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Well, you can turn with me in 
your Bibles to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 
7, while you're turning there, I'll just give a bit of reminder 
as to what we did last Sunday morning. That section we've been 
in in John's Gospel, John 15-18 to John 16-4, we see Jesus cautioning 
His disciples, or warning them rather, or preparing them, is 
probably the best choice of words, for the opposition that they 
will face in this present evil age. And in that particular context, 
it was the unbelieving Jews. Those who reject the Messiah, 
the Lord Jesus Christ, demonstrate a rejection of the Father who 
sent Him. And so Jesus warns and exhorts 
the disciples to be aware of that. And I gave a couple of 
illustrations. I mentioned that the apostle 
Paul was one who went from persecutor to persecute it. He was one that 
tried to destroy the church. He tells us that in his written 
records, but we know as well that he was converted by our 
Lord Jesus Christ, much owing to what we're going to look at 
here in chapter 7, at least from the human perspective. And then 
he went on to be persecuted such that he wanted the Jews and then 
ultimately the Roman Empire wanted to kill him. The other example 
I mentioned was Stephen, and I think Stephen's martyrdom is 
very instructive, not only to illustrate what we see there 
in John 15, 18 to John 16, 4, but also in light of the news 
of our brother Peter in Myanmar, just to encourage us that there 
is a triune God on the side of that brother. and that whatever 
man throws at him, they cannot ultimately separate him from 
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So I want 
to pick up chapter 7 in the book of Acts, the end of Stephen's 
sermon, and I'll explain a bit more how we get here to verse 
51 in a few minutes. But beginning in verse 51, You 
stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always 
resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 
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, who have received 
the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it. When they 
heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed 
at Him with their teeth. 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, and said, Look, I see the 
heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand 
of God. Then they cried out with a loud 
voice, stopped their ears, and ran at Him with one accord. 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. 
And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on and saying, Lord 
Jesus, receive my spirit. 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. Now Saul was 
consenting to his death. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank you for this beautiful day. We thank 
you that the heavens declare your glory and your majesty and 
your righteousness. We thank you that that empty 
tomb of our Lord Jesus declares your grace and your mercy and 
your loving kindness to your elect. We pray for your blessing 
upon the Word. We pray that you would encourage 
our hearts. We pray that you would cause us to be prepared, 
to be ready, to be mindful of the opposition that does exist. 
We know there is a devil that roams about like a roaring lion, 
seeking whom he may devour. We know there is a world that 
hates the Lord God Most High and the Lord Jesus Christ. We 
know as well we have our own remaining corruption. God, help 
us and give us grace and strength to persevere in the midst of 
these challenges. Forgive us even now for all of 
our sin and unrighteousness, and cleanse us in that precious 
blood of the Lord Jesus. And God, we pray that here and 
elsewhere, wherever your gospel is preached, you'd open the hearts 
of dead sinners, cause them to see their sin before a holy God, 
and cause them to see that provision of our gracious God in the person 
and in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And may it be the case 
today that many would come out of darkness into marvelous light, 
confessing faith in Him. And we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, as I said, how do we get 
to chapter seven, verse 51, when Stephen says, you stiff-necked 
and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy 
Spirit as your fathers did so to you. Well, it sort of begins 
in chapter six. If you go back to Acts chapter 
six, we note that Stephen is identified as one of the early 
men, we call them deacons later on, that would serve in the context 
of the local church. Notice in verse 5, the saying 
pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man 
full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and then several others are mentioned. 
On the heels of that, we see Stephen then disputing with those 
who rejected the truth of Christ. Notice in chapter 6 at verse 
8, Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and 
signs among the people. Then there arose some from what 
is called the synagogue of the freedmen, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, 
and those from Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they 
were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. 
Remember, Jesus says, the time will come when they'll put you 
out of the synagogues. The time will come when they 
will kill you. And while they're killing you, 
they will actually think they're doing service to God. So we see 
something of that here in the instance of Stephen. And notice 
specifically the charges that they level against him. I love 
it. Stephen is doing what Stephen should do. Stephen is declaring 
the truth as it is in Jesus. Stephen is no doubt saying that 
all the prophets and all the law itself pointed to this Lord 
Jesus Christ. Notice in verse 10, they were 
not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. 
They couldn't best him in this argument. He had the upper hand 
theologically. He had the upper hand biblically. 
He knew the scriptures and they themselves did not. So what do 
they do? Do they go study? Do they go 
to Sunday school? Do they go to seminary? Do they 
go to Bible college? Now, they accuse him of crimes 
and turn him over to the Sanhedrin so that they can execute him. 
Notice in verse 11, then they secretly induced men to say, 
we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. 
And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and 
they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. 
This is very similar to what they did with reference to our 
Lord Jesus Christ. So when Jesus is teaching his 
disciples that if they hate and oppose the master, then certainly 
they're going to hate and oppose the servant. Stephen expresses, 
or rather demonstrates that. Notice in verse 13, they also 
set up false witnesses who said, this man does not cease to speak 
blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. For we 
have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy 
this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us. 
