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You can turn in your Bibles to 
Acts 7 again. This morning we looked at anthropology. We did a study in anthropology 
examining various characteristics of the men involved in the stoning 
of Stephen. We looked at the murderers, the 
unbelieving Jews who unjustly put him to death. We looked at 
Stephen, the martyr himself, the one put to death. And noted 
the various God empowered and God gifted characteristics of 
Stephen, our brother. And we also looked at the Messiah, 
Jesus Christ, the just judge and divine comfort that he brought 
to that account, that narrative in the book of Acts. We're going 
to look this evening at the theology. of the martyrdom of Stephen under 
five particular headings that we'll get to once we read Acts 
7.51 to Acts 8.4. 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 pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you again for this freedom and liberty to consider the word 
that you've given to us to open up the scriptures in this act 
of worship preaching. We pray that you'd be with us 
tonight, Lord God, as we always need the presence of the triune 
God, in order to learn rightly, in order to glory rightly, and 
in order to be well instructed. And we just pray, Lord God, for 
that ministry of the Holy Spirit in instruction and in illumination. 
We pray we would leave this place all the better for having engaged 
in worship, and that we would go into this week glorying in 
Christ Jesus and seeking to live in a manner befitting those who 
can call themselves Christian. And we pray that you'd be with 
us now in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Well, as I said, we're 
going to look at the theology, the theology of the martyrdom 
of Stephen, a discipline in theological study is what's called biblical 
theology. You may have heard of systematic 
theology that is looking at what the Bible as a whole contributes 
to or looking at what theology comes from the Bible as a whole. 
The various doctrines says that the scriptures. And their characteristic 
of having the consent of all the parts, what it bears witness 
to concerning doctrine and theology. Well, biblical theology is that 
branch of theology which considers a particular book and how it 
contributes to various theological concepts. For example, if we 
were to say, look at the book of John, how does John contribute 
or write concerning Christology, the doctrine of Christ? How does 
John write concerning soteriology or the doctrine of salvation? 
What is, if we looked at the Book of Jude, what is Jude's 
approach to eschatology or the doctrine of last things, that 
sort of thing? Well, here now in this Martyrdom 
of Stephen, we're going to take this account, this narrative 
account, and look at the various, look at five, in fact, aspects 
of theology that are in the text and that come from the text. And those five aspects that we're 
going to look at are first, prophecy. Secondly, Trinity. Thirdly, covenant 
theology. Fourthly, and I'll define this 
when we get there, hamartiology. Don't want to scare anyone off. 
And fifthly, soteriology. We'll explain those terms when 
we get there. One has already been explained. 
we're going to look first off at prophecy. And what I mean 
by that in this sense is prophecy in its predictive sense. In other 
words, the Word of God fulfilled. You can look with me at Matthew 
23 for a moment when we consider first the trial of Stephen. These unbelieving Jews bringing 
Stephen before the council in order that they might try him 
find him guilty according to their ungodly standards, and 
stone him to death. When we secondly consider the 
defense of Stephen, the fact that he, as a herald sent by 
Christ, is bearing witness to the Christ who sent him. Matthew 
23, beginning in verse 31. These are words of imprecation 
or malediction. Bad words being brought upon 
an audience by the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 31 of Matthew 23, 
speaking to the same audience, if you will, that Stephen is 
being stoned before. Therefore, you are witnesses 
against yourselves that you are 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, and 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 from the blood 
of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah. son of Barakaya, 
whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, 
I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. And then if you turn to the page 
a little bit to the right, Matthew 24 in the Olivet Discourse, Jesus 
announcing concerning the coming destruction of the temple and 
the destruction of Jerusalem tells his disciples. Now the 
audience is switched. Previously he's speaking to those 
murderous and unbelieving Jews. Now he is speaking to his disciples. Verse 9, Then they will deliver 
you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by 
all nations for my name's sake. Now, if we turn back to Acts 
7, what we see in Acts 7, and not there only, but that's the 
text that we're dealing with tonight, what we see in Acts 
7 is the fulfillment of that very prophecy of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Somewhat concerning the same 
thing, but in Matthew 23, to the unbelieving Jews. In Matthew 
24, to the believing Jewish disciples. And we see here that And we ought 
to glory in the fact that the Word of God is actually true. 
