Think on these questions as you dwell in Acts 7:54-8:3:

1. How does Stephen's speech and subsequent stoning illustrate the theme of rejection and persecution that has been present throughout the story of redemption? How does Stephen's response to his attackers reflect his unwavering faith in Jesus?

2. Stephen's plea for forgiveness for those stoning him echoes Jesus' own words on the cross ("Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do"). How does this act of forgiveness demonstrate the transformative power of the gospel even in the face of persecution? What can we learn from Stephen's example in extending forgiveness to those who wrong us?

3. The scattering of the church due to persecution leads to the spread of the gospel beyond Jerusalem. How does this align with Jesus' commission to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth? What does this reveal about the unstoppable nature of the gospel message, even in the midst of adversity?

Transcript:

 And we see this negative result in what Stephen has proclaimed to the religious leaders of the time. Uh, they are upset with him. He has made some claims and, and one of those claims is that they have always persecuted people and you're just doing it again now. Uh, your father's persecuted the prophets.

And you are just like them. And Stephen is making some bold claims here about who Jesus is. And so, as they are getting angry at him, and you got to love this language, right? They were enraged, they ground their teeth. You can picture this. While Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazes into heaven and he's able to be given a glimpse of what heaven is like at that present moment. And what does he say? Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Now the implication is here, that this is Jesus that he's talking about. And so, for these people who are hearing this, who do not agree with him, what are they thinking?

The thinking that he is committing blasphemy because he is implying that Jesus, who is the Son of Man, is on the same level, that he is God. And so, what is happening here is they are going to have execution on the mind because that is the offense for blasphemy. And so, look at what it says here.  As we're reading through acts here slowly. I'm really appreciating the language He's using they crowd with a loud voice and they stopped their ears  You and I know what that means you don't you don't literally stop your ears from working But we know when we're done listening to somebody and maybe they did, you know, stop their ears physically But we can picture here that they are just done with Steven so they are going to do What they believe is the right thing to do and that is to execute him.

And so, as this is happening, as he's being stoned on the list of ways that you would probably want to go, stoning is at the bottom of the list, just for the record. As they are stoning him, as they're pummeling him with these stones, He cries out and he says, Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit. Again, he is saying that he believes that Jesus is the one who gives salvation.

And this, this probably just would have enraged them even further. But then he does something amazing. He falls to his knees, he cries out with a Lord voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. What an amazing thing to say. I mean, he is in the midst of being wronged. He is in the midst of, of standing up for the truth of the gospel, the truth of who Jesus is, and here they are killing him.

It would be so easy for Stephen to be say, saying, Lord, bring your wrath upon these people. But instead. He hopes that God will not hold their sin against him and so what is he saying Lord open their eyes to the truth? Because trust and faith in Christ alone is the only way that this sin will not be held against them He is hoping for their salvation and we see that When it comes to the end of this, he says this, he asks for, essentially asks that their sin would be held against them, that they would be forgiven, and then he dies, he falls asleep.

So, we see that this is a transition that Luke is using here in Acts. Notice what is happening. The church has been primarily in Jerusalem, and now there's persecution there. And now what's going to happen? They're going to be scattered. And why? Because there's this guy named Saul. We haven't met him yet.

And he's going to be very important for the rest of Acts and the entire New Testament after this, right? His writings, when he becomes Paul, his writings become the majority of the New Testament.  Uh, but he is approving of this. He is ravaging the church. Again, great language. Being used here to help us understand he's going from house to house.

He's putting men and women in prison for the faith Persecution has come to the church in Jerusalem and they're being scattered now.  This is obviously a bad thing but look at what is happening. The people are being scattered.  So, the message isn't just staying in Jerusalem, right? It's going out into the world.

Isn't this what Jesus said at the beginning of the book? You'll be my witnesses to Jerusalem to Samaria to the ends of the earth. Ah, we're going to see that We're going to see how this is happening how the gospel is not going to this one localized group of Hebrew people But it's going out into the whole world and actually you can see a glimpse of this if you're watching on video What's the next heading that is added here in the ESV text Philip proclaims Christ in Samaria?

What did the book of Acts say at the beginning?  To Jerusalem, to Samaria, to the ends of the earth, right? And so that is what we're seeing. That is the, that is the story that Luke is telling us about the advancement of the early church. And what a blessing that even in the midst of persecution, the gospel continues.

This would have been a really easy point to say, okay, I'm out. I'm out. No more. But what? It's happening here. The Apostles understand that what they're proclaiming is the truth. The people who have come to faith understand that this is the truth, and so they cannot be silent. And so, as we think about what this means for us, may we be willing to not be silent.

I've mentioned that previously, I believe, in, uh, as we've been thinking about the application for Acts. But isn't that important that when we keep silent, the message does not go out. But even in the midst of persecution, if we open our mouths and we proclaim the gospel, God continues to work. In fact, we know that the church advances where it is persecuted.

And so, may we be willing to proclaim the truth, because we know it's the truth, regardless of what is happening around us, even if people try to silence us. May we be willing to continue to proclaim Christ and Him crucified to a lost and dying world.