And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw 
his face as the face of an angel. Now this is similar to Jesus, 
not only in that they stirred up the crowd and aroused this 
animosity against him, but remember that Jesus was accused as well 
as being something of a insurrectionist. It prophesied the destruction 
of the temple. As far as the Jews were concerned, 
the temple and its existence was absolutely crucial to their 
own existence. And so Jesus was accused of speaking 
words against the temple. But intriguingly, in redemptive 
history, so was the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah announced that the city 
of Jerusalem was going to be sacked, that the temple itself 
was going to be destroyed, which, by the way, took place. But when 
he made that pronouncement, do you think that the Jews at that 
time said, oh, that's wonderful information. Thank you so much 
for passing that along. No, they wanted to kill Jeremiah. 
They wanted to kill Jesus. They want to kill Stephen. So 
that's the situation. Then notice there in chapter 
7 at verse 1, they have delivered up Stephen to the Sanhedrin. Now I've preached this message 
a few times. You may even have notes in your 
Bibles about it. But the thing that I've noticed 
this time, as I've passed through it, is that Stephen's all alone. 
Stephen's solitary. I mean, maybe he pulled out his 
cell phone and called his lawyer. Maybe he texted his wife and 
said he'd be home late for dinner. But there's no indication of 
that whatsoever. There was no Peter to stand by 
his side. There was no James to stand by 
his side. There was no wife to stand by 
his side. There was no Marty Moore from 
JCCF to stand by his side. He's all alone. Now remember 
the Sanhedrin is made up of 71 men. This is the highest court 
in Israel at that time. They adjudicated matters of politics 
and matters of ethics and matters of theology. So certainly this 
man who's preaching Jesus as the Christ When they reject that, 
this has become a matter of treason, as far as they're concerned, 
and blasphemy, as far as they're concerned. But remember that. 
Stephen is all alone. He's a solitary figure. So what 
does Stephen do in chapter 7? Stephen preaches, actually engages 
in what we call biblical theology. It's a biblical theology concerning 
temple. Remember, the charges against 
Stephen are very simple. He has spoken blasphemy against 
Moses and against the law. And he has spoken blasphemy concerning 
the temple. And so in the address that is 
presented here, he shows that it's not him who has spoken blasphemy 
about Moses. And it's not him that missed 
the point concerning the temple. It is rather them. And that's 
precisely what he highlights in this sermon that he preaches 
in Acts chapter seven. So when we pick up where we picked 
up reading in verse 51, Notice, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised 
in heart and ears. We might read that and say, boy, 
he went from 0 to 100 pretty quickly. This indicates that 
there was animosity. This indicates that there had 
been enmity. This indicates that Stephen knows 
that the unbelieving Jews are engaged in trying to find the 
people of God and exterminate them. Just like Jesus promised, 
they're gonna put you out of the synagogues and they're going 
to kill you. And while they're killing you, 
they're going to be thinking that they're doing service to 
God. So, Stephen is simply prosecuting the case and turning the tables 
on them. The theology of the temple points 
to Jesus. The fact that you've rejected 
and resisted Jesus indicates that you have no understanding 
whatsoever for the purpose of the temple. As well, it's not 
Stephen that is speaking contrary to Moses. But in believing on 
Jesus and receiving Jesus as the one of whom Moses wrote, 
it's not Stephen that's got the problems. It's the Sanhedrin. It's unbelieving Israel. It's 
the enemies of Jesus Christ. They're the true blasphemers 
in this particular instance. So then we want to pick up in 
verses 54 to 81. And I want to look first at the 
response of the council in verses 54 to 56. Secondly, the murderous 
rage of the council in verses 57 to 58. And then finally the 
death of Stephen in verses 59 to 81a. But note first the response of 
the council in verse 54, when they heard these things, they 
were cut to the heart and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 
Now, these things is the entirety of the message. Everything he 
has said, beginning with Abraham, continuing through Joseph to 
Moses, and then to Solomon and David, and all these things he 
had taught concerning the temple. They certainly disagreed with 
that. They certainly didn't embrace that. They certainly didn't receive 
it. But Methinks it was probably more specifically his concluding 
observations in verses 51 and 52. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised 
in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your 
fathers did, so do you. 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." See, Stephen didn't shrink back from 
saying what needed to be said. You can see this in the ministry 
of our Lord as well, coming up to the prophetic statement at 
Olivet concerning the destruction of the temple in chapter 24 of 
Matthew's gospel. In chapter 23, what does the 
Lord say? Woe to you, scribes and and Pharisees, 
hypocrites, brood of vipers, you killed the prophets, you're 
like whitewashed tombs, you're like cups that are filled with 
muck on the inside but appear nice on the outside. In other 
words, they didn't shrink back from speaking the truth even 
when that truth might cost them their lives. And again, this 
is something that the church today needs to take notice of. 
We're not to kowtow in the face of, whether it be religious opposition 
or civil opposition. We're to hold fast the truth 
as it is in Jesus Christ. And that is precisely what Stephen 
does. Again, solitary figure, standing 
before 71 men that want his blood. And so when he comes to apply 
it, he doesn't say, well, you know, I'd like to make a few 
observations, but I'm afraid of how it might end for me. No, 
you stiff necked and uncircumcised of heart. How many times are 
you gonna continue to reject and resist the Lord of glory? 