God reveals things prior to the things taking place. And then 
when the time comes, those things that were revealed do take place. 
We trust in a God that has inspired perfectly the text of Holy Scripture. We don't approach our Bibles 
as a tome of inaccuracies. as a book of lies or as a book 
of maybe even partial truth. But rather, we approach our Bibles 
as a document given to us by God in loving condescension, 
wherein He reveals His will to us. And one of the aspects of 
what the Word brings to us is the fact that God, having decreed 
events before they take place, reveals the certainty that those 
events will take place in order to instruct, in order to edify, 
and in order to build up His people. and in order to warn 
people of the coming fury and the coming wrath of God, or in 
the case of the coming Christ, the coming of salvation to His 
people. And so we see in Acts 7 the fulfillment 
of prophecy. And it's a wonderful thing. Jesus 
spoke words concerning what would come, and in time and in history, 
in redemptive history, those particular things are fulfilled. 
And I wonder if the unbelieving Jews as they were gnashing their 
teeth at Stephen. Well, first off, back in Acts 
chapter 6, as they were stirring up the people, as they were secretly 
inducing men to lie, as they were setting up these false witnesses, 
as they were beginning the beginning steps of this stoning of Stephen, 
if they remembered the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. There 
would have been many present here who were present before 
Christ when He gave them those words of imprecation. There would 
have been many of the same people there. And I wonder, after that, 
when we get to the point where Stephen indicts them in verses 
51-53, when they gnash at him with their teeth, when they cry 
out with a loud voice, verse 57, stopping up their ears and 
running at him with one accord, if they would have remembered 
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are witnesses against yourselves 
that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. I 
will send you wise men, scribes, and prophets. Some of them you 
will kill and crucify. Others you will scourge from 
city to city and in your synagogues." I wonder if they remembered that, 
because they were bringing to bear the truthfulness and the 
veracity of the prophecy that Christ gave to them. And also 
Stephen. Also, Stephen, no doubt he would 
have heard of the Olivet discourse. No doubt it would have been passed 
on by the apostles. That he would be, by virtue of 
his call to the diaconate and by his function, by his heraldic 
role that Jesus had put him in, he would have been one of those 
ones who was marked by those words, then they will deliver 
you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by 
all nations for my namesake. Stephen, though his end was one, 
brought upon by violent murder and stoning, was nevertheless 
an authorized representative of the living and true Christ. 
And he himself fulfilled the prophecy, being one cent, though 
hated, proclaiming the riches and the excellencies of Jesus 
Christ. So we have the fulfillment of 
prophecy in the trial and in the defense of Stephen. We also 
have the fulfillment of prophecy in the exaltation of Jesus Christ. We looked at that this morning, 
but notice again, verse 54 to 56, when they heard these things, 
Stephen's indictment, 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 open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of 
God. This is significant in the fulfillment of prophecy because 
again, Christ brings no lying words. You can back up with me 
because it's good to see the interrelated text. Back again 
to Matthew. Matthew 26. So we see the fulfillment 
of prophecy. And what's very interesting, 
as we'll read this text in Matthew, is that this same high priest 
was before Stephen. This same high priest that Christ 
spoke to would have been there as Stephen was bringing to bear 
the truth of the sending Christ to his unbelieving audience. 
This is Matthew 26, beginning at verse 62. And the high priest arose and 
said to him, do you answer nothing? What is it these men testify 
against you? But Jesus kept silent. And the 
high priest answered and said to him, I put you under oath 
by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, 
the Son of God. Jesus said to him, it is as you 
said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter 
you will see the Son of Man sitting, the right hand of the power, 
and coming on the clouds of heaven." It's an amazing thing that Jesus 
speaks these words of certain announcement. He declares to 
the high priest and to those within earshot present at that 
council that he would be exalted to the right hand of the majesty 
on high. And he would be coming with the 
clouds of heaven. And in time and in history, this 
is ratified and confirmed. by an authorized representative 
of that same Christ who says, look, I see the heavens open 
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. And it 
should always cause us to think it an amazing thing that three 
to five years ago, this Christ was a bloody massacre upon Calvary's 
tree. Isn't that an amazing thing? 
