Well, today we're going to continue our consideration of this book called Let's Study Acts by Dennis Johnson. We're at chapter 16 in that book. And we come to, right now, Acts chapter 6, verses 8 through 15. And I will read that for you, and then we'll make some comments on that. So Acts chapter 6, beginning in verse 8. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the freedmen, as it was called, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false Witnesses who said, this man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us. And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel." So in the previous passage, in the first part of chapter 6, understood that there was a problem in that certain widows weren't being given the distributions that should have been given to them. And so the apostles, instead of dealing with it themselves, they asked for the people to choose among themselves some men that would do that task for them. So we're given a list of men that were chosen to do that. And Stephen was named first in that list. And when we're introduced to those men, it is said of Stephen that he was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. So now the focus, so the writer of Acts calls attention to Stephen by placing him first in that list, but now continues this focus on Stephen based on what he is doing. And the focus is on Stephen and his invincible witness, which leads actually to his death. and also to the dispersion of the church out of Jerusalem. And we read in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, Jesus is speaking to his disciples just moments before he ascends into heaven and he says to his disciples, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. So up to this point in Acts, the apostles are in Jerusalem. They're witnessing there in Jerusalem in the temple and probably various other places. But Jesus said, you're not just going to stay there. You're going to have to go out to Judea and Samaria and then to the ends of the earth, right? And so this begins that transition from the witness being in Jerusalem to the witness going to Judea and Samaria. And this is probably the incident that kind of starts that whole process of going out to Judea and Samaria. So let's consider first, there are three sections in this chapter. The first one is strong testimony and impotent opposition. The second one, framed by false witnesses. And then thirdly, the face of an angel. So let's consider this first one, strong testimony and impotent opposition. Now, three times this passage, chapter six of Acts, describes Stephen as full of the gifts from God. So in verse 3, we read, full of the Spirit and of wisdom. And this applies to all of these particular men that were chosen, not only Stephen, but it applies to Stephen. And then in In verse 5, we read that Stephen was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. And then in verse 8, which we had just read a moment ago, it says of Stephen that he was full of grace and power and that he did great wonders and signs. And so the wonders and signs were kind of a confirmation that his testimony was true. And this is kind of interesting, because up to this point, the wonders and signs, the healings, and other miracles were performed through the apostles only. And this is the first time, at least, that's recorded in Scripture, that someone who was not named particularly an apostle also did wonders and signs. Now, this is actually implied in the previous chapter in Acts, that's Acts chapter five and verse 32, and Peter is there giving his defense against, to the council, and he says in this particular verse, and we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. And what Peter is saying there in that particular verse is that the Holy Spirit is given to all believers. And so it should not be too much of a surprise that some of these believers will actually be doing miracles, great wonders and signs. Now, the Holy Spirit is given to all believers, to some extent at least. so that all believers will participate in the church's witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why, that's one of the purposes of the Spirit, that we participate in that witness about Jesus. Now, the fullness of the Spirit in Stephen enables him to speak Christ's message with irresistible power. And we read that verse. It's verse 10. They could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. So I see it this way. We read in what follows here. Stephen gives a defense. He obviously knew the scriptures. able to recite much of scripture and talk about it. But it was the Holy Spirit that enabled him to converse with these people that opposed him to such a degree that they were unable to withstand him. Whatever argument they would come up with, he would have an answer. And the Holy Spirit enabled him to do that. So let's consider who these opponents were. It's believed that they are Greek-speaking Jews belonging to the Synagogue of the Freedmen. And based on that name, the Freedmen, it is believed that this synagogue was established by slaves that were freed, and they came from Italy. So they had been slaves for some time, they were freed, they returned to Jerusalem, they set up this synagogue, which is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen. And over time, more people joined that church or synagogue. They associated with that synagogue. And these were Jews that came from Cyrene, Alexandria, which is in North Africa, from Cilicia, and from Asia, which is really Asia Minor. And these Jews were fiercely loyal to the law of Moses and the temple. And