Apostle Paul

Must be the heat getting to me.

Well, happy Sabbath once again!

Occasionally, I like to give biographies of significant individuals in the Word of God, biblical heroes, so to speak, in the past couple of years. I've spoken on Peter, I've spoken about God the Father, I've spoken about some other characters, and today I would like to talk about a man who is usually recognized as the first martyr in the Church of God, and that was a man named Stephen.

But before I do a little biography on Stephen, I wanted to give you the reason why I think this biography on Stephen is so important. I'd like to read to you a statement from Rutledge's Who's Who in Christianity.

A very interesting book. It is primarily intended for a Protestant audience, and for that reason I wanted to read to you a paragraph that it has under Paul. If you were to look up the Apostle Paul in this book, Who's Who in Christianity? Here's what it says about the Apostle Paul, and I'm just curious if you agree with what this astute scholar says about the Apostle Paul. It says, quote, arguably Paul can be described as the founder of Christianity.

That sound like something you might agree with?

Continuing, it was he who established the network of churches throughout the Roman Empire and his epistles as collected in the New Testament laid the groundwork for subsequent Christian theology. He taught that the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus ushered in a new era in which sin and death no longer holds sway over humanity. Through baptism and faith, Christians can share the new age of love and joy in the Holy Spirit, end of quote. So arguably, can Paul be described as the founder of Christianity?

Some of you may be shaking your heads, but one of the underpinnings of the entire concept of Protestantism, and I'm going to give you a technical word you can go home and google, is something called Paulinianism.

Paulinianism. That is a belief that you use the writings of Paul to interpret everything else in the Bible. You use the writings of Paul to interpret what Jesus really meant when he talked about the law, what Jesus really meant about morality, and that Paul's writings are the ultimate source of understanding what salvation truly is.

So I'd like to ask a question today. Is that true? And the way I'm going to answer that question is to look at the life of a unique individual in the New Testament Church. His name was Stephen. He's known as the first Christian martyr of the Church. And indeed, his personal example and his faith and his courage are an outstanding model of early New Testament Christianity. There's a lot that we can learn in the few short chapters that mention this man. There's a lot that we can learn about him and his beliefs. And unfortunately, all we absolutely know about him is outlined in just a couple of chapters in Scripture. I'm going to ask you to turn there beginning in Acts, chapter 6. We'll go there shortly. Acts chapter 6.

But the two chapters that we're going to read about his life and what he said, what he believed, are packed full of meaning and history. The first thing we need to understand about Stephen is his name is Greek.

And it means crown. And indeed, when you look at his short life, he was a jewel.

He was a crown in the early New Testament Church.

His faith, the gifts that God gave him, were legendary.

So again, his name in Greek means crown. His name implies, of course, that he was a Greek-speaking Jew. He was a Jew who spoke Greek because he did not grow up in Palestine. He grew up in the greater world. Growing up outside of Jerusalem, he had a wide view of the Roman world far outside of Judea, like most of the original disciples would have had. He also would not have accepted the traditions of men that Jesus spoke about in Mark, chapter 7. He would not have believed in the traditions of men that the Pharisees had laid on top of God's law, all the do's and don'ts and the rules to make the Sabbath the burden, and the washings, and all the things that the Pharisees had added to the law would have meant nothing to him because he did not grow up in Judea. Again, he was a Greek-speaking Jew.

According to early church tradition, he may have been a member of the 70 believers that Jesus Christ sent out, as mentioned in Luke, chapter 10, but we can't prove that again. That is just early oral church tradition. His death occurred around 35 to 36 AD. So his death occurred three to four years, somewhere very shortly after Jesus Christ himself died. So these are the earliest stages of the New Testament church that we have recorded.

So let's go to Acts chapter 6 and begin verse 1 and learn more about this unique individual, Stephen.