You see, Christ to us is glorious wherever He is. Christ to us 
is chief among 10,000 and our beloved, our friend, when he 
is altogether lovely on that cross of Calvary. The outside 
world might think it a mad thing that we would glory in and count 
it a lovely thing, a battered and bruised Savior upon the cross. 
But we know why. Because he is that substitutionary, 
curse-bearing, wrath-bearing sacrifice on our behalf. He's 
glorious when we consider Him in the resurrection, isn't He? 
His resurrected body eating broiled fish and honeycomb with His disciples 
so that they might know assuredly that He is the risen Christ and 
all that He said was true. And He's glorious to us. He's 
altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 as the ascended Christ 
whom Stephen cast his eyes upon. But it's a shocking thing and 
it's a horrible thing for these unbelieving Jews to have this 
announced to them. This Christ stood before them 
and said, this is what's going to happen. I will be exalted 
to the right hand of the Father, the right hand of the Father 
that you say that you profess, that you say that you serve, 
that you say you're crucifying me in righteousness and according 
to his will and law. But they would know three to 
five years later. I say that because we don't know 
the exact timing. But within a handful of years, 
they would see Stephen verify the words of this condemning 
Christ, that he is now seated at the right hand of the majesty 
on high, and he is now exercising dominion and rule. And lastly, 
under prophecy, we have the growth of the church. The growth of 
the church. Look at chapter 8 and verse 4. 
Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the 
word. It's a wonderful thing. We tend 
to think, not we tend to think, but it is the human response 
to a tragic death, if we can use that language, that all is 
lost. One wouldn't normally, as Christians, 
we know the story, we know the end and we know biblical revelation. 
But a man, a woman, a boy or girl wouldn't normally look upon 
murder and a violent one and count it a good thing. But we 
see here that this is one of the means whereby the living 
and true God grows the church. Stephen is put to death. Great 
persecution arises against the church, which is at Jerusalem. 
And then, therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere 
preaching the word. This is the impetus for the spread, 
the glorious gospel, of the blessed God. And how is this a fulfillment 
of prophecy? Again, if you're okay turning 
back to Matthew, because Matthew serves well to feed the announcement 
of prophecy and the fulfillment of it in the life and times of 
this martyr. Matthew chapter 16. Matthew chapter 
16. So we see the truthfulness of the 
Word of God in the fulfillment of prophecy. Matthew 16, beginning 
at verse 16, Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, 
the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, 
Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed 
this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say 
to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my 
church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Jesus Christ promised to build 
his church, to build his church upon the proclamation of him, 
Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, as the Christ. And so in time 
and in history, this is what happens. Jesus Christ goes to 
the cross. He performs that sacrifice ordained 
by God for the forgiveness of sins. He rises again the third 
day. He appears to over 500 brethren 
at once, to the disciples. He eats with them and teaches 
them Bible. He ascends 40 days later and 
he empowers his authorized representatives to go therefore and disciple 
the nations. And the book of Acts could be 
summarized by two verses that we have in the book of Acts. 
Acts chapter 1 and verse 8 and Acts chapter 2, I believe it's 
verse 42. But we could summarize the book 
of Acts with these two verses. You will be my witnesses first 
in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria, and then to the uttermost 
parts of the earth. And the Lord added to the church 
daily those who were being saved. That's a summary of the book 
of Acts. Christ's heralds Go forth and preach Him and the 
Lord according to amazing and victorious grace. And His sovereignty 
adds to the church daily. Those who are being saved. Secondly, 
under the theology of the martyrdom of Stephen, we have Trinity. We have the doctrine of the Trinity. Notice at verse 54. Verse 54 
of Acts chapter 7. 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 
open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." This 
narrative is written by a Trinitarian author. Christianity is Trinitarian. That is, we believe in the Godhead. the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit. We see in this narrative, we 
see God the Father, we see God the Son, and we see God the Holy 
Spirit, all active in this particular event in redemptive history. 
Stephen received divine and triune aid on this great day. He was 
not left absent. The Trinity, the living and true 
God, was fully active in this martyrdom of Stephen, for the 
doom of enemies, the judgment and condemnation of his opposers, 
for the glory of his own name, and for the advance of his message. 
We notice again the glory of God. Stephen looks, and in this 
context, the glory of God is referring to God the Father. 