The one who came, who assumed our humanity, who lived for us, 
who died for us and was raised again for us. And that spoken 
by Moses and the prophets. "'It is your problem,' Stephen 
says. "'It ain't my problem.'" And 
so, no doubt, when they heard these things, they were upset. They were cut to the heart, not 
in a good way. In Acts 2, under the preaching 
of Peter on the day of Pentecost, it says that they were cut to 
the heart and they cried out, "'What must we do?' So Peter 
says, "'Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus "'for the 
remission of sins.'" That's not the cutting of the heart that 
these guys are going through. This is the cutting of the heart 
of being filled with rage, filled with enmity, filled with opposition, 
filled with a desire to rid the world of this Stephen, because 
he's a treasonous man. He speaks words against Moses 
and against this holy temple. So they're cut to the heart. 
And it's to be quick, to be cut to the quick or to be infuriated. And then notice, they gnashed 
at him with their teeth. This is an expression of rage. 
I think we still kind of do this today. We kind of err like that. 
That's what they're doing. They're filled with rage against 
Stephen. Matthew Poole makes the observation, 
gnashing of teeth is the curse of the damned, which men by their 
sins do prepare for. We learned that about the lake 
of fire. They'll be weeping and wailing 
and gnashing of teeth. Well, they're preparing for this 
by their actions as they show this animosity to Stephen. So 
we see the response of the council, they're cut to the heart, they're 
upset, they're enraged, and they gnash at him with the teeth. 
But then note the blessedness of Stephen in verses 55 and 56. There's a vision that he has, 
and then there's a declaration that he makes. And notice the 
vision, verse 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. Remember, solitary Stephen. We like those sorts of things, 
don't we? We dare to be a Daniel. We move on like Moses. I don't know if anybody's ever 
said that, but solitary Stephen is not solitary at all. and he 
being full of the Holy Spirit, looks up into the heavens and 
sees the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand. Paul 
mentioned something like this in 2 Timothy 4, kind of his swan 
song epistle. He says, at my first defense, 
no one stood with me. No one stood with me. but the 
Lord strengthened me. Stephen is understanding in great 
vivid detail what Jesus promises in the upper room. Remember way 
back in John chapter 14, Jesus makes a promise to his disciples. 
If you love me, verse 15, keep my commandments and I will pray 
the father and he will give you another helper that he may abide 
with you forever. the spirit of truth whom the 
world cannot receive. because it neither sees him nor 
knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you and will be 
in you. I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. 
And then dropping down in verse 21, he who has my commandments 
and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me 
will be loved by my father and I will love him and manifest 
myself to him. And then again in verse 23, if 
anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love 
him and we will come to him and make our home with him. Solitary 
Stephen is anything but solitary. He's filled with the Spirit, 
he gazes into the heavens, he sees the glory of God, and he 
sees Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. Notice in 
Acts chapter 6, we already saw sort of his induction to the 
role as deacon according to verse 5. The saying pleased the whole 
multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy 
Spirit, dropping down in verse 10. And they were not able to 
resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. You know, 
you've ever wondered, well, will I be able to stand before a Sanhedrin 
of men and give my defense? I can't see it because I'm pretty 
much a chicken as it is, pretty much a coward as things go. I've 
always been encouraged at the thought that if God calls upon 
you to do something specifically for him and his glory, he's going 
to fit you and prepare you to do it. When Stephen needed that 
spirit to serve the church when it came to the feeding of the 
Hebrews and the Hellenists, when Stephen needed that spirit in 
order to best those bad theologians that didn't have an understanding 
of temple, and when Stephen needed the spirit so that he could die 
a martyr's death, the spirit's there. He being filled with the 
Holy Spirit. Notice, he gazed into heaven 
and saw the glory of God. This vision was not seen by everyone, 
but God gave this to Stephen in his time of great need. Calvin says the glory of God 
appeared not unto Stephen wholly as it was, but according to man's 
capacity. When we gaze into the glory of 
God, that's an accommodation on the part of God. We can't 
just gaze into the glory of God. That's an impossibility based 
on the fact that he's infinite and we're finite. Calvin says, 
for that infiniteness cannot be comprehended with the measure 
of any creature. In other words, he's given by 
accommodation, by God's goodness and revelation, something of 
his own glory to encourage Stephen as he's standing before these 
God-hating rebels. Filled with the Spirit, he gazes 
into the heavens, he sees the glory of God, but then notice 
as well, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Now, we've 
got already in the book of Acts, according to Acts 2 and again 
in Acts 5, that Jesus is enthroned at the right hand of God, but 
it's usually specified as sitting. What's the sort of significance 
here of his standing? I think it's twofold. I think 
the fact that Jesus is standing shows Jesus willingness to receive 
his martyr when that last stone snuffs him out. It's a good thought, 
isn't it? You're about to be stoned to 
death. You may be in the presence of being stoned to death and 
you contemplate the reality that your blessed savior is standing 
there ready to receive you. But I also think it's an act 
of judgment. See, it's not Stephen that's 
on trial here. It's not Stephen that's the culprit. It's not Stephen that missed 
Moses and the prophets. It's not Stephen with a bad theology 
of the temple. It's the Sanhedrin. This is yet 
another indictment, another evidence, another manifestation. In case 
you need more, the unbelieving Jews, in their rejection of the 
Messiah, reject Yahweh himself. So Jesus is standing there, presiding 
over this. Jesus, the judge. Yes, he's going 
to receive Stephen and that's wonderful. But he's standing 
ready to judge. Poole picks up on the first and 
standing ready to assist and comfort all that should suffer 
for his sake, receiving Stephen. Gill picks up on the latter, 
where he was seen by him standing to denote his readiness to assist 
him and his indignation at his enemies. Imagine somebody's messing 
with your child on the playground. Do you stand or do you sit in 
the bench and say, don't do that to my little junior? No, you 
stand up and you puff out your chest and you walk over there 
ready to rock and roll. So Jesus is standing ready to 
receive Stephen, but ready to smash these rebels, which incidentally 
is coming in the destruction of Jerusalem in 8070. Now, at 
this point, it hadn't happened. At this point, there's a temple. 
