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You can turn in your Bibles to 
Acts 7 again. We finished off reading to verse 
43. We'll pick up reading at verse 
44 of chapter 7. Acts 7, verse 44, the word of 
the living and true God. Our fathers had the tabernacle 
of witness in the wilderness as he appointed, instructing 
Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 
which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with 
Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove 
out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, who 
found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God 
of Jacob. But Solomon built him a house. 
However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands. 
As the prophet says, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. What house will you build for 
me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Has my 
hand not made all these things? 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 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. Now Saul was 
consenting to his death. At that time, a great persecution 
arose against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were 
all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, 
except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen 
to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for 
Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging 
off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore, those 
who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Amen. Well, 
let us again pray. Heavenly Father, we rejoice in 
this text of scripture. We rejoice in that promise being 
fulfilled, that Christ would build his church and the gates 
of hell would not prevail against it. We do pray that you would 
help us now as we consider the martyrdom of Stephen. We pray 
that you would bless us in this exercise, both preacher and hearer, 
that we might be the better for having gathered, and that we 
might learn well from our God and from Your Word. We might 
leave this place instructed in the truth and living to go forth 
and to live in light of the gospel of saving grace. So be with us 
now, Father. Might all that is done be done 
to Your glory. And we pray in Christ's name. 
Amen. Well, this morning and this evening, 
we're going to look at this passage. I know it is the Lord's Supper 
this evening, So this morning our consideration will be the 
Stephen of Christ, and this evening the consideration will be the 
Christ of Stephen. So we remember tonight the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and we remember him with regards to the Lord's 
Supper. No doubt there is much of our Christ in this passage 
to avail of that we might fill our minds, that we might have 
a burning remembrance of our Savior. But this morning we want 
to look at the Stephen of Christ. Who is this Stephen? What is 
he marked by? What are his characteristics? 
What can we glean? What can we gain by a consideration 
of this, the first martyr of Christianity? Just first off, 
by way of introduction, what is the Book of Acts? What is 
the book of Acts? We're parachuting into Acts 6 
and 7, but what is this book? We could say that this book of 
Acts is the narrative record of the fulfillment of Christ's 
promise in Matthew's gospel, I will build my church and the 
gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Acts is the narrative 
record of that being fleshed out in time and in history, following 
our Savior's death, His resurrection and His ascension, we have this 
record of that promise being brought to fruition. We have 
in Acts 1.8, for example, this language of Christ Himself that 
serves as an outline for the entire book. In Acts 1, in verse 
8, we read this, beginning in verse 7, It is not for you to 
know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority, 
but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon 
you. And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all 
Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And so the 
book follows that again as a narrative record of Christ building his 
church in power and in great victory. This Acts 6 and 7 passage, 
we could call it the Stephen Pericope. Perhaps you've heard 
that word before. It's not pericope. It's not periscope 
with the S taken out. Pericope. It simply means a section 
of a book. In the studies of the scriptures, 
it means a self-contained portion of text. And here, you see, in 
the book of Acts, we have largely the story of Christ building 
his church through Peter and then through Paul. But we have 
this Stephen Pericope joining together almost those two sections 
where there is an account of this Stephen, and what is this 
Stephen pericope designed to do? We may say it is designed 
to show that Christianity is of God. That is the design behind 
the Stephen pericope, to show that Christianity is of God. If you back up to Acts 5, verse 
38 and verse 39, This is the section that precedes 
the Stephen Pericope. Notice what we have there in 
Acts 5 at verse 38. Remember, this is Gamaliel and 
his advice to the gathered council. Notice what we read in Acts 5, 
38. And now I say to you, keep away 
from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or this work 
is of men, it will come to nothing. But if it is of God, you cannot 
overthrow it, lest you even be found to fight against God. So 
we come to the Stephen Pericope, and that's its design, to show 
that this is not of men, this is of God. Because what do we 
see in Acts 8, following the stoning of Stephen? Verse 4 of 
Acts 8, went everywhere preaching the 
word. You see, if this movement, this way, this Christianity was 
of men, then it would have been brought to nothing. The stoning 
of Stephen could have been the punctuated end of Christianity, 
but you see, it was of God. And so this stoning of Stephen, 
rather than bringing an end to Christianity, rather is something 
owned and blessed by God for its advancement. And that's what 
the Stephen pericope is designed to do, to show that Christianity 
is of God. Here, in the account of Stephen, 
we have the fulfillment of Christ's prophecy in Matthew 23. I will 
send you scribes, prophets, wise men. Some of them you will scourge, 
some of them you will crucify, some of them you will persecute 
from city to city, so that on you all the blood, righteous 
blood shed on the earth, will be vindicated. We have this reality 
brought forth. Stephen is, as much as he is 
the fulfillment of Christ's words to build his church, he is also 
the fulfillment of that reality that Christ would send prophets 
into the world to speak concerning the glorious gospel of the blessed 
God. Well, we want to look at the 
Stephen of Christ under three headings and three subheadings 
in each. If we can follow this and if 
