Introduction
I said the last time that Luke has been showing us how the Risen and Exalted Lord Jesus Christ has been building his church in Jerusalem. More and more people were hearing the good news and many believed in Christ for salvation and they were added to the church. And the church was a happy place, where the believers loved one another and cared for one another.
But then I also said that Luke is making it clear how the church in Jerusalem experienced trials and troubles. There was trouble from within when Ananias and Sapphira lied about the gift they gave to the church to support the poor. And there was trouble from without. After Peter and John healed the lame man at the temple, and preached to the crowds who gathered, they were arrested by the Jewish authorities who warned them not to preach about Christ again. But, of course, the Lord Jesus had appointed them to preach in his name. And so, on their release, they continued to preach about him. And so, they were arrested once again; and that time they were not only warned, but they were also flogged before being released. But the persecution of the church is raised to a whole new level in today’s passage, because in today’s passage we read about the death of the first Christian martyr. And after Stephen’s death, it was as if a flood gate was opened and a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem and all except the apostles were scattered.
6:8–15
We’ll get to that great persecution next week. But for now, Luke focusses on Stephen, who was one of the seven men we read about at the beginning of chapter 6 who were known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom and who were appointed to serve as deacons in the church. You will no doubt remember that it was agreed that the apostles would give their attention to prayer and to the ministry of the word, and these seven men would take care of the daily distribution of food to needy widows. And Stephen was one of them.
In verse 8 of chapter 6, Luke describes Stephen as being a man full of God’s grace and power. And so, while it was normally only the apostles who performed signs and wonders, nevertheless Stephen too was enabled by the Spirit of God to perform great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.
However, opposition arose from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen. The membership of this particular synagogue was made up of Jews from Cyrene and from Alexandria and from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. So, like the Greek-speaking widows we read about last time, these were Jews who were born outside of Judah, but they had now come to live in Jerusalem. Presumably they too were Greek-speakers and for that reason they may have had their own Greek-speaking synagogue. And from what we read at the end of verse 9, the Jews in this synagogue began to argue with Stephen.
No doubt they were arguing with Stephen about what the believers were saying about the Lord Jesus and how he died for our sins before rising from the dead to sit at God’s right hand side in heaven. And Luke tells us that the members of this synagogue weren’t able to stand up against Stephen’s wisdom or against the Spirit by whom he spoke. So, with the help of the Holy Spirit, Stephen was able to answer all of their objections.
But even though Stephen was able to answer their objections, they would not believe. As the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians, the god of this age — that is, the devil — blinds the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. The devil prevents men and women from believing. That’s why people don’t believe the good news, even though you’re telling them what is the best news they will ever hear in their life. Even though they’re hearing the best news they’ll ever hear, they’re unable to believe it, because the devil is blinding their minds. He prevents them from seeing the glory of God in the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For someone to believe, the Holy Spirit must take away their blindness and he must enable them to see the truth of the gospel and the glory of God.
On this occasion, the Jews in the synagogue were kept from believing. And not only did they not believe, but they began to oppose Stephen. Luke tells us that they secretly persuaded some men to charge Stephen with speaking words of blasphemy against Moses and against God. And in this way, they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. And they seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin, which was the Jewish court in those days. And no doubt you’ll remember that this is the court which had Peter and John flogged for preaching about Christ. And not long before that, the Sanhedrin sentenced the Lord Jesus to death. And so, it was a serious matter to be brought before the Sanhedrin.
And Luke tells us that they produced false witnesses who testified against Stephen, claiming that he never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. When they refer to the holy place, they mean the temple. So, they’re accusing Stephen of speaking against the temple and the law. More specifically, they claim that Stephen said that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the temple and will change the law of Moses, which has been handed down to them.
