Acts 6:8-15 Grace to Stand Firm in Christ

study of the book of acts and we find ourselves this evening in acts chapter six versus eight through fifteen acts chapter six verses eight through fifteen and courage to turn with me there in your cubicles or in your vitals if you brought them and just a reminder that last time we consider the book of acts we we saw really one of the main characters and the focus of our text this evening we saw him come on us on a scene we considered how there was some tension and some growing pains in the life of the church there were a set a subset of widows who were being looked over or being missed in the daily distribution we see this is the origins of what we understand or begins the servants among those servants was a man named Stephen and so this evening we see you begin the text that chronicles the seasons search his speech his sermon before the religious leaders and here we see really the fever pitch of opposition against the gospel against Christ in his church so before we turn to that and read this account this evening that precedes his sermon let's turn to Lord and pray would you pray with me Father your word is truth we pray that you would sanctify us in your truth well God would it be that you would visit us with your spirit well that we might be emboldened by your word and Lord that we might even count our sufferings this joy our trials is joy oh Lord and so Lord we ask that you prepare us strengthen us encourage us by your word and Lord do it might be whole Christ in his sufferings but also be whole Christ in his exaltation and so we ask that you would bless us now we pray this in Jesus's name amen says God's word beginning in Acts chapter 6 verse 8 let us give you here and Stephen full of grace and power was doing great wonders and signs among the people and then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen as it was called and of the Cyrenians and of the Alexandrians and those from Silesia and Asia rose up and disputed with Stephen but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking then they secretly instigated men who said we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God and they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council and they set up all solicituses who said this man never ceases to speak words against this holy place in the law we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us engaging at him all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel grass with us the flower falls the word of our God stands forever and ever thanks be to God this evening I want you to see there's a little bit of a comparison between Stephen here in Acts chapter 6 and the ministry of Jesus we can't miss how Luke tees this comparison up for us or Stephen full of grace and power was doing great wonders and signs among the people you know this really connects the work of Stephen to that of the Apostles and we considered previously that part of the reason the high priest and the religious council of the Sanhedrin didn't bring any harm against the Apostles was because the people loved them and they lauded them they rejoiced the people rejoiced that they're doing wonders in size and less they would instigate rebellion or revolts or or anything along those lines they said we should leave them untouched and we understand why someone we understand why someone might love Stephen and the Apostles as as they are going about doing this ministry they're doing signs and wonders we read previously that there was healings taking place and and you can imagine that if someone was walking through our local hospital and was healing people from hospital room to hospital room they might be lauded and loved as well sure it's surely miraculous healing would garner a joyous response and we'll see in this passage that there's a connection to the ministry Jesus if you remember Jesus' initial reception as the people would spread their cloaks on the road and others would cut branches from trees and spread them on the road in the crowds before them which out Hosanna Hosanna the highest the son of David blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest and that when Jesus would have entered Jerusalem the whole city was stirred up saying who is this and this is the Prophet Jesus from the Nazareth of Galilee and yet you know that that recession would quickly fade and the crowds would turn against Jesus and the ones that would say and rejoice Hosanna on the day of his entry would shout crucify him crucify him and so what happens is there's this shift in this in this relationship between the people and the Apostles and the people even Stephen here and we see this indicative of even Jesus so what you see from our passage this evening is we see really the playbook of opposing the ministry of Christ and the proclamation of the gospel the playbook of opposing the ministry of Christ and the proclamation of the gospel and yet even through this opposition we see that God strengthens his servants God strengthens his servants he will provide for his people to be faithful you will provide for you for me first if you were to open this playbook in see opposition you'll see that there's disagreement with Stephen's teaching there's disagreement with Stephen's teaching Luke says some of those who belong to the synagogue of the Freedmen as it was called in the Cyreidians and that of the Alexandrians and those from Cilicia and Asia rose up and disputed with Stephen synagogue a place where Jewish worshipers would gather to hear the Old Testament read and they would pray to get him even receiving something of a servant it's a lot like a church gathering the synagogue is is it was thought to have really developed while Israel was an exile in Babylonian captivity