the preacher is able to handle his time well, we're going to 
look at these three things. Those three things are his constitution 
as a Christian, his characteristics as a preacher, and his Christ-likeness 
as a martyr. So first, his constitution as 
a Christian. In examining the Stephen of Christ 
from this passage, we want to look at his constitution as a 
Christian, And for that, let's move back to Acts 6 and notice, 
firstly, under his constitution as a Christian, he was full of 
faith and power. Notice Acts 6 and verse 8. This 
pericope, if you will, begins especially here by noting that 
Stephen was full of faith and power and did great wonders and 
signs among the people. His first characteristic as a 
Christian is that he was full of faith and power. Just for 
a moment, we need to understand that there are differences here 
between Stephen and us. Stephen was full of faith and 
power. That's not to mean that we are not full of faith and 
power, but there is a special... Stephen finds himself in a special 
place in redemptive history where God was using a spirit wrought 
wonders and signs among the people in order to confirm and attest 
to the validity of Christ and His Gospel. We have that at the 
end of Mark's Gospel, noting that these signs and these miracles 
and these wonders are such that attest to the validity of the 
Christian message. We, on this side of a finished 
canon, are not blessed with such spirit-wrought signs and miracles 
and wonders. Those former ways of God revealing 
His will unto His Church now being ceased, our Confession 
says. But you see, we do have similarities here. characteristic 
as a Christian being marked by full of faith and power. That's 
true of each and every one of you if you profess the name of 
Christ. You're full of faith and power. Now, you might not 
be equipped to do wonders and signs and healings and miracles 
among the people. In fact, you won't be. But nevertheless, 
every Christian, from the beginning of Christianity, from the first 
believer after the fall to the last believer when our Lord Jesus 
Christ comes again, will be full of faith and power. We will be 
full of the reality that we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we 
rest upon the promises of God. Stephen peculiarly here, when 
it talks about full of faith, now other manuscripts will have 
full of grace, but what we have here is the reality of what is 
previously brought out in his description in verse 5, a man 
full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Stephen, peculiarly here, 
is strong in belief in Christ, his understanding of the truth, 
and in the understanding of the certain promises of persecution 
for the people of God. He is resigned to that fact, 
and I believe we see that at the end of this account in Act 
7, where he calmly and in great peace says, Lord Jesus, receive 
my spirit. He was resigned unto the reality 
of persecution, evidenced again by the fact that he doesn't answer 
the blasphemies and the false witnesses by a defense of himself, 
but rather by a glorious opening up of the gospel of Jesus Christ 
as fulfilled through the life and times of the people, places 
and things of Old Covenant religion. We are like Stephen, though, 
brethren, to be full of faith in this regard, in a strong belief 
in Christ. Are you full of faith? Do you 
believe in Christ? There is the simplicity of the 
gospel summons, which is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and 
you will be saved. Do you believe? Do you believe 
in the Savior? Can you say with Peter, thou 
art the Christ, the son of the living God? Can you say with 
Peter, thou hast the words of everlasting life? Can you say 
with every one of the believing saints in the holy scriptures, 
I believe on this blessed one who came and who died? rose again 
and ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high. I'm a 
follower of the Lamb. We are to be full and strong 
in the belief in our Christ and in the understanding of his truth. 
How is this the case? We are given faith as a gift 
from God. And what are we to do subsequently, 
but by the aid of the Holy Spirit, seek to nurture and to grow in 
the grace and in the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord. How 
can we do that? Do we need to buy a book, 37 
and a half ways of growing in the faith and in the knowledge 
of Christ Jesus, the Lord? No, we don't. We come to the 
scriptures and we see means ordained by God whereby we can grow in 
the grace and in the knowledge of God. There is no special formula. There is no special book, save 
for the Bible. There is nothing that we need 
to do to avail of in any sort of mystical or involved way other 
than what our confession simply summarizes from the biblical 
witness, the grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled 
to believe to the saving of their souls is the work of the spirit 
of Christ in their hearts and is ordinarily wrought by the 
ministry of the word, by which also and by the administration 
of baptism in the Lord's supper, prayer, In other means appointed 
of God, it is increased and strengthened. Stephen was one called from among 
his brethren, recognized as one full of faith and power. That 
means he was one who attended to the means that God ordained 
to grow in his faith, to be nurtured in his walk with the living and 
true Savior. And so we, brethren, are, like 
Stephen, full of faith and power at this particular point, that 
we've been saved by God and we've been brought to a place of belief 
and trust in the everlasting God of heaven and earth. What 
do we see here peculiarly with regards to Stephen at the point 
of full of power? Gil notes this with regards to 
what it means for him to be full of grace and power. He was full 
of power to preach the gospel. and teach it to the people, which 
He did with authority, to defend it and oppose the adversaries 
of it, to bear reproach and indignities for it, and even death itself, 
and to do miraculous works for the confirmation of it." You 
see, I think we narrowly define power and full of the Spirit 
when we come to the Scriptures and say that it only pertains 
to the doing of signs and wonders and miracles. What do we have 
with regards to Stephen being full of faith and power? Well, 
in the pericope, it's specifically these things that preceded the 
miracles and the works and the confirmation of it, with authority 
preaching the gospel, defending it, and opposing adversaries. 
Brethren, while we may not be Stephen, we nevertheless have 
been given the wisdom and the power from God in order to defend 
the truth of Christianity, haven't we? We might. We are not going 
to, you know, raise the dead. We are not going to heal with 
our hands or with our shadow or with a touch of our garment, 
the infirm. We are not going to speak in 
tongues and prophesy and have words of knowledge from God. 
