Stephen: A Profile in Courage

The Stoning of Stephen

Acts 7:54-60

INTRODUCTION

In this lesson, we not only come to the closing portion of the seventh chapter of Acts, but also the closing of the life of Stephen. This is a very dramatic and instructional part of the Word of God. And though it is often passed over, because of its apparent simplicity, I find myself having difficulty narrowing down the wealth of information that is contained in it. There is much theology that can be taught from this passage on the stoning of Stephen, as well as some practical elements of human behavior. What hit me most dominantly as I studied the passage, was the tremendous contrast that weaves through it, between a Spirit- filled dying man and the hate-filled mob killing him. It appears almost to be the contrast between heaven and hell, if I could put it as extreme as possible. And the real victim of this passage is not Stephen--he is no victim at all--he wins. In his death he is the victor, and though they live, they become the losers.

The mob is the tragedy, and Stephen is the victory. By the time he is done with his defense, they are the ones on trial being accused of blasphemy. In his sermon, he says, in effect, "I believe in God, but you've put Him in a box. I believe in Moses, but you continually break the law that he gave. I believe in the Temple, but if your forefathers hadn't desecrated it with idolatry, it wouldn't have been destroyed. In fact, you're now in your third Temple, and guess who doesn't believe in this one?...God, who has had to keep wiping them out." So he turns the tables on them completely and indicts them. This sermon builds until it climaxes with the confrontation in verses 51-53, where Stephen says, "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them who showed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers; who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it."

By the time that comes out, the council is in a frenzy. But contrasted to their fury and rage is the majestic calm of Stephen. He serenely stands there, absolutely in control and sustained by the Lord, while his opponents are emotionally torn into shreds. It is this picture of contrast that weaves itself through these few verses. Essentially, it is the contrast between a hostile, Christ-hating world, and a gentle, loving, Spirit-filled servant of God, who confronts that world. The world gives its worst, a Christian shows his best. Stephen had boldly confronted the world, saying the things that needed to be said, even though they were painful and he knew they could cost him his life. But he said them because he was expendable for the sake of the truth. They killed him, but God glorified him.

Now let's follow these contrasts as they unfold in this most dramatic scene. The first contrast is between the Christ-hating mob and the man of God. It is the contrast between being...

I. FULL OF ANGER vs. FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (vv. 54-55a)

A. The Character Of The Sanhedrin (v. 54)

"When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth."

1. The Condition of Their Anger

Stephen's sermon was probably interrupted by this angry mob before it was ever finished. They had always prided themselves on their obedience to God and His law, the very issue Stephen was challenging them on. As a result...

a. "...they were cut to the heart..."

This means they were emotionally sawn in half. While at first they had listened to him, probably nodding in agreement as he was reciting their history, now, as the drift of the argument became clear, their interest began to change into horror and then into fury. The great saw of conviction had ripped them right through the middle, knowing everything he said was true.

b. "...and they gnashed on him with their teeth."

In other words, they began to grind their teeth at him in an expression of rage mixed with frustration. Not knowing how to give vent to their wrath, the council just stood there and ground their teeth at him. As I consider their reaction, I can't help but think that they were already in a little bit of hell, because that's how many people are going to spend eternity...just grinding their teeth in fury at God. You say, "What makes you think that?" Several passages do, such as:

1) Luke 13:28 -- "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out." The Jews had waited all along for the Kingdom, but when the King came and offered it to them, they killed Him, thus forfeiting their Kingdom. Jesus was saying, "You're going to spend forever grinding your teeth at God, when you see you didn't get into the Kingdom.

2) Matthew 8:12 -- "But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Here's the same truth all over again. Whenever you hear something once in the Bible it's absolutely important, but whenever you hear it repeated over and over again, it is extremely important.

3) Matthew 13:41-42 -- "The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them who do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (cf. v. 50). Hell is going to be full of angry people.

4) Matthew 22:13 -- In another parable, Jesus said, "Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

5) Matthew 24:51 -- Talking about the unfaithful servant, Jesus said that when He returns, He "shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Hell is going to be full of people forever gnashing their teeth at God in fury. And these accusers of Stephen were already so hell oriented, that when they faced the truth of Christ again, they madly gnashed their teeth at him.

