“Stephen’s Martyrdom”

(Acts 7:51-60)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
1. Stephen, as you know, stands charged with blasphemy.
a. In the Jewish mind, to say the Temple and Ceremonial Law were no longer
necessary, is to impugn Moses.
b. To impugn Moses is to blaspheme God who gave Moses the Law and the
directions for the Temple.
c. And to blaspheme God is to warrant the death penalty.

2. Stephen has argued his innocence.

a. He hasn’t blasphemed Moses or God, but honored them both through the
preaching of the Gospel, because Jesus is the fulfillment.
b. The Council, on the other hand, has blasphemed God, just like their fathers,
in rejecting Jesus: the One the Temple, the Ceremonial Law and Moses were
all pointing to.

B. Preview.
1. This evening, we see the conclusion of the trial.
a. Rather than trying to win friends and influence people, Stephen is resolved to
honor God by nailing the charges down and making them stick, in the hopes
they would see and repent.
b. This, of course, infuriates the Jews, who refuse to repent and hand down a
guilty verdict.
c. They then take Stephen out and stone him to death, and in doing so,
interestingly enough, they bestow on Stephen the greatest honor a Christian
can ever receive: to be martyred for the Lord Jesus Christ.
d. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for
his friends” (John 15:13).
e. Stephen shows His Lord the greatest act of love possible in this life: he lays
down his life for Him.

2. This evening, we’ll look at two things:

a. Stephen’s final charge against the Jews.
b. Stephen’s martyrdom.

II. Sermon.
A. First, Stephen’s final indictment against the Jews.
1. They were willing to listen patiently to Stephen’s OT review, not really seeing
the implications too clearly of what he was driving at. But now he nails his
accusation down: they are just like their fathers in resisting God’s Holy Spirit
and disobeying God’s Law. “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised
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in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your
fathers did” (v. 51).
a. They, like their fathers, were stubborn, willful, stiff-necked/hard hearted.
b. They would not listen to God as He called them to repent.
c. This is because they were uncircumcised in their heart and ears.
(i) They were, in other words, unconverted.
(ii) These images refer to the condition of their souls with respect to grace:
Their hearts were not moved by God’s commandments; their ears were not
open to listen and submit.

d. Because they were unconverted, they resisted the Holy Spirit: The same
thing any unconverted do.
(i) Their fathers resisted the Spirit when He spoke through the prophets.
(ii) The Council was doing the same – turning a deaf ear to the Spirit when
He spoke through Jesus and through the apostles.
(iii) They resisted the work of the Spirit on their conscience and hardened
their hearts to His conviction.
(iv) We know something of what this is like: our flesh strives against the
Spirit, making it difficult to do what we want.
(v) But there was no struggle in them, only resistance.

2. Like their fathers, they persecuted and killed those whom God sent to them.
“Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those
who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose
betrayers and murderers you have now become” (v. 52).
a. Instead of honoring the prophets who told them about the coming of the
Christ, they persecuted them.
b. And like their fathers who persecuted the prophets, they persecuted and
betrayed the Messiah:
(i) They hired Judas to betray Him.
(ii) They forced Pilate to condemn Him.
(iii) They were His betrayers and murders.
(iv) They were the true sons of their fathers.
(v) Which is why Jesus said all the guilt of the blood of all the righteous shed
on earth would fall on them (Matt. 23:34-36).

3. Their fathers had also rejected His Law, and would not submit to it, while they,
acting like their fathers, rejected His Gospel – they would not repent and
believe, and submit to it. “You who received the law as ordained by angels, and
yet did not keep it” (v. 53).
a. The Law was given through angels – apparently they had something to do
with the events of that day (Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2).
(i) This gave honor to the Law and the Lawgiver, and should have increased
the Jews’ respect for both.
(ii) But they broke that Law even before they received it (in the episode of
the golden calf – a capital offense) and many times afterward.
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b. Now they had received the Gospel by the grace and mercy of God, not by
angels, but by the Holy Spirit, and they would not submit to that either, so as
to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
(i) Again acting as their fathers, many of whom were destroyed for their
blasphemies against God.
(ii) Stephen would perhaps have said more, but they stopped him:
(a) He wisely kept back his conclusions earlier, leaving them to make
inferences as to where he was headed with his defense.
(b) But now he nails it down and makes it painfully clear:
(1) Not a very wise thing to do, if all you’re concerned about is saving
your life.
(2) But wise, if it’s the Lord you want to please.

B. This leads us to the next point: Stephen’s honoring of Christ and His Gospel by
sealing his testimony with his blood.
1. First, we see the sin of his persecutors: “Now when they heard this, they were
cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him” (v. 54).
a. What Stephen said pierced them to the heart.
(i) They were enraged that his words exposed their sins. They couldn’t
argue against him.
(ii) Before, he appeared to them as an angel, but now as a devil. Darkness
hates the light, hates reproof, hates to have its sins exposed (John 3:20).
(iii) Their gnashing of teeth at him showed the intensity of their anger.

b. They cried out with a loud voice (v. 57):

(i) To express their anger, to incite others to anger, and to keep him from
speaking any further.
(ii) The same thing happens on a lesser scale when trying to tell someone
about Christ, they continually interrupt, talk, are rude, hoping to keep you
from saying anything further.

c. They covered their ears:

(i) As a pious sign that they didn’t want to hear anymore of Stephen’s
blasphemy, especially as he told them he saw the Son of Man standing at
the right hand of God.
(ii) Caiaphas tore his clothes when Jesus told him that he would see Him
sitting at the right hand of God and coming on the clouds of heaven (Matt.
26:64).
(iii) They didn’t want to listen any more; they rejected him and his message,
and in doing so rejected Christ one more time.
(iv) Again they revealed that God’s judgment was on them – as Jesus said –
for He left their eyes blind and their ears deaf, lest they see and hear and
be converted (Mark 4:12-13).
(v) This showed that Stephen’s indictment was correct: they were
uncircumcised in heart and ear.
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d. They rushed upon him with one impulse:

(i) They cast him out of the city and stoned him, having given him the death
sentence for blasphemy (vv. 57-58).
(ii) Moses wrote, “Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord
shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him.
The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be
put to death” (Lev. 24:16).
(iii) This is the same judgment they passed on Christ (Matt. 26:65).

e. The hands of the witnesses were the first against him, according to the Law
(Lev. 24:14; Deu. 13:9): “When they had driven him out of the city, they
began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a
young man named Saul” (v. 58).
(i) This is how they would confirm their testimony against him.
(ii) And since stoning was hard work, they took off their garments, and
notice, they laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.
(a) We considered earlier that he might have been one of those involved
in the argument with Stephen that led to his arrest (6:9).
(b) Now we see him consenting to Stephen’s death (Act 22:20).

f. They sinned by wickedly putting a man to death who spoke the truth to them,
merely because they didn’t want to repent and amend their ways.
g. Is it any wonder that the Lord was going to take the kingdom away from
them and give it to a people that would produce its fruits? (Matt. 21:43).
h. And so we see the great sin of the Jews against Stephen and against God and
His Christ.

2. Second, we see how much grace the Lord had blessed Stephen with: Peter
writes, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which
comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening
to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on
rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with
exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because
the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” (1 Pet. 4:12-14).
a. First, we see the communion he had in these moments with Christ.
(i) Christ revealed Himself to Stephen to comfort him.
(ii) While they were filled with hatred against him, he was filled with the
Spirit and saw Christ: “But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently
into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand
of God” (v. 55).
(a) He wasn’t looking at his persecutors, but to heaven; not for a way to
escape, but to Jesus for strength to face what he was about to face.
(b) If our heart is in heaven, then we won’t fear leaving this world, but
will even look forward to it, as Paul will later (Phil. 1:21-23).
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(c) He looked to heaven to direct the glory and honor of this moment to
Christ, and submitted to what the Lord had for him.
(d) He knew he was going to die and so he did what every saint should do
at that time, look toward heaven. The Spirit gave him the strength to
do so.
(e) He saw heaven opened before him and the glory of God revealed to
him.
(f) He saw some representation of God, perhaps to show him the glory
and happiness that was ahead of him, so that he might cheerfully face
death. We may only see this through the eyes of faith.
(g) He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God: the One who became
man, died, rose, ascended, now glorified and standing at the place of
honor.
(1) Instead of seeing what Ezekiel or Isaiah saw – the Lord with angels
– Stephen saw God with Jesus, who has far greater glory.
(2) This is the proof of His exaltation – which the Jews hated to hear.

(h) And notice, He wasn’t sitting, but standing.

(1) It may be His readiness to help Stephen, to receive him, to give him
the crown of life.
(2) This gave him the courage he needed to face his execution. If
Christ is for him, who could be against him?
(3) Christ was strengthened by an angel before His crucifixion, but
Stephen by the Lord Jesus. There can be no greater comfort.

(iii) He spoke about what he saw, which convicted them even further: “He
said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at
the right hand of God’” (v. 56).
(iv) Stephen called out on Him as they were stoning him. “They went on
stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit!’” (v. 59).
(a) Stephen did not hate Jesus because of what he was going through.
(b) He accepted it and called on Him to give him the strength to endure it.
(c) He was rejected by the Jews, but he was not rejected by God.
(d) If the world rejects you for following Jesus, realize the Lord won’t
forsake you.

(v) He asked the Lord to receive his spirit (v. 59):

(a) This is the same prayer Jesus prayed.
(b) We need to commit our lives to Him, how much more our souls to
Him when we die?
(c) He is the One who makes us acceptable to God?
(d) His soul was his concern, not his body – which was bruised and
broken – as long as his soul was safe, he wasn’t concerned about his
body.
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(e) Paul tells us that if this earthly tent is torn down, we have a building
eternal in the heavens (2 Cor. 5:1).
(f) His receiving our souls at death is what we need to be most concerned
about; this will also bring us the greatest comfort in life.

b. Finally, we see God’s grace in his life as he prays for his persecutors.
(i) He knelt down to pray – showing his humility – and he cried with a loud
voice – which showed his earnestness. “Then falling on his knees, he
cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them!’
Having said this, he fell asleep” (v. 60).
(a) He prayed that the Lord might not charge them with the guilt of his
death, following the example of Jesus, who prayed, “Father, forgive
them; for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34).
(b) He was preaching to them in his prayers, a sermon about forgiveness.
(c) He did not want revenge, but mercy.
(d) If they would repent, they would have mercy, but if not, then this
would greatly aggravate their judgment.
(e) “‘Do you think,’ saith St. Austin, ‘that Paul heard Stephen pray this
prayer? It is likely he did and ridiculed it then . . . but afterwards he
had the benefit of it, and fared the better for it.’” (Henry).

(ii) With this, Stephen fell asleep.

(a) Not soul sleep, but his body to await the resurrection, while his soul
went to be with the Lord.
(b) It is a blessing to die doing the Lord’s will, especially doing what is
most difficult, loving and praying for your enemies.
(c) May the Lord give us the grace to face death as Stephen did, as our
Lord Jesus did.
(d) May He give us the grace to serve Him in life and to honor Him in our
death. Amen.