Since Luke tells us that these were false witnesses, then that tells us that Stephen didn’t do what they claimed he did. But their charges against him may have arisen because of what he was saying about the Lord Jesus. You see, once you believe that the Lord Jesus offered himself on the cross as the once-for-all, perfect sacrifice to pay for all our sins and to cleanse us from our guilt, then there’s no need to offer animal sacrifices in the temple according to the law of Moses. Perhaps that’s what Stephen was saying to them. Perhaps he was telling them you don’t need to obey what the law of Moses says about bringing sacrifices to the temple, because the way to have peace with God is by believing in the Lord Jesus. But they took what Stephen said and they twisted it in order to accuse him of saying that the Lord Jesus will destroy the temple and the law of Moses.
And those were serious charges. And no doubt the members of the Sanhedrin were looking at Stephen to see how he will respond to the charges. And Luke tells us at the end of chapter 6 that when they looked at him they saw that his face was like the face of an angel. John Calvin explains that the face of the accused normally becomes pale and they show signs of fear and trepidation. However, Stephen showed none of these signs. Instead a certain majesty shone from him. And since his reaction was so unusual, then I think we’re to take it that it was the Holy Spirit inside him who enabled him to face these charges without fear.
7:1–53
The High Priest asked him whether the charges against him are true. And that’s when Stephen began to speak. And in his speech, he summarises the story of the people of Israel from the time of Abraham right up to the time when these things were recorded.
In verses 2 to 8 he covers the time from Abraham to Jacob and how God called Abraham to leave his family and to go to the land which the Lord promised to give him. In verses 9 to 16 he summarised the story of Joseph, who was one of Jacob’s sons. And in the days of Joseph, the people of Israel moved to Egypt. In verses 17 to 43, he tells the story of Moses, who was chosen by God to lead his people out of Egypt and to the Promised Land. In verses 44 to 50 he refers to Joshua, who led the people into the Promised Land; and to David, who was prevented from building the temple; and to Solomon who built the temple. And then in verses 51 to 53 we have the conclusion of his speech, when he accuses the people of being stiff-necked and of resisting the Holy Spirit and of killing Jesus Christ, who is God’s Righteous One.
And the point of Stephen’s speech is to address the charges against him concerning the temple and the law. And what he does in his speech is to make clear that God does not really dwell in the temple; instead he dwells with his people. Furthermore, though they have the law and though they may boast about the law, nevertheless they have always rejected God’s purposes for them.
Let me show you what I mean. Firstly, in connection with the temple in Jerusalem. They believed the temple was God’s dwelling place. However, Stephen makes clear to them that God doesn’t really live in a temple made by human hands. Instead God dwells with his people.
So, look at verse 2: long before there was a temple in Jerusalem, or even a tabernacle, the Lord appeared to Abraham when he was living in Mesopotamia. God was with Abraham in that foreign country. And according to verse 6, when Abraham came to the Promised Land, God once again spoke to him. So, God was with him there before there was a temple.
Jump down to verse 9 now, where we read that God was with Joseph. He means that God was with Joseph when he was in Egypt and before there was a temple.
Now turn to verse 30 where Stephen says that an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of the burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. And God spoke to him at that place. God was with Moses in the wilderness and God’s presence with him there turned the wilderness into a holy place.
In verse 46 he refers to David wanting to provide a dwelling-place for the Lord, but he was prevented from doing so. In other words, it wasn’t necessary at that time to build a temple for the Lord. And yet God was still with his people. And though Solomon at last built the temple, Stephen quotes from the book of Isaiah, where the Lord makes clear that he doesn’t need anyone to build him a house, because heaven is his throne and the earth is his footstool. Stephen himself echoes the words of King Solomon, who said, when he was dedicating the temple, that the temple cannot contain God. God cannot be contained in a temple, because God is present everywhere. The heavens cannot contain God let alone a temple made by human hands.
And so, God does not really dwell in a temple. God dwells with his people wherever they are. And in the course of his speech, Stephen made clear that God’s people came and went from place to place. Abraham went from Mesopotamia to Haran to the Promised Land. Then in the days of Joseph, God’s people moved to Egypt. Then in the days of Moses, he brought them out of Egypt to the Red Sea and into the wilderness. Then in the days of Joshua, he brought them back to the Promised Land. And in verse 43 he refers to the time when they were sent away into exile to Babylon. So, God’s people came and went from place to place. But God was always with them. God doesn’t dwell in a temple. God dwells with his people.
