The Acts of the Apostles 32

Subtitle: The Stoning of Stephen II

Acts 7:57-60.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 22, 2023.

Last week, we looked at Stephen's conclusion to his defense before the Sanhedrin, the highest council of Israel.  He tells them that they are resisting the Holy Spirit just like their forefathers did.  He tells them that they have betrayed and murdered the Righteous One, which had to be a hard hit to them.  Lastly, he tells them that they have not obeyed the law.

Each of these hits on an area that they would have thought they were performing well.  They prided themselves in having received the law and meticulously obeying it and teaching it to others.  They would have prided themselves in waiting for the Messiah and teaching others to wait for him in righteousness.  They would have thought that they of all people were not resisting the Holy Spirit, but instead, were doing what God had told them to do through Moses.

However, this isn't the first time that they have heard this.  Jesus took them to task on this.  Peter and John had also said similar things when they were before the Sanhedrin. 

Regardless, if Stephen's charges aren't enough to precipitate his stoning, his description of a vision of God's throne in the heavens pushes them over the edge.  This time Gamaliel doesn't step in.  Is he enraged too?  Or, has he decided that he has pressed his honor far enough, and won't take the risk with this angry group?

There is a powerful spiritual dynamic at work here.  God deals with us as individuals, but at the same time, we are often part of groups.  It is impossible to avoid the group dynamics that can catch us up in a wave of emotional response.

We might even take a moment to ask the question if Stephen should have toned it down a little.  Was Stephen being too judgmental?  Judge not lest you be judged?  In truth, that verse gets quoted a lot by people who use it as a moral cloak.  It is simply a warning to make sure your judgments are righteous because, when you stand before God, He will take the manner of your judgments into consideration.  You were harsh?  Then, He will be harsh.  You were merciful?  Then, He will be merciful.

There are times when God speaks strongly to us.  He does this because He loves us.  Stephen spoke some hard words, but they were from the heart of God who wanted these men to hear the truth.  He loved them enough to tell them the truth.

On the other hand, these men have to be careful how they judge, which looks like they merely judged by emotions.  This is the problem with the accusation that someone is being judgmental.  Even that accusation is itself a judgment.  If you are using it simply to stiff-arm dealing with your stuff, then you are not doing yourself any favors.  Ultimately, we will all stand before God, so it doesn't matter what the other person says.  It only matters what God says.  If God can speak through a donkey, then he can even speak through a sinner who isn't completely right.  Don't shield yourself with platitudes.  Instead, turn to God in prayer and seek the truth.

Let's look at our passage.

The reaction of the Sanhedrin (vs. 57-60)

The council had been listening to a man filled with the Spirit and exposing their sin.  What would their reaction be?  Would it be to fall on their face and cry out to God for repentance?  No, like a pot coming to a boil, the Holy Spirit has been convicting them of sin, and they do not like it.

Verse 54 tells us that the council members were cut to the heart, and they "gnashed at him with their teeth."  This may sound bad, but at least there was a reaction.  It was proof that the Holy Spirit was breaking through to them.  Of course, we don't want to try and make people mad on purpose, but when people do explode in anger, just know that the Spirit of God has touched a nerve.

Hebrews 4:12 says, "the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  God's word through Stephen pierced their heart, and when that happens we can become quite uncomfortable.

Paul tells us in Romans 1:16 that he wasn't ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus because it is the power of salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and then to the Gentiles.  We have all had the Holy Spirit convict us of sin.  How we respond is the critical thing.

Like parents dealing with a stubborn and resistant child, God deals with the reality that we need truth inserted into our life, but outward conformity isn't good enough.  Is my highest goal for my child that they not embarrass me in public; that they protect my "brand?"  No, the real issue is always the internal for God and for any parent who truly loves their child.

When the truth finally cuts through to the heart of a child or an adult, you will always get a big reaction, whether for good or bad.  It may seem harsh sometimes when a person is angry or crying, but God wants our hearts, and without the conviction of the Holy Spirit no true work can be done.  Praise God that this is exactly what He does (see John 16:8).  When God convicts a person, it is not about pushing that person down.  Rather, it is Him pleading with them.  "Why will you die?  Take my hand!"

Sadly, instead of falling on their faces in repentance, they covered their ears, cast him out of the city and stoned him.

Perhaps they are crying out, "Blasphemy!" as they did with Jesus in Matthew 26.  They may also be trying to shout him down, since they categorically reject that he is actually seeing the throne of God.

Also, they cover their ears, somewhat to keep from hearing more, and somewhat as a symbolic showing that they reject what he is saying.  Then, they rush at him.

All of these descriptions fall short of godly judgment of godly men.  However, the worst description to me is the phrase "in one accord."  It was if they were a single organism working with one purpose and one passion.  Unity is important precisely because the thing that unifies us can be bad or good.  I don't like one word mottoes like: Unity!  Love!  Equality!  They beg too many questions.  Unity around what?  Love of what, and how is this love defined?  What do you mean by equality? 

These men were just as unified as the 120 disciples were in the upper room of Acts 1-2.  However, a different spirit was animating and unifying them.  It reminds of that scene in Fyodor Dostoevsky's book The Possessed.  It is set in Tsarist Russia before the Bolshevik revolution.  A fire is set in a rundown section of town and everyone is scrambling to put out the fire.  A man who was demonstrably crazy throughout the book is running around yelling, "You can't put out the fire.  It's in the minds of men!"  Of course, no one is listening to him.  He's a crazy man, but it is the most salient point in the book.  The communist revolutionaries were seized upon by a fiery idea that would unify them to horrible things.