and without access to the temple for sacrificial worship these gatherings of Jews and exile served as the place of worship and so wondered that this tradition continued on as we even see here that there were synagogues where Jewish worshipers from all around the Roman Empire from northern Africa to Turkey and even Jerusalem the Freedmen would find a group of those reflecting their own language and culture you can think of it something like where ex-patriots far a little bit of home places like Chinatown or Little Italy these synagogues would have been places of teaching and would have been the stronghold of the Pharisees or they would have read and taught the law that's how you this because it makes sense that this is where opposition to Stephen's teaching would come from hey these are the experts you know even if you know that I came here from a very small rural farming community and that's a really bad recipe for sermon illustrations when I try my very best to use agricultural metaphors I can't tell you how many times I would be greeted the door and tell you well pastor it's really that's not really how it works right a farmer or some of the green thumb would say you know it's not really how it is and it makes sense right that a farmer would come up to me after I really misuse an illustration in the sermon because they're the professionals right they're the ones who have experience in farming and telling the ground and when we look at these verses we see that there's a claim set forward against Stephen from those who may be the quote unquote experts where they spread the false claim about Stephen this man never ceases to speak words excuse me to speak words against this holy place in the law for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us right who is Stephen to challenge the Pharisees it's kind of what's operating in the background of this text who is Stephen to challenge the Pharisees the religious leaders of the day it sounds familiar doesn't it's an echo of Jesus ministry now we'll dive more so into the content of Stephen's teaching and preaching as we continue on in chapter seven of the book of Acts but what's happening here is that the church is being misunderstood and the church is being maligned it was interesting that there are layers between public Roman officials that have been preserved for us and show us what the Roman world really thought of Christians as the church was established and as it was spread you would you believe that it was said of Christians that they were cannibals apparently the early church was known for partaking of the Lord's Supper where they ate the bread and drank the cup as a signified the body and blood of Jesus and the Roman world was shocked that they would feast upon the body and the blood of their God and they completely misunderstood what was taking place and yet when we look here we consider Jesus who stood before the high priest or the religious council as it was reported but we heard him say I will destroy this temple that is made with hands the words of Jesus and in three days I will build another not made with hands again it's striking the similarity between the charges against Stephen and the charges against Jesus and yet you and I know that Jesus is not talking about coming as a religious terrorist to bring down the temple and lead another uprising of zealots or Christian zealots to overthrow the priestly and rabbinical tradition and crown himself King by force that's not what what is in mind here and that's not what Jesus had in mind for he conquered not by way of the sword but by way of sacrificing himself yet he and Stephen are speaking not of the physical destruction of the temple though prophetically the temple will be destroyed by Rome in 70 AD but they're speaking of Christ's death and his resurrection Stephen Jesus are speaking to that which is central to worship under the new covenant that the day has come when Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well woman believe me the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father the hour is coming and it's now here when the true worshippers will worship the Father and steer it and intrude for the Father is seeking such people to worship him God is spirit in those who worship him must worship in spirit in truth again we'll get to the heart of what Stephen is teaching later okay we'll get to that next Sunday Lord willing but the question we need to ask is how can two people look at Jesus and have two radically different responses radically different understandings and radically different reactions how can it come to this Jesus tells us as he quotes the prophet Isaiah explaining his parable that he gave to the disciples to you has been given the secrets of the kingdom of God but for those outside everything is imperable so that they may indeed see but not perceive it may indeed hear but not understand lest they should turn and be forgiven what is it that does that work here why does Stephen be whole Christ and why is that the fair sees won't to malign him and to really make enemies of the apostles in the church well that's we think they're something special about Stephen we read in our passage that Stephen has been granted grace in Christ and power in the spirit he has turned to him and repentance and faith and he beholds Christ through who he is and so it is for you and I right if we know Christ and we law him and praise him as our Lord and as our Savior if we vow before him as our King this because Christ has called us because the Father has called us in Christ and we have been granted faith by the spirit it's a wonder that we do not respond as the Pharisees in this passage but indeed we know Christ because he has been made known to us and we believe upon Christ because