At this point, there's a priesthood. At this point, there's a sacrificial 
system. All defunct, all a sham, all 
a shell because of the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
It's them that are blasphemers, not Stephen. So that's the significance 
of the standing. But notice what Stephen does. The fellow who says, you stiff-necked 
and uncircumcised and heart and ears is the sort of fellow that's 
gonna tell you about the vision that he just had. Now, remember, 
they got a problem with Jesus. They got a problem, therefore, 
with Yahweh. They just got a problem with 
all this. And so look at what Stephen says 
in verse 56. He said, look, I see the heavens 
opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. No, 
I'm not justifying it, I am not condoning it, I am not saying 
that it's okay, but at some fundamental level, I understand verse 57. I understand it in the same way 
I understand John 8 and John 10. when the Jews picked up stones 
to throw at Jesus. Again, not condoning it, not 
justifying it, not encouraging it, but understanding that if 
you're a diabolical rejecter and hater of Jesus and thus Yahweh, 
and Jesus is standing there equating himself with Yahweh, I get the 
propensity to pick up a stone and to launch it at his head. 
Again, kids, not condoning this, not justifying this, but for 
Stephen to say what Stephen says in verse 56 is to invite in a 
human, demonic, earthly level, the response of verse 57. So 
he says, look, I love that. Look! I see the heavens open 
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Now brethren, 
this is very similar again to what happens with Jesus as He's 
standing before the Sanhedrin. Remember the Sanhedrin, the high 
priest puts him under oath. Are you the son of God? Jesus 
says, it is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter 
you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power 
and coming on the clouds of heaven. When Jesus does that in the Sanhedrin 
in Matthew 26, you know the response. The high priest rips his garment. 
The high priest probably throws up his hands. And the high priest 
says, we have no further need of witnesses. He's condemned 
himself. He is equating himself with the 
Danielic son of man. As far as I know, Stephen is 
the only other New Testament author or speaker that refers 
to Jesus as son of man. And so Stephen is following closely 
his Lord and Master and is receiving the same sort of treatment that 
his Lord and Master received. Now, why did he do this? Well, 
because he's not a coward. Why did he do this? Because it 
was true. And why did he do this? to rebuke his hearers. Calvin 
says God meant not only privately to provide for his servant, but 
also to wring and torment his enemies. If you got a problem 
with Stephen's message, wait till you hear about his vision. 
You don't like his conclusions concerning Temple and Moses? 
You're really gonna have a fit when you hear what he's seen. 
As well, it corroborates his defense. What's one of Stephen's 
points? We didn't have a long, you know, 
we can't go through all of chapter seven, but one of Stephen's points 
is that God does not need a physical temple to manifest himself. He appeared to Abraham out in 
Mesopotamia. He appears as he decrees and 
as he determines. Now certainly the tabernacle 
and the temple functioned in Old Covenant religion as the 
visible representation of God's special presence. But it wasn't 
tied to that. In fact, when Solomon dedicates 
the temple in 1 Kings 8, Solomon admits as much. We know that 
the heavens of heavens can't contain you, much less this earthly 
structure. See, there's a fundamental misunderstanding 
of tabernacle slash temple in the Old Testament. And that fundamental 
misunderstanding is replicated in dispensationalism today. We've 
got to have a rebuilt temple. We've got to have a rebuilt structure. 
