Acts 7

Thursday Evening Bible Study

October 17, 2013

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?

Need 4300 to 4700 words.

We started last week to look at the life of one of the “deacons”, one of the servants of the church, Stephen.

Even though his ministry at church was “waiting on tables”, God used Stephen to do miracles and speak boldly about his faith.

Stephen has now been arrested and brought before the Jewish leaders on very serious charges.

7:1-8 Stephen’s Defense: Abraham

:1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

:1 Are these things so?

Here’s what they’ve accused Stephen of:

(Ac 6:13–14 NKJV) —13 They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”

Stephen will now begin his own defense.

He is going to give these Jewish leaders a history lesson, showing how they have a habit of rejecting the wrong people.
Right now they are rejecting Stephen and his testimony.
Even worse, the leaders have rejected Jesus as their Messiah.
He starts by going back to the roots of Israel, the call of Abraham by God.

:2 And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,

Play Ur to Israel map clip.

Abraham actually started his journey back in the land of Ur, then went to Haran, then followed God to the land we now call Israel.

:3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’

:3 ‘Get out of your country

Stephen is quoting from Genesis 12:1

(Ge 12:1 NKJV) Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.

Lesson

A man of His word

I hope you are beginning to see that as we go through the book of Acts, the people that God is going to use are people who are grounded in God’s word.
Too many people base their faith on “what they think is true”.
They will say things like, “Well I don’t think that God would send people to hell”.

I have to tell you that when you stand before God, you aren’t going to be judged based on your opinion.  Your opinion doesn’t count.  God wants to know if you’ve done what He asks.

He has told us what is true and what is false. It’s all in His word.

You are going to watch Stephen give a pretty lengthy defense, all based on things in God’s word.
God’s Word is what makes us “equipped” for life.
(2 Ti 3:16–17 NKJV) —16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
We also have the advantage of the Holy Spirit to teach us God’s word and help us remember what we need to remember.
(Jn 14:26 NKJV) But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

:3 to a land that I will show you

Abraham is often called “the father of the faith”, because he was a man of faith.

He was a man who trusted God, even when he didn’t know where he was going, or how things would turn out.
God didn’t lay out before Abraham a big travel brochure with color pictures. He didn’t have to sign a contract with Abraham promising him a certain salary per year. He just said “go”.

Lesson

Trusting when you don’t see

We all struggle when we don’t understand what’s going on.
That’s what faith is all about, trusting in the unseen.
It’s kind of like Indiana Jones’ “leap of faith”.

Play Indiana Jones Leap of Faith clip.

Paul wrote,
(2 Co 5:7 NKJV) For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Sometimes you have to take steps, even when you don’t see where to go.

The writer of Hebrews says,
(Heb 11:8 NKJV) By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Sometimes we go through difficult times for the very purpose of refining our faith.
(1 Pe 1:6–7 NKJV) —6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Is your trust in God based on things going well in your life?
God wants us to be able to trust Him even when things are rough.
You may be tempted to think that God no longer loves you because things are rough.

We base our faith on God’s word, not on our circumstances. God’s word says,

(Ro 8:32 NKJV) He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

If God loves us so much that He gave His Son for us, don’t you think that God will do what is right in your circumstance?

You can trust Him even when you can’t see what He’s doing.

:4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.

:5 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.

:6 But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years.

: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.’

:6 his descendants would dwell in a foreign land

This promise was in Genesis 15:13-14, the promise that Abraham’s ancestors would one day be in Egypt.

(Ge 15:13–14 NKJV) —13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

:8 Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

Stephen is simply setting the stage for the argument of his defense, reminding the Jewish leaders of their own history.

7:9-16 Israel in Egypt

:9 “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him

:10 and delivered him out of all 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.

:9 becoming envious, sold Joseph

Joseph would one day become a great ruler. He would one day save his family (and the world) from a great famine, but before that happened, Joseph was rejected by his brothers.

Jesus is the greatest ruler. He has saved His people. He was rejected.
Jesus was also betrayed because of envy. (Mark 15:10)
(Mk 15:10 NKJV) For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.

:11 Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance.

:12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

:13 And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh.

:14 Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people.

:15 So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers.

:16 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, the father of Shechem.

7:17-36 Moses

:17 “But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt

:18 till another king arose who did not know Joseph.

:17 the time of the promise drew near

Abraham had been promised that the people would be in Egypt for 400 years. That’s about over.

:18 another king arose who did not know Joseph

Stephen is quoting from Exodus 1:8

(Ex 1:8 NKJV) —8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

A new dynasty of Pharaohs arose who didn’t know or care about the legacy of the Jews in Egypt.

