Faith & Courage信心与勇气The first Christian martyr St Stephen 第一位殉道的基督圣徒司提反

Nelson Bell profile:

Born in Waynesboro, VirginiaGraduated from Medical college of VirginiaMedical missionary to China as a chief surgeon in Jiangsu province for 25 years from 1920s to 1940s.

his daughter Ruth married Rev. Billy Graham, one of the most influential advisers to and defenders of the world renowned evangelist.A Foreign Devil in China: The Story of Dr. L. Nelson Bell, John Pollock 

6:8 司提反满得恩惠能力，在民间行了大奇事和神迹。6:9 当时有称利百地拿会堂的几个人，并有古利奈，亚力山太，基利家，亚西亚，各处会堂的几个人，都起来，和司提反辩论。6:10 司提反是以智慧和圣灵说话，众人敌挡不住。6:11 就买出人来说，我们听见他说谤摩西，和神的话。6:12 他们又耸动了百姓，长老，并文士，就忽然来捉拿他，把他带到公会去，6:13 设下假见证说，这个人说话，不住地糟践圣所和律法。6:14 我们曾听见他说，这拿撒勒人耶稣，要毁坏此地，也要改变摩西所交给我们的规条。6:15 在公会里坐着的人，都定睛看他，见他的面貌，好像天使的面貌。

Acts 6: 8 - 15

Stephen – the first Christian martyr

Stephen’s characters – a mature believer

Stephen’s similarity with the suffering of Jesus

Influence on Gospel spreading to gentiles

Impact on Paul’s later conversion

What could we learn from Stephen?

Stephen, a man of godly character

full of the Holy Spirit

full of wisdom

full of faith

full of grace

full of power

Background

Stephen, one of the Seven

Church prospering in Jerusalem

Opposition from Jews with fierce antagonism (Synagogue of the Freedmen)

Stubborn, stiff-necked Jews

Full of Holy Spirit 充满圣灵One of the Seven to serve the tables, good reputation.

his opponents could not cope with the wisdom and Spirit with which he was speaking.

As Jesus had told His disciples, when they would be delivered up before synagogues and rulers, the Holy Spirit would teach them in that very hour what they needed to say (Luke 12:12).

The fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). Those qualities are not produced overnight or by an ecstatic experience, but over months and years of walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16).

The fullness of the Spirit is a matter of progressive maturity

Full of wisdom 充满智慧Greek meaning “skill”

only four times in Acts, twice of Stephen (6:3, 10) and twice in his message before the Sanhedrin (7:10, 22).

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Thus wisdom comes from knowing God, and Scripture reveals His wisdom.

To be people full of wisdom, we must grow in our understanding of the cross of Christ, where human pride is humbled and God’s grace is exalted.

Full of Faith 充满信心For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1: 7)

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7)

God uses even the wicked deeds of people to accomplish His eternal purpose.

When we join Stephen in understanding how God is sovereignly working our suffering and perhaps even our martyrdom into His plan, we will be full of faith

Full of grace 充满恩点Jesus Christ, who was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

With regard to Stephen, the phrase implies that he had a personal understanding and experience of God’s grace as revealed in the cross of Christ.

Salvation is not by our works of righteousness, but rather by the undeserved favor of God, shown to us while we were yet sinners (Rom. 5:8; Titus 3:5-6). “If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace” (Rom. 11:6).

Stephen’s being full of grace means that he was a gracious man. He did not curse his persecutors as they threw stones to crush his bones, but rather blessed them by praying, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” (7:60)

Full of power 充满能力God gave Stephen the ability to perform “great wonders and signs among the people” (6:8).

Except for the 12 apostles, only Stephen, Philip (8:6-7), and Barnabas (15:12) in the early church are reported to have performed miracles. The tense of the verb (“was performing,” 6:8) indicates that Stephen was doing these miraculous works frequently

God’s mighty power is shown in our lives when we patiently and joyfully endure trials, not just when we are miraculously delivered from them (Col. 1:11-12). When unbelievers see us going through trials with joy and thanksgiving, it provides the platform for powerful verbal witness.

Stephen’s godly character was the foundation for his courageous witness

Stephen’s martyrdom occupied a special place in salvation history

Their treatment of Stephen parallels the way the Jewish leaders treated Jesus.

First, hired false witnesses to testify against him;

Then, stirred up the people who accused him of attacking the law of Moses and the temple.

Finally, after listening to his witness, they executed him

Stephen’s similarity with the suffering of Jesus

Stephen was accused with double charges: against Moses and God

False witness:“this fellow never stops speaking against the holy place and against the law”

“I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man”

“what stephen did was to contradict the scribal misinterpretations of Moses…”

Stephen was teaching much as the same as Jesus taught

Influence on Gospel spreading to gentiles

Godly, courageous witnesses must leave the results up to God.

But first the church was scattered through persecution, resulting in a more widespread witness.

Whether the godly die young by violent deaths, and the wicked live long and prosper, is God’s sovereign business.

Our business is to be faithful to His Great Commission and leave the results to Him.

Impact on gospel spreading

The persecution after Stephen’s death cannot stop the growth of church.

Philip takes the gospel to Samaria, to an Ethiopian official, and to the coast of the Mediterranean;

Peter preaches in cities, and leads a Roman officer to faith in Jesus

Paul was miraculously converted, preached in Damascus and in Jerusalem

Other believers take the gospel into the Antioch, the capital of the province

Impact on Paul’s later conversion

God often works in ways that confound even the logic of His saints. To sacrifice a man of Stephen’s caliber after such a short ministry seems inefficient and illogical. To allow a scoundrel like Caiaphas to rule as high priest over the Jews for 18 years seems wrong. Why not strike that wicked man dead and allow Stephen and other godly men to have long and fruitful ministries?

God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform! Through Stephen’s death, Paul got saved.

Stephen’s godly character was the foundation for his courageous witness

When we bear witness for Christ, we are speaking to hearts that are blinded by Satan and hardened by sin

Religious people are often the most hardened in their opposition to the gospel

When we bear witness to blind, hardened sinners, we should be prepared for opposition

Miracles, logic, or wisdom are not enough to make converts; only God can do that

Summary