Jesus is the reason for the temple and the tabernacle. Those were 
types pointing forward to the Lamb of God who exceeds and transcends 
the temple. We don't go backward in redemptive 
history. We don't try to build more temples. We don't insist upon temple building. The temple is here. The fundamental 
idea with temple is dwelling place. Where do God and sinners 
dwell? In and through the work of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. So the idea being is that when 
Stephen says, I see the glory of God and Jesus standing at 
his right hand, it corroborates his defense. You think that in 
the temple, you've got the alone presence of God. I am seeing 
the glory of God. And guess what? The Jesus you 
hate, the Jesus you resist, the Jesus you reject, the Jesus you 
crucified, he happens to be standing right at his right hand. This 
would have enraged them, which obviously it does. They go nuts. They can't handle this. I mentioned 
this last week, brethren. Freedom of speech is an illusion. It is an illusion as long as 
you color with inside the lines. It's an illusion that should 
be a reality. It's an illusion that should 
be a truth. It is basic and inherent and 
intrinsic to image bearers that they be able to say whatever 
it is they want to say without committing crimes. But here, 
it's a different religious view. It's a different interpretation 
of scripture. It's a different interpretation of theology. What 
does it drive these men to do? It drives the men to exclude 
from the synagogue and ultimately kill them and think they're doing 
service for God. Now notice. We come to the murderous 
rage of the council. Verses 57 and 58. Note first 
they seize Stephen, according to verse 57. Then they cried 
out with a loud voice, stopped their ears and ran at him with 
one accord. You get the picture, right? They 
stopped their ears. You probably did that as a child. 
When somebody said something you didn't wanna hear, you stopped 
your ears and you might've went, bah, bah. So you didn't hear 
that. These are like children, only they happen to be disgusting, 
demonic, God-hating children. But nevertheless, they're conducting 
themselves like children. All right? They're done. It's over, Stephen. We're not 
going to debate. We're not going to search. We're 
not going to read. They're treating him just like 
they treated Jesus. So you see when Jesus says, if 
they did this to the master, they're going to do it to the 
servant. This really does confirm for us and validate to us the 
truth in John 15, 18 to John 16, 4, up until this morning, 
even when Mrs. Hamilton texts or emails and 
says that Peter was arrested. Why would you arrest Peter? Like, 
again, if you are on that side of arresting a Peter, you've 
got big, big problems. If you're the guy that's wanting 
to kill Stephen, it's not Stephen that's the problem, it's you. So notice, they seize him, they 
cry out with a loud voice, they stop their ears. Daniel Bach 
says, the remarks send the crowd into a frenzy. We got to get 
this. This isn't like some, you know, 
a little academic exchange. Oh, well, we just disagree with 
your theology of the temple. We'll hear you again. The apostles 
get much better respect from the Romans. When Paul goes to 
the Areopagus in chapter 17, and he throws down with the Epicureans 
and Stoics, do you think they say, well, you know, we got to 
kill this guy, like right here, right now. You're done. No, some 
mocked. They continued to think he was 
nuts. Brethren, accept that. As a Christian, people are going 
to think you're nuts. I hate to hurt you, hate to offend you 
or trigger you, but people are going to think you're nuts. They 
thought Paul was nuts. They thought Jesus was nuts. 
They thought Stephen was nuts. You don't think they're going 
to think you're nuts? So Paul then continues on. He gets treated 
pretty well by the civil government throughout the book of Acts. 
Guess who's not treating him pretty well throughout the book 
of Acts? It is the unbelieving Jews. So Bach says, the remarks 
send the crowd into a frenzy. When Stephen declares that he 
sees the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God, he 
is stoned for blasphemy because in the view of these Jews, no 
one has the right to be at the side of God's heavenly presence. It makes sense that they respond 
that way. Notice the end of verse 57, ran 
at him with one accord. There was no deliberation. There 
was no voice of reason. There wasn't a third that said, 
you know what? We probably should reconsider 
this before we just converge upon him and mob violence, send 
him out of the city and stone him to death. There was none 
of that. These guys are upset. These guys 
are animated. They're filled with rage and 
fury. They're covering their ears. They're acting like children 
in the playground. Again, demonic, wicked, little, 
you know, horrible children, but children nonetheless. I don't 
want any kids to say, you hurt me when you talk about children. 
I've often said this, if I accuse men of acting like little girls, 
That doesn't mean I have any problem with little girls. Little 
girls are good when they're little girls. Grown men acting like 
little girls are not. They need to repent, grow up, 
be big boys. Go do your thing. Go fly, little 
birdie. So notice, they seize him and 
then they stone him. Verse 58, they cast him out of 
the city. Why do they cast him out of the 
city? We can't let this blasphemer's blood pollute our holy city. 
They do this with Naboth in 1 Kings chapter 21 as well. That guy 
was set up. Jezebel, woman of the year, what 
a wretch. Ahab, you can't get that land. 
Get in there and lie. Get in there and accuse. Get in there and get that man's 
land. So they do. When it comes time 
to kill, they got to get them out of the city. Look at their 
absolute hypocrisy. It's kind of like when they go 
to Pilate to prosecute the case against Jesus, they won't go 
inside the Pretoria and they won't go inside that confine 
because it was the Passover and they had to remain ceremonially 
clean. You're committing first degree 
murder and conspiracy to murder. You're committing the most heinous 
act of treason ever committed by the creature against God. 
But you're concerned about ceremonial defilement by going into a Gentile 
precinct. It's the same thing here. We 
don't let unholy polluted blasphemer blood pollute our holy city. 