But brethren, we have the power from on high to vigorously defend 
the truth of Christianity against those who oppose with a calmness 
and a zeal of Stephen to say, listen, and then to preach the 
glorious gospel of the blessed God, and if need be, to indict 
those who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in their heart 
and ears, who always resist the Holy Spirit, never bending a 
knee to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Brethren, we might 
not be Stephen in that sense of power, but we are Stephens 
in this, that we have faith, that we have belief in the Savior, 
and that we have the wisdom and power to defend our blessed Christ 
and the truth. would to God that every saint, 
not just theologians, not just pastors, but every saint, would 
take the charge to know the scriptures, to know our Christ, to know truth, 
to hold it tight, and to speak it well. He was full of faith 
and power. Brethren, this is something that 
the Apostle Paul prays for, for the Ephesian Christians. Turn 
there now, just before we move on to the next point, turn to 
Ephesians 1, because faith and power Belief, strength of belief 
and understanding of the truth and power in the Holy Spirit. 
Is what the Apostle Paul prays for in Ephesians one notice at 
verse 15, therefore, I also after I heard of your faith in the 
Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints do not cease to 
give thanks for you. making mention of you in my prayers, 
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, 
may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the 
knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, 
that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are 
the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and 
what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe 
according to the working of His mighty power, which he worked 
in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him 
at the right hand in the heavenly places. You see, Paul prays that 
the Ephesian Christians would have faith and understanding 
and power from on high. You see, we talked about this 
a little bit this morning. You see, these Ephesians were 
once worshipers of Diana. They were once such who would 
go to their magic books and their scrolls of incantations in order 
to try and gain power. But you see, having been saved 
by such a God, by amazing grace, through the working of Christ 
in the Spirit, they've now been brought to a place where they 
go to the only one who can dispense power and faith to people, the 
triune God of heaven and earth. And so Paul prays that they would 
receive faith and power. Finding our way then back to 
Acts 6 and 7, notice secondly under his constitution as a Christian, 
he had a spirit-wrought and spirit-empowered wisdom. In Acts 6, what do we 
read in verse 10 with regards to this counsel that was brought 
before Stephen? Verse 10 says, and they were 
not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Isn't this a wonderful, a wonderful 
text that speaks to the strength of our apologist Stephen, the 
strength of our great Christian defender Stephen, the strength 
of this blessed martyr Stephen. They could not resist the wisdom 
and spirit by which he spoke. The opponents of Stephen could 
not answer his reasoned arguments, which arguments came from the 
scriptures. Make no mistake, when we read 
here, and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the 
spirit by which he spoke, that wisdom and that spirit is found 
here, in that he exegeted the Old Testament scriptures in order 
to argue with perfect truth that Christ was the glorious intended 
terminus of all that came before him. The people, the places, 
the ceremonies, the articles of Old Covenant religion, the 
temple, the tabernacle, the temple, all of these things were Christ-ward 
in their trajectory. And so Stephen was arguing from 
their Old Testament scriptures, from his Old Testament scriptures, 
and saying that this Christ was promised. This one whom you rejected. This one whom you betrayed and 
murdered by hanging on a tree. He was the one that all these 
things pointed forward to. The opponents of Stephen, the 
Sanhedrin, the Synagogue of the Freedmen, this council could 
not answer his reasoned arguments, which arguments came from the 
Holy Scriptures. Brethren, this brings us to an 
application that we are to know our Scriptures. We're to know 
the Scriptures. We're to be Stephens in this 
regard. We are to know the scriptures. We're to have such a measure 
of wisdom and presence of the spirit that while people may 
reject the arguments, they have no reasoned ground wherewith 
to argue with any validity because we have the spirit of God and 
the word of truth. And we bring arguments that cannot 
be refuted. The scripture, our only guide 
for faith in life, the truth from on high, the infallible, 
inerrant, inspired word. is that which Stephen used and 
is that those arguments that flowed from that could not be 
refuted, could not be answered by the enemies of truth. Thirdly, 
his constitution as a Christian is seen in that his God was with 
him. Notice verse 15. Backing up to 
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. His God was with him. What does 
this mean, they saw his face as the face of an angel? It means 
that he had the divine, supernatural confirmation that he was under 
divine favor, and the council was most certainly not. It's 
like Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai. When Christ came back from the 
Mount of Transfiguration, there was a supernatural glow. I'm 
not saying all three are the same, but there is a similarity 
we can glean here. God was with all of these. And 
we have here the confirmation that Stephen's arguments are 
right. Stephen is right, and the council 
is wrong. You see, these false witnesses 
were brought against him, and they weren't false witnesses 
in the sense that what they said was wrong, necessarily. But as Bruce says, by coming 
up against a messenger of God, they were ipso facto false witnesses, 
because they opposed God's messenger. You see, when we read here, this 
man does not cease to speak blasphemous words. Of course, they weren't 
blasphemous. Against this holy place and the law, there's truth 
to that. Stephen, no doubt, like Christ 
before him, would have preached that this temple will be destroyed. 
There will not be one brick upon another that God will, from on 
high, destroy this place, this temple. No doubt he would have 
preached, Stephen would have preached, the end of the ceremonial 
law, the end of places and things that were only temporary in their 
Christward pointing, Stephen would have preached that. For 
we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy 
this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us. 