Whenever we read in our Bibles, God, when it's in the context 
of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, it's normally a reference to 
God the Father. Elsewhere, if there's a reference 
to God, it could be a reference to the triune Godhead. But we 
ought not to try and confuse things. Here in this narrative, 
we have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 
Stephen looks up and he sees the glory of God. What is the 
glory of God? You may have in your Bibles a 
definition of the glory of God as the brilliance or the manifestation 
of his presence. And there's something to the 
glory of God where we are to see it as his purity, his holiness, 
the aspect of God as being majestic. As I said before, the brilliance 
in the manifestation of His presence. Revelation 15, we see something 
of this. This is in the context of God 
about to pour out wrath upon unbelief in Israel. In Acts chapter 
15 and verse 8, we read this. The temple was filled with smoke. 
from the glory of God and from His power. And no one was able 
to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels 
were completed. God and His manifestation of 
His brilliance is defined as the glory of God from His power. No one being able to go in. We look back on, for example, 
Isaiah chapter 6, and we get a glimpse, an idea of what this 
glory of God is. Remember what's going on in Isaiah 
chapter 6 and the glory of God. We see the announcement that 
in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord. And what did he see? He saw the 
Lord high and lifted up, the train of his robe filling the 
temple. He was seated on a throne. And we notice that the glory 
of God is so brilliant. The glory of God is so majestic 
that the angels have to hide themselves. from that glory, 
from the brightness of his majesty. But what's interesting is that 
Isaiah is able to cast his eyes upon the Lord. I've always been 
astonished at that. You have the angels, the elect 
angels, who are ethically pure in their spirit and in their 
being. The elect angels never sinned. The reprobate or fallen 
angels did. And yet they are not the recipients 
of that loving condescension of God in redemption. Only men 
are. It's a wonderful thing that the 
pure angels, pure in their spirit, can't cast their eyes upon the 
glory of God. And yet God, in his loving condescension, 
lets a sinner, a wretch like Isaiah, who pronounced an oral 
curse upon himself, woe is me, for I am undone. I'm a man of 
unclean lips. Yet God lets him see his glory. 
He gets to cast his eyes upon this one whose robe filled the 
temple and who was seated upon the throne. And also in this, 
we have Jesus. We have God the Son. And we noted 
this morning, God the Son active as judge over the enemies and 
as a comfort to his people. And we have the Holy Spirit as 
the one empowering and giving wisdom. The Holy Spirit is active 
in this narrative. First off, we notice this at 
verse eight. Stephen, full of faith and power, 
did great wonders and signs among the people. How does that happen 
without spirit-wrought influence? In verse 10, they were not able 
to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. But suffice it to say, Luke is 
a Trinitarian author, as all the authors of Holy Scripture 
are, bringing to bear the fact that Stephen was given divine 
and triune aid on this great day when he died for the cause 
of God. in truth. Thirdly, in this we 
have covenant theology, and very simply, that refers to the fact 
that God was pleased to deal with redemption and with mankind 
by way of covenant. We have the fact that God, before 
the foundation of the world, decreed that Jesus Christ would 
come in Simon in history to redeem his elect. And all of redemptive 
history is a collection of covenants bringing or coming to fruition 
in the coming of Christ and in the coming of his salvation. 
