“The Spirit’s Work Spreads – Part 2” -- Acts 7:54-8:3

Have you ever had one of those conversations where, in the middle of it all, you begin to wonder how the conversation wound up where it did? We start of talking about the weather, then we move from there to another topic, and from there to another, and so on until we find ourselves talking about our favorite teacher or something of the sort.

Life has a way of taking us to places we never dreamt about, sometimes good and sometimes bad. Through it all, though, we who walk by faith know that the Lord is guiding our steps if we are truly seeking His will.

When Jesus ascended into heaven with the promise that those still on earth would soon receive the Holy Spirit, it is unlikely the disciples had any idea of what was about to happen to them and with them. Shortly after Jesus returned to heaven, the men and women were gathered in a house, and the Spirit came upon them in a very real and powerful way. As a result, 3000 people came to know Christ that day.

As the ministry continued on, those men and women, now filled with the Spirit, did works and spoke words that changed lives, and daily more and more people came to know Jesus.

Inevitably, the powers that be, opposed to Jesus and to the Church, tried to put a stop to this growing movement within their city. They arrested the apostles, beating them and ordering them not to preach in Jesus’ name. Choosing to obey God instead of men, the apostles and the Church continued their ministry.

Now one of their leaders, Stephen, stands before the Sanhedrin, accused of heresy and blasphemy. Having the appearance of an angel, Stephen began to speak, beginning with the call of Abraham to journey to an unknown land. From there, he proceeded to the ministry God gave to Moses.

Stephen’s speech before the Sanhedrin ended with his proclamation that those who now stood in judgment of him were in fact guilty of betraying the Law and God.

As we come to the conclusion of Stephen’s message, we see how the Holy Spirit uses the moment to begin to spread the Gospel beyond Jerusalem.

Central Truth: The Holy Spirit used Stephen’s death to spread the Gospel.

Stephen’s last testimony (7:54-58)

Stephen’s words recorded in Acts 7:51-58 drew a harsh response from his listeners. The Bible says those who were listening to Stephen became furious and gnashed their teeth at him. You’re familiar with the phrase, “If looks could kill.” That’s what Stephen was seeing now. The rage within the room was palpable, and I can just see the bodies tensing, fists clenched, jaws firmly set and the eyes shooting daggers at the man who dared to speak to Jerusalem’s leaders in such a way. It’s highly unlikely that the room was silent—with the rising fury there must have been an accompanying howl from the crowd. Angry words and epithets were hurled at Stephen as he stood there, waiting to continue. And continue he did.

The whole premise of the Sanhedrin’s opposition was the denial that Jesus had had anything to do with God. In fact, their belief was that Jesus was a servant of the devil. They viewed Jesus and His followers as people who wanted to turn the nation from God’s true way, which was the Sanhedrin’s way. And now Stephen takes one more time to tell them about Jesus.

The Bible says, “Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’” (7:55-56).

I believe it’s important to remember at this point that Jesus had assured His followers that they would never need to fear what they will say or how they will say it when they stand before kings and rulers. He promised them that the Spirit would give them the words to say. This statement from the Bible is a clear example of the promise fulfilled. Stephen, in the midst of the uproar that was created with his previous words, now looks up, probably at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. When he looks up, he sees this vision of God and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. Not keeping this to himself, Stephen proclaims his vision to his accusers.

Stephen’s speech ends with his declaration that Jesus is risen, which is nothing new to the listeners. They’ve heard Peter and James and the other apostles make that proclamation. But Stephen adds a twist to it. Not only is Jesus risen, but He is with God, and is at God’s right hand. The symbolism is obvious to everyone in the room. This Jesus, whom they despise with all their heart, is being proclaimed by Stephen as not only being risen but being at the place of honor in heaven itself. Stephen’s words leave no doubt to anyone listening to him that he sees Jesus as the honored One in heaven.

And this last bit was too much. The previous words had infuriated the crowd; now they were so incensed that they covered their ears and yelled as loudly as they could. The response was for them to try to block out any more of Stephen’s words. They would no longer listen, covering their ears, and they would drown his words out by out-yelling him. And as they did this, they rushed toward Stephen with one idea in mind—kill him.

The Bible doesn’t tell us how Stephen felt in this instance. We know that he had a face like that of an angel when it all began (cf. 6:15), but now, I wonder. A crowd of angry men, screaming at the top of their lungs, running and pushing, straining to get at him. Grabbing him, they began to drag him out of the building, down the streets towards the gates of the city. I imagine the effect must have been terrifying. Stephen must have known he was being dragged to his death. He probably knew what kind of death it would be, but could the crowd control themselves to take him outside the city to stone him?

Having reached the outside of the city, the angry members of the Sanhedrin began to vent their anger toward Stephen by hurling stones at him. I don’t know if you’ve ever had someone throwing stones at you, but if you have, you know they can hurt. Being surrounded by an angry mob with stones at the ready, hurling them with all their might at Stephen, he had nowhere to run, nowhere to turn. There was no escaping the horrific effects of the murderous act taking place.

Luke takes the time in describing the stoning to mention that those who were throwing stones had laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. We will hear more of him as the story progresses, but for now, this is our introduction to someone who would be used by the Holy Spirit to radically transform our world.