That's not false. That's true. But you see, the 
council was wrong not to understand that what Stephen preached was 
true. They likewise should have known 
that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change 
the customs which Moses delivered to us. Probably their customs 
delivered to us speaks to the yoke of the ceremonial law that 
was the peculiar yoke of the Jewish church prior to Christ's 
coming into this world. Christ fulfills the ceremonial 
law. He takes it away. Those things 
being typical of him, the Lord Jesus Christ, when the true came, 
the copies were to be no more. All of that to say, this reality, 
that they saw his face as the face of an angel, proved that 
his God was with him. The supernatural light of divine 
favor upon Stephen proved that the council was wrong and that 
this Christianity is of God. Brethren, we may not have a supernatural 
light. Our faces are probably never 
going to glow like that of an angel. A lot of us might look 
a bit untoward. But we have here, brothers and 
sisters, the reality that nevertheless, while our faces might not glow 
with the supernatural light of divine favor, we will always 
have this truth that our God is with us. He will never leave 
us nor forsake us. When we defend his truth like 
a Stephen, When we are in the faith, like our Stephen, when 
we have a spirit-wrought and spirit-empowered wisdom, wherever 
we are as Christians, our God is with us, will never leave 
us nor forsake us. Brethren, there's also an element 
here, though, of innocence. Of innocence. They saw, looking 
steadfastly at him, they saw his face as the face of an angel. 
Divine favor and confirmation that he spoke no blasphemies, 
And he was innocent of the charges that they're bringing against 
him. He was only ever preaching that 
which was true. And so there is a measure of 
innocence here. Brothers and sisters, this could bring us 
to an application where we are to seek after the light of God's 
countenance, his divine favor and approval. Are you harboring 
sin? Are you living with sin undealt with? Are you harboring 
unrepented sin and you need to come to the fount that has opened 
up for sin and for uncleanness to repent and find forgiveness 
in Christ Jesus the Lord. You see, when we are in the way, 
when we are walking in the old paths, where the good way is, 
it is as if we have faces as of an angel because the light 
of God's countenance is with us. But when we sin, you see 
our bones grow old all the day long. We're weary. You ever had 
that where the guilt of sin for unrepented sin weighs down upon 
your soul? where it's not just spiritual, 
you physically feel the weight and the guilt of having broken 
the law of God. You see, that's why David says 
that in Psalm 32, because the guilt of sin, the light of God's 
countenance being removed because of unrepented sin, weighs down 
on us, and it's physical, brothers and sisters. When I kept silent, 
my bones grew old, Psalm 32.3. Through my groaning all the day 
long, for day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My vitality 
was turned into the drought of summer. Selah." You see, the 
light of God's countenance is removed from David in that instance. But when he finds forgiveness 
and when he acknowledges his transgressions, the light of 
God's countenance is restored and it is as if then the light 
of God. alights the face as of the face 
of an angel." Notice this language of our confession at this very 
point. And brethren, if anybody ever charges the confession of 
faith as being dry in its theology, they're wrong. I find, in my 
own opinion, nothing more devotional than the confession of faith. 
Notice this, chapter 18, paragraph 4. True believers may have the 
assurance of their salvation, diverse ways shaken, diminished 
and intermitted, as by negligence in preserving of it, by falling 
into some special sin which woundeth the conscience and grieveth the 
spirit, by some sudden or vehement temptation, by God's withdrawing 
the light of His countenance, and suffering even such as fear 
Him, to walk in darkness and to have no light. Yet are they 
never destitute of the seed of God and life of faith, that love 
of God and the brethren, that sincerity of heart and conscience 
of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this 
assurance may in due time be revived, and by the which, in 
the meantime, they are preserved from utter despair." What a blessed 
thing we have in the assurance of grace and salvation. Brothers, 
all of that to come back to this. Brothers and sisters, the reality 
that we are to seek after the light of God's countenance. If 
we've fallen, if we've stumbled in our walk with Christ, if we 
have sin unrepented of that we're harboring and dwelling with, 
pray God to mortify that and to live unto righteousness and 
to have the light of his countenance restored. We may walk in holiness 
and righteousness all the days of our lives. His God was with 
him. Gil says his face might shine 
as Moses did, when he came down from the mount, or in some degree 
as Christ did at his transfiguration. And this might, as it ought to 
have been, taken as an acquittance of him by God from the charge 
of blasphemy, either against God or Moses. His God was with 
him. Stephen had the light of God's 
countenance confirming the truthfulness of his testimony. Well, that's 
his constitution as a Christian. Let's now move to his characteristics 
as a preacher. His characteristics as a preacher, 
because Stephen preaches here, doesn't he? He preaches a wonderful 
sermon. Many have seen as a prototypical 
of the Christian apologists that would counter the Jewish church 
after him. Many Christian apologists going 
toe to toe with the Jews of the day, arguing for the validity 
that Christianity is of God. Notice first in his characteristics 
as a preacher, he has a zeal that was tempered with patient 
control. He has a zeal that was tempered 
with patient control. Notice first off, in a sense 
working backwards, Acts 7.51. There is this proclaiming zeal 
that Stephen has for the glory of God, the splendor of Christ, 
the holiness of God's law, and against the sinfulness of man. 
