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Acts Ch.7 Stephens Defense

What we are going to talk about

Last week we were introduced to Stephen, one of the six men chosen by the people of the young church and confirmed by the apostles to help with the care of the widows.

In chapter 6:8 we read that Stephen was full of grace and power and was preforming great wonders and signs among the people. That he was able to speak about the truths of scripture with so much authority and conviction that he drew the attention of the religious leaders who began to see him as a threat to their position.

And being unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke, we were told in verse 11 that they brought false witnesses against him and sought to convict him of blasphemy so that they could kill him.

Tonight’s study in chapter 7 is going to look at Stephen’s defense as he stands before the Sanhedrin to give an account for his words and actions. I find it very interesting that Stephen does not spend any time trying to vindicate himself; but instead uses this opportunity to try and reach into the hardened hearts of his accusers in hopes that they will be convicted of their own personal sin and seek to repent and come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

How it applies to me / Why is it important?

I think the importance of a study like this is that it reminds me that I need to take advantage of every opportunity to share the truth about God and His word.

We have no idea of the impact truth can have on the life of an individual; our words may in fact be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back;” in terms of the weightiness of the truth coming to rest on an individual.

Jesus said:

John Ch.8:32 (New Living Translation)

32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

We saw last week that while this trail was going on that there was someone in the background listening to the words of Stephen, someone who was in hearty approval of Stephen’s conviction and subsequent death.

Saul of Tarsus who would later become Paul the Apostle was in the crowd that day, and I am convinced that the words he heard Stephen speak he never forgot. Saul was the kind of guy who was very confirmed in his way of thinking, and he believed that Judaism was the truth and he was not going to allow some new teaching to come along and undermine what he believed.

And yet I believe the words that Stephen spoke that day troubled Saul because Stephen spoke the truth, and though Saul rejected Stephen’s defense that day, he could not dismiss the words he heard because they rang true.

I think Jesus alluded to this struggle when He met Saul on the road to Damascus and knocks him off of his high horse, He says to Saul, “Saul it’s hard for you to kick against the goads”

The goad is a traditional farming implement, used to spur or guide livestock, usually oxen, which are pulling a plough or a cart.

And what Jesus was saying to Saul was; “You know I am trying to lead you where you don’t want to go. And it’s hard to kick against the sharp stick of truth.

Again, last week in Ch.6:10 we read that these men were unable cope with the wisdom and Spirit with which Stephen spoke, and that they were reduced to making up lies and bringing forth false witnesses in order to stop him.

And their charges were that Stephen spoke against the holy temple and against the Law of God.

And fixing their gaze upon him, the Sanhedrin court was convened, and the opportunity was given to Stephen to defend himself; and like Peter, Stephen is going to use this opportunity not to defend himself but rather to speak truth into the lives of these people in hopes that they will be convicted in their hearts and repent, and come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Acts Ch.7:1-8

1Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?” 2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran.

I find it interesting that Stephen’s defense starts with a reminder to the Jewish leadership that God had called Abraham out of Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.

This is an important fact because it helps to lay the groundwork for Stephens’s defense.

The things that he is being accused of: of blasphemy, of speaking against the holy place and against the law of God; these are the things that the Jews looked to as their lifeline to God.

That it was in the keeping of the Law, of meeting God in the holy temple that kept them in a right relationship. In other words it was a relationship based on works.

What Stephen is saying right up front is that our relationship with God, our right standing with God has nothing to do with works, it is a relationship based on what He has done for us through His Son Jesus Christ, not what we have done to deserve anything.

And Stephen reminds these Jewish leaders that it was while Abraham was still in a foreign country, still serving false gods and worshipping idols, that God came to him and called him out of that life; is was not when Abraham was looking for God.

3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’

Come out of, come away from, and go to. Stephen is reminding these guys that as it has been from the beginning, when God first called Abraham out of the land of the Chaldean’s, so it is today. God is calling man out of the bondage of sin and death and into the newness of life through a personal relationship with his Son.

4 “So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran; After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.”8 Then He gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

Stephen is laying a foundation of being saved by grace, and he does so starting with the father of the faithful; Abraham. This history lesson is starting with a reminder to the Jewish leadership that God first approached Abraham not when Abraham was seeking God, but when Abraham was in a foreign land worshipping idols.

And the point Stephen underscores here is that Abraham was not justified by works but by faith in the promises of God.

Verse 8 says “then” God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, after he had received and believed on the promises of God.

This is a huge point, one Paul will thoroughly discuss in Romans Ch.4. Circumcision; although it was a sign of the everlasting covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants back in Genesis Ch.17, what the Jew had forgot was that the righteousness that was credited to Abraham happened back in Genesis Ch.15 when we are told that Abraham believed the promise of God.

The Jewish people with their traditions had turned Judaism into something it was never meant to be. The story of Abraham shows us that a saving faith was based on believing in the promises of God, and that the works that were done; were done not in order to be saved, but they were done because of the salvation one already possessed by faith.