probably what happened was that these people, having been slaves in Italy and people that had lived in all these other places, they saw the sinfulness of the people around them. They lived in a decadent culture. And so in reaction to that, they were fiercely loyal to the law of Moses and the temple. They were trying to go back to the religion that they learned when they were young. And it was in reaction to what they had seen. Now, that is not bad in itself, although it can lead to self-righteousness. And so they were fiercely loyal to the law of Moses and the temple. It's also interesting that Saul, who was later called Paul, and we know who Paul is, Saul was probably associated with this synagogue. He was born in Cilicia. Tarsus is in Cilicia. And so Saul, it's very likely that he associated with that synagogue. And we recognize as well the attitude that those people had is similar to what Paul's attitude was before he was converted. In Galatians 1, verses 13 and 14, we read this. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people. So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. You see that same pattern there. You see at least somewhat of a self-righteousness in there. You see a very zealous attachment to the law and to the traditions of the fathers. Now, Stephen's message would have threatened this historic Judaism. And you can imagine why, right? The gospel, really, in order to understand the gospel, to receive the gospel, we must first understand that we're sinful and that we cannot save ourselves. But these Jews of this synagogue, they thought that they could establish their own righteousness by performing the law through the law, and that wasn't true. So this is something that unbelievers resist, and we probably have all seen this, that an unbeliever resists this particular knowledge that I'm a sinner, right? And so we see that actually in scripture. Jesus experienced that, the apostles experienced that, Christians throughout history have experienced that. In John chapter three, verses 19 through 21, we read this. Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus. And he says, and this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his works be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. And so you see that resistance, right? They love the darkness because their deeds are evil. They don't want the light. They love the darkness. But it goes further then in John chapter seven, verse seven we read, the world hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. So Jesus experienced this hatred of people who didn't like what he said because basically what he was saying is, you're a sinner, you're sinful, your works are evil. And they did not like that. There was an example, for instance, at the very beginning of his ministry, He went to the synagogue in his hometown. And at first, they were amazed at him, at the gracious words that he spoke. But then he talked about the woman in Zarephath and also about Naaman. And somehow, those words pricked their conscience. And they understood that. They weren't going to be saved because they were Jews. They weren't going to be saved because they were children of Abraham. They weren't going to be saved because of their religion. And they wouldn't accept that, and they wanted to kill him. They actually attempted to throw him off a cliff. So we see this. this resistance against that part of the message of the gospel. We're sinful. We need to be saved. And many people will say, oh, I'm good. I don't need this. I can get there without Christ. No, you can't. But then if you press that, then you will get hatred. We also read that Jesus, in John chapter 15, verse 18, told his disciples, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you, right? So Jesus warned his disciples, they're gonna hate you, even though you speak the truth to them. Well, Stephen's witness was unanswerable because he spoke the wisdom of the Spirit. And again, going back now to Luke chapter 21, Jesus tells his disciples, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. So Jesus promised this. Jesus promised these people, his disciples, I'm gonna give you a mouth, I'm gonna help you. The Spirit is gonna be with you and teach you what you need to say, and they will be unable to contradict you. Well, now we come to the second section, which is framed by false witnesses. So these people of this particular synagogue began to understand that they aren't gonna win this debate, right? Stephen is speaking and they just can't answer him, they can't contradict him, they can't withstand him. And so they basically resort to perjury. And so in verse 11 we read, then they secretly instigated men who said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. The word instigated suggests that these men were bribed. So these people of that synagogue actually went to people, looking for people who would who would bear false witness and they even perhaps paid them to do so. Now we don't know the details of all the reasoning that was used. However, the accusations involve the temple and the law of Moses. So these people are zealously defending the temple and the law of Moses. And so this is what they feel is threatened. And so that's where their accusations lie. And so the witnesses actually said, this man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us. There's probably some truth to that, right? Jesus did predict the destruction of the temple. Much of the law of Moses no longer was effective or in effect. You know, the the whole sacrificial system had ended because Jesus was the one