Notice Acts 7.51. 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. A strong, zealous 
preacher, isn't he? You see, he did not shy away 
from the fact that his end was nigh. He probably felt, you know, 
we can't assume too much, obviously, but we have the text that follows 
that they stoned this innocent Stephen to death. We have the 
reality that Stephen here is no doubt getting the idea that 
these were rejecting his conclusions concerning Christ. You see, up 
until verse 50, they're tracking with them. They're tracking with 
them. It's the history of Israel. It's 
the history of the Old Testament. It's reflecting upon Israel's 
national religious history. But you see, now he brings it 
to this, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised and hardened ears 
and brings to bear the Christological reality of that Old Testament. 
He transfers from verse 50 to verse 51. as some commentators 
say, because he probably detected the venom building as he was 
drawing his conclusions concerning Christ. He is a zealous preacher. He doesn't shy before the tyranny 
and the oppression of the opponents of Christ, but rather preaches 
well of his Christ, strongly, indicting his audience, calling 
them betrayers and murderers, saying that they are just like 
those that they would always swore that they were not like, 
their fathers who persecuted the prophets, everyone that was 
sent. His zeal is strong as a preacher. But you see, it was balanced, 
brothers and sisters. Notice the beginning of his sermon. 
We have to import the weight of this to verse 2 of Acts 7 
from what precedes it, because they brought in false witnesses 
against him. They brought in witnesses to 
charge him with blasphemy and preaching against God and Moses. 
But you see, what do we have Steven answer with? All of these 
witnesses are brought forth. He's undergoing this mock trial, 
which should never happened, which should have never happened 
at all. And we see verse two. And he said, Brethren and fathers, 
listen. You see, his zeal was tempered 
by a patient control. He didn't launch into a Peter 
to Malchus ear chopping thrust in his preaching physically and 
figuratively. He didn't do that. What does 
he open with? Brethren and fathers, listen. You see, it's to collect, 
it's to collect the air of the moment, the seriousness of the 
moment, and to bring it to the calmness of a Christian preacher 
bringing to bear the truth upon an audience. Hopefully, brothers 
and sisters, we have such zeal marked by a patient control. You see that we can, we can, 
we can, Christians can sometimes get a, professing Christians 
can sometimes get a whiff of truth, throw the truth in a laser 
gun and just shoot everybody down. Their zeal, as if they're 
defending the truth in a wholesome manner. You know, some young 
people, not just young people, but you see them out there on 
the internet, they get a hold of Calvinism. And they're the 
biggest jerks to walk the earth with their Calvinism, beating 
up every Arminian that's out there. We need to have a zeal 
marked by self-control. We need to have a balance. Yes, 
we defend the truth with a vigor unmatched by any philosophy or 
epistemology on the face of the earth. But we don't do it like 
jerks, throwing the truth in a gun and shooting everybody 
down. We do it like Stephen. Yes, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised 
in heart and ears. But also, listen to me. Listen, 
because the truth deserves balance. Peter learned this well, didn't 
he? Remember, only 50 days had passed between his chopping off 
of the ear of Malchus and him on the day of Pentecost with 
a Stephen-like balance. Notice Peter on the day of Pentecost 
in verse 22 of Acts 2. Remember, he's preaching to an 
audience that put to death the Lord of glory. just like Stephen. 
But you see, with his proclaiming zeal, he nevertheless begins 
this section, Acts 22, by saying, men of Israel, 222, men of Israel, 
hear these words. You see, Peter had come a long 
way from in a zeal unqualified by any patient self-control when 
he lopped off the ear of that servant, Malchus. for coming 
after the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. He's come a long 
way from that, and from standing before those who put to death 
the Lord of Glory, saying, men of Israel, listen. And so we 
have that in our Stephen, zeal, met with a patient control. Brethren, in your defense of 
the truth, in your speaking to friends, and to family, and to 
co-workers, and to anyone out there, if you're on a blog on 
the internet, wherever you are, As often as you're able to, try 
to stay off those. But I'm not going to bind your 
consciences. Good conversations can happen 
on the internet. A lot of the time, really bad 
ones can. But wherever you find yourself speaking of our Christ 
and defending the gospel of our blessed God, do it with a Stephen-like 
balance. Yes, a zealousness for the truth, 
an uncompromising defense. The doctrine of Jesus Christ 
and the glory of God is revealed in the scriptures. But do it 
with that flavor of listening. Brethren and fathers, listen. 
He had a zeal that was tempered with patient control. Secondly, 
he had a thorough knowledge of the scriptures. Hopefully that's 
evident. You see, that whole section that we read in our New 
Testament scripture reading was long, wasn't it? It's long because 
Stephen is mounting a defense. He's mounting a defense of the 
truth. He is not, as Bruce would say, 
issuing a forensic defense as if to seek acquittal before the 
Sanhedrin, but it is rather, as Bruce says, a defense of pure 
Christianity as God's appointed way of worship. And he knew his 
scriptures. You see, he doesn't just launch 
into some generic statement of, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved, but that's a wonderful summons that should 
follow upon the heels of any gospel preaching. But you see, 
he goes through an involved, scripturally rich defense that 
Christianity is of God. Hopefully, brothers and sisters, 
while we might not have the acumen of a Stephen from 2,000 years 
ago, hopefully we know our Bibles and we can speak in such a way. 