That's why they wanna drive him out of the city. In terms of 
blasphemy, they got the text, Leviticus 24, 14, or Leviticus 
24, 16. Whoever blasphemes the name of 
the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation 
shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who was 
born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of 
the Lord, he shall be put to death. So they got the law on 
their side, at least in a superficial way. They're interpreting it 
incorrectly. They're missing the point in 
terms of who God is and who Jesus is. But 24, 14 Leviticus, take 
outside the camp him who is cursed, then let all who heard him lay 
their hands on his head and let all the congregation stone him. 
As I mentioned last week though, they didn't have authority to 
kill Jesus. Why do they suddenly have authority to kill Stephen? 
They're fastidious to obey the law of the Roman Empire when 
they're gonna kill Jesus, but not long after, they're gonna 
go ahead and take matters in their own hands. Pilate, Schmilate. Local governor, why would we 
go to the local governor? Stephen's guilty, summary execution 
right here, right now. Except not right here, get him 
off our property. Take his vile self outside the 
city and let stone him to death. Now, this was a lynching. Don't know how else better to 
say it. There was no due process. There's 
no corroborating evidence. There's no witness testimony. 
There's no cross-exam, which, by the way, brethren, those things 
are absolutely necessary and crucial to all civil society. When the defense can't present 
evidence or the defense can't be expecting cross-examination, 
if those things are gone, society is gone shortly thereafter. It 
should really concern us when the benches are compromised in 
the land. It should really concern us when the bench is politicized 
in the name of the service of the civil state. Now here, there 
is no justice. John Gill, I disagree with John 
Gill very few things. Theologically, the biggest would 
be eschatology. But he says this was not the 
Sanhedrin, but the common people. I disagree. I think it was the 
Sanhedrin. When Jesus is before the Sanhedrin 
in Matthew 26, 67 and 68, it was them who spat on him. It was them who slapped him. I doubt the Sanhedrin said, okay, 
mob, come on in and let's deal with Stephen. These men were 
already expressed their enmity and their opposition to Jesus. 
As the master, so the servant. You've got grown men that are 
supposedly leading a people, now albeit subset-ish. They're not the ultimate authority 
in the Roman Empire, but they have their own ability to make 
laws and govern themselves insofar as they don't present a challenge 
or a threat to the Roman state. All that's gone. Done. No due process, no nothing. Let's 
just kill him. So notice what we see there in 
verse 58. 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. Now the witnesses are those stoning 
Stephen. They lay their clothes down, 
probably so they have unrestricted use of their arms to throw the 
stones even harder. And it could have been hot. Worked 
up quite a bit of sweat killing an innocent man, I would imagine. 
The young man is introduced here because the young man is going 
to loom large in the rest of the book. This young man, Saul 
of Tarsus. Luke makes sure that we know 
that he's here. Actually, Paul makes sure we 
know that he's here. It's always good to quote that 
quote from Matthew Henry. He says that Paul fed his eyes 
with this bloody spectacle in hopes it would put a stop to 
the growth of Christianity. We have reason to think that 
Paul ordered Luke to insert this. And I think that's a good supposition. 
Paul and Luke were buddies. There are we sections in the 
book of Acts indicating that Luke was presently with them 
when they went to certain places. But back to Matthew, Henry. We 
have reason to think that Paul ordered Luke to insert this for 
shame to himself and glory to free grace. Shame to himself 
and glory to free grace. Luke might have been saying, 
you know, this is a conjecture. Should I put this? Put it in. 
Why, Paul? They'll have a bad view of you. 
They should have a bad view of me. And they should magnify free 
grace. Doesn't Paul do this in 1 Timothy 
1.13? Formally, a blasphemer, a persecutor, 
an insolent man. I tried to extinguish the church, 
Galatians 1. There is in him that bring shame 
to the name of Paul so that Christ may be magnified and free grace 
may be celebrated. And that's what you have in spades 
in this particular account. And then that brings us finally 
to the death of Stephen. You've got his dying words and 
you've got his death itself. And brethren, it is hard to not 
make the case that the servant is following exactly the heels 
of the master. So notice in verse 59, they stoned 
Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive 
my spirit. 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. So he called 
upon Jesus, probably best to leave out God there and see it 
as a direct call from Stephen to Jesus to receive his spirit. Remember, Jesus does this when 
he's on the cross and he says, father, into your hand, I commit 
my spirit. This picks up Psalm 31, which 
is about Jesus. Now, in terms of the comfort, 
Calvin says this is an inestimable comfort in that we know our souls 
do not wander up and down when they flit out of our bodies, 
but that Christ receives them, that he may keep them faithfully 
if we commend them into his hands. This hope ought to encourage 
us to suffer death patiently. Now, brethren, I think that Stephen, 
even in these dying words, is corroborating his sermon. What's the significance of temple? 