It says, Now in those days, when the number of disciples was multiplying, that there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Now, a Hellenist was, and I'll read a quote from the Holman's Bible Dictionary, was a person identifying themselves with Greek culture, customs, and language. So they were Jews in religious belief, but they were Greek by language. They didn't speak Hebrew. They didn't speak Aramaic. They spoke Greek, which was the universal language at that time in the world. And because they grew up in the Gentile part of the world, they had Greek customs, and that is their view of the world. Now, why would this problem have occurred? Well, if we were to go back to Acts 4, verse 32, we would see that the early church expected the return of Christ to happen any day now. Any day. And because they were believers, they were greatly persecuted because they believed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Many of the Jewish believers had trouble making a living. Some of them had been ostracized by their families because they accepted Christ as the Messiah. And so they decided to put all things in common. And that's what it says in Acts 4, verse 32. Those who had possession sold their lands and gave it to the disciples. And that helped to finance this large group of believers who were now rather inclusive in their view of the world.

And to support them, people who had jobs, people who had lands, people who had income, would give the income to the apostles, and it would be given to anyone within the group who had a need.

So what occurs? What occurs here is that in these days, that those women, those widows who were Greek-speaking Jews, were not being taken care of.

Why, Mr. Thomas, are you here to tell me that in the early church there are problems?

You bet.

Are you here to tell me that there's complaining going on in the early New Testament church?

I have to ask you, are there human beings in the early New Testament church?

Absolutely. Yes, there are problems. As early as 34-35 AD, there's murmuring going on. There is complaining going on. There are people who feel like they are neglected in the church in 34-35 AD. That is absolutely true. And those who were Greek-speaking widows felt like they were being neglected. They weren't given—it was either food or provision for clothing or whatever, and they just felt slighted. They felt like they were not being taken care of, and this got back to the disciples. Pick it up here in verse 2.

Then to 12, summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Now, it's not that the disciples thought that they were above serving tables or that they were beyond serving the needs of others. It's just that it was not the best use of their time. They had been those who walked with Christ, who were His disciples, and they should be more involved in the preaching of the gospel rather than serving tables. Again, it's not that they somehow were elitist or thought that they were beyond that. It wasn't the best use of their time. Verse 3, therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Wow, those are pretty high requirements, aren't they? But those are the requirements that the Twelve said to the congregation. Seven, of course, is the number of perfection. There are seven days in the week. There are seven annual holy days. I could give you a sermon right now on the number seven and how it is interwoven throughout scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and the power behind the number seven. It is a very powerful biblical number and has great meaning. So they were to choose seven, whom we may appoint over this business.

Verse 4, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Pomenus, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. And of course, we know for those of you that have been baptized and received the laying on of hands, that the laying on of hands is when one receives God's Holy Spirit. In this case, in the case of an ordination, one receives an extra measure of God's Spirit so they can fulfill the office that they are being set aside to. And these seven individuals were beginning to be given a specific office. As a matter of fact, the word serve comes from the root word in which we have deacon. That's where the word serve comes from. These were the original deacons within the Church of God.

Verse 7, in the Word of God spread, the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and many of the priests were obedient to the faith. So even a lot of the Jewish priests were beginning to be called because they could see, first of all, the example of this group of believers, and they accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah. So all seven deacons were chosen, and you know what? They all happened to be, if you look at their names, they were all Greek-speaking Jews, all seven of them. And what does this show? This shows how sensitive the entire Church was to the needs of the Greek widows. They spoke Greek. They were relaxed in a Greek culture, so it only makes sense that those who would communicate with them, those who would take care of their needs, could speak to them in their native language, and were from a similar culture where they could feel relaxed and welcomed and needed and appreciated. And that's exactly what the Church did.