But then Stephen also makes clear that the Jews have always been a rebellious people. And so, though they have the law and though they may boast about the law, nevertheless they have always rejected God’s purposes for them. And so, the sons of Jacob were jealous of Joseph and sold him as a slave into Egypt. They hated Joseph, even though Joseph was appointed by God to rule over them. And then the people rejected Moses, even though Moses was appointed by God to rule over them and to rescue them from Egypt. According to verse 35, they said to Moses, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ They were complaining about him, because they didn’t want him to rule over them. And according to verse 39 they refused to obey Moses.
And so, the people of Israel rejected Joseph and Moses even though God had appointed them to rule over them them and to save them. And according to Stephen in verse 37, Moses announced to the people that God will one day send them a prophet like Moses from their own people. Moses was referring to the coming of the Lord Jesus. And yet, what did they do to the Lord Jesus when he came to them? They rejected him, just as they rejected Joseph and Moses. In the past, they sold Joseph into slavery. In the past, they refused to obey Moses. And now they have killed the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God sent to save them from their sin and misery in this world. They had the law and they boasted about having the law. But still they rejected God’s purposes for them and they rejected the Saviour whom God sent to save them.
And so, they are a stiff-necked people. That means they are stubborn. A stiff-necked ox will refuse to submit itself to the yoke. An a stiff-necked people refuse to submit to God. And they are have uncircumcised hearts and ears. So, they may have boasted that they had been circumcised according to the law of Moses, but their hearts and ears were uncircumcised. In other words, when it comes to hearing and believing God’s word, they are no better than the pagan nations. In this they are just like their forefathers, who disobeyed the Lord again and again and again and who resisted the Holy Spirit’s godly influence. And just as their forefathers persecuted the prophets, so they have betrayed and murdered the Righteous One, who is Jesus Christ the Lord. They may have received the law and they may have boasted about the law, but they have rejected God’s purposes for them and instead of believing in the Saviour, they murdered him.
And here’s the thing: God doesn’t dwell in a man-made temple. He dwells with his people. And if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are one of God’s people and God dwells in you. He dwells in you by his Spirit. And his Spirit, dwelling in you, enables you to submit to God’s will and to obey his laws. We don’t need a temple, because we each become temples of the Holy Spirit through faith in the Lord Jesus. And the Holy Spirit, living inside us, enables us to love the Lord and to do his will here on earth.
7:54–8:1
When the Sanhedrin heard all this from Stephen, they were furious with him and gnashed their teeth at him. That’s in verse 54. And can you imagine it? Gnashing their teeth like wild animals about to attack their prey.
By contrast, Stephen, who was full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven where he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘I see heaven open’, he said, ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ He’s referring to the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is the Son of Man. That’s the phrase which the Lord Jesus used in order to refer to himself in the gospels. And it comes from the book of Daniel, where we read about one like a son of man who approached God and he was led into God’s presence; and he was given authority and glory and sovereign power; and all peoples and nations and men of different languages worshipped him; and his dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and his kingdom will never be destroyed. Daniel was speaking about Christ’s ascension to heaven. And Stephen was enabled by the Holy Spirit to see the ascended and glorified Lord Jesus Christ, who is God’s Only Begotten Son, who came down to earth as one of us to save us from our sin and misery by his life and death and resurrection, before taking his place at his Father’s right hand in heaven, where he rules over all things for the sake of his people. And from his throne in heaven, he’s extending his kingdom throughout the world. And his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom that will never end.
Stephen was enabled by the Spirit to see the Risen and Exalted Lord Jesus Christ. But the members of the Sanhedrin can’t stand to hear these things. They cover their ears and they yell at the top of their voices to drown out Stephen’s words. And then they rushed at him and dragged him out of the city, where they stoned him to death.
