Stephen: Boldness Acts 6:8-15;
7:51-60 June 15, 2008
Introduction
I like to see a Christian display holy boldness. Catch that I said
holy, not haughty. There is a very significant difference. Stephen
displayed holy boldness and we can simple say when we think of him he
displayed a proper kind of boldness all of us can follow.
1. Boldness In . . Declaration. 6:8-10
A.
Bold Declaration Through The . . Power Of The Spirit. 6:8-9
8 Stephen, full of grace and power,
was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some
from what is called the Freedmen's Synagogue, composed of both
Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, came
forward and disputed with Stephen.
B.
Bold Declaration Through The . . Preaching Of The Spirit. 6:10
10 But they were unable to stand up against the wisdom and the Spirit
by whom he spoke.
Stephen gave a fine
declaration of spiritual boldness as the Spirit performed wonders and
signs. The people
were confounded by this, but some wanted to dispute Stephen and the
power of his presentation. Stephen
declared with wisdom and boldness inspired by the Holy Spirit, and
these men called "Freedmen" could not
match his God given abilities. This accomplishment occurs over and over
again even today as a child of God
yields to the Spirit's empowering and speaks under this anointing.
2.
Boldness In . . Dispute. 6:11-15
A. Bold Dispute In The Face Of . . Antagonistic
Accusations. 6:11-14
11 Then they induced men to say, "We heard him speaking
blasphemous words against Moses and
God!" 12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so
they came up, dragged him off, and
took him to the Sanhedrin. 13 They also presented false witnesses who
said, "This man does not stop
speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. 14 For
we heard him say that Jesus,
this Nazarene, will destroy this place and change the customs that
Moses handed down to us."
B. Bold Dispute In The Face Of . . Angelic
Appearance. 6:15
15 And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and
saw that his face was like the face of an angel. HCSB
The Freedmen accused Stephen in four areas as they said; 1) He
spoke blasphemous words against Moses, 2) He spoke blasphemous words
against the Temple, 3) He spoke blasphemous words against the Law, 4)
He
declared Jesus would tear down the temple and the rituals and
regulations that Moses handed down. All of
these claims are taken out of context, and on top of this they acquired
false witnesses to support their case. While Stephen listened to these
accusations his countenance gave the appearance of an angel. The Lord
does
shine through His people, and it is sad that all the Freedmen did not
yield to Him through this additional
witness.
3. Boldness In . .
Determination. 7:51-54
A. Determination To Speak Boldly
Against . . Past Wrong Doing. 7:51-52a
51
"You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are
always resisting the Holy Spirit; as your forefathers
did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not
persecute? They even killed those who announced beforehand the coming
of the Righteous One,
B. Determination To Speak Boldly Against . .
Present Wrong Doing. 7:52b-54
". . . whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. 53 You
received the law under the direction of
angels and yet have not kept it." 54 When they heard these things, they
were enraged in their hearts and gnashed
their teeth at him.
Stephen's boldness led
him to speak out about past wrongs of dissident persons. He accused
them of
persecuting the prophets, and killing those who announced the coming of
the Messiah. Can you hear someone
telling Stephen to be careful, and quit stirring up their anger? But
then he would not be Stephen nor the
example he is to all Christians. So rather than soft pedaling his
remarks Stephen proceeded to accuse the
present dissidents of resisting the Holy Spirit just like their
fathers. He told them they were murderers, and law
breakers. To illustrate their rage they gnashed their teeth at Stephen.
I wonder when they later thought about
this, if they thought they acted insanely?
4. Boldness In . . Death.
7:55 -60
A. Boldness In Death Seeing The . .
Standing Jesus. 7:55-56
55 But Stephen, filled by the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw
God's glory, with Jesus standing at the
right hand of God, and he said, 56 "Look! I see the heavens opened and
the Son of Man standing at the right
hand of God!"
B. Boldness In Death Feeling The . . Stones
Hurting. 7:57-58
57 Then they screamed at the top of their voices, stopped their ears,
and rushed together against him. 58 They threw him out of the
city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their robes at the
feet of a young man named Saul.
C. Boldness In Death Crying Out For Others . .
Sins and Forgiveness. 7:59-60
59 They were stoning Stephen as he called out: "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 saying this, he fell asleep.
It is interesting that Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Normally Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God. Some suggest Jesus was standing to welcome home the first Christian martyr. This passage also gives us an example of the Trinity as Stephen received the infilling of the Spirit and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. It amazes me that Stephen at this time could feel the pain of the stones hurting his body, yet still cried out for the Lord not to charge them with this sin. What a man, this Stephen! Amen? Amen!