The first name mentioned here I want you to notice is Stephen. This reflects his prominence within the early Church, the fact that he was early recognized for the Church gifts, the gifts that he had to serve the Church. And again in verse 2, the word serve for serve tables comes from the Greek word diaconneo, which means an attendant or someone to wait upon from which we get the word decid today. Now let's drop down to verse 8. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. So here is a man with tremendous gifts. First of all, he is full of faith he is faithful. In his mind, God says it, he believes it, it's as good as done, it's a done deal if God says it. That's faithful. Number two, he's powerful. He had the ability to preach, to change people's hearts and minds. He had the ability to move people to want and desire the kingdom of God. On top of that, he did great signs and wonders among the people so he could perform miracles. He indeed was a very gifted man and a gift to the church of God. Verse 9, then there arose some from what is called the synagogue of freedmen. This was a synagogue of Greek-speaking Jews who formerly had been slaves who were able to either purchase their freedom or earn their freedom from slavery and they all assembled in a synagogue.

And it says, Cyrenians, if you look at the province of the Cyrena, that's in North Africa, it says Alexandrians, these were Egyptian Jews, Alexandria was a city founded by Alexander the Great in Egypt, and those from Cilicia, that's Asia Minor, an area that Paul in Greece, Asia Minor, that Paul would later visit, and Asia, disputing with Stephen. So let me read this again, dropping out those cities. There were some from what is called the synagogue of the freedmen disputing with Stephen. So they would get in a discussion with him. He would go to the synagogue and he would preach the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God, these Greek-speaking Jews. He could speak Greek. They were Greek. They were worshiping on the Sabbath. So he would talk to them. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. He was so convincing, he was so gifted, that they could not refute what he had to say in the synagogue. This is dangerous to the Jewish people. This is very dangerous. First of all, we read in verse 7 how many of the priests were being converted to the faith. You know, it's okay if you are a mindless cult. That's all right. But when you actually start attracting people, then you start getting dangerous. Then you are a problem. So first of all, many of the priests were obedient to the faith. They were coming over and joining the group of believers. And then there was a man like Stephen who was so gifted that those who would discuss things with him were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. So in verse 11 it says, then they secretly induced men to say, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God, and they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. The council here, if you were to look at the original Greek, is the Sanhedrin. It's the leadership of the Jewish people, the Sanhedrin itself. Verse 13, they also set up false witnesses who said, this man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, against the temple. They're saying he's speaking blasphemy against the temple and the law. Verse 14, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and speaking of the temple, and change the customs which Moses delivered to us. And all who sat in the councils of Sanhedrin, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel. So this, first of all, tells us something unique about him. There are slanderous accusations being told about him, and when the council looks at him, do they see a man who's angry? Do they see a man who's rebellious in spirit? When they all look over at him, do they see a man who's got a chip on his shoulder? No, they see a man standing there with a smile on his face, like the face of an angel, relaxed, calm, innocent, just reflecting the glory of God. Quiet, not again, not a rebel, not a troublemaker, not someone who's personally hostile. He's just sitting there looking at him, relaxed as the face of an angel. So the synagogue he visited here has a Greek name, and they were attended by Greek-speaking Jews. And again, I want to emphasize that the Friedman synagogue was one composed of former Jewish slaves. So he's a gifted preacher. He confounds those who argue with him because of his wisdom, and like Jesus Christ himself, some of the Jews conspired to have him killed by bringing false accusers to come against him with a charge of blasphemy.