:19 This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.

:19 expose their babies

The Pharaoh was concerned that the Israelites might revolt against them and ordered that all baby boys be thrown into the Nile River.

:20 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.

:21 But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son.

Moses’ parents put him in a basket, floated in the river, had his sister Miriam watch the basket, and Pharaoh’s daughter saw the basket and took the child as her own.

:22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.

:23 “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.

:23 to visit his brethren

visitepiskeptomai – “to look upon”.

Even though it often carries the idea of visiting those in need, there is a sense in which the word literally means “to look down upon”.

It’s possible that Moses may have had a subtle “superior” attitude. After all, he’s now had the benefit of having lived in Pharaoh’s house, being a son to Pharaoh’s daughter, having received all this wonderful education, and now it’s time to go out and visit the poor under-privileged people.

It seems that Moses knew he had to come down from his exalted place to help the people, but I kind of wonder if God had to take Moses down a little farther than Moses had planned.

At forty years old, Moses thought he was God’s gift to the world.
Moses was mighty in words and deeds, but the problem was that his education was all Egyptian.
It took him forty years to be educated in the world’s ways of deliverance, but it took another forty years in God’s school of the desert until he was ready for God’s ways of deliverance.
By eighty years old, he didn’t think he was good for anything. Yet that was when God could use him.

Lesson

Learning real humility

Don’t settle with the half-way humility.
If you still get bothered by having to do the little, insignificant jobs because you’re too good for it, you’re not there yet. If you’re too good of a teacher to waste it on the Children’s Ministry, you may have to spend some time in God’s “seminary in the desert”.
(1 Pe 5:5–6 NKJV) —5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
Spurgeon said: “Success exposes a man to the pressure of people and thus tempts him to hold on to his gains by means of fleshly methods and practices, and to let himself be ruled wholly by the dictatorial demands of incessant expansion. Success can go to my head, and will unless I remember that it is God who accomplishes the work, that He can continue to do so without my help, and that He will be able to make out with other means whenever He cuts me down to size.”
Moses will one day be known as a man of great humility (Num. 12:3), but that would take time.
(Nu 12:3 NKJV) (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)

:24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian.

:25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.

:26 And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’

:27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

:28 Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’

:29 Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

:30 “And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.

:31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him,

:32 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.

:33Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

:34 I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.” ’

:35 “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.

:36 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 forty years.

:35 This Moses whom they rejected

Moses is without dispute the one that all the Jewish leaders would say that they follow.

Yet Stephen is reminding them that at one time Moses was rejected by his own people.
Moses thought the people would understand that God would use him, but they didn’t.

:36 wonders and signs

Just as Jesus, and just as Stephen had, Moses had also shown signs and wonders. Yet he was rejected.

7:37-43 Wilderness rejection

: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.’

:37 a Prophet like me

Moses had told the people that God would one day raise up someone like him (Deut. 18:15).

(Dt 18:15 NKJV) “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,
That was Jesus.

:38 “This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us,

:38 livingzao – to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead)

:38 living oracles

NLT – “life-giving words”

:39 whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,

:40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’

:41 And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

:39 whom our fathers … rejected

Moses was rejected twice. The second time came in the wilderness.

The Sanhedrin considered themselves followers of Moses, yet their own fathers, the ones that knew Moses, weren’t real good about following Moses, nor obeying the Law.

:41 they made a calf

This was how they rejected Moses. They gave up waiting on Moses when he took too long on the mountain and they made their golden calf.

Lesson

Impatient Danger

More than once I’ve gotten myself into trouble because I wouldn’t slow down and be patient.
Illustration
During the final days at Denver's old Stapleton airport, a crowded United flight was cancelled. A single agent was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travelers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on this flight and it has to be first class." The agent replied, "I'm sorry, sir. I'll be happy to try to help you, but I've got to help these folks first, and I'm sure we'll be able to work something out." The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, "Do you have any idea who I am?" Without hesitating, the gate agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone. "May I have your attention please?" she began, her voice bellowing throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at the gate WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to the gate." With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared at the United agent, gritted his teeth and retreated as the people in the terminal applauded loudly. Although the flight was cancelled and people were late, they were no longer angry at United Airlines.
The Bible says,
(Ps 27:14 NKJV) Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

It’s hard to wait when you’re impatient.

: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 forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

:43 You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’

:42 written in the book of the Prophets

Stephen is now going to quote from the book of Amos.  How many of you have read the book of Amos?  Stephen knows the word.