Groups, crowds, and protests can be powerful for good, but they can also be powerful for evil.  What spirit is animating the group?  More importantly, what spirit is animating me?  If the Spirit of God is animating me, then I will know if I run into a group that is not.  Of course, the Pharisees believe that they are led by God's Spirit too.  So now, we can have an event where one side says they have the Spirit and the other side says, no, we have the Spirit, a spiritual stand-off.

Some people become frustrated with such things and just walk away, even from church altogether.  How can you know who has the Spirit?  You make sure that you are in connection with God's Spirit, and if you aren't sure, then get out of the group, go home, get on your knees, and pray until you find God.  Time always proves what side has the Spirit of God.  In fact, sometimes neither side has the Spirit of God.  Yes, it is hard and difficult to go through such things, but it is the call of God to grow up in Christ.  Make sure for yourself that you are being led by the Holy Spirit, and leave the rest up to God.

As the group begins to stone Stephen, Luke brings our attention to young Saul of Tarsus.  Chapter eight will begin to describe an outbreak of persecution upon the Christians, and Saul was a zealous tip of the spear in it.  There it says that Saul was "consenting to his death." 

In this passage, it says that they laid their outer cloaks at his feet.  He would be the guarding them as they focus on stoning Stephen.  Someone could steal them.  Similar to playing sports at the park, it is hard to watch your stuff while you are playing.  Typically, you get a friend to watch it.

Saul didn't throw any stones, but he was an accessory to the murder of Stephen.  Of course, he was probably glad to be part of cleansing Israel for God.  However, later he would look back on this moment and see himself as the chief of sinners.

Have you ever done that, looked back at your life and saw just how blind you really were?  Often, it is not just blindness, but wickedness too.  Saul would go by Paul after his salvation.  He realized that he had been the worst of the worst, and yet, God loved him.

What do you do when you know how wicked you have been, how resistant and rebellious, and yet God calls you, and tells you that He loves you?  We can protest that God doesn't know how bad we really are, but the truth is that He knows that we are even worse than we believe we are.  Yet, He still loves you.  Why?  How?  There is no real answer to that.  Try to tell your spouse, or kids why you love them.  You will end up with a list that seems trite.  Even if you say that you love them because they are so lovable, it dredges up the inevitable question.  What if you find out who I really am, an unlovable person?  You don't have to have a why when your kid is born.  You love them.  You don't know what their life will be like, but you love them.  However, God knows everything about us, past, present and future.  Yet, He still loves us.  He died on a cross for you, just as He died on the cross for Saul of Tarsus, and even Caiaphas.  God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should have eternal life.

In Stephen, God was goading and pleading with those men that day to accept the Truth about who Jesus was, and still could be in their lives.  We should be thankful to God that we are not stuck in the truth of what we were, or even what we are today, any more than Saul was stuck being a blind persecutor of God's people.

Let's finish by looking at the last words of Stephen.  The scene is a loud and angry one, and yet, Stephen is serene in the face of it.  Surrounded by hatred and people throwing stones at him, he demonstrates the love of Christ through his actions and words.

This is easier said than done.  There is a spirit of rage moving in the crowd that can be infectious to both sides.  It doesn't matter if you are right.  You can be caught up in a spirit of fighting and arguing that is not of God.  Now, you both are wrong.  However, Stephen does not rail against them.  He simply cries out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"  He is not calling down fire from heaven upon them.  He knows that he is about to go home to his lord.

Jesus had told the Pharisees within the hearing of the disciples that he would send prophets and wise men to them and that they would kill some of them.  So, these men knew that they had signed up for something that could cost them their life.

Stephen had come to the end of his race, and now the only thing left was to run through the tape into the arms of an awaiting Jesus!  It is interesting to me that it was a Hellenized Jew who was the first to die for Christ.  I don't think this was to slight Peter, nor was it to protect him.  Peter would give his life around 30 years later.

Regardless, for the believer in Jesus, to die is to be present with Jesus at the throne room of God the Father.  Stephen has lived a life that was a witness to the Truth of Jesus, and now he will give the ultimate witness by dying for Christ.  Jesus is worth dying for and he is worth living for.  In fact, it is only a person who has lived for Christ who can die for him.  They both go hand in hand, like two sides of the same coin.

Lastly, Stephen stays true to form by giving words of mercy to those who are killing him.  "Lord do not hold this sin against them."  It is clear that he is thinking about the death of Jesus.  Jesus committed his spirit unto the Father, and asked the Father to forgive those killing him because they didn't know what they were actually doing.  He perfectly images the Father in this moment because He is perfectly imaging Jesus, who perfectly imaged the Father.  I hope you followed that.

How could he do that?  He is unjustly being put to death by wicked men.  Clearly, the death and resurrection of Jesus had changed his mind about what his job in this life was.  His job wasn't to get justice, or rail against wickedness.  His job was to be a witness to the lost of the love of God that is calling to them even as they murder a man.  Stephen refused to become bitter, hateful, and angry.

Of course, this doesn't mean God will not judge.  In fact, it is precisely because God will judge that we can show mercy.  As long as they are alive, they can repent, turn from their sins, and put their faith in Jesus Christ.

Do I really believe that God is not willing that any should perish, even those throwing stones at me right now?  Do I really believe that He wants to hold out His hands offering peace through me, even those who are mistreating me?  How can a person have this kind of attitude?

We can only have this attitude by dying to our desires and plans, and asking God to fill us with His desires and plans by His Holy Spirit.  Only the Spirit of God can enable a person to love their murderer and pray for their forgiveness.  "Oh God, do in me what I cannot do in myself!"  Everyday people are slipping into eternity lost, and it breaks the heart of God.  Can it break mine too?  It can if I will seek to be filled with the Spirit of God, and His love.

Stoning II audio