So he begins his sermon after the high priest here in chapter 7 verse 1. And the high priest said, are these things so? Is it true that you've been blaspheming this place, the temple, that you've been blaspheming our customs? Are these things so? And he said, brethren and fathers, listen, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelled in Haran and said to him, get out of your country and throw from your relatives and come to the land that I will show you. Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelled in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, he moved him into the land in which you now dwell. And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, he promised to give it to him for a possession and to his descendants after him. So the high priest asks the question, and what does Stephen do? Stephen begins a sermon with a history lesson. He's going to give them an oral history of Israel, an oral history of prophecy, an oral history of the attitude of the Jewish people towards anyone that God ever called. He's going to point out a number of facts to that. One, he's going to point out the fact that all great men of God suffered trials and afflictions. That's one point he wants to bring out to them. Number two, he wants to point out to them that throughout history, God's servants and prophets suffered persecution and rejection of the Jewish people. That's the second thing he wants to point out to them. Three, he wants to point out to them that God keeps his promises and he promised a prophet that was greater than Moses and that prophet was Jesus Christ, whom they rejected. And four, he wants to point out that Jesus Christ was the just one that was foretold in Scripture. So these are the things that he's going to point out. Let's read his history lesson beginning in verse 6. Acts 7 and 6. It says, but God spoke in this way, that is descendants who would dwell in a foreign land and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them 400 years. And indeed, Israel was oppressed in Egypt for 400 years before they were freed. Verse 7. And the nation to whom they will be in bondage, I will judge, said God, and after that they shall come out and serve me in this place. Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and so Abraham begot Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs, and the patriarchs becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. He's saying, hint, hint, a problem with our people from the earliest times are envy against those who God is working with. Envious. But God was with him, verse 10, and delivered him out of his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt, and all his house. Now a famine and great trouble came over the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he set out our fathers first, and the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. Verse 14, then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob, and all of his relatives to him seventy-five people. So it all starts with seventy-five people by the time that Joseph's entire family comes to Egypt. By the time they leave Egypt, there's about two and a half million of them. They certainly knew how to be fruitful and multiply, didn't they? Verse 15.

So Jacob went down to Egypt, and he died, and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem.

Now, at this point, this may just seem like a nice history, but Stephen is setting them up to pronounce some very powerful judgments against them. He's showing that God kept all of his promises to Abraham. God promised this land, he said, and you're here today because of those promises. He also subtly shows how envious and resentful the brothers of Joseph were to those whom God was working with, and that was Joseph. He is hinting to his audience that they also had this trade against Jesus Christ in himself. Now, let's go back to verse 17.

But when the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose who did not know Joseph. This man dwelt treacherously with our people and oppressed our fourth fathers, making them expose their babies so that they might not live. At this time, Moses was born and was well pleasing to God, and he was brought up in his father's house for three months, and when he was set out, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. Verse 22, and Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. Now, when he was 40 years old, it came to his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. So Moses now grew up in Egypt. He considers himself an Egyptian. He understands. He comes to the point where he realizes he's really a Hebrew, and he decides to visit his people, 40 years old. What kind of welcome is he going to get when he decides to help his people? Verse 24, and seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. Verse 26, and the next day, he appeared to two of them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them, saying, men, your brethren, why do you wrong one another? But he who did this neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, quote, who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday? So again, what is Stephen hinting at? Every time God tried to call someone, we, as a Jewish people, rejected them. Every time God tried to work mightily through an individual, we rebuffed them. So he shows the Sanhedrin how resentful the Hebrews were against Moses, just like the brother of Joseph's brother of Joseph had been towards Joseph himself.

They were always spiteful and contentious towards those whom God was working through. Verse 29, let's pick it up here. Then at this thing, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons and when 40 years had passed, though he was 40 years old when he came to himself in Egypt and killed in Egyptian, trying to protect one of the Israelites, another 40 years passed while he's in Midian, looking at sheep, stepping on sheep droppings for 40 years.

That's lots of time to think about your life, isn't it? About why? What was all this Egypt stuff about? Why did I spend 40 years in Egypt? And what, if anything, is God preparing me for? So he's 80 years old. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, and when Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight, and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

And Moses trembled and dared not look. Then the Lord said to him, Take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand as holy ground. I've surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt. I've heard their groaning and have come down to the liver them and now come. I will send you to Egypt. I've earlier talked about the importance of the number seven. You know that the number 40 is the number of trial and testing.

First of all, Moses spends his first 40 years in Egypt before he really comes to himself and has to flee the land of wealth and luxury and the comfort that he had lived. Then he spends 40 years in this desert land of Midian, but if you look throughout the scriptures, what do you find that Jesus did for 40 days and 40 nights before he confronted Satan himself? He fasted. He went without food and water for 40 days and 40 nights. Again, 40 is the number of testing and trials. So according to Stephen, again, Moses was 80 years old when he saw God in the burning bush and in spite of his age, God was not through working with Moses because he had a special mission for him.