and only perfect sacrifice and there was no need for another sacrifice and such things. And Stephen probably spoke of these things but not in a blasphemous way. I'm sure that he probably used scripture Old Testament scripture to support that. There are predictions in the Old Testament of the destruction of the temple and so on. And of course, the Old Testament is a testimony of Jesus himself, right? We know that because Jesus spoke to those two men of Emmaus and went through the whole Old Testament and showed how the Old Testament really pointed to him. And so Stephen would have used that kind of argumentation and they couldn't answer him because it's there in the scripture. And yet they used that in a false way to accuse Stephen. Similar testimony, false testimony, was also used against Jesus. So in Matthew 26, verses 59 through 61, we read, Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking to seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death. But they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, this man said, I'm able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days." It's interesting. right, they sought false witnesses. They're seeking them out, just like those men seeking false witness against Stephen. We can actually observe this in the world today, when people don't like another group, they will twist their words, they will find false accusations to accuse them and to discredit them. And we will experience that as well, okay? That when we proclaim the gospel, some people will resist to the point that they will twist your words and accuse you. Here in this case of false testimony against Jesus, we see that their testimony involved distorting the words of Jesus, right? Jesus said, destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up. And as I read that, I think you could change it just slightly. You could add the word you. You destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up. Because that's exactly what happened. You will destroy this temple, which is my body, but in three days, I will raise it up. But they say, this man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. See how they've twisted the words? And this is very common. It happens quite often. Stephen was the victim of the same kind of treatment. This is what happens quite often. We must not be too surprised at that. Well, now we come to the third section, which is the face of an angel. So it's said of the council, And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. The council included chief priests, elders, and experts of the law." So these are men who are familiar with the scripture. and they are accusing Stephen, and they see that his face looks like the face of an angel. Now, we don't know what this actually was like. It doesn't clarify what kind of physical changes took place in his face that made him look like an angel. But we can glean a little bit of a hint or a little bit of help from scripture itself when we consider that Moses experienced something similar. And you remember he spent some time on the mountain speaking with God face to face. And when he came down, his face shone. Yeah, let me read that. that passage, it's in Exodus chapter 34 verse 29. It reads, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. And so this shining face Okay, Moses had that, Stephen had something similar. It was an indication of an intimacy with God, right? So Stephen, full of faith, full of power, had an intimate relationship with God, and God was actually commending Stephen in this particular case by causing his face to shine, to say, I have an intimate relationship with this man. I think that's part of at least the reason why we're told that, that Stephen had this intimate relationship with God. Stephen, in what follows, Stephen is going to bring a very convicting message to this council. He's gonna speak in his own defense, per se, as it were. His message is going to be convicting. He isn't going to relent and say, oh, you're right. He's gonna say, he's gonna speak about their sinfulness. And this face of an angel does not deter them. It does not change their mind. They saw it. They could testify of it. They knew that it happened. But that didn't change their mind. It didn't change them at all. And so eventually, of course, they kill him. Jesus warned his disciples that such opposition will come. They will lay hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. So that summarizes it. You know, when we become believers, we are actually, in a sense, opposed to the world. The message that we carry is, is one of salvation, but we have to begin with this idea, we're all sinners. We're all sinners. We need salvation. We aren't going to get there by our own self-righteousness. We're not gonna get there by performance, by holding to the law or anything like that. It has to be faith in Jesus Christ. And the world doesn't like that. The world is going to be opposed to that. So let's conclude our time in prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gospel, and we thank you that you have worked in our hearts so that we receive your word, we agree with it that it is true, we rejoice in it, we worship you for your grace and your mercy, We pray, Lord, that you would help us to be your witnesses, that we would be faithful to your testimony. We pray, Lord, for your Holy Spirit to work within us, to give us boldness and strength to do so. We pray, Lord, that you would also be with us in the coming hour, that we might truly worship you in spirit and in truth. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.