And while they were stoning him, Stephen spoke to his Saviour in heaven, asking him to receive his spirit and asking him to forgive his persecutors. And after he said this, he fell asleep. In other words, he died. And look: Saul was there. Saul who will later become Paul. But at this stage in his life, Saul was not yet a believer. And Luke tells us that he approved of Stephen’s death.
Conclusion
As we conclude, let me draw your attention once again to Stephen’s death and to what he saw before he died.
Luke says that Stephen asked the Lord to receive his spirit; and then he fell asleep. We believe that when believers die, their souls are immediately made perfect in holiness and they return to God who made them, who receives them into his glorious presence, where they await the resurrection of their bodies. And until the resurrection, the bodies of believers rest in their graves, as if in their beds.
By contrast, the souls of unbelievers are, at their death, cast into hell where they remain in torment and utter darkness. And their bodies are kept in their graves, as if in a prison, until the resurrection when they will be condemned for all that they have done wrong in this life and punished with unspeakable torments in body and soul for ever.
But death for the believer is likened to sleep, because the day will come when Christ will return in glory and with power to waken our dead bodies. He will say to our bodies that it’s time to get up now. And our bodies will rise from the dead to be reunited with our souls. And in body and soul we’ll live with God and we’ll behold his glory for ever and for ever.
And Stephen was granted a foretaste of what every believer will experience in the life to come, because Stephen was enabled by the Spirit to see the glory of God and Jesus standing at God’s right hand side. Only a few people in the Bible saw what Stephen saw during their life on earth. Moses was enabled to see God’s glory. Isaiah saw it when he received a vision of heaven. On Sunday evenings we’re studying the book of Ezekiel; and Ezekiel was allowed to see the glory of God. And in the book of Revelation at the end of the Bible, John records for us the visions he received of heaven, when he saw the Risen and Exalted Lord Jesus Christ, whose face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. And John also saw a great multitude of believers, standing before the throne of God and before the Lamb, Jesus Christ. And they were wearing white robes to signify how they have been made perfect in holiness. And they worshipped God, who wipes the tears from their eyes.
And then John also saw into the future as it were, and to the time after the resurrection, when all of God’s people will come before the Lord to be with him for ever in the new creation. And John said that there’s no need for the sun and the moon in the new creation, because the glory of God and the Lamb gives us light. So, the glory of the Lord will shine brilliantly like the sun and it will fill the whole of the new creation. And John says we will see God.
As he was dying, Stephen was enabled by the Spirit to see God. And the day is coming when every believer will see God. And this is what we were made for. This is what we were made for, because the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden signified God’s promise to Adam and his descendants of eternal life in the presence of God, where we’ll dwell in the true temple of the Lord and we’ll gaze on the beauty of the Lord for ever and for ever.
Adam disobeyed the Lord and forfeited for himself and for us the right to eat from the Tree of Life and to live forever in the presence of God. But Christ our Saviour, by his life of perfect obedience among us, has obtained for his believing people the right to eat from the Tree of Life and to live forever in the presence of God.
And just as we experience pleasure and joy in this life when we gaze upon something beautiful — a landscape or a person we love or a painting that thrills our soul — so we will one day experience fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore when we’re gazing at the beauty and the glory of our great God, who is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the blessed Trinity, who will make us perfectly happy in his presence in the life to come.
This is the great hope which Christ gives to his believing people. This is the great hope that he gives to you if you believe in him for forgiveness and eternal life. When you die, you will see what Stephen saw when heaven was opened to him and he saw by means of the Holy Spirit the glory of God the Father and Jesus our Saviour who died to bring us to God.
But it’s not all about the future, is it? It’s not all about the future, because whenever we gather together on Sundays, God displays his glory to us in the preaching of the gospel about Jesus Christ. He shines the light of his glory into our hearts. And as he displays his glory to us, he transforms us more and more into his likeness so that we’re enabled more and more to live a life here on earth which reflects the glory of heaven above. And so, for now we see his glory in the preaching of the gospel. And one day we will see his glory when we see his face.
Sermons and Stuff 