Let's fade up in verse 35 and see how well received Moses was by the people. This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, who made you a ruler and a judge, is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness 40 years.

So they were in the wilderness 40 years. What is 40? It is the number of trial and testing, 40 years before they entered the promised land. Verse 37, This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren him you shall hear.

More appropriately translated, when this happens, listen to him. When God raises up that prophet, stop and listen to what that prophet has to say. Verse 38, this is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai. Again speaking referring to Moses. And with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give us whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected.

And in their hearts, they turned back to Egypt. He says their attitudes hint hint like yours. He says to his audience, their attitudes stunk. They had this outward show of being religious, but in their hearts, they had already gone back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, make us gods to go before us.

As for Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. And they made a cap in those days offered sacrifices to the idol and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Just like the Pharisees and the Jews were rejoicing in the works of their own hands, this physical temple that had been built, all of these added laws on the God's Ten Commandments, all of these added rituals onto God's beautiful law to make it a burden, they were rejoicing in the works of their own hands.

So, Stephen strongly emphasizes how the nation rejected Moses, how it persecuted him and often disobeyed God. Now, as we go to verse 42, we'll see that he'll quote from the book of Jeremiah here in verse 42 and from Amos in verse 43. So, he was very knowledgeable of the prophets. Verse 42, Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven as it is written in the book of the prophets. Did you offer me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during the forty years in the wilderness?

O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your God, Rephan, images which you made to worship. And I will carry you away beyond Babylon. And sure enough, they eventually went into captivity. Verse 44, Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness. And he appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David.

So, what is he saying here? He's saying that there was no temple. He's saying, you make a big deal about this temple, this place, this temple, as if it's something to be idolized, as if it's something to be worshiped. He said, in most of the history of our people, there was no temple. Abraham didn't have a temple.

Joseph didn't have a temple. Ancient Israel had a tabernacle. They didn't have a temple when they were in the wilderness and entered the Promised Land. So, he's saying, all of your obsession about the glory of the temple. He says, your problem is you worship the temple instead of worshiping God. So, you can begin to see their cackles rising a little bit. Continuing. Until the days of David, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him a house. Verse 48, however, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says. Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. What house will you build for me, says the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest? Has my hand not made all these things?

Now, he's starting to border on very dangerous ground. At this point, Stephen makes similar comments like Jesus did regarding the destruction of the temple in Matthew 24. Jesus said, because he said, did you see this place referring to the temple? He said, there's not going to be one stone sitting on top of another. Why? Because Jesus knew that in 70 AD, the Jews would rebel against the Romans. The Romans would come in and demolish the temple and play havoc on Jerusalem. As I've told you before, it was so gruesome that before they impaled thousands and thousands of Jews, they impaled them and light them on fire. And at night time, Jerusalem looked like daylight. There were so many human torches that the Romans left behind after they conquered Jerusalem. Jesus, of course, being the Son of God, could foresee in the future in a generation or so beyond the time he spoke when it would occur. So these comments that Stephen makes about the temple's upsetting to the Jewish leadership, he's implying the temple is limited and the temple is temporary and the temple is not the center of faith. That God, Jesus Christ, is the center of faith. I want you to notice in most of Stephen's oral history lesson, the Israelites could not worship God or could worship God without a temple because the temple didn't exist. He shows how God was worshipped before the actual temple and he implies that it's not necessary to have a temple to worship God. And this upset them because they revered the temple. They looked at it as the center of Judaism. Now he's going to say something, some very strong words that ultimately will cost him his life. Beginning in verse 51, he says, you stiff-necked, which is an old English word for you stubborn, lack of humility, carnal, selfish people, and unconverted in heart and ears, you always reject the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the just one, referring to Jesus Christ, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it. He says, you talk about the law, you are murderers, you have all violated the law. So, very powerful words that they don't want to hear. They are told that just like the Hebrew people that he just mentioned in his oral history, who persecuted Joseph, his brothers, who persecuted Moses, who persecuted the prophets that God would send along, that just like them, they're doing the same thing, first of all, to the just one who was Jesus Christ and to his believers. Verse 54, when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and they gnashed at him with their teeth. The new Revised Standard Version says, and when they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. Have you ever become so angry that your teeth would grind? I have a couple of times in my life and it hurt. I mean, when you literally, when you come so enraged that you clip your teeth down, they grind against each other, it is very painful. But this is how enraged they were. This is what we call today a mob mentality.