The Old Testament spoke concerning Christ. The Law, the Prophets, 
and the Psalms, they all spoke concerning me, Christ said. Hopefully 
we can understand that the Old Testament is not some haphazardly 
slapped together collection of morals, but rather in there we 
have those books all containing Christ-word looking text. that 
announces his coming, that speaks typologically, foreshadowed by 
all these things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ who would come. 
Stephen had a knowledge, a thorough knowledge of the scriptures. 
And notice that his presentation comes, maybe you don't notice 
this, but his presentation does come in the rabbinic tradition. You see, he is answering a gathering 
of rabbinic scholars, his council, the synagogue of the freedmen, 
the Sanhedrin, et cetera, and Stephen's defense, his rebuttal, 
if you will, comes in the tenor of that rabbinic tradition. Bruce 
notes, Stephen has his reply ready, verses two and three. 
It takes the form of a historical retrospect, that is a looking 
back at history. a form well established in the 
Jewish tradition. The protestation of faith is, 
in the Old Testament, often associated with a recital of the divine 
intervention in the life of Israel. God in history was the underlying 
basis of rabbinic optimism. The declaration at the beginning 
of the first fruits, Deuteronomy 26, 5-10, is paralleled by Psalms 
78 and 107. Stephen's address in Acts 7 is 
thus in the true form. It is in the sequel that he differs 
from Hebrew models. In other words, he's in the rabbinic 
tradition, and so far he is with historical retrospect rehearsing 
the nation of Israel and its religious history, but in the 
sequel, that is, in the proclamation to these who would reject the 
Christological interpretation he brings Christ to bear and 
say, all these things spoke concerning Christ. All these things pointed 
forward to this blessed, blessed Redeemer. He knew his scriptures 
and he knew them at the point of that they pointed forward 
to the Lord Jesus Christ and the splendor of his saving work. So he had a zeal that was tempered 
with patient control. He had a thorough knowledge of 
the scriptures. And thirdly, under his characteristics 
as a preacher, He was Christocentric in the presentation of biblical 
truth. This is hopefully obvious from what we've said already, 
but what does that mean, kids? Christocentric means Christ-centered. So when 
we say he was Christocentric in the presentation of biblical 
truth, that means his preaching had Christ at the center. Christocentric 
preaching. Christian preaching should be 
Christocentric preaching, or else it is not Christian preaching. 
Nehemiah Cox says this with regards to the Christocentricity of the 
Bible and its implication for preaching. No doubt, God, whose 
works were all known by him from the beginning, has in all ages 
disposed and ordered the revelation of his will to men, his transactions 
with them, and all the works of his holy providence toward 
them with reference to the fullness of time and the gathering of 
all things to ahead in Christ Jesus. So in all our search after 
the mind of God in the Holy Scriptures, we are to manage our inquiries 
with reference to Christ. Therefore, the best interpreter 
of the Old Testament is the Holy Spirit speaking to us in the 
new. There we have the clearest light 
of the knowledge of the glory of God shining on us in the face 
of Jesus Christ. There is something out there 
in in, you know, under the banner of Christianity that some have 
called therapeutic moralistic deism. Maybe you've seen that 
out there on the internet. It's out there in the social 
media world. Therapeutic moralistic deism. That's what some have 
reduced Christianity to. A set of morals that will help 
you along in your day. You know, they'll uplift you 
when you rise up from the pillow, and all you need are these sets 
of principles and morals to help you skip along through this lower 
world. If Christianity is reduced to 
that, then we have lost Christianity. Christianity is the revelation 
of the will of God in Christ Jesus, the Lord, who came into 
this world to live, to die, to rise again, so that sinners might 
have everlasting life. And Christian preaching and the 
recognition of God's will in the revelation of him to us is 
to be Christocentric. It's to have Christ first. God 
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Christ himself, post-resurrection, 
teaches his, he eats broiled fish and honeycomb with his disciples. 
What does he do? He gives them a Bible study, 
opening up their eyes to the scriptures by saying, The law, 
the prophets, and the Psalms all spoke concerning me. He would 
have gone to Genesis 3.15 and said that the hero born of woman 
who would crush the serpent with his heel, that's me. He would 
have gone to this statement by this text that Stephen himself 
cites, Moses who said to the children of Israel, the Lord 
our God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren, 
him you shall hear, that's me. would have gone to Isaiah 53, 
the suffering servant who's bruised for the iniquities of all of 
his people. That's me. Brethren, Stephen was Christocentric 
in his presentation of biblical truth. We are to be as well. 
Are we to bring morality to our children and to the people that 
we preach to and confess to? Absolutely. The Bible speaks 
with regards to Christian ethics. The Decalogue, the law of God. 