The Anger That Love Can't Change

This tells us a little bit about the kind of anger the council had, because they could have repented, but they didn't. Rather than being resolved, their anger was the kind that remains bitter and hateful. You say, "Well, isn't it true that if the people who go to hell were given a second chance, they would want to get out?" I don't believe they would. If a man won't respond to the loving grace of God, he'll never respond to God's judgment...it will only make him madder. He'll only hate God all the more. I believe there is biblical evidence for this in the book of Revelation:

a. The Refusal to Repent

During the Tribulation, one-third of mankind is going to be killed by fire, smoke, and brimstone in the sixth trumpet judgment. "And the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues yet repented not....Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts" (9:20a, 21). Even after the horror of judgment, when God wipes out one-third of the earth's rebellious inhabitants, people are not going to repent; they're only going to get mad.

b. The Response of Rage

There is an amazing contrast in Revelation 11: "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, who sat before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces, and worshiped God, saying, We give Thee thanks..." (vv. 15-17a). And while all this praise is going on in heaven, there is a different response on earth: "And the nations were angry..." (v. 18a). They get mad.

c. The Cries of Cursing

The classic example of this kind of anger is in chapter 16, when final, great, devastating judgment pours out from God on that population in the Great Tribulation: "And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, who hath power over these plagues; and they repented not to give Him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds" (vv. 8-11).

If grace and love don't bring repentance, judgment never will. It only confirms people in their anger. Jesus had offered grace, upon grace, upon grace. Stephen came along and said, "You've rejected it so long, you've forfeited it." And that only made them all the more furious, until they began to grind their teeth. Hell is going to be full of people who are very, very angry.

2. The Consequence of Their Anger

a. The Explanation of Their Blindness

I believe that these leaders were apostates, who were damned by their continuous willful rejection, and now they were locked in a judicial kind of blindness. Whenever one continues to willfully reject the grace God offers, that is when God moves in and judicially blinds.

In the case of Israel, their blindness is explained in Romans 11:7-10. "What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (according as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear) unto this day" (vv. 7-8). You say, "Did God blind Israel?" Absolutely...but only after they willfully blinded themselves. It's like Pharaoh, who kept hardening his heart until God finally hardened Pharaoh's heart. Grace runs its course until it runs out, and then God moves in judicially and confirms that blindness. Paul continues his explanation in the passage: "And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them; let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back always" (vv. 9-10).

These Jews that were accusing Stephen had heard the truth. They had heard Jesus and the Apostles and had seen their miracles. They had heard the witness of the early church through the messages of Peter, John, and Stephen. But though they had seen it all, they had rejected it time and again. This is why Stephen here is through inviting them to accept and is turning to indict them. The point of his sermon here is to bring about judgment.

b. The Expression of Their Blindness

The council reacted as all people do to judgment--they got mad. The storm of their fury began to break on Stephen's head. In their madness they were speechless with rage, unable to even find words to give vent to their burning hatred. All they could do in their frenzy was grind their teeth as an expression of impotent rage and extreme frustration.

I don't think this was a sudden outburst. I think it was a response that increased in intensity as Stephen continued to speak, never dying away until Stephen lay before them a horribly mangled and blood-spattered corpse. These dignitaries had never quite faced such a prisoner as Stephen: He spoke like a judge, not a prisoner. He seemed to be an accuser, rather than the accused. He hit the nail of conviction right on the head. They didn't want anybody to expose their sins, and so they reacted satanically. You'll remember that Herod imprisoned John the Baptist because John had pointed to Herod's sin and rebuked him for it. Likewise, the Pharisees had Jesus nailed to a cross because He denounced and exposed their hypocrisy. The Jews reacted in the same manner toward the Apostles, and Stephen was no different...he was just one of a multitude of people who have died in exposing the sins of others.

Are you standing on the brink of judgment?

The Bible warns people about having hard hearts that respond in anger. If you're getting to the place in your life where you just get mad when somebody tells you about Christ, you're standing on the brink of judgment. The Bible says in Hebrews 3:8a, "Harden not your hearts...." Don't be hardened to the deceitfulness of sin, lest you obtain an evil heart of unbelief (vv. 12-13).

B. The Contrast Of Stephen (v. 55a)

"But he, being full of the Holy Spirit..."

Isn't that a beautiful contrast? They were completely ripped apart with anger, and Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. In fact, the use of the verb in a linear sense allows us to say that he was being continually full of the Holy Spirit. This means that Stephen didn't have to make any adjustment in his life to die. He didn't have to get it all together in the last moment, because he had had it together for a long time. He was full of the Holy Spirit in chapter 6, when he was chosen, and he's still full of the Holy Spirit in chapter 7. This continual filling was the point Paul was making in Ephesians 5:18, when he gave the command to "...be filled with the Spirit." The Greek could actually be translated, "Be being kept filled with the Spirit." We are to be continually being controlled by the Spirit, and that was precisely what characterized Stephen--he was full of the Spirit all the time. It wasn't some sudden shot, it was a permanent state for him.

