Thursday Acts 6:8-15

Stephen is accused of blasphemy.

Click here for an online Bible. Acts 6:8-15

In choosing the men to deal with the division within the church, the apostles told the people to choose men who were full of the Spirit and wisdom. The first man listed is Stephen. He is described as a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. His assignment, along with the other six, was to fix the division within the church. It was much more than just waiting on tables. It was a spiritual issue. They needed spiritual men, who could see the spiritual dimension at work, in addition to meeting the physical need of the Greek widows.

Now, we see Stephen out in the community as a witness for Christ. He was performing signs and wonders. We don’t know exactly what he was doing, but he attracted a lot of attention. Stephen is a Greek name. He seems to be one of the Hellenistic Christians. Remember, all of the Christians at this time were also Jews. So, Stephen, as a Hellenistic Jewish believer was chosen to make sure that the Hellenistic Jewish Christians widows were taken care of. It seems that Stephen was reaching out to the other Hellenistic Jews in Jerusalem. He encountered men from the Freedmen’s Synagogue.

From the name, it seems that the Freedmen’s Synagogue was founded as a place of worship for former slaves. We don’t know how long it had been there, so at the time of these events, it may have become the place for descendants of former slaves. We also know from the text that the men who opposed Stephen were from Northern Africa and Asia. While Stephen seems to have something in common with these men as Hellenistic Jews, they still rose up in opposition to him. Some people believe that the Hellenistic Jews were more nationalistic than the locals since they were motivated to relocate to the holy city of Jerusalem.

The tried to argue with Stephen, but could not match his wisdom. He also had the advantage of truth and the Holy Spirit. They stirred up people at falsely accuse him of blasphemy against the Law of Moses and plotting to destroy the temple.

He was arrested and taken before the Sanhedrin. The liars stirred up massive opposition to Stephen. This is the third trial in Acts before the Sanhedrin. The first resulted in a warning. In the first trial, the Sadducees were the main opposition. They could not do anything because the people supported the apostles. In the second trial, the Pharisee Gamaliel advised the council not to act too harshly. It ended with a flogging. Now in the third trial, there is no group to provide restraint. The people are stirred up. The scribes (Pharisees) are stirred up. And the elders (Sadducees) are stirred up. This third trial ends with the death of Stephen.

Luke describes Stephen as having the face of an angel as he is falsely accused by a bunch of liars. Luke doesn’t tell us what he means by “the face of an angel.” I think he means that Stephen was calm, confident, and unafraid. How can he be unafraid in this setting? Everybody wants his blood. There is no restraint. How could he remain calm? The answer is in Luke’s description of Stephen. He was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He knew that he was operating in God’s will. He was doing what God had called him to do. He trusted God more than the circumstances. His mission was to be a witness. He might not survive this witnessing event, but he could be obedient until they killed him.

I see two lessons to focus on here. First is the faith of Stephen. How did he have so much faith? He had seen God at work all along. He had performed signs and wonders. So, what about us? We don’t see so many signs and wonders. Maybe not, but we do see God at work. When we engage in serving God, we see His hand at work. This strengthens our faith and enables us to serve Him all the more. This leads to more opportunities to see Him work which increases our faith. When we are afraid to trust God, it is often because we have not seen Him do much. The solution is to dive in. Serve God and watch Him work.

The second lesson is the opposition to Stephen. The people who attacked him were unbelievers. They were witnesses to a movement of God and it scared them. So, their response was to attack Stephen. They could not rely on facts or truth, so they stirred up the fears of other people. Unfortunately this happens all too often in our churches today. I am amazed at how many people I have encountered very recently who have been like Stephen. They were part of a movement of people toward God in churches. Then some people in the church got scarred by the movement and resorted to personal attacks. Rather than dealing with the facts and looking to God for guidance, they stirred up a group to participate in the attacks. In just about every case, the movement was quashed. In every case, dedicated servants of God were devastated. In most cases, the churches continued in their death spiral. The really sad part is that the attackers were not from outside the church, they were supposedly believers in Christ.

So, what do we do? There are things that crop up in church all the time that need to be dealt with. We have to have discernment. Every exciting thing is not a movement of God. Every new idea is not necessarily a good thing. Many new things are just flat wrong. We must develop biblical worldviews. We must be close to God. When confronted with an issue, we must seek the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We have to know God’s will. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” “Discipline yourselves for the purpose of godliness.”