the followers of Christ brought before the Sanhedrin. We looked into that in chapter 4 as we started verses 18-21. The Sanhedrin commanded that they should not preach any longer in the name of Jesus. In Acts 5:40, after commanding them again not to preach they flogged them. That's not an easy thing to take; we noted that. And then at the end of chapter 7, on this third occasion, it will go to the ultimate; Stephen will be stoned to death.

So what's the Council doing here? What's the situation? We have to examine the scriptures and see if what Stephen is saying is true. We have heard this before again and again from these men, and we have to say, even though there is a newness to this teaching, we can't explain the power that accompanies their preaching. A multitude of the priests have been saved and they do mighty miracles, just like the Nazarene did when He was on earth. And you remember we couldn't explain what happened to His body; we had to pay the guards to lie. None of this makes an impact. You would think it would build on the Sanhedrin, wouldn't you, building evidence? I thought we were done with this when we paid off the guards and just said His body was stolen. But that's not what the guards said; we had to pay them to lie. Now we've heard again and again there are miracles we can't deny. Now here we have another man, Stephen, and it's the same thing and it's the same message.

But what has happened? They put forward false witnesses. It’s the same thing Jesus said, that they would put forth false witness, bear false testimony against you, Matthew 5. They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and against the Law”. It's amazing here. You couldn't condemn a man with one witness, you had to have witnesses. So they put together false witnesses. And this is because in Deuteronomy 17, Leviticus 24, for a capital offense you have to have multiple witnesses. It's amazing. These men are going to operate on the basis of what the Old Testament scriptures say, but they are going to lie to do it. We have to have multiple witnesses so we have to get these men who will lie so we have the multiple witnesses. Isn't it amazing how people will twist the scripture? Peter will refer to this in II Peter, men who twist the writings of Paul just like they do the rest of scripture to their own destruction. Why do they even bother with the scripture? It's a work of the devil to take the word of God and twist it, even like he did when he tempted Christ—misused and misapplied the scripture; part of the deceptive work going on.

They put forward false witnesses and they claim he is guilty of a crime in light of their scriptures, blasphemy against the temple which is to blaspheme against God, the law of God, for a Jew to do that. This is a capital offense. But bearing false witness is also. That doesn't matter, we have to shut Stephen up, we have to put an end to this. Truth is not the issue here; the issue is what we want to be and how we want it to be. And we're not going to tolerate anything else.

Verse 14, “we have heard him say”, so you have to be a firsthand witness here. “We have heard him say”, but this is a false witness. Stephen never said what they say he said, “that this Nazarene, Jesus...” Just love it; they can't get away from the Nazarene, Jesus. He said this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us. Now what they have taken is what Stephen has said but changed it. So there is an element of truth here, but it is distorted and corrupted so that it is a lie—when they say that Stephen is saying that this Nazarene, Jesus, said he would destroy this place. This has been an ongoing charge; it was brought against Jesus.

Come back to John 2:19. He has done the miracle at the wedding feast in Cana of the water to wine; He has cleansed the temple. And now we have in verse 18, “The Jews then said to Him, ‘What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’” At this point in the ministry here is the ultimate sign, the ultimate testimony. Destroy this temple and I will raise it up. The Jews said it took 46 years to build this temple, the temple of Herod here. Will you raise it up in three days? But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead His disciples remembered He had said this, and then they believed scripture about this. Well here you have this misinformation. He says, destroy this temple and I will raise it up, and He was talking about the temple of His body.

Furthermore, He did prophesy the destruction of the temple. Come back to Matthew 24, verse 1. “Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.” And they are marvelous, impressive structures. “And He said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.’” Now He didn't say He was going to destroy the temple, but He said there was going to be a destruction of the temple. Then on another occasion that we just read in John 2, He said if you destroy this temple, referring to His own body, I will raise it up on the third day.

So He talked about the destruction of the temple, both His body and the physical temple of Jerusalem, but He never said He was going to destroy the temple. And it's not out of line with Old Testament prophecies, where the prophets prophesied that when Israel was in unbelief and rebellious against God, He would bring destruction on Jerusalem and the temple at Jerusalem.