Now some people would tell us that if you're filled with the Spirit you do ecstatic things. But if that were true and you obeyed the Scripture, then you'd be doing nothing but that all the time, because it is not a sudden shot experience, it is that which is to be the continuous pattern of the Christian's life. Unfortunately for most of us, we yield ourselves to the Spirit's control some of the time, and then we fail to yield other times...it's kind of a roller coaster ride for some of us. But Stephen was controlled by the Spirit; therefore, the normal human reactions didn't take over...Stephen responded in a godly, trusting, faithful fashion. He didn't respond in the flesh; he responded in the Spirit. That was his strength and it can be ours as well.

The Spirit's Work for the Christian in Crisis

I believe that there's a special work of the Holy Spirit for a Christian in a crisis. For this reason, I believe we do not have to fear getting into tough situations when we boldly face the world for Christ. I believe it is just at that point that the Spirit of God is doubly poured out upon you. You say, "Where do you get that idea?" If you know me very well, you know I got it out of a verse somewhere. In this case, 1 Peter 4:14a says, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you...." In other words, there's some special divine intervention of the Spirit of God when the world attacks the believer. Have you ever heard anybody talk about dying grace? In the numerous accounts I have read regarding the death of Christians who have been martyred for the cause of Christ from the early church right on through to the present day, I have never read of a Christian who died a raving, screaming maniac, have you? There is something that God does in the willing death of a believer in the face of persecution, which grants to him the adequacy to die, while giving God the glory. I think that is what God bestowed upon Stephen in a double sense. And because God can bestow it upon you as well, don't ever shirk from being bold in the world for fear that you don't have the resources to handle the situation, for it's at that point that God pours out a double portion of His Spirit to make you adequate. I believe that when we really confront the world and are totally helpless at their mercy, that God intervenes.

Though the Apostle Paul had so much going for him, he knew that in his weakest he was truly the strongest: "When I get into a situation I can't do anything about, God just pours His strength into me. So, do you know what I get excited about? I don't get excited about being healthy, I get excited about being sick. I get excited about my infirmities and about persecution, because when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor. 12:9-10). I believe that when you face the world head on, boldly trusting God for the outcome, that God will grant the Spirit of glory to rest upon you so that you'll be adequate.

How to Boldly Confront the World

One time when I was talking about confronting the world at a convention in Portland, one fellow came up to me afterwards and asked, "When you say to confront the world, do you mean to just keep talking about Jesus all the time, so that if a guy in my shop swears, I run over and say, `Don't swear, because the Lord isn't pleased'?" And I said, "No. If you carried that to an extreme, you would really become obnoxious." Here's what I mean in a practical way:

1. Plan to create opportunities to communicate Christ.

2. When the opportunity comes, don't water down the message.

Be bold in your presentation. Stephen didn't run in there, knock down the doors of the Sanhedrin and say, "All right you guys, shut up, I've got something to say!" He was invited. Like Peter, he spoke in response to their questioning. You too, must earn the right to speak with boldness. We need to confront the world with the truth like Stephen did, trusting that God will provide special grace for the occasion. If you'll do that, I promise that God will sustain you. So don't shirk the responsibility because you don't feel adequate--it's when you're in your worst mess that you're truly strong.

The second contrast seen in this passage is...

II. SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS vs. SPIRITUAL SIGHT (vv. 55b-57)

A. The Contrast of Stephen (vv. 55b-56)

The council was grinding their teeth in fury, but what did Stephen do? He did what everyone ought to do when the circumstances are rough: He got his eyes off the situation and onto the Savior.

1. The Vision of Heaven (v. 55b)

"[He] looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God"

a. Where Stephen Looked

It says that Stephen "looked up." That's great! If you run around looking down all the time, you're never going to get over your problems. Stephen looked up. You say, "What was he looking for?" Let me give you a hint from Acts 1:10- 11: "And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Where did Jesus go? What do you think Stephen was looking for? He was looking for Jesus, just as the last part of the verse says.

b. What Stephen Saw

1) The Glory of God

When Stephen looked up, heaven just opened up for his view, and he "saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." The situation was getting tense, so Stephen looked to the Lord...the only place to look at such times. Though he had always had pretty good spiritual sight ever since he had met Christ, this was a unique vision like few have ever had. There are only a few in Scripture that actually got a glimpse right into heaven: Ezekiel saw the glory of God in chapter 1. Isaiah saw the glory of God, as recorded in his 6th chapter: "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple" (v. 1). Paul was even taken up into heaven (2 Cor. 12:1-4). And dear old John had one incredible vision of the glory of God on the isle of Patmos (Rev. 4-5). So there have been a few that have seen the glory of God, that manifestation of Himself in the glorious light known as the Shekinah.