We are to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. What 
does that mean? We're to have a Christian ethic. We live in 
light of the truth and we follow after God's law with a cheerful 
obedience. But you see, if we only bring 
therapeutic, moralistic deism to our children, we're sending 
them to hell. We need to come with the glory of a Christocentric 
message that says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you 
shall be saved. God forbid, or God bring an end. 
to anyone who flies the banner of Christianity and brings a 
moralistic message that is Christless. Save that church, God, or end 
that church, God. Because Christianity, its namesake, 
obviously, is Christ. Christ, Him crucified, Him risen 
again for the salvation of sinners. Lastly, then, with regards to 
the Stephen of Christ, we want to note his Christ-likeness as 
a martyr. So we have his constitution as 
a Christian, his characteristics as a preacher, and now his Christ-likeness 
as a martyr. Remember that Christ promised 
that in this world you will have persecution. But be of good cheer, 
for I have overcome the world. The Bible is replete. The New 
Testament, you could say, is replete with promises that Christians 
will have persecution. Stephen, full of faith, would 
have known that well. What we have here in this Stephen 
pericope, this narrative concerning the stoning of Stephen, is that 
he is just like his master Christ in his martyrdom. Notice first, 
with regards to his Christ-likeness as a martyr, he was not afraid 
to exercise some wholesome severity. What do we see Christ doing in 
Matthew 23? Not just Matthew 23, but Matthew 
23 for one example. We see Christ bringing to bear 
some wholesome severity against a venomous crowd. Notice what 
we read in Matthew 23 at verse 31, Jesus Christ speaking, pronouncing 
woes upon these hypocrites. Therefore you are witnesses against 
yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. 
Fill up then the measure of your father's guilt, serpents, brood 
of vipers. How can you escape the condemnation 
of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you 
prophets, wise men and scribes. Some of them you will kill and 
crucify. Some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and 
persecute from city to city that on you may come all the righteous 
blood shed on the earth. Jesus Christ could bring wholesome 
severity upon his audience, couldn't he? You see, there is an unwholesome 
severity. Christ never brought that. He's 
wholly harmless and undefiled. But you see, he's not a meek 
and mild redeemer or political revolutionary that just skips 
through the tulips of Jerusalem, he's one who brings wholesome 
severity upon his crowds for having violated his holy law, 
for having persecuted the prophets just like their fathers, for 
having been witnesses against themselves that they were filled 
with guilt. Stephen, in Acts 7, 51, is like his master in 
his martyrdom, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and 
ears. He brings wholesome severity upon his audience. 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. And it doesn't necessarily have 
to be at the point of Christian apology. Christian apologetics. But when something is right and 
when something is true, and when someone rails against what's 
right and true, isn't it a blessed thing to observe someone indict 
somebody properly for their disobedience, their sin, and their madness? 
Hopefully your souls are stirred by our Stephen here. Great vigor 
and strength and in wholesome severity, just like his master 
indicts his sinful audience. Secondly, when he was reviled, 
he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not 
threaten. Isn't that the rehearsal by Peter 
of Christ Jesus the Lord? Remember when Peter is writing 
to his audience in his first epistle, he's writing to slaves 
to render proper obedience to their masters and not to be complaining 
wretches, if I can paraphrase. And he brings before them the 
Lord Jesus Christ as the supreme exemplar, the chief example of 
that sort of humility. And he says, with regards to 
Christ, when he was reviled, he did not revile in return. 
When he suffered, he did not threaten. But what did he do? 
He went valiantly and diligently to the cross. Not complaining, 
not saying stop it, not issuing some sort of defense to get him 
out of this, to get him acquitted. But rather, when he was reviled, 
he did not return that reviling. When he suffered oppression and 
persecution by the hands of both the Romans and the Jews, he did 
not threaten them. But rather, he committed himself 
to him who judges righteously, his God. Stephen does the same 
thing here. Notice the text in verse 57. 
Well, in fact, We see it first of all in 7.2, 
what we've noted already. Brethren and fathers, listen. 
There is that control that he exercised. But notice as well 
in 7.55. Well, what does this have to do with not reviling 
in return? Well, verse 54, when they heard 
these things, they were cut to the heart and they gnashed at 
him with their teeth. Just like his master, the Lord 
Jesus Christ, prior to his death, he doesn't try to escape from 
the madness of man. He doesn't try to assail them 
or issue some sort of weak apology, but rather turns away from persecution 
and, in this case with Stephen, looks upon the risen Christ. 
Wonderful thing to do in the face of opposition here for Stephen 
in his particular case. He doesn't respond with their 
gnashing, He doesn't respond with any venom in answer to their 
venom, but rather looks and sees his risen Christ and finds strength 
in him. When he was reviled, he did not 
revile in return. We see this as well in verse 
60. Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, Lord, 
do not charge them with this sin. Does that ring any bells 
with regards to the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ? What 
did the Savior say? Lord, forgive them for they know 
not what they do. You see, if we want to follow 
after someone, Christians want to follow after anyone. It's 
the Savior, isn't it? What are Christians identified 
as in the book of Revelation? Those who follow the Lamb wherever 
he goes. Stephen is a perfect example. 
It's this first martyr following his master, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
even unto death. And lastly, his Christ-likeness 
as a martyr. He committed himself to him who 
judges righteously. Again, in that text from Peter, 
that's what is the ending exhortation. When he was reviled, he did not 
revile in return. When he suffered, he did not 
threaten. But what's the remedy? What's the answer then? Committed 
himself to him who judges righteously. He put himself in the hands of 
the Father. And here now, it's Stephen committing 
himself to the risen and exalted Christ. And they stone Stephen 
as he was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my 
spirit. You see, he doesn't revile in 
return, he doesn't do anything like that, but he commits himself 
to his Christ. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. The blessed example, Stephen, 
is here of Christ-likeness in the face of difficulty. Brethren, 
hopefully this sort of example, with the weight of that 1 Peter 
2 language, when he was reviled, he did not revile in return. 