Remember, that's what Stephen is talking about in his discourse 
from 7.2 to 7.50. He's bringing to bear the fact 
that God has dealt by way of these successive covenants, that 
God has revealed his glory throughout history, leading to Jesus Christ, 
his manifestation and the completion of that condescending covenant 
relationship. And it ought to be it ought to 
be noted here that there wouldn't need to be a treatment of Christ's 
fulfillment of old covenant religion if the dispensational scheme 
is true. We don't like to beat up people 
unnecessarily, but it's a legitimate polemic that we engage in when 
we oppose dispensational theology because they're wrong. The book 
of Acts here and Stephen in his apologetic defense, why would 
he need to go through a laborious examination of old covenant history 
if that was nothing, nothing to be brought to relevance with 
the coming of Christ and salvation by him? Why? It's because God 
has always dealt by way of covenant. And to borrow a phrase, the Old 
Testament or the overall canonical trajectory of the Bible is Christ's 
word. From Genesis to Revelation, we 
have a Christ word trajectory and a Christ word focus focusing 
in on the Old Testament. Specifically, the Old Testament 
was moving towards this coming great one who would bring salvation 
for his people. God has always dealt the same 
way throughout history with His people. That is, salvation has 
always been by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And up 
until the time of Christ, it was all anticipatory religion. That is, the people of God anticipated 
the coming Christ by whom they were saved. And in the New Covenant, 
it is accomplished religion. Christ has come, He has died, 
and we look upon Him for saving faith. Fourthly, hamartiology. And just to define that, hamartiology 
is the doctrine or the study of sin. Hamartia is the Greek 
word for sin. Hamartalos is the Greek word 
for sinner. So we have hamartiology, the 
study of sin. Well, what does this tell us 
about sin? I think we saw much of that this 
morning when we looked at the murderers. but just to revisit 
from a different angle. First off, we see how sinners 
respond to the truth. We see how sinners respond to 
the truth. Going back to Acts chapter 6, 
we notice that the response of these unbelieving Jews to the 
truth was to lie, to stir up, and to secretly induce men to 
speak negative things against this Stephen. So the response 
to truth is such that truth causes men to engage in more wickedness 
so that they might try to overcome it. But as Acts 8, 4 bears forth, 
they cannot overcome the will and the power and the majesty. 
of the reigning Christ. So, sin is seen here in how men 
respond to truth. They do not like the truth, lest 
their deeds should be exposed, so they seek to prolong, to engage 
in, and to dwell in darkness. Secondly, we see that truth of 
total inability. The truth of total inability. 
Notice verse 51. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised 
in heart and ears. What is the issue behind the 
fact that sinners that sinners will not respond to the truth? 
Well, it's the fact that they cannot outside of amazing and 
victorious grace. He indicts them for he even doesn't 
say here, why haven't you responded yet after I've given you a perfect 
explanation of old covenant history and how it's fulfilled and ratified 
by Jesus Christ? He doesn't do that because he 
knows that a well-placed, a well-performed, a well-declared argument isn't 
something that causes one dead in their trespasses and sins 
to believe in Jesus Christ. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised 
in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. You know, 
Stephen knew that by his ability to speak, by his perfectly articulated 
argument, that they were not going to bend a knee to the King 
of Kings and the Lord of Lords. They were stiff-necked and uncircumcised 
and they always resist the Holy Spirit. It's good for us to always 
remember, because if we do not, well, we're Calvinists, we're 
Reformed Christians, so we never entertain this reality. Though 
it can get frustrating for us when we try to engage in evangelism. 
When we try and present Christ to people, it can get frustrating. 
Why don't you believe? After all the things I've told 
you, isn't this a glorious Christ? And isn't this an amazing message? 
God is holy. You're not. Christ is the savior 
for guilty sinners. What's the problem? We know the 
problem in our stiff neck and uncircumcised and hardened ears. 
But let us always remember the reality, this reality, so that 
we can gain much comfort in the fact that the God of amazing 
and victorious grace can overcome that stiff neckness, that God 
can overcome the uncircumcision of hardened ears. And it always 
amazes me when those who aren't of our flavor, if you will, for 
lack of a better term, of Christianity, get frustrated or get stressed 
out or get this feeling of defeat when people aren't believing 
in what they have to say to them. It's because they have a wrong 
view of salvation and a wrong view of the power of sin. You 
see, sin is really that bad. Sin really is that powerful. Robert Raymond has a wonderful 
thing in his systematic theology. I think it's in the section on 
the doctrine of God. But he says that when we bring 
the word of Christ to people, We do not bring it to the rational 
neutral man that that that is standing before us. We don't 
bring it to a rational and a neutral man, but rather we bring it to 
the spiritually blind, spiritually dead, spiritually hostile man 
that God says is standing before us. So when we bring the word 
of God to people, we're not bringing it thinking that we're going 
to convince, that we are going to compel, that they being rational 
and neutral will hear the word and in their wisdom respond. 
