Stephen: A Faith that Advances God’s Kingdom • Acts 6:3-15
By Becky Brown
The context of today’s lesson is set in the days of the early church. I would also press that these were the growth pains of the “infant” church. The apostles were preaching and being bailed out of jail for spreading the gospel. The church was adding members daily. The crowd had become so large that people were being neglected in the various food ministries. The apostles recognized the need and came together with the people to make a decision about how to serve all of the groups.
The answer was to select a group of seven men who would be called “deacons.” This Greek word “diakonos” meant “to raise dust by hastening to serve others.” These seven men were prayed over and sent to do this work. A man named Stephen was placed over the assignment of these daily ministry tasks. Stephen was described as a man full of faith in God and full of the Holy Spirit. God gave Stephen a measure of grace and power. He was doing great wonders and signs among the people.
The natural result of shared ministry and the use of spiritual gifts is growth in the body of believers. Such growth was exponential. Of course, the subsequent result is the enemy of the church will arise and challenge any apparent growth and victory. Stephen found himself on the hot seat. False witnesses were found to challenge his work. They found Stephen to be a Spirit-filled man with great wisdom. He was brought before the Jewish leadership council called The Sanhedrin.
His story didn’t change with the challenge. In great faith and scriptural wisdom, Stephen began to relate the entire story of the Jewish nation as found in the Old Testament scrolls. In perfect detail, Stephen recounted the facts. In my cartoon brain, I could see the council members yawning, acting as if they didn’t need to hear all this.
Stephen spoke of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve sons of Jacob, Joseph as GrainMaster in Egypt, Egyptian bondage, Moses and the Nile River, Moses in the palace in Egypt, Moses in Midian herding sheep, Moses and Aaron delivering God’s word to Pharaoh, the exodus from exile in Egypt, the wilderness wanderings, conquest and settling in Canaan as tribes of Israel, the laws of God, the tabernacle. David’s desire to build the temple in Jerusalem was fulfilled through David’s son Solomon.
It was obvious they recognized Stephen knew whereof he spoke. Things were fine until Stephen began “plowing a bit too close to the corn,” at which point the Jewish leaders got finely tuned up with rage.
Stephen called them “stiff-necked.” He declared them to be “uncircumcised” in heart and ears. This meant they were hard-hearted, refusing to listen. He said they were resisting the calling of the Holy Spirit just as their fathers had done. He accused them of killing the very prophets who were sent by God to reveal the coming of Christ, the Righteous One. Finally, he accused them (rightfully!) of using their religious and political power to betray Christ by having Him hung on the cross to die.
Those men began to cry out against Stephen and covered their ears. They ran him out of the city and stoned him to death. A young man named Saul of Tarsus was the “coat hanger” that day. He held the robes of the men who stoned Stephen. Acts 22:20 proves that Paul (Saul) never forgot the face of Stephen as he died. He confessed that fact to Jesus who had called Paul into service. Paul heard Stephen say, “I see Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Those words marked Paul for life.
My favorite outline of the Book of Acts is:
Jesus Goes Up (Acts 1)
The Holy Spirit Comes Down (Acts 2)
The Believers Go Out! (Acts 3-28)
This lesson on the life of Stephen shows us faith advances the kingdom of God. Stephen’s ministry covers only two chapters in the Book of Acts, a mere 75 verses. However, his life was not lived in vain. As soon as Stephen opened his eyes in that heavenly throne room, God was putting His next plan in play. The church began to be persecuted in earnest. Many were scattered to all parts of the known world. The gospel spread like wildfire. Paul got miraculously saved. “Stephanos” means “crown.” Stephen received his!
Brown leads LittleBrownLight Ministries.
