Stephen's Sermon

Are you using everything God has given you for the glory of God? Stephen was a man full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. He was full of God's grace and power and did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. God gave him responsibility to help the widows but he did not limit himself to those activities. Perhaps you will receive certain responsibilities from this congregation but that should never be the total extent of your ministry. If God has given you greater talents than the church is using don't bury them waiting to be asked by the church, please uses them for the building up of the kingdom of God. Stephen did not just serve tables he also did many wonderful things for God. He had much spiritual power.

The first lesson we can learn this morning is that we need to be willing to uses every gift God has given to us to the fullest extent possible. Because Stephen was filled with the Spirit many people's lives were helped. You too can be filled with the Holy Spirit and with great spiritual power. Where the spirit of God is working there is also great oppostion from the powers of darkness. As Stephen debated with other Greek speaking Jews in Jerusalem the opposition increased. These men had come to live in Jerusalem from Northern Africa and Asia Minor (Turkey). These men had once been slaves but were now liberated. They had their own synagogue in Jerusalem and came to worship there. They began to argue with Stephen but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by which he spoke. They brought him before the Supreme Court - the Sanhedrin and the false witnesses charged him with blaspheme against Moses and God. Does this charge not remind you of the charges against Jesus himself.

Stephen is ready with his reply. I Peter 3:15,16 says "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." Are your ready with a reply to give to those who ask you to defend your faith? Each person needs to go to the Bible with questions and seek to find answers to the problems they face.

Stephen's defence is focussed in three areas. 7:2 - 16 summarizes the patriarchal period. v 17 - 43 speaks about Moses and the law and 44 - 50 refers to the tabernacle and the temple. Remember that Stephen has been accused of blaspheme against Moses and God and thus he is defending himself with Moses writings. The first section sets out the introduction to the central themes. The second section deals with the charge of blaspheme against Moses and the third deals with the charge of blaspheme against God.

Stephen shows that he knew the old Testament well and could use it to defend his own beliefs. Today many people do not even know the names of the books of the Old Testament or their content.

Stephen begins his rebuttle of the charges by speaking of the convenant made with Abraham that he would receive a promised land. As he moves through the history to Joseph he refers to the jealousy of Joseph's brothers trying to cause problems to Joseph but God working it out for good. It is possible that Stephen is drawing a parallel between Joseph's time and Jesus' time. It is possible that just as Joseph's brothers were jealous of him so the leaders of Jesus day were jealous of Jesus and sought to kill Him. Joseph delivered his family from physical famine but Jesus delivered them from the spiritual famine in his day.

Perhaps if the Pharaoh had not been so cruel the Israelites might not have wanted to leave Egypt and go to the promised land. We too can get so involved with this world that we do not want to move on to the promised land, heaven, and fail to prepare to go there.

The Israelites moved out of Egypt but they took many of their wrong beliefs with them and set up a golden calf to worship in the desert instead of worshiping God. They continued throughout their history to worship other gods which eventually caused God to send them into exile in Babylon. We are made new creatures when we become Christians but we need to be careful that we do not take along wrong ideas into our new faith.

Since Jesus said that the temple would be destroyed the Jews felt that Jesus was attacking God. God does not live in buildings made by hands but in God lives in the hearts of those who believe and obey Him. We are to keep our temple (bodies) clean as I Cor. 3:16,17 tells us. (also I Cor. 6:19,20)

Stephen accused the Jews of resisting the Holy Spirit. We resist the Spirit when we do not obey the Lord and listen to His servants. Often people are willing to die for their faith but they are unwilling to work to build the Kingdom of God. God wants to work in a mighty way through you to bring hope and peace to a dying and spiritually needy world. Are you willing to give everything to God?

Stephen had to lay down his life. God may not ask us to be a martyr but he does ask us to give our all. As we fellowship with God he will be able to strengthen our faith and perhaps God will use you to do great wonders and miraculous signs as he used Stephen.

Ephesians 1:20 tells us that Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Jesus is our mediator. When we have done wrong, Jesus works to restore us to a right relationship with God and forgive us. When Stephen died it says that he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Some have felt that Jesus was standing to applaud Stephen as he died for the great defense of the gospel which Stephen had just completed. Jesus is not the only one who watches from the heavenly realm. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses which are standing in the heavens watching the spiritual struggles here on earth. Would those who have died in the faith be proud of you. Let us endure to the end as Stephen did and be the kind of witnesses that God would be proud of.
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