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.

Introduction

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's Dispute and Charges

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.

Stephen Before the Sanhedrin

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.

Response of the Council

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.

Cut to the Heart and Gnashing

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.

Stephen's Vision of Glory

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.

The Glory of God and the Standing Christ

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.

Murderous Rage of the Council

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.

Cast Out and Stoned

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.

Introduction of Saul

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.

The Death of Stephen

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.

Stephen's Dying Words

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.

Application and Conclusion

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.

Closing Prayer

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.

Scripture References

• Leviticus 24:14; 24:16
• 1 Kings 8:27; 21:1
• Psalm 31:5
• Matthew 23:1; 24:1; 26:63-64; 26:67-68
• John 6:37; 8:59; 10:31; 14:15-18; 14:21; 14:23; 15:18–16:4
• Acts 2:33; 2:37; 5:31; 6:5; 6:8; 6:10; 6:11; 6:13; 7:1; 7:51-52; 7:54-56; 7:57-58; 7:59–8:1; 17:16
• Romans 1:32
• Galatians 1:13
• 1 Timothy 1:13
• 2 Timothy 4:16-17