When he suffered, he did not threaten. Hopefully we can demonstrate 
that. Brothers and sisters, we probably 
will never come before a stoning, but we will demonstrate our Christ-likeness 
in the face of affliction, in the face of opposition, in the 
face of trial, if we have this sort of mindset. We demonstrate 
a Stephen-like, which is a Christ-like resolve to commit ourselves to 
Him who judges righteously. Rather than lash out in venom, 
rather than lash out in vitriol against those who are opposed 
to us, we calmly, And with meekness, commit ourselves to Him who judges 
righteously, that we might bear a Christ-likeness in this lower 
world. Well, brethren, hopefully a rehearsal 
of Stephen helps us to come to a conclusion with regards to 
our own walk in this lower world. Hopefully we will seek to be 
full of faith and power. Not power like Stephen and that 
ax sense of miracles, wonders, and signs, but being full of 
faith and power that we might with strength hold our Christ, 
understand the truth, and even understand that certain promises, 
that those certain promises of persecution. Hopefully we will 
have spirit-wrought and spirit-empowered wisdom. You know, to know the 
Scriptures is such a blessed thing. For so many reasons, because 
our Christ is therein, because God's truth is therein revealed. 
But practically speaking, brothers and sisters, just thinking about 
this this morning, It is wonderful to know the scriptures at the 
point of anthropology that is the doctrine of man and the doctrine 
of sin as it concerns sinners. Imagine, you know, I'm just thinking 
about a parent with a child. You know, if we didn't have the 
knowledge of total depravity from the scriptures or we had 
an errant view of sin, man, if we had some of the children that 
some of us parents have to deal with sometimes, we would think 
they're possessed of a demon and we'd lock them up until they're 
29. You see, the Bibles, knowing the Scriptures, having a spirit-wrought 
and spirit-empowered wisdom, we come to the Scriptures and 
we see the hearts of men are deceitful above all things and 
desperately wicked. Who can know it? We see that 
we are to commit ourselves to Him who judges righteously, to 
be anxious in nothing, but with prayer and supplication, bring 
your requests to God who will answer with peace. You see, we 
come to the Bible and we have practical answers. So if you 
have a demon child, there is great hope. There is the knowledge 
of the scriptures, and there is the knowledge of our God. 
Insert any practical example here, where you're assailed by 
trial, by trouble, by affliction, whatever it may be. We are to 
have a spirit rod and a spirit-empowered wisdom. We don't go to man in 
the world for answers to our problems. We come to the living 
and true God and His perfect Word. We are, brethren, to have 
a Christ-likeness. We are to have characteristics 
such as Stephen the preacher, whereby we have a knowledge of 
the scriptures, we have a Christocentric focus, we are tempered in our 
zeal with patient control. Let's come to these examples 
such as Stephen. insert ourselves, or take application 
from the text so that we might be like a Stephen, so that we 
might be like our blessed Master Christ. In this lower world, 
God, give us the zeal, give us the patience, give us the strength 
of faith, give us the power, give us all of these things that 
we might be good testifiers to the truth of God, that we might 
be good witnesses to the legitimacy of Christianity. Though our faces 
might not shine with supernatural light, let us know the light 
of God's countenance, the strength of his grace. If you're here 
this morning and you're gonna leave these doors outside of 
Christ, don't leave these doors outside of Christ in unbelief. 
If you're here this morning, you're not a believer, you don't 
believe in this Christ of Stephen that we'll look at tonight, you 
don't believe the one that Stephen testified to, opening up the 
scriptures and the one who Stephen looked at with a faith-filled 
gaze, the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God, You're 
not in a good place. Your lot is not good. At the 
end of days, or at your death, you will be cast into the lake 
of fire reserved for the devil and his angels because you've 
sinned against the Holy God, and you've rejected the only 
remedy, the only answer, Christ Jesus the Lord. Young or old, 
you're here this morning, and you might not get everything 
about pericopes and, you know, historical retrospect and all 
of these big words that preachers use. But know this, there is 
a holy God. All have sinned and have fallen 
short of the glory of God. Christ Jesus came into this world, 
sinners to save. Believe on Him. You will have 
everlasting life and the forgiveness of sins. And you'll with Stephen 
look with a faith-filled gaze upon the risen Christ. Have all 
faith in Him. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we rejoice in Your truth. We rejoice in the Scriptures. 
We thank You for this witness of Stephen, this account in our 
Bibles speaks to the strength of this preacher who spoke a 
good confession before his opponents. And we do pray that you would 
give us some of these Stephen-like qualities, that you would give 
us faith and power, spirit rock, wisdom. We pray that you would 
give us a zeal tempered by knowledge and patient control. And we pray 
that we would have the strength of this apologist from so long 
ago in our Christian walk. When we are opposed, when we 
are persecuted, might we be Christ-like, in our answers and in our responses, 
and Lord God, might you strengthen us for this walk in this lower 
world. We pray that you would now strengthen these gathered 
here this morning, your saints, that you would encourage them, 
uplift them, and equip them for this upcoming week, and that 
you would now, by your grace, save sinners for your glory, 
that those entered in this place this morning outside of Christ 
would leave singing with his saints, hallelujah, what a savior. 
And it's in Christ's name that we pray, amen.