Verse 55, but he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God. And Jesus standing at the right hand of God and said, look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears and ran at him with one accord and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit.

Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with this sin.

And when he had said this, he fell asleep. So the council was enraged in what they perceived and they defined in their own minds as blasphemy. And aside from Christ himself, Stephen is the only person in the New Testament to refer and use the phrase, the Son of Man. Jesus used that phrase to refer to himself. The only other one in the Bible, in the New Testament, could use that phrase about Christ here is Stephen. And it basically means the anointed Messiah. Everyone knew what that was a catchphrase. That was a coin term for someone who was an anointed Messiah sent by God. He said that they had killed them. Now Acts chapter 8 and verse 1, now Saul later to become the Apostle Paul after conversion, now Saul was consenting to his death. And at that time, a great persecution arose against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Saul is about 30 years old at this time. It's about 30 years old when a rabbi would begin his ministry. And Saul, at this point in his life, is recognized as a Jewish religious leader, highly respected in the Jewish community. And it's felt that the tremendous faith and courage of Stephen that he witnessed would later on have an effect on his life. Not right away because he would go on a tear and he would persecute the believers. But it is believed that because of the faith, the humility, the demeanor of Stephen through this entire episode, that he was greatly impressed and that God would be able to work with him. Let's go down to Acts chapter 8, beginning in verse 2. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

So the death of Stephen actually caused the gospel to spread to the world because of the persecution that was caused. The church was scattered. There is a moral to this story. And here's the moral to the story. The moral to the story is that God's people, when they get in their comfort zones and are not doing his will, which is to preach the gospel, that God will allow them to be scattered, to wake them up and get serious about their calling. Let me read the moral one more time. The moral is this. If God's people are in their comfort zones and not doing his will, when they're too focused on properties, when they're too focused on things that they shouldn't be focused on and are not doing his will, he will scatter them to wake them up to get serious about their calling. That's the moral of this story. About 20 years later, if you go to Acts 22, I want to read an event that happened in Paul's life 22 years later, about 20 years later. This is between 55 and 57 AD. This is Paul, long after his conversion. He's telling a story to a Jerusalem audience about his conversion. Yogi Berra once said, Deja vu, all over again. Well, it's about almost 20 years exactly after the death of Stephen. And here's the apostle Paul, and he went to the temple to perform a ritual, and some people recognized him, and they confronted him, and a mob is gathered. And he is giving them a sermon, and this is near the end of it. He's telling about a conversion. Acts 22, verse 11. And since he says, I could not see the glory of that light, he's talking about the road to Damascus, his conversion, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came to Damascus. Then a certain Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having good testimony with all the Jews dwelt there, came to me, and he stood, and he said to me, Brothers Saul, receive your sight, and at the same hour I looked up at him. So Paul is saying he was healed. Verse 14. Then he said, he's continuing a sermon now, God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know his will and see the just one. Interesting, because that's the same phrase that Stephen used in his sermon. And here, the voice of his mouth, for you will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard, and now why are you waiting? Await and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Paul continues, referring to his conversion. Now, it happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple that I was in a trance and I saw him saying to me, Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning me. So I said, Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I was also standing by, consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.