the work of the spirit in us in the differences that Stephen has been sought out by Jesus Jesus has laid claim to his heart by the power the spirit he knows his sin and his need for his Savior these religious leaders do yet not yet not we'll see in this passage at the end of Stephen where he stoned and put the death there was a familiar familiar name that we'll see the Lord will call for himself and so while they may be far from the Lord now yet grace still abounds let's move on here what was the second play of opposing the gospel message well here we see they resort to designating false witnesses okay of designating false witnesses you know Satan seeks to squash the early church to snuff out that tender which is caught fire and is beginning to burn and yet we see again that there is nothing new under the sign just as false witnesses were called against Jesus so were false witnesses called against Stephen and it should be no surprise that Satan resorts to lies right for he is the greatest seaver he is the liar this is his in oh and we should see his fingerprints all over this using the law and Moses and the temple as reason for persecuting these early Christians for opposing the gospel ministry and the irony here is that the law for which these synagogues were so supposedly concerned didn't seem to be their top priority you know the command given by the Lord to Moses on Sinai you shall not bear false witness against her neighbor this commandment has in mind the telling truth but is most specifically dealing with the speaking of truth in court for before the elders not lying about the guilt of someone else and these religious leaders were breaking the very law that they were claiming to uphold we see in this the heart of legalism like the whitewashed tombs of the Pharisees and woe to them as Jesus would say but they failed to comprehend in their spirit their their utter need for Christ and fail to consider and see his identity as God and Jesus again addressed the Pharisees often in the gospel accounts where if you believe Moses you would have believed me for he wrote about me and so this Jesus that Stephen preaches was hated and so Stephen has hated and it becomes clear that these religious leaders are in fact not concerned with Moses not concerned with the temple not concerned with the law but remind you in the very beginning after Adam Eve fell and sinned they were confronted by God we see that there would be this continued this continued struggle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the church or seed of the seed of the circuit and here we find that Satan is taking every swipe that he can even in the infancy of the church and yet we find again here that that is astonishing among the early church and the apostles is that the religious leaders needed to resort to grooming false witnesses and in doing the work of Satan self right this applies implies that the apostles were so far above approach that admit the truth would not condemn them but only lies would condemn them I want you to see here is that the world is watching Jerusalem is watching this early church and the question to us is do we conduct ourselves as men women youth children whose hearts have been so gripped by the grace of God for sinners knowing Christ love in such real ways that we conduct our business we interact with others in the community that we treat our family and friends and neighbors with such love and grace not shine from the truth that we might be blameless before others why people have to resort to false witnesses to malign our character now it seems here that Stevens conduct is not in the cross ears but it's his teaching and it wouldn't be easier to discredit the apostles of the early church for their immoral living where they're lying in the seat for their discrimination or their abuse and greed I don't want to more moralize this passage to don't misunderstand me but what folks again need to resort to grooming lives and false witness against you to discredit Christ or is there any mission is their truth and yet we come to the glory of the gospel if you're anything like me it maybe is there's a stone that could be thrown there's a stick that could prod and so we come to the glory of Christ because when our hearts are cut deep with the conviction of sin when we know we've done wrong and it pains us it's there that we find the bomb in the hope of the gospel that every sin every wrong every transgression was crucified with Christ upon the cross and by faith you receive Christ's righteousness you receive his account and so you stand yes worthy of condemnation as a center but a new creation in Christ so it's here in Stephen we see not perfection we don't see a holy roller who's looking to Bible beat but we see Christ in him and he and Christ you see the tables have been turned in this account that the one who claim righteousness and they claim holiness and they claim obedience to the law are the ones that stand condemned in themselves and it's Stephen who stands free from guilt not in his own power but in Christ's church the Lord's grace is sufficient for you you know children can be brutally honest did you know a thing or two about that I know a thing or two about that because it's usually a small child I find staring at me in the grocery store or at Walmart which always ends with him leaning over to their mom and saying he's really short or sometimes they ask me outright why are you so small can't tell you how many times I've gotten that quick that question your kids will bring to light all the weird things you say or the phrases you use most often and it's only a matter of time before you pick up on my thoughts and my ideas for my own children but if there's one thing that I hope that they would ever say or know