Amos wrote during the days of King Uzziah (long after Moses), and he said that through the entire time in the wilderness, Israel never fully followed God. (Amos 5:25-27)

(Am 5:25–27 NKJV) —25 “Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26 You also carried Sikkuth your king And Chiun, your idols, The star of your gods, Which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,” Says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
The eventual Babylonian exile would have its roots back in the wilderness.

:43 Moloch … Remphan

These were some of the “gods” the people had followed.

Moloch was a name for one of the popular Canaanite gods.  He was the one that little babies were sacrificed to.

Remphan was the name of a god connected with the planet Saturn.

This is a specific example from Moses’ own day, showing even when the people were going through the wilderness with Moses, they weren’t completely devoted to Yahweh.

Many of them had brought along their other gods to worship in addition to Yahweh.

Lesson

Half-hearted devotion

The Bible says,
(Dt 6:5 NKJV) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Loving God with all of our heart requires that we learn to let go of the other “gods” in our lives.

God wants us to have whole-hearted devotion to Him.

Illustration
The Beggar’s Rags

A beggar lived near the king’s palace. One day he saw a proclamation posted outside the palace gate. The king was giving a great dinner. Anyone dressed in royal garments was invited to the party. The beggar went on his way. He looked at the rags he was wearing and sighed. Surely only kings and their families wore royal robes, he thought. Slowly an idea crept into his mind. The audacity of it made him tremble. Would he dare? He made his way back to the palace. He approached the guard at the gate. “Please, sire, I would like to speak to the king.” “Wait here,” the guard replied.  In a few minutes, he was back. “His majesty will see you,” he said, and led the beggar in.  “You wish to see me?” asked the king. “Yes, your majesty. I want so much to attend the banquet, but I have no royal robes to wear. Please, sir, if I may be so bold, may I have one of your old garments so that I, too, may come to the banquet?” The beggar shook so hard that he could not see the faint smile that was on the king’s face. “You have been wise in coming to me,” the king said. He called to his son, the young prince. “Take this man to your room and array him in some of your clothes.”  The prince did as he was told and soon the beggar was standing before a mirror, clothed in garments that he had never dared hope for. “You are now eligible to attend the king’s banquet tomorrow night,” said the prince. “But even more important, you will never need any other clothes. These garments will last forever.” The beggar dropped to his knees. “Oh, thank you,” he cried. But as he started to leave, he looked back at his pile of dirty rags on the floor. He hesitated. What if the prince was wrong? What if he would need his old clothes again. Quickly he gathered them up. The banquet was far greater than he had ever imagined, but he could not enjoy himself as he should. He had made a small bundle of his old rags and it kept falling off his lap. The food was passed quickly and the beggar missed some of the greatest delicacies. Time proved that the prince was right. The clothes lasted forever. Still the poor beggar grew fonder and fonder of his old rags. As time passed people seemed to forget the royal robes he was wearing. They saw only the little bundle of filthy rags that he clung to wherever he went. They even spoke of him as the old man with the rags. One day as he lay dying, the king visited him. The beggar saw the sad look on the king’s face when he looked at the small bundle of rags by the bed. Suddenly the beggar remembered the prince’s words and he realized that his bundle of rags had cost him a lifetime of true royalty. He wept bitterly at his folly. And the king wept with him.

 - Edited from More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice.  Copyright 1995 by Youth Specialties, Inc.

We too have been invited to a royal feast.  We’ve been promised new clothes, and we no longer have to carry around the weight of the old ones.

We need to learn to let go of the old life, the other “gods”, the things that hinder our devotion to God.

7:44-50 God’s True House

:44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,

:45 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,

:46 who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob.

:47 But Solomon built Him a house.

:48 “However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:

:49Heaven 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?

:50 Has My hand not made all these things?’

:48 the Most High does not dwell in temples

Stephen is now quoting from Isaiah 66:1-2

(Is 66:1–2 NKJV) —1 Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? 2 For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.

Solomon, the builder of the First Temple said,

(2 Ch 2:6 NKJV) But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?

One of the charges against Stephen had to do with an accusation that Jesus would one day destroy the Temple. (Act 6:14)

(Ac 6:14 NKJV) for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”
Jesus didn’t ever say that He would destroy the Temple, but He did predict that one day it would be destroyed.
(Mt 24:2 NKJV) And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Now Stephen brings into perspective that the Temple isn’t God’s actual house, it’s just a representation of what the real Temple in heaven is.

7:51-53 Stephen’s Rebuke

:51You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

:51 stiff-necked

Jeremiah was almost put to death because he was telling the people that the Temple and the city would be destroyed just as the city of Shiloh was destroyed. Shiloh was the place where the Tabernacle and the Ark were in the days when Samuel was a child.