And he said to me, this is the trance, the park, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles. So the apostle accepts the fact that he was partly responsible for the death of Stephen.

So he's talking to a crowd in Jerusalem, it's 20 years later. Is their reaction going to be any different than what we saw earlier? Verse 22, and they listened to him until this word, and this word was, Martyr Stephen. They didn't like that this word, and they raised their voices and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live. Then they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust in the air. The commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks and said that he should be examined under scourging. The only difference between this episode and Stephen's is that there were Roman military guards nearby. So they decide they're going to take Paul and they're going to scourge him. You know what scourging is? You know it was a pretty brutal whipping. Usually they would take bones and tie bone into the end of leather thongs when they would whip you. It was very painful. It was mutilating. That he should be examined under scourging so that he might know why they shouted so against him. And as they bowed him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, It's unlawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and unconvemed. Now, if you were a Roman citizen, you could not be beaten without a trial. You could not be scourged without a trial. So this obviously shook up the Roman. Verse 26, And when the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander. So he goes up to the man next in level saying, Take care of what you do for this man as a Roman.

Then the commander came and said, Niamh, tell me, are you a Roman? And he said, yes, and we'll stop the story right there. But the point is that the people had not changed, had they? It might be another generation. It might be different faces out in the crowd. But the response was still the same. 20 years after Stephen was murdered, Paul would have been murdered as well if it were not for the fact that he was protected by Roman military guards.

Well, we've reviewed Stephen's model example. And I'd like to ask a few important questions.

There was a method to my madness to go through the story of Stephen, obviously. Have you ever heard of the book All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten? By Robert Fulgham. Ever heard of that book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten?

It's a book in which he basically says all that he ever needed to know about life that he learned in his kindergarten class. Be nice to others. Put away your toys when done. Every day, drink a little milk and cookies. Take a nap. I mean, just simple things that are kind of cute. But he wrote a book about this. Well, I'd like to give you my version of All I Ever Needed to Know about Salvation that I Learned from Stephen. All I ever needed to know about salvation I learned from Stephen. So let's begin. Was Stephen converted with God's Holy Spirit?

Well, obviously he was. The answer is yes. Chapter 6, verse 5 states that, quote, he was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He used God's Spirit to perform wonders and miracles according to Scripture. His fruits of love and forgiveness, especially at the end of his life, when he said, God, don't hold this sin towards them. It shows a wonderful spirit and attitude in his life. And again, verse 55 states that he was full of the Holy Spirit. Okay, let's go to the next question. Did Stephen achieve salvation and sonship in the kingdom of God? Well, the answer would be yes. At the time of his murder, he was giving a unique vision that I don't know of any other man who's ever experienced. He saw a vision. He saw the very throne of God. It opened up. The heavens opened up. And Jesus Christ was at the right hand of the Father. I've never read about a pope who saw that vision on his deathbed. Martin Luther did not see that vision on his deathbed.

John Wesley did not see that vision on his deathbed. I don't know of any other man. I've never read about any other man who saw that vision on their deathbed or at the point of death. What greater confirmation could God give him was that he would receive salvation and sonship in the kingdom of God?

Let's ask another question. Was Stephen under the old covenant or the new covenant? Well, he was under the new covenant. He understood that our Messiah and Savior Jesus Christ was the messenger of the new covenant. In his sermon to the Jewish Council, he obviously recognized that Jesus Christ was the future prophet that Moses had spoken of. He referred to Jesus Christ as the just one. He looked to Christ as his Savior, as his Messiah who shed blood, made him just in the eyes of his Father. He referred to Jesus Christ as the just one. He referred to Christ as the son of man. And the fact that he didn't even hate those who were stoning him shows the spiritual intent of God's commandments were written on his heart. He truly was a remarkable man. Let's ask another question. Did Stephen have access to the New Testament scriptures? The answer to that question is no. Every knowledgeable scholar and historian agrees that the books or the letters of the New Testament were not yet written. The only scriptures yet available to him are what we call the Old Testament. Now, I'm certainly not putting down the New Testament. I believe it is the inspired word of God. I read from it all the time. You may have noticed that I often quote from the New Testament, including today. But we need to understand that for salvation, it wasn't even necessary for an early believer to have access to the New Testament. They have access to the history of what the Messiah Jesus Christ had said and taught. That's what is important for salvation. The knowledge of the teachings and the life in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Let me ask you another question.