Well, it's where God and man meet together for the purposes 
of prayer and for forgiveness. Stephen, in his prayer or in 
his final words, is confirming his theology of temple. Now, 
whether that's in his mind or not, we on this side of the story 
can see it. Everything they rage against, 
the thought that Jesus is alive for one. The Jews weren't down 
on the whole resurrection story. Remember, they took pains to 
try and cover that whole thing up. Stephen just assumes it, 
and he places Jesus, a standing Jesus, at the right hand of the 
glory of God. But as well, Jesus is the one 
hearing prayer. And Stephen understands that 
Jesus is the one to whom the petition for forgiveness is ultimately 
to be made. He calls upon Jesus to forgive 
his own murderers. Notice, then he knelt down and 
cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with 
this sin. Just like Jesus on the cross. Father, forgive them for they 
know not what they do. Stephen is following precisely 
what the master had taught. And then as well, notice, the 
strength that he has given. He cried with a loud voice. Brethren, I don't get that. I don't, experientially. Cognitively, 
I get it. It's words on a page. It means 
loud voice. But experientially, you got a 
sniffle or a cold or you're laying on the couch, there's no loud 
voice. There's, help me. There's, bring 
me crackers. Someone as well said, wasn't 
it better when we treated colds with chicken soup and tea versus 
communism? Yeah, that's a good bet. But 
when you're crying out for that ginger ale, you're not loud voicing 
it. He cries with a loud voice, and 
this checks my spirit, brethren, because if I was gonna cry out 
with a loud voice at that moment, it would be smash them, destroy 
them. Every imprecation I could recall 
from the Old Testament Psalms. Let them have it, Lord. That's 
not Stephen. Remember last week I said when 
Jesus teaches His disciples, it is to promote in them perseverance. It is to promote in them joy. 
It is to promote in them pity. What do we have that we did not 
receive? And Stephen cries this out to 
his Lord, understanding full well that temple is where prayer 
is heard and where forgiveness is wrought. And the temple wasn't 
that appendage that they were boasting in, it was the Lord 
of glory, enthroned at the right hand of the Father, who was prepared 
to receive his holy Stephen into his presence. And then that last 
statement, and when he had said this, he fell asleep. F.F. Bruce, I think, captures this 
beautifully. Stephen fell asleep, an unexpectedly 
peaceful description for so brutal a death, but one which fits the 
spirit in which Stephen accepted his martyrdom. Amen. Amen. We don't usually describe horrific, 
brutal fatality. They went to sleep. No, they 
got into a horrible car crash. They probably suffered tremendously. 
There was ashes. Fall asleep? Man was stoned to 
death. That means big rocks hurled at 
his body to the point where it stopped him from breathing. All 
his bodily functions ceased in light of the stones that were 
inflicted upon him. And yet he's said to have fallen 
asleep. And then 8.1, gotta look at it. Now Saul was consenting to his 
death. This means to join an approval, 
to agree with, to approve of, consented to, sympathetic with 
the murder. The murder of a godly man, the 
murder of a holy man. Interestingly, Paul will use 
this term in Romans chapter one. After he levels his death blow 
upon the godless pagans, he says that they approve those who do 
the same. just like he did when he stood 
there and watched Stephen get stoned to death. Well, brethren, 
in conclusion, I think first we see the rage of the enemies 
of Christ. Yes, we need to be prepared. 
Yes, we need to be encouraged. Yes, we need to be persevering. 
Yes, we need to be full of pity, but yes, we need to understand 
that this stuff isn't confined solely and alone to the first 
century. Now, thankfully, life isn't horrible 
for us. I mean, I got up this morning, 
there was no machine gun, bullets whizzing past my head, for which 
I'm very thankful. I don't know that I'd like that 
life. But just because something is the way it is doesn't mean 
it'll always be that way. And for the people of God, for 
a couple of generations now, we've had it pretty good. And 
we may continue to have it pretty good. I'm not, you know, oh, 
we're going to suffer as soon as we walk out these doors. I 
don't know that. But there does seem to be, at 
least in the hearts of some that profess saving faith in Jesus, 
this idea that we're somehow immune from any persecution, 
any opposition, or any suffering whatsoever. See, the rest of 
the Bible is contrary to that notion. I think preparation is 
a good idea. Preparation in terms of how will 
I answer if they put a gun to my head and tell me to recant 
my faith in Jesus? How will I answer if unbelieving 
Jews or Muslims or other sorts of cultists or civil religionists 
or commies, how will I answer? If they asked me to account for 
my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, well, no, I think the Bible says 
something about something. There is really no excuse for 
us to be as ignorant as we are. And I'm not speaking specifically, 
I'm speaking generally in terms of the Christian world. Stephen 
was able to reason with these guys in such a way that they 
had no other recourse, as far as they were concerned, but to 
kill him. Could we reason thus? Could we 
account for justification by faith alone if we're facing down 
a hostile papist? Can we account for the triunity 
of persons in the Godhead if we're facing down the hostility 
of modern day Aryans or Jehovah's Witnesses? You know, we only 
ever think of, you know, a Muslim state or a Jewish state or a 
Christian state. What if the cultists got a hold 
of it? What if the cultists take charge and it becomes orthodoxy 
to deny the Trinity? Would you struggle with that? 