Stephen is going to also remind these guys that the nation of Israel has a long history of not recognizing the deliverers that God sent to them until they came the second time.

And he is going to speak to this truth from both Moses and Joseph, but there is no better place to start with a history for the Jew than from their father Abraham, and so that is what he is doing here.

Stephen’s desire is that these guys would come to an understanding of the truth about faith and relationship with God from God’s perspective, not what they have made it to be. The Jewish people had become convinced that because they were the descendants of Abraham they were in right standing with God.

They believed that it was the lineage that made them special; Jesus addressed the same misconception in John Ch.8 when He told the Jews who were boasting in their relationship to Abraham, that if they were indeed the children of Abraham in the spiritual sense that they too would do the deeds of Abraham.

Paul brings even more clarity to this in Romans ch.9

Romans 9:6-8 (New American Standard Bible)

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants will be named.” 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

Today we see this same misconception here in the United States where many people believe they are Christians simply because they were born here. In just a little over two hundred years we have gone from a country that was founded on Judeo-Christian principles to a nation that rejects the God of the bible, He has been kicked out of our schools, has been told He has no place in our government and the truth of His word has been compromised for the sake of unity.

Much like the Jewish leadership Stephen is standing before here in Acts. Ch.7 many if not most in positions of leadership in this country hold to a form of godliness although they have denied its power.

Acts Ch.7:9-16 The witness of Joseph

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.

The patriarchs were the twelve sons of sons of Jacob; eventually they along with the two sons of Joseph would become the 12 tribes of Israel. Stephen is making the point that Joseph was rejected by his brothers because of envy; in Matthew Ch.27:18 we are told this was the same reason the Jewish leadership had rejected Jesus.

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.

Stephen is using the Jews own history to remind them that they have a pattern of rejecting God’s deliverer the first time. When they came to Egypt for food because of the severe famine they did not recognize Joseph, but the second time they came before him he revealed himself to them.

Today by and large the nation of Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah at His first coming, but when they go through the hard times of the seventieth week of Daniel as described in the book of Revelation, they will cry out for Him and will recognize Him in his second coming.

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.

As a side note this was the only piece of land within the Promised Land that Abraham owned. He bought it for 400 pieces of silver for the purpose of having a place where he could bury his wife Sarah. Abraham would be buried here about 40 years later. This would also become the place where Isaac and Jacob and their wives were buried.

Today this cave is concealed by the mosque of Hebron and is regarded as a holy place by the Muslims. They like the Christians and Jews hold Abraham in honor and call him the “Friend of God.

Next Stephen is going to point to the example of Moses

Acts Ch.7:17-35 The witness of Moses

17 “But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt 18 till another king arose who did not know Joseph.

I find it very interesting to be able to look back and see the hand of God at work in so many areas and to see His plan come to fruition. Because of the severe famine the Children of Israel went down to the land of Egypt for food.

Because Joseph’s brothers had mistreated and sold their brother into slavery, through a course of events and the providential hand of God on his life Joseph ends up as the number two guy in Egypt and he is able to spare his family.

Because of the religious culture of the Egyptians the Israelites we allowed to live in a secluded portion of Egypt where they grew in number from 75 to in excess of 3 million in just over 400 years. The family had become a nation large enough to be able to go into the Promised Land and take possession of it.

Because of the persecution of the Pharaoh who rose up in Egypt and began to persecute to the Jews, they began to cry out to God for deliverance, something that I don’t believe they would have done without the persecution. They had become very comfortable living in Egypt and had no desire to leave.

But God is sovereign and His plans will not be frustrated by man. He said in Isaiah Ch. 46:11 “Truly I have spoken, truly I will bring it to pass, I have planned it, and surely I will do it.”

God had promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the Promised Land. And He has allowed this pharaoh to rise up in Egypt in order that his ill-treatment of the children of Israel would cause them to once again turn their attention toward God in order that he may deliver them out of their bondage.

19 This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. 20 At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. 21 But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. 23 “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.

I think these are a couple of interesting points Stephen makes; that Moses was learned in all of the wisdom of the Egyptians and that he was mighty in words and deeds.

First of all, I see this as a testimony of the fact that the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to write the Torah. As learned in “all the wisdom of the Egyptians” as Moses was, I find it very interesting that we don’t find any of this “worldly wisdom” in the bible.

God not only promises that His word is eternal and will not pass away, The Holy Spirit also protects the content of scripture by not allowing the wisdom of man to adulterate it.

Peter tells us in his epistle in 1st Peter 2:2: that as Christians, we are to be like a newborn baby and long for or crave the “pure milk” of the word of God, that we may grow in respect to our salvation. The Holy Spirit has made sure that the word of God, although written through the agency of man, is in fact the unadulterated, untainted, unpolluted word of God.

2nd Timothy 3:16 (New Living Translation)

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

These verses of scripture would not be true if any part of God’s word had been compromised by man’s worldly wisdom.