We're not bringing it to a rational and a neutral man. We're bringing 
it to one spiritually dead, spiritually hostile, spiritually blind. And 
we need to have and we need to rely upon the fact that God in 
his appointed and accepted time will cause them to believe in 
the living Christ. We have the manifestation of 
total depravity. Total depravity is that doctrine 
again, the T in our acrostic tulip that says man is fully 
affected by sin. All of his faculties are affected 
by sin. His will and all things are affected 
by sin and by transgression. We see the manifestation of that 
here. And it's interesting that when 
there are no restraints, when there are no no restraints of 
a civil magistrate, in fact, this is in a sense the civil 
magistrate, though under Roman rule, whenever there are no restraints, 
total depravity manifests itself in almost an ultimate and a complete 
depravity. These, how do they suppress the 
truth? But by murder. How do they put 
an end to Stephen and his testimony but by stoning him to death? They cry out with a loud voice, 
they stop up their ears, they run at him with one accord, and 
they stone him. The manifestation of sin, the 
manifestation of total depravity here is seen in murderous and 
bloody rage. And lastly, under the doctrine 
of sin, the approval of sin. Notice verse one. Well, notice, 
first of all, the end of verse fifty nine and fifty eight. And 
the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young 
man named Saul. Chapter eight, verse one. Now, 
Saul was consenting to his death. You see, an attribute of sin 
or an aspect of sin is not only that we practice it, that men 
practice it, but that they also approve of those who practice 
it. And that's what Paul does here. 
That's what Saul, this point in the narrative, does here. 
He heartily approves and gives commendation to the bloody murder 
of Stephen. So sin or the doctrine of sin 
is seen in how sinners respond to the truth in this narrative. 
In the truth of total depravity or total inability laid forth, 
they are stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart. The way in which total 
depravity is manifested and in souls approval of this transgression, 
this manifestation of gross sin. And fifthly, soteriology. Theology of the martyrdom of 
Stephen, then we'll see something of application here for all five 
of these points. But soteriology, that's the doctrine 
of salvation, comes from the Greek word soterios, which means 
salvation. Soter means savior. So soteriology 
is the doctrine of salvation. And we notice again here, we 
notice total depravity, but also irresistible grace. You may say, 
well, where do we see irresistible grace in this particular narrative? Well, we don't really see it 
yet, but we see it by implication of what follows. Look again at 
verses 58B and verse 1 of chapter 8. And the witnesses laid down 
their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. Now Saul 
was consenting to his death. How does that teach us the irresistible 
grace? Well, this is an amazing thing 
that this Paul consenting to the death of Stephen, giving 
that ethical thumbs up to his gross murder is, again, the greatest 
propagator of truth in the history of Christianity. See, God overcomes 
the stiff-neckedness and uncircumcision of heart and ears by irresistible 
grace, by effectual salvation, by His amazing and victorious 
grace. You may remember, because Jim 
and I quote this often from Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry, in his 
commentary on Acts 8, verse 1, is a great quote. See, Paul here... most likely is feeding Luke the 
information concerning this narrative. Luke probably isn't getting it 
from any of the unbelieving Jews. Hey, tell me about the stoning 
of Stephen. Luke is getting this from Paul because Luke is Paul's 
companion in some of the missionary journeys. So Paul is most likely, 
again, feeding Luke the historically accurate information that we 
read in the narrative here. Luke is the author of Acts. Well, 
Matthew Henry, in commenting on verse 1 of chapter 8, now 
Saul was consenting to his death, says concerning Paul, he fed 
his eyes on this bloody spectacle in the hopes that it would put 
an end to Christianity. Matthew Henry says again, Paul 
fed his eyes on this bloody spectacle in hopes that it would put an 
end to Christianity. Paul was looking upon the murderous 
stoning of Stephen and cheering for the end of Christianity. 
And what Matthew Henry goes on to say is glorious. We have reason 
to believe Paul ordered Luke to insert this, for shame to 
himself and glory to free grace. Irresistible grace is here in 
this narrative because this violent enemy of Christianity, notice 
verse three, as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering 
every house and dragging off men and women, committing them 
to prison. One of the worst enemies in the 
history of Christianity is transformed by sovereign grace to one of 
its greatest propagators, one of its greatest heroes, one of 
the greatest exalters of Jesus Christ by word and deed in the 
history of the church. The interesting thing, though, 
is that the enemies of what we call irresistible grace, the 
I don't know if that's strong words, really, but those who 
oppose the doctrine of irresistible grace, will come to verse 51 
and they'll say, well, there you go. There is the end of irresistible 
grace. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised 
in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit as your 
fathers did. So do you. Which of your fathers 
or which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? So 
there you see, you see the opposite of what you Calvinists teach. 