2) The Standing of Jesus

Stephen also saw Jesus standing to the right of the glory of God. Seeing what he wanted to see, he hadn't looked in vain, for God had given him a glorious revelation. You say, "I thought the book of Hebrews said that after Christ had accomplished redemption, He went to heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. What's He doing standing up?" Well, He sat down in terms of redemption, but He always gets up when His children are in trouble. Somebody said, "He stands up to help the saints and welcome them home." And it is possible that Jesus was standing up ready to greet Stephen, as well as help him in order to perform His priestly sustaining work. The standing of Jesus conveys the idea of His active interest in His servants, as if He were saying, "Stephen, I'm coming to your rescue!" What a vision!

2. The Verbalization about Heaven (v. 56)

"And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God."

Stephen became so absorbed in his vision, that he started to excitedly describe what he was seeing, while his enemies around him responded in a frenzy. Stephen's last words were the coups de grace. They absolutely lost all rationality at that point, because these were familiar words to that council. What Stephen said took their minds right back to a conversation they had had with another prisoner.

This other prisoner had also been put on trial for blasphemy before the same group, in probably the same place. Though the council had brought in false witnesses, there still wasn't enough evidence to kill the prisoner, so the high priest finally asked, "...Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am; and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power..." (Mk. 14:61b- 62a). When Jesus said, "I am the Messiah, and you'll see Me seated at the right hand of God," they considered that the epitome of blasphemy and pronounced the death sentence for it.

B. The Condition of the Sanhedrin (v. 57)

Now when Stephen saw Jesus in heaven, he verified that what Jesus had said was true. No wonder the council reacted so violently-- Stephen had hit the nail on the head. They were forced now to kill him as well, because either they had to kill Stephen, or admit that they were wrong in killing Jesus. Stephen was making the same claim for Jesus that Jesus had made for Himself. The words of Stephen became the first positive proof in Scripture that Christ had ascended to the right hand of the Father. This was the ultimate and most blatant blasphemy, in the council's view.

The council demonstrated how really blind they were when "they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord." They were unanimous on that decision...blindly unanimous. In fact, Jesus had called them "blind leaders of the blind" (Mt. 15:14). And Stephen's trial made this clearer when, just after he had condemned the council for always resisting God's truth, they slammed their hands over their ears. "Now that's ridiculous," you say. "If you were arguing with somebody over a cause and there were valid points on your side, and a guy did that, you'd think he was an idiot!" They sure made it plain that they didn't want God's truth. They never had wanted it, having resisted the Holy Spirit all along by killing God's messengers and His Messiah, and rejecting His law. This last response was merely par for the course. We see this same type of blindness in other places in Scripture:

1. Acts 28:26-27 -- At the end of the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul makes some statements taken from Isaiah that are so interesting in regard to this blindness: "Go unto this people and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive; for the heart of this people, is become obtuse, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." Because they rejected the truth, God judicially confirmed them in their ignorance. They were classic apostates.

2. 2 Peter 2:22 -- They were like the false teachers Peter had condemned who had known the truth, but had gone back as dogs returning to their vomit.

3. Hebrews 6:4-6 -- They were people who knew the truth, having seen the miracles and all. But because they had rejected it and consequently fallen away, it was impossible to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.

These Jews who had accused Stephen were wildly derisive. With their reason gone, they ran at him in fury, an action used to describe the demon-possessed swine that ran off the cliff in Mark 5, as well as the mad rush of the mob at Ephesus upon the Christians in Acts 19. What a contrast to Stephen!

Another contrast we find is that of...

III. DEATH vs. LIFE (vv. 58-59)

A. The Revenge of the Sanhedrin (v. 58)

"And cast him out of the city, and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul."