Secondly I find it very interesting that we are told that Moses was a man who was mighty in words and deeds.

This seems to be a direct contradiction to what Moses said to God in Exodus Ch.4:10 when he was trying to give God an excuse as to why he should not be the one chosen to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Exodus Ch.4:10

10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

Moses’s problem wasn’t that he had issues with speaking clearly, but rather like most of us, his issue was trusting in the promises of God.

Notice verse 24-25:

24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.

Somewhere along the way Moses came to believe he was the one God was going to use to deliver his brethren from their bondage. Maybe his mother told him about how God had miraculously saved him as a baby, maybe he had a vision, we don’t know for sure.

What we do know for sure from Stephens account is that Moses believed he was the one God was going to use. And when he was rejected by his brethren he fled for his life and left behind any thoughts about being a deliverer.

And now as he is having this conversation with God I’m sure all of these memories of his inadequacies and their rejection of him are rushing back.

We are all going to be challenged at times in our own personal lives when the “rubber meets the road”, to get out of the boat and walk by faith and not by sight.

And like Moses we too need to realize that of all the things God asks us to do, the one thing He will never ask or expect from us is to do it alone; even in the context of Exodus Ch.4 God said to Moses: “I will put my words in your mouth and I will teach you what to do.”

And notice how Moses, just before he dies is able to take this principal truth of scripture, and uses it to encourage Joshua.

Deuteronomy 31:7-8 (New American Standard Bible)

7 Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. 8 The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Stephen’s commentary of the Old Testament is full of all sorts of nuggets like this that we could spend days on looking into. But let’s get back to our study of Acts Ch.7

26 And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’

27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. 30 “And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 33 ‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.”’

35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

Throughout this discourse Stephen is reminding these guys that Moses was rejected as the deliverer. This Moses who was held in such high regard was the same Moses that their forefathers rejected.

Stephen has painted quite a portrait of their history, God raises someone up to be their deliverer, but because of the hardness of the heart he is rejected. It happened with Joseph, it happened with Moses, and now it has happened with Jesus.

Acts Ch.7:37-57

37 “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’

38 “This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, 39 whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:

Stephen is now going to quote them a passage of scripture from Amos:

‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

Stephen is reminding these guys of their history, they are accusing him of not obeying the words of Moses and he is pointing out the fact that their forefathers were the one who rebelled against the words of Moses.

They brought the idols out of Egypt; he reminds them of the golden calf incident, and even points back to their captivity in Babylon for seventy years, which came about as a result of the disobedience of their ancestors and their refusal to keep God’s law.

This “holier than thou” attitude wasn’t going to cut it with Stephen; he wasn’t going to let them get away with it. He is not going to allow history to be rewritten. As a nation they have never for any extended length of time taken Moses or the law God gave him very seriously.

44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, 46 who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built Him a house. 48 “However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:

49 ‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, Or what is the place of My rest? 50 Has My hand not made all these things?’

Stephen is coming around full circle; remember that it was back in Acts Ch.6:11-13 that Stephen was accused of blasphemy against God and speaking against the holy temple.

What Stephen is saying here by quoting Isaiah is that although the Jews had built a temple to honor God, from God’s perspective it was just a building-

Never elevate the temple above the personal relationship with God, don’t worship the temple, God does not live in a temple, what is important to Him is the relationship, and He warned the Children of Israel both through Solomon and Isaiah not to become enamored with the building, and that is exactly what has happened.

Everything Stephen has said up to this point was for the purpose of being able to now say this:

51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears!

This is known as clarity, it is not enough to just teach or preach so as to be understood, but more importantly so as to not be misunderstood. Stephen finishes his defense by making sure that no one is confused about where he is coming from.

Keep in mind that he is speaking to the seventy one most powerful men in all of Israel, no one talks to these guys like this. They had brought Stephen in and put him on trial, and he has turned it around and by using the scriptures he has put them on trial and they know it.

51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears!

They may have been circumcised according to the covenant but their heart was still dominated by their flesh, their ears are still dominated by their flesh.

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 foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

He continues with the indictment; you boast in the law but you don’t keep it. This is the same thing Jesus told them for the last 3 ½ years. You have allowed your traditions to supplant the authority of scripture, and the laws of God.

54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being 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 said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

This is neat, these guys have lost it, and they have been cut to the quick, they gnashing their teeth, and are about to seize Stephen, drag him out of town and murder him. In contrast we see Stephen full of the Holy Spirit at peace knowing full well what is about to happen.

And by the mercy of God, Stephen who is about to become the first martyr in the Christian faith is given a vision as he gazes up to heaven, and he sees the glory of God and Jesus standing at His right hand ready to receive him.

57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

What a witness to the Lord, Stephen dies praying for the men who are stoning him, just like Jesus did as he was hanging on the cross when he cried out to the Father and said forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.

Next week we will look at Acts Ch. 8 and look at how the persecution on this young church is turned up and the unexpected impact it has in regards to the gospel beginning to spread.

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