They always resist the Holy Spirit. Exactly. They always resist the 
Holy Spirit in their denial of irresistible grace. They prove 
our point on total depravity. Another doctrine that they deny. 
Yeah, they always resist the Holy Spirit because they need 
the irresistible grace of the Holy Spirit. So as not to confuse 
things, this resisting of the Holy Spirit refers to what they're 
doing with Stephen, putting him to death. Which the context demands 
that understanding which of the prophets did your father's not 
persecuted and they killed those who foretold the coming of the 
just one. Just like your father's you're 
resisting redemptive history the declaring. of redemption 
by the Holy Spirit by putting to death those empowered by the 
Holy Spirit to bring the Word. And again, it's very interesting, 
I find, that in their efforts to cast down Calvinism, they 
prove our point by arguing for total depravity. They always 
resist the Holy Spirit. Now, in closing, I want to look 
at application for each of these points, because we often are 
not we, but Christians can often think or shy away from theology 
because it is of no practical use. If we don't have theology, 
though, then there is no practical Christianity. Our practical engagement 
in our religion is built upon glorious theology. First off, 
with regards to prophecy, what is the application of our theology 
in the martyrdom of Stephen as it pertains to prophecy? It is 
to love the word and to glory in it. We have something here, 
and hopefully you see this as we read Acts and as we briefly 
considered it. We have the Word of God fulfilled, 
and it's veracity argued for. Jesus announces something that's 
going to happen. It takes place. God, through 
the prophets, announced things that are going to happen. They 
take place. God's no liar. Christ is no liar. We have prophecies rendered according 
to the decree of God, and we have prophecies fulfilled according 
to God's governing providence. And we ought to love that Word, 
and we ought to Consider that as one of the many attributes 
of the Word of God that testifies to its truthfulness and its perfection. 
And we ought to hold the Word close to us. We ought to love 
it. We ought to read it. We can often be found in a languor 
and in a coldness with regards to our Bibles. But let it never 
become dusty on the shelf. Spurgeon said, your dust covered 
Bibles contain your God or something to that effect. So why would 
you not brush off the dust of your Bible, open it up in glory, 
in the living and true God? Remember, he didn't need to give 
us his word. He could have left us condemned 
by general revelation. He could have left us condemned 
and damned by the fact that his creation testifies to his glory, 
yet we reject him. But in loving condescension, 
he gave us the Bible. He gave us the word wherein disclosed 
is Christ and salvation by him. So love the word. Secondly, with 
regards to the Trinity, Spurgeon said, endeavor to know the Trinity. We ought to do that. I think 
it very often we can forget the Trinity. In fact, James White 
wrote a book, Dr. James White, a Reformed Baptist 
brother, The Forgotten Trinity. We can forget that our God is 
triune, that there are three persons in the Godhead, Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in 
substance, equal in power and in glory. Endeavor to know the 
Trinity, to glory in the God whom Stephen cast his eyes upon, 
God the Father, brilliant in his manifest presence. Jesus 
Christ, the just judge condemning his murderers and offering comfort 
to him, receiving his spirit and the Holy Spirit who empowers, 
who illuminates, who instructs and who provides strength and 
peace to his people. Under covenant theology, what's 
the application? Glory in the God of condescendence 
and consistency. What do I mean by that? Well, 
in condescending glory, God has dealt with us by way of covenant, 
revealed it in his word, and has brought that upon our souls 
in salvation by Jesus Christ. In his consistency, God doesn't 
deal in dispensations where we're saved by one means, we're saved 
by another means. Another administration revoked, 
another administration revoked, and finally the dispensation 
of Christ in grace. No, God has always dealt consistently 
as that is a character of his being, immutability. He deals 
in a consistent manner with saints from Adam to the last saint before 
he comes again. God deals by salvation through 
Jesus Christ, by grace, through faith and that alone. With regards 
to the doctrine of sin or homology, what's the application? The application 
is to be humble, to be marked by humility. You see, we can 
build up in our Christianity and the fact that we are Christ's 
people. We have an attachment to Stephen as our brother who 