even from my teaching them and my preaching here is that the phrase that the grace of Jesus Christ is sufficient for you the grace of the Lord is sufficient for you and we understand that being a Christian means that the Lord is refining us that we know that we know shame because of our sin we hate the very thing we do and don't want to do it but the spirit breaks us down and pierces our hearts sometimes we know that but punch of conviction and in those moments we need to understand and believe that the grace of Jesus Christ is efficient for you is efficient for Stephen should fish it for you early I want you to see the playbook here's they determine the silence if they can't malign him from you bearing very false witness they determined to silence him Donald Gray Barnhouse was once asked what he thought it would look like if Satan were to take complete control of a city what would it look like if Satan were to take complete control of a city this was a man who passed through the 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and loved that city well and his response might surprise you what would look like if Satan were to take complete control of a city he said this he said all the bars would be closed pornography vanished and pristine streets would he filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other they would be no swearing and the children would say yes sir and no man and the churches would be full every Sunday where Christ is not preached it is silence that Satan is after for it is by the word of it is by the power of the word at work that sinners come to saving faith in Jesus Christ the gospel proclaimed and preach and if it's by hearing that we believe it's through the foolish ministry of the pulpit and preaching of the gospel that sinners come to saving faith in Jesus Christ then what did that Satan wants to do if not discredit but to downright silence the proclamation of the word and we come to the culmination of this passage and we see the intent they disagree yes they designate false witnesses right out of a determination to silence a season and again it's telling that these folks don't have any problems with healings or miracles but they do have a problem with good news of Jesus Christ we have here again is that age will attack of Satan you see this is what he's always been about you remember the garden before Adam Eve they were evicted and the Lord was speaking to Adam and Eve and Satan and he said to Satan because you have done this curse or you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field on your belly you shall go and thus you shall eat all the days of your life all the enmity between you and the one between your offspring and her offspring he shall bruise your head you shall bruise is healed again one of the common threads connected the entire the scriptures is Satan's never ending desire to squash and to quelch what we understand to be the church the people of God that behind every book of the Bible we can see Satan's schemes and his attacks and yet the New Testament is the fulfilled promise of the old where Satan has sought to secure silence and yet was it not the word made flesh who came into all the mongas as of the only son of God full of grace and truth and so Stephen stands here in the face of opposition staring death in the face knowing the one who has overcome death itself in the hope of Christ that has gone before him there Thomas writes concerning Genesis 3 says the work of redemption unfolds in enemy occupied territory of deadly and tireless opposition by Satan's minions the enmity is one of unimaginable meanness and cruelty which we ignore at our peril the story of redemption is not in one sense a cliff hanger to the very end a tale the the outcome of which is uncertain to the last page is turned rather Christian discipleship is to be worked out within the context of the assurance of victory rather than the prospect of defeat we are to be equipped and ready for battle but with a certainty that the devices or decisive battle with with the enemy has already taken place and it is one and then one you see Stephen and you and I we fight the very gates of hell knowing that the hatred and cruelty of Satan towards the churches is great but God is greater that the war has been won and Christ has dealt that surely that sure death flow and to Satan knowing his his fate seeks to take down many with him into that fiery pit as he can and he does this by silencing or muzzling the proclamation of Christ when inter sermon this evening by asking this question what has Stephen been given to equip him for such a battle as this against Satan and his minions what are we given we know he's been granted grace and power in the spirit he's been given such wisdom and Luke says he's been given the spirit to speak boldly and clearly of the resurrection of Jesus and the guilt and complicity of his own people Stephen was granted the spirit to rebuff this wife's of Satan to the point that these men who lauded Moses failed to see the prophet before them whose face was shining like that of an angel they're missing a very reference to Moses himself right you recall it was Moses who returned to Israel from Sinai and he defailed his face because the people cannot look upon it was shining so and you recall why his face was shining he had been in the presence of the Lord in church we like Stephen had been given the spirit and we have been granted such access to Jesus we have been granted such access to God and throne in heaven and Christ is present with us through the spirit he's with us and among those and he is saved we've been equipped with God himself and he goes before us Christ is with you how do we withstand the wilds of Satan but we do so through the power of Christ and us