Turn over to Matthew 26. Jesus is arrested, and the events that will culminate in His crucifixion here. And He is brought before the high priest, the chief priests, the Council; we're at the Sanhedrin. The high priest is going to address Him. So this body, they have been through this and through this. Look at verse 59, now the chief priest and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Him. The character of unbelievers does not change. That's why we say apologetics, trying to offer proof to the unbeliever, doesn't change his heart. You present the gospel to the unbeliever, and the Spirit of God in a miraculous way can bring about a change in the heart. Without that special work of the Spirit, nothing happens as far as a positive response is concerned.

He is trying to obtain false testimony (this is the Council before whom you have to present your case); they want to put Him to death. They didn't find any, though many false witnesses came forward. But it is so obvious that their testimony is blatantly false. They can't even act on it. But later two came forward and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” We read that as John recorded it. The high priest said to Him, “Do you not answer? What is it these men are testifying against you?” And the high priest said to Him, “‘I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his robes and said, ‘He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy…’ They answered, ‘He deserves death!’” You see what a sham it all is. Are these men interested in the truth? Not one bit. Jesus has to die.

So you see the pattern when the men come before the Sanhedrin in the book of Acts, the followers of Christ. This is the Sanhedrin who has heard, and heard, and they are hearing it again and they don't want to hear it. And they don't want anyone else to hear it. They are trying to put a stop to it.

So come back to Acts 6. So when Stephen talks about what Christ has said about the temple of His body, he may have included that; he may have talked about what Christ talked about in coming judgment on the temple. We don't have the fullness of that. We'll see a little bit of what he does say in chapter 7. But then he also speaks against the law and the customs which Moses handed down to us, at the end of verse 14. Well, there is an element of truth to that. Certain things have been changed. Christ is the end of the law.

Back in the Sermon on the Mount, we were in chapter 5. And in Matthew 5:17, Jesus said, “Do not think I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” And Jesus did bring to an end the Law of Moses by fulfilling it. The Jews don't want to acknowledge that because the Sanhedrin's power and authority and control over the people rest on their position, and what they have established themselves as in interpreting the Law.

Over in Galatians 3:23, “Before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor” (our schoolmaster, our overseer) to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under the Law. So with the coming of Christ, the Law has been brought to completion and He has fulfilled it in all its demands. The Law is done. That's offensive to the Jews.

So there may have been an element of truth what Stephen is preaching regarding the Law, and the changes, and what Christ has done. That's true. But it is corrupted here. And the Sanhedrin, as the governing body of Israel, was responsible to examine carefully this message that is being presented and validated by miraculous power, that they acknowledge, they can't explain. But they are not open to truth at all.

So back to Acts 6, verse 15. “And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel.” I mean they are struck—like an angel's face. What would that be? Like one who serves in the presence of God, I mean, he's filled with the Spirit; he's filled with God's grace. I mean, there is a character about him; he's not a man in a panic, a man scratching and fighting for his life. There is something about him. He is a servant of God and it shows on his face.

Chapter 7 will open up (and we're not going any further), “And the high priest said, ‘Are these things so?’” Then we'll have that tremendous sermon of Stephen, and he'll rehearse the history of Israel climaxed with a little bit of what we read about the climax of that sermon, which makes such a tremendous impact upon the people that they immediately stone him. So remarkable!

Turn over to I Peter, two passages of scripture I want to look at with you, I Peter 4. You know being reminded of persecution ought not to cause us to be afraid. That's what Jesus meant when He said, and we read, that you don't have to give thought in advance of what you are going to say. We are ready to speak for Christ. But it's not like I have to sit down, and if I get into this situation what am I going to do? No, I'm prepared when I have the truth of God, right? That's what we have, the truth of God. And that's what we present, the simple truth of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done, the condition of man apart from Him. You are ready to talk to anyone because you have the gospel; you have the truth of God in your hands. We don't have to spend our time saying, I wonder I should say? That doesn't mean there aren't times when you know you are going to speak to someone in certain situations, you want to address them where they are. Basically we waste a lot of time on a lot of things, when what we really need to do is present the gospel.