died for the cause of God and truth. Yet were it not for amazing 
and victorious grace, we would have flew the banner of Caiaphas 
and Annas and all of their cronies. We would have flown the banner 
of the synagogue of the freedmen and shouted out, gnashed our 
teeth at Stephen. We would have been right there, 
thumbing up with Saul, giving confirmation and assent to the 
stoning of Stephen. So let us never be puffed up 
in the fact that we walk with Christ and that we are his. But 
rather, let us be laid low that outside of the grace of Christ, 
outside of the grace of God, we would have been those who 
with venom and rage came against Stephen to murder him and to 
put him to death. And fifthly, though, in that 
humility, rejoice in salvation by Jesus Christ. If you're a 
saint here tonight, we rejoice because we were once a Paul or 
we were once a Saul, but now we are all Paul. If you mind 
that language, we were once those who would have given affirmation 
and consent to murder. But we are now those who glory 
in the Christ of this Stephen, who glory in the Christ of this 
Paul converted and changed into the one of the greatest propagators 
and protectors of the Christian faith. So in that humility brought 
about by the reality of our former selves and the reality of remaining 
corruption, we glory in the fact of salvation by Jesus Christ, 
our precious Redeemer. If you're here tonight, young 
or old, and you don't know this Savior, once again from the pulpit, 
believe in him because he is your only hope. He is your only 
hope. Don't be counted among those 
like these unbelieving Jews who fly the banner of madness and 
unbelief, who fly the banner of Christ's opposition. You might 
not be gnashing your teeth. You might not be stopping up 
your ears. You might not be running at any 
one of us to put us to death. But nevertheless, you are just 
like they are. Just as vile. Just as wretched. Just as wicked. Christ's opposers. Christ's enemies. And on that 
day, on that final day, there won't be time for you. There 
won't be a moment for you. There won't be a second chance 
after you enter, after you cast off this mortality and come before 
the judgment seat. There won't be time for you to 
say yes to Christ. At that time, you'll still be 
totally depraved and you won't want to. So we plead, knowing 
that the grace of God is powerful to save you, knowing that God 
has His ministers, knowing that God has the divine activity to 
bring about your salvation, we plead with you to believe. Bend 
an E to the Christ. Bend an E to this One who Stephen 
looked upon, setting aside all the madness of persecution, setting 
aside those who were about to murder him to death. He doesn't 
look upon them. He casts his eyes upon the Lamb 
of God who takes away the sins of the world, and he glories 
in Him. We plead with you to glory in that Christ and to leave 
this place. saved to leave this place, having 
an inheritance that does not fade away, to leave this place, 
having a Christ who keeps a place for you when you enter into glory 
and sing his praises for all eternity. Well, let's pray. God, 
we thank you for this day of worship. We thank you for this 
day that you've given to us. We thank you for the Christ that 
we've considered today and for the truths of your word that 
we've considered today. And we would just pray, Lord 
God, He would help us to take what we've learned, to take what 
we've heard, to take what we've sang, to take what we've prayed 
about, Lord God, and that we would glory in all the things 
that you've revealed. We would glory in those things 
that you've given to us concerning Christ and the gospel, these 
things concerning sin and salvation, concerning the way that you deal 
throughout history with people and with your truth. We pray 
that we would approach the Scriptures as something that is perfect, 
that is God-inspired, that is inerrant and infallible. We pray, 
Lord God, that we would hold it dear to our hearts, that we 
would love Your Word, and that we would most certainly love 
the Christ to whom Your Word points, and that we would walk 
in Him daily. We pray, Lord God, for those 
who do not know You, that they would know You by amazing and 
victorious grace. That they, having previously 
raised a fist, would bend a knee now to our precious Christ. And 
we pray for us again, Lord God, who are your people by grace, 
that we would go into this week seeking to live our lives in 
a manner consistent with your word and consistent with your 
glorious gospel. So we just go with us now, Lord 
God, help us to do all that we do to the praise of your name 
and that we might build each other up in this church, be unified 
in the things of Christ and seek to engage in the fellowship of 
the gospel to the praise of your name. We pray in Christ's name. 
Amen.