Would you be tripped up by that? Brethren, Stephen was able to 
throw down because he understood there were going to be enemies 
and he understood he better be able to answer them. I would 
suggest as well the stability of the faithful witness of Christ. 
He demonstrates dependence on the triune God. He's there all 
alone. Again, that jumped out at me 
more than it ever has as I've gone through this passage. I 
have this overarching fear I'm gonna end up in the gulag sometime 
in my life, and it's gonna be all alone unless there's a couple 
of you, you know, few selves down that we can kind of rub 
our cups against the wire and sing some psalms or hymns. But 
that solitariness, but he wasn't alone. The anthem theme song 
of Liverpool, England is You'll Never Walk Alone. Pretty impressive 
to see 90,000 football, soccer fans singing that song. Well, that's the reality for 
the Christian. We'll never walk alone. There's 
nothing that shall separate us from the love of God, which is 
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I will not leave you as orphans, 
Jesus says in John 14, 18. I will come to you. The spirit 
of truth, I will ask my father and he'll give you the spirit 
of truth. We see that here in Stephen, called upon to suffer, 
called upon to testify, called upon to do these things and never 
left on his own. As well, he expressed courage 
in the face of martyrdom. What you don't get from Stephen 
is, I'm done, guys. Okay, I'll sign. Wherever you 
want me to sign, I'll recant, I'll renege, I'll deny, I will 
say no. He doesn't do that. He can't 
be bought. He can't be threatened. I mean, 
he can be, and promised, but he's not gonna shrink back. And the fact that it reports 
his vision, That's an in your face. I don't 
think he meant it that way because he's actually godly and I'm not, 
but I would think of it that way. Oh, I'm going to let them 
know what vision I've had. This will really get their goat. 
For me to say that I see the glory of God and Jesus, whom 
they crucified, standing at the right hand of that glory? Oh, 
that's going to really upset them. That would have given me 
a certain bit of peace and joy. Again, I don't want to impose 
that or predicate that of Stephen because he seems a whole lot 
holier than me. But notice as well, he evidences Christ likeness 
in his trial and affliction. He doesn't abandon that. He doesn't 
forsake that. He doesn't renege on that. He 
follows the master even to the grave. And he is comforted at 
the prospect of being with Jesus. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. So brethren, when we look at 
this passage, it confirms for us practically John 15, 18 to 
John 16, 4. but it also confirms practically 
the rest of the upper room discourse. God, Father, Son, and Spirit 
abide with us. God gives us perseverance. God gives us grace. God gives us the wisdom necessary 
to not only testify, but to suffer and to die if need fall. And that God is worthy to be 
praised. That God is worthy to be glorified. That God is worthy to die for. And that is what you get from 
Stephen falling asleep under the hands of vicious murderers. And if you're not a believer 
in Jesus Christ, may I encourage you to consider the question, 
what would move Stephen to be a Stephen? It was because Christ 
is Christ. It's because of the gospel. Life, 
death, resurrection. Because of justification by faith 
alone. Because of the presence and the 
power of the Holy Spirit. Stephen does what Stephen does 
because Stephen is a believer in Jesus Christ. So don't end 
the day without belief in Jesus. It's the good thing about Jesus. 
He stands to receive his martyrs that suffer for his name sake. 
Do you know what else he does? He receives sinners that come 
to him in faith. In fact, he says it, all that 
the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to 
me, I will certainly not cast out. You can't reason, well, 
if I go to him, he won't receive me. Then he wouldn't be Jesus 
because Jesus says he receives those who come. So come, be blessed, 
and get in the battle and be ready to die with Stephen. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this demonstration 
of what Jesus teaches in the Upper Room Discourse, not only 
at the point of the suffering and the persecution and the opposition, 
but especially at the point of communion with the triune God 
in life and in death and in eternal life. We thank you so very much 
for the gospel of our salvation. We thank you so very much for 
our Lord Jesus Christ. Pray that many would come to 
know him by your grace, through faith, and that you would be 
glorified all over the earth today. And again, be with our 
brother Peter. May you bring to his mind the scriptures of 
both Old and New Testaments. May he realize that he is not 
alone, that you are with him, that you are his portion and 
his lot. And please, God, comfort his dear wife, his family, and 
watch over all those orphans that he is responsible for. And 
we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, 
let's stand and close by singing praise to our triune God, number 
568. 568. ♪ Praise God all ye nations ♪ ♪ Praise Him, all creatures here 
below ♪ ♪ Praise Him, all ye heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit 
be with you all. Amen. I'll go ahead and thank God for 
the food, and everybody can head upstairs and get a nice meal 
and some time to fellowship. So let us pray. Our Father, we 
thank you for your word. We know that man doesn't live 
by bread alone, but by every word that does proceed from the 
mouth of God. We thank you as well, though you give us those 
good gifts, the temporal things that our bodies need, the nourishment, 
We pray that you would bless us as we gather together, that 
we would receive with thanksgiving the gifts provided by you. Thank 
you for all the labor that went into the preparation and for 
your supply of all these good things. And we pray now through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We'll have a brief time 
of meditation and then please head on upstairs for food and 
fellowship.