1. The Instructions for Capital Punishment

The council thought they had put an end to Stephen by killing him, but it was only just giving him a little trip into eternal life. They sought to carry out his execution according to several legal regulations...

a. From Scripture

Leviticus 24:14 said that execution by stoning had to take place outside the city. Apparently, they had the presence of mind to observe that. Second, Leviticus 24:16 identified stoning as the punishment for blasphemy. So, they had the right punishment for the court decision they had made. Third, they had heard the testimonies of two witnesses, the minimum that were required for an execution to take place. Evidently, they had managed to get two or three guys that agreed to serve as witnesses. Last, they followed the instruction of Deuteronomy 17:7, which states, "The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people...." This was done for a good reason: the ones who witnessed the action being considered also had to be the executioners as well--people thought twice before they accused somebody.

b. From Rabbinical Tradition

The Mishnah, the Jewish codification of law, tells us that the drop from the stoning place was twice the height of a man. It was a precipice of at least ten feet with rocks below. One of the witnesses would push the criminal off from behind so that he fell face forward onto the rocks. Then, he would be turned over on his back. If he died from the fall, that was sufficient. If not, the second witness was to take a large stone and drop it on his heart. If this caused death, that would be the end, but if not, then the accused would be stoned by all the congregation of Israel.

2. The Implication of Clothing Placement

Because Stephen's executioners wanted to do it up right, they stripped for action, laying down their clothes at a young man's feet. They took off whatever might bind them so that they could really let the stones fly. This gives you a little idea of the fury of these people. It wasn't just to kill him, it was to vent the fury that was in them. This is how much they hated everything he stood for. It wasn't really Stephen they hated, they actually hated Jesus. In effect, Stephen was doing what Paul would later do: bearing in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus (Gal. 6:17b).

3. The Introduction of Christianity's Persecutor

While Stephen was being stoned, there was a man standing there "whose name was Saul." The fact that the witnesses' garments were placed in front of him is a fairly good indication that he may have been the ringleader in the whole thing. Besides, since Stephen had been arguing in the synagogue of the people from Cilicia, and Paul was from Cilicia, it's very likely that he had been arguing with Paul, who may have served as the religious activist that instigated this persecution of Stephen.

Death satisfied this angry mob. But life was to be...

B. The Reward Of Stephen (v. 59)

"And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

1. The Promise of Life by Christ

When conversing with Martha, "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die..." (Jn. 11:25-26a). There's no death for the Christian as the rest of the world experiences it. Our physical death is simply going from this earthly realm of existence into the heavenly realm. If you are a Christian, the biggest change has already happened--death isn't going to be as big of a change as your salvation was.

2. The Presence of Life with Christ

You say, "Well, I thought when you died, your spirit went into limbo. Don't you go to purgatory for a while?" I don't find any verse in my Bible that talks about limbo. If you find the word purgatory in the Bible, then you will be the only one in all humanity who found it. Not only is there no limbo or purgatory in the Bible, you can't find soul sleep in the Bible, either. At the point of his death, Stephen said, "...Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He didn't say, "See you in a thousand years."

a. Luke 23:46b -- Stephen knew who waited for him. Just like Jesus knew who waited for Him on the cross, when He said, "...Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit..." (Lk. 23:46b). Stephen knew Jesus was waiting for him, because he saw Him standing in heaven. Don't tell me that the believer is going to look to Jesus in an hour like that and then be separated from Him for some vast period of time, or have to earn their way into His presence, because that's foreign to all of Scripture. Don't tell me that about the little girl I read about, who was on her deathbed, and expressed to her parents that she saw the face of Jesus with His arms outstretched to receive her. That is the true hope every Christian should have. Don't tell me that I'm going to go to some strange place to spend a number of years in oblivion. What for? That would be purposeless.

b. 2 Corinthians 5:8 -- The Apostle Paul said that Christians are "willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

c. Philippians 1:23 -- "For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better."

You say, "If you depart, where are you going to be?" With Christ. There's no gap in time between a Christian's death on earth and life in heaven. When Stephen's opponents were killing him, he was "calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." What is the spirit of a man? It's just the immaterial part of him--the inner man. It's all I am without my body. It's the real me. If I lose part of my body, the real me still exists. Because I am the immaterial element that lives within a body, if you killed my body you wouldn't have killed me, for all my consciousness would immediately be transported into the presence of God. There's just going to be one thing subtracted from the real me when I go to be with Jesus, and that is sin. Hallelujah! What great hope that gives us to see Stephen entering into the fullness of the eternal life he had longed for in his heart!

This leads us to the last contrast of...

IV. HATE vs. LOVE (vv. 58a, 60)

A. The Condition of the Sanhedrin (v. 58a)

"And cast him out of the city, and stoned him..."