(Je 26:9 NKJV) Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
Sound familiar?
In Jeremiah’s day there were still a few wise people left in Jerusalem:
(Je 26:16–19 NKJV) —16 So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” 17 Then certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: 18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest.” ’ 19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and seek the Lord’s favor? And the Lord—relented concerning the doom which He had pronounced against them. But we are doing great evil against ourselves.”

This group ended up letting Jeremiah go.  There are no wise people around in Stephen’s day.  At least none that speak up.

:52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,

:53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

:52 Which of the prophets…

Elijah the prophet was on Jezebel’s “ten most wanted” list.

The great prophet Isaiah spoke of the coming Just One.

Jewish tradition says that Isaiah was killed by his own grandson, Manasseh. Sawn in two.

7:54-60 Stephen dies

:54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

:54 they gnashed at him with their teeth

They weren’t biting him, they were grinding their teeth in disgust at him.

: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,

:55 being full of the Holy Spirit

Notice the work of the Holy Spirit involved here in the middle of Stephen’s most difficult hour. Peter will write later:

(1 Pe 4:14 NKJV) If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.

:55 gazed into heaven

Lesson

Death Beds

It’s not uncommon for those who know Jesus to get a glimpse of heaven as they die.  And sometimes if they’re not drugged up, they may describe it.
Illustration
A few years ago I was visiting a friend who was dying of cancer.  He woke up for a few moments and began to describe more people in the room than just the humans in the room.  I believe he was seeing angels.
Illustration
A few hours before Dwight L. Moody died, he caught a glimpse of the glory awaiting him.  Awakening from a sleep, he said, “Earth recedes, heaven opens before me.  If this is death, it is sweet!  There is no valley here.  God is calling me, and I must go!”  His son who was standing by his bedside said, “No, no father, you are dreaming.”
“No,” said Mr. Moody, “I am not dreaming; I have been within the gates; I have seen the children’s faces.”  A short time elapsed and then, following what seemed to the family to be the death struggle, he spoke again:  “This is my triumph; this my coronation day!  It is glorious!”
In his book, “Lectures to My Students” (pg.206), Charles Spurgeon gives this instruction to those pastors who don’t have a lot of books to learn from:
“Be much at death beds – they are illuminated books.  There shall you read the very poetry of our religion, and learn the secrets thereof.  What splendid gems are washed up by the waves of Jordan!  What fair flowers grow on its banks!  The everlasting fountains in the glory-land throw their spray aloft, and the dew-drops fall on this side of the narrow stream!  I have heard humble men and women, in their departing hours, talk as though they were inspired, uttering strange words, aglow with supernal glory.  These they learned from no lips beneath the moon; they must have heard them while sitting in the suburbs of the New Jerusalem.  God whispers them in their ears amid their pain and weakness; and then they tell us a little of what the Spirit has revealed.  I will part with all my books, if I may see the Lord’s Elijahs mount their chariots of fire.”
We don’t like to be around dying people, but it’s actually a very good thing to do.  You just might learn something.

:55 Jesus standing at the right hand of God

Why is Jesus standing?  Some have suggested that Jesus is standing to welcome the first believer to die for the faith, the first martyr.

(Ps 116:15 NKJV) Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints.

:56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Stephen describes what he sees and this pushes the Sanhedrin over the edge.  He is claiming to see Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

:57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;

:58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

:58 and stoned him

When a man was stoned, as they approached the place where it was to take place, the victim’s clothes were removed.  Then the “first witness” was to push the victim off a platform that was twice the height of a person.  If he didn’t die from that, then the second witness was to take a stone, the weight of two men, and throw it on the man.  If he was still alive, then the rest of the crowd would start throwing stones until he was dead.

Tradition has it that Stephen was stoned at “Jeremiah’s Grotto”, the same place where Golgotha was, where Jesus was crucified.

:58 a young man named Saul

As we’re going to see, this young man, Saul (Paul), will one day have an encounter with the One Stephen saw when he died.

Lesson

Planting seeds

Ultimately, it’s going to be a one on one encounter with Jesus that will change Saul (or Paul) forever.  But I believe the witness of Stephen played an important part in planting the seeds in Paul’s life.  The words you say and the life you live are an important witness. You never know who’s watching.

:59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

:60 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.

:60 do not charge them with this sin

Just like Jesus did on the cross, Stephen is asking the Lord to forgive these people.

Lesson

You must forgive too

It’s really not an option.
(Eph 4:32 NKJV) And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Jesus forgave us.  We must forgive others.