Did Stephen obey the Ten Commandments, observed the Seventh-day Sabbath and the Holy Days?

Well, the answer obviously is yes, because he was a believing Greek-speaking Jew. He followed the example of his Savior, Jesus Christ, and being a follower of Jesus like the other disciples at this time. It respected the Ten Commandments. He observed the Seventh-day Sabbath and the Holy Days, including Pentecost. There is no scholar that I'm aware of or historian who would say that any believer in 35 AD would have done anything differently than this. Let me ask another question. Did Stephen believe in the Trinity or heaven as the abode of the dead?

Did Stephen observe a First-day Sabbath on Sunday? Or did he observe Christmas or Easter?

Well, the answer to that question is no, because virtually every scholar and historian agree that the early Church did not observe these doctrines since they were acquired by the Church at various later dates in Church history. These things would have been totally unknown to the believers of Jesus Christ in 35 AD. Let me ask another question. Excuse me. Did Stephen have access to any of the writings of Paul or have a discussion with the Apostle Paul after his conversion? I'll be again quote from this esteemed book. Would Stephen have believed, quote, arguably Paul can be described as the founder of Christianity? Did he lay the groundwork for subsequent Christian theology? He taught that the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus ushered in a new era in which sin and death no longer hold sway over humanity. Through baptism and faith, Christians can share in the new age of love and joy in the Holy Spirit. Do you think Stephen would have agreed with that? Well, the answer to that is no. Stephen died before Paul was ever converted. He never read a single epistle that Paul wrote.

Saul was a witness of Stephen's death and Stephen obviously died before the letters of Paul were ever put on parchment. Again, I don't please, I don't want you to misunderstand me. Don't get me wrong. I'm not minimizing the inspired writings of the Apostle Paul. I believe that the New Testament is part of the complete scriptures inspired by God along with the Old Testament. My point is that one cannot point to anyone's writings from the New Testament and say that by those writings, you have to define the rest of scripture. You have to define the teachings of Jesus Christ. You have to define what salvation is because that simply is a lie as presented by the very life and death of Stephen himself. That's my point. Is there any indication, another question, that Stephen's salvation was somehow limited or insufficient because he didn't interpret scriptures through the writings of Paul? Well, the answer to that question is no. Stephen's salvation and his example are as valid and as sure as any other Christian who ever lived. As I said before, I don't know of anyone else who on their deathbed saw the heavens opened and Jesus Christ himself standing at the right-hand side of God. Many ignorant people professing Christianity claimed that Paul was called to expound, to modify the plain teachings of Jesus and these poor early Jewish believers and nothing could be further from the truth. Paul's mission was to bring the gospel to the Gentiles and part of his mission included clearly separating the teachings of Christ from the teaching of Jewish traditions and its overemphasis on works as a means of achieving righteousness. Paul did not change or modify or found the Christian Church. One final scripture as we end the sermon today. One final scripture, John 14, verse 6. If you will turn with me here.

Here is the right way to process what the scriptures say. Here is the proper founder of Christianity. Here is the very one who everything should be interpreted through his teachings and his writings and not through polymyism. John 14, verse 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

So, brethren, let's stick to the trunk of the tree. Let's cling to and interpret scriptures by the very one himself who said that he was the way, the truth, and the life. And not fall prey to the traditions and the history of so-called Christianity today and interpret the word of God through the writings of a mere man. Let's not make that mistake because if you do that, you most certainly will stumble and go into error. Thank you. Have a wonderful Sabbath.