Sometimes I get a call and people come and see me and say, I'm going to talk to this kind of person and I wonder what I should say to them. Usually I say, just tell them the gospel, that's all you have to do. Don't worry about their arguments; don't worry about the things that they may know or don't know. Just tell them the gospel and the Spirit of God will use that for His purpose.

I've shared with you, I used to go to the university. I came to the conclusion, all you need to do is come here and tell them the gospel. And so I went down and lectured on the family and marriage. And I just started out, we're here to talk about the family and marriage. You know a lot of marriages are in trouble, a lot of people are having trouble in marriage. And I just want to tell you what God says the cause of the trouble is, and why you will have trouble in your marriage and in your life, and what the foundational problem is. Do you know what God says the foundational problem is? He says you have a problem with Him because God says you are a sinner. And furthermore, God says as a sinner you are His enemy and you are under condemnation. I would just tell them the gospel. I don't have to be as smart as they are; I don't have to know everything they know. And they are at a terrible disadvantage because you have the truth.

Look at I Peter 4:12, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you”. We still think some strange things happen to us when we suffer for presenting the gospel. “…but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” I mean, Peter says you can't get any higher honor than to be identified with Christ, and suffer the same kind of rejection He did. Make sure none of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. Verse 19, “Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”

And then II Corinthians 2. You know when you stop and think about it, isn't it amazing that we're not more bold? Isn't it amazing we don't run out looking for an unbeliever to talk to? II Corinthians 2:14, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” Always in every place. “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God”, that's the crucial thing. When I tell people about Jesus Christ, that's a pleasing fragrance that ascends to God, and that's success—when God is pleased. “…among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.” Chapter 3 verse 5, “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant”. We tell people of the finished work of Christ.

Come down to II Corinthians 4. “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.” Verse 5, “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord”. Verse 7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” For Paul, he didn't know any other way than to be a powerful, useful slave of Christ; but to be suffering. I'm giving my life up, ready to die, so that the life of Christ in me may be manifested to you. He didn't know any easy way to be a useful instrument in manifesting the character of Christ, but to be as clearly and openly and boldly identified with Him as possible.

Verse 16, “Therefore we do not lose heart”. That's the way he started out this chapter, “We do not lose heart”; we don't get discouraged, we don't get depressed, we don't give up. “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” I have to keep my focus there. I don't know what Paul had when he died, I don't know what the inventory was, I don't know what kind of house he had. None of those things matter, what matters was what he was looking at—the things not seen. That drove him on.

So my body is breaking down, all the opposition, the persecution, the beatings, the trouble, the trials, they take their toll on you physically. But I don't lose heart. My outer man is decaying, it is going downhill. But the inner man is getting stronger. Every beating I take for Christ, that just strengthens me on the inside, reminds me what a glory is mine to be identified with Christ. Everyone who spits in my face just reminds me what an honor it is to belong to Christ. If I look at it that way, I want to be identified with Him; I want to be as bold as I can.

We look at the early church and God is blessing. We look at the early church and there is suffering going on, but what a privilege. And we are to continue, nothing has changed. Two thousand years later, here we are as the church, here we are as God's people, here we are entrusted with the gospel, here we are as lights in the darkness, carrying this message to a lost and dying world. We need to get about it and be bold in it.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for Stephen. Thank you for your work of grace in his life. Thank you Lord that he was a man faithfully committed to you, a man who would be used in a great way. We have but a brief record, one message. But it's a life that made a great impact. And even his suffering and death will be used to accomplish your purposes in bringing the gospel again before your people, the Jews, and then having that message carried beyond the confines of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the world and ultimately to us today where we are. Thank you for your work of grace, the power of the gospel. Lord, may it be true of us, wherever we are in the days before us in this week that we will be making Jesus Christ known. For we pray in His name, amen.