Stephen’s last prayer (7:59-60)

The rocks are hurtling toward Stephen, striking him repeatedly. No doubt, some of the stones were carefully aimed, but most of them were probably thrown randomly, only seeking to hit the blasphemer.

From what the Bible says, Stephen was standing as the first stones hit him. Perhaps vs. 59-60 take place as the first stones were being thrown. Knowing what was about to happen—indeed, what was already happening—Stephen did what any person filled with the Holy Spirit would do. He prayed. “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (v. 59).

Stephen’s prayer was a simple prayer. It’s possible that Stephen was remembering Jesus’ prayer from the cross, and wanting to proclaim his faith as Jesus had, Stephen asked Jesus to receive his spirit.

Whether it was the stones or the Spirit, Stephen drops to his knees. As the stones were finding their mark, as others were landing around him, Stephen cries out one more time, again imitating Jesus at the cross: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (v.60).

I marvel at the presence of mind Stephen has. There are people with one intent on their heart, and that is to end his life in a cruel and vicious way. They knew what they wanted to do, and they were doing their best to bring it to pass. Stephen knew this. He knew they were killing him for one reason—his profession of Jesus as the Christ.

And yet, Stephen knew they needed to know Jesus themselves. He knew they were acting out of ignorance and he had it in his heart to forgive them, and to seek God’s forgiveness of them as well.

It’s not easy to do. There are times when people wrong us. Most of the time, they don’t mean to, but sometimes they do. Our natural inclination is to be offended, to be hurt, to be angry. We may want to secretly hope they receive what they’re giving out in double portion, particularly when the hurt is deliberate. But Stephen, as Jesus before, reminds us that God’s will is that we forgive, even as the hurt is being administered.

Luke takes note again of the man named Saul. Even though he doesn’t seem to have taken part in the throwing of the stones, there is no doubt that he had any question about the rightness of the stoning. The Bible says Saul gave approval to the death.

The aftermath (8:1-3)

By all accounts, Stephen had been a stalwart of the church in Jerusalem. He was recognized as being a man in tune with the Holy Spirit. He was filled with the Spirit and with wisdom. He ministered, he preached, he served, all in the name of Jesus Christ. And it got him killed.

Up to this time, the Sanhedrin had been content to beat and threaten. They had reluctantly listened to Gamaliel’s advice for a time, but now that advice was being tossed aside. The anger that burned against Stephen now was poured out upon the Church as a whole.

As Stephen’s stoning was made known, word must have reached the Church quickly. The men of the Sanhedrin had allowed their angry and hatred to pour out upon Stephen, but that wasn’t enough. It was probable that they began yelling angry threats at the Church, and the Church must have been alerted. Men, women and children who worshiped Jesus quickly gathered up their belongings and fled the city, going in every direction. It may be that the angry crowd rushed the Church and, instead of stoning each and everyone one of them, ordered them into exile. We can’t be really sure. The Bible only tells us that the Church was scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, with the apostles being the only ones required to stay.

It may be that the Sanhedrin believed that the apostles were the main threat. Maybe they thought the arrest of the apostles would frighten everyone else. For whatever reason, the Church began to spread. And Jesus’ words were proving true—“You will be My witnesses into Jerusalem, and to Judea and to Samaria, and to the ends of the world.” What the Sanhedrin didn’t realize is that as the men and women of the Church were spread out, they were taking their faith with them, and that faith included the message of redemption, of forgiveness and salvation. Everywhere the church members ended up became a seed that was planted in soil fertile and ready for their message.

When I was little boy, I used to love seeing dandelions growing in various yards. It was so fun to pick up the plant and blow the fluff away. Little did I know that with each puff of air, I was spreading dandelions across the yards of El Paso. That’s one of the ways God planned for the spreading of plant life. Some plants rely on the birds that feed on their seeds to spread them. Others rely on the wind to do the scattering. The Holy Spirit was using the angry persecution to spread the Gospel out from Jerusalem, and the world would never be the same again.

Juxtaposed against this, we are taken back to this Saul character. He had stood by, nodding approval as others threw their stones at Stephen. Now Saul choses to take a leading role in furthering the actions of the angry mob. According to the Bible, Saul set out to destroy the Church. He was methodical in his determination—going from house to house. Wherever he found a follower of Jesus, that person was arrested and imprisoned. This Saul was doing what he could to further God’s will of stamping out this heretical movement that was leading so many good men and women astray.

But God had other plans for Saul, and He had other plans for the sharing of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit was not through spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

How did we get here? Up to this point, the message of the book of Acts is one of triumph and hope, of victory and conviction.

Now, the story has turned ugly, and the mood is ominous. There must have been confusion among the believers. God had been so faithful for these past few months. People were being ministered to, people were coming to the Lord, people were growing in their faith and in their love for God. But now it has turned ugly.

Sometimes, our faith takes us down a path we did not anticipate. Sometimes, we experience things that seems on the surface to be against the message of God’s love and hope. Jesus reminds us we are to stay true, that we mustn’t give up.

And, just as God is using the persecution of His Church in Jerusalem to transform the world, so will He use the trying circumstances in our lives to strengthen and grow our faith and our message.

God is not through with us. And He’s not through with you.