This hateful mob, which had similarly hated Jesus, was venting its venom and fury. Its hatred of Stephen can be seen in the way they stoned him; they took their clothes off, so that they could be free to blast him with stones. Furthermore, the verb tense implies that they kept on stoning him, evidently because the fall and the first stone hadn't killed him. Consequently, the whole crowd got in and just kept pommeling him with stones. Oh, how they hated him!

Now, I want you to see...

B. The Contrast of Stephen (v. 60)

1. His Forgiving Farewell (v. 60a)

"And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge..."

What love was in the heart of this man! After all that they had done to him, he was asking God to be merciful to them. You say, "That's something! You'd think he would have said something else besides that!" You're right. He probably could have said what Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, did in 2 Chronicles 24:22: While being stoned for confronting the sins of the people, the last prayer he breathed was, "The LORD look upon it, and require it" (which, being interpreted, means, "God, get 'em"). It was a similar circumstance, but a very opposite prayer.

I like the grace of Stephen, don't you? He said, in effect, "Father, forgive them." Only a Christian can love like that, because the love of Christ is shed abroad in his heart (Rom. 5:5). George Wishart had that kind of grace: When he was to be executed for his faith in Christ, the executioner hesitated killing him because he had such a gracious character. At his execution, he even went over to his executioner and kissed him on the cheek, saying, "Lo, here is a token that I forgive thee." Jesus had done the very same thing on the cross, and Stephen did it here. What a testimony! All that hate...and in Stephen's heart was only love. That's the character of Christian love--it loves indiscriminately without depending on the attitude of the other one. Would to God we could all die like that! Would to God we could all live like that!

2. His Peaceful Passing (v. 60b)

"...And when he had said this, he fell asleep."

Isn't there a beautiful peace about that? Though his enemies were still alive grinding their teeth, and would spend all eternity doing it, Stephen fell asleep in the arms of Christ.

ConclusionI love Stephen, and I think I've discovered the reason why. (It's the same reason I love Paul so much.) I love him because he was so much like Jesus. Jesus was full of the Spirit, and so was Stephen; Jesus was full of grace, so was Stephen; Jesus was a bold preacher, so was Stephen; Jesus was lovingly forgiving, so was Stephen; Jesus gave His life for others, so did Stephen. When somebody tells me to be like Jesus, it is hard for me to accept that challenge, because it seems so impossible. So I'm not going to tell you to be like Jesus, I'm going to say, "Be like Stephen." That kind of an exhortation brings it down to where we are.

The Apostle Paul said, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1). Paul knew there had to be an intermediary step. Somebody always says, "Well, your problem is that you're following men. You should be following Christ." But there is no reason why we cannot follow men, if the men are like Stephen, who had imitated Jesus. There was a man who never forgot Stephen's example, in spite of the fact that he "was consenting unto his [Stephen's] death" (Ac. 8:1a). But did you know that from Stephen came Paul, and from Paul came the world? Augustine said, "The church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen." Stephen was expendable for Paul, and Paul was expendable for the world. For whom are you expendable?

Focusing on the Facts

1. Describe the reaction of the council to Stephen's defense.

2. How did Jesus similarly describe the response of those in hell?

3. Why would a person who went to hell probably refuse a second chance if he were given one?

4. What will the response be of those who receive the judgments of the Tribulation, according to the book of Revelation?

5. What does God do to those who continue to willfully reject the grace He offers?

6. Why did Herod have John the Baptist imprisoned?

7. By what was Stephen controlled (or filled)?

8. Rather than being a sudden shot experience, what is the filling with the Holy Spirit supposed to be?

9. Why should we not need to fear getting into tough situations where we boldly face the world for Christ?

10. Rather than dwelling on his own problems, where did Stephen look when circumstances got rough?

11. Who are some of the Bible personalities who were allowed to see the heavenly glory of God?

12. What is the significance of Jesus standing in the vision that Stephen saw?

13. What did Stephen's description of what he saw remind the council of? What did his description verify?

14. How had the council forced themselves into killing Stephen after what he had said about the Son of Man?

15. How did the council respond which showed that they were blind to accepting the truth?

16. Why did God choose to confirm some in their ignorance like those God spoke about in Isaiah 6:9-10?

17. Rather than putting an end to Stephen by killing him, what did the council actually do?

18. What are two indications that Saul may have been a ringleader in the persecution of Stephen?

19. When a Christian dies, where does his spirit go? Cite some biblical evidence to support this.

20. What one element is go