ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
Chapters 6 and 7
ACTS CHAPTER 6
Persecution Leads To
Expansion
The Church Is
Threatened By Dissension
I. The Appointing of the Seven Deacons (Acts 6:1-7)
A. An administrative problem arose.
1. The church continued to grow which required administration of the kingdom of
God as well as the presence of God
2. Disputing arose between the Palestinian Hebrews and the Hellenistic or the
Greek speaking Jews.
a. Greek thinking and customs were not at ridged as the Hebrew.
b. The Greek Jews felt they were being treated as second class citizens.
B. The Apostles primary call was to minister the Word.
1. They should not leave the serving (deaconship) of the word.
2. They should not assume the serving (deaconship) at the tables.
C. Qualifications of servants (deacons)
1. From among you or a follower of Jesus. Friends first - Leaders second
2. Men of good reputation, integrity and trustworthy.
3. Full of the Holy Spirit - daily, consistently living the Spirit filled life.
4. Full of Wisdom - sanctified common sense, practical ability, administrators.
5. The word “diakonos” rather than deacon is used in the text.
a. It is the same word used of the ministry of the apostles.
b. They had the same purpose but a different function.
c. They were to also minister the Word.
D. Seven were chosen from among the congregation.
1. All seven had Greek names suggesting they belonged to the Hellenist.
2. Nicolas wasn’t a Jew by birth but a Gentile proselyte.
3. The selection reveals the spirit of Christ as the church manifested strength
not weakness.
E. They were presented to the Apostles for approval and appointment.
1. Laying on of hands was and Old Testament means for expressing
identification, blessing, or commissioning. (Leviticus 1:4)
2. It was a public sign of ordination or permission.
F. The church multiplied as they maintained the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3)
1. One of six times Luke records the progress of the church in Acts.
2. Success came from unity and the Apostles continued teaching of the Word.
G. A great number of priest is a significant statement.
1. As the
official health officers in
healings and miracles.
2. Their conversion meant the loss of position and exposed them to a double
measure of hatred and persecution.
H. The priest coming to Christ also added a new risk for the church.
1. The church was at risk of being drawn into the temple program.
2. The Lord wanted the church utterly divorced from the ceremonies and rituals
of
Judaism. (John 4:24)
3. He wanted His people to look inwardly to Him, they were His temple now.
(I Corinthians 6:19)
4. It was time to cause a sharp division between the temple and the new church.
II. Stephen before the Sanhedrin (Acts 6:8-15)
A. His ministry increased as the Lord continued to isolate the church from Judaism.
1. Full of Grace and Power as a man prepared for the task of separation.
2. He was fearless in his testimony for the Lord.
3. He saw things in the Old Testament which related to Christ that the Apostles
didn’t see.
B. His words were confirmed with signs and miracles.
C. His ministry is remarkable but He doesn’t last long.
1. In the parable of the vineyard (Matthew 20:8-10) we learn that how long
we are on the job for God has no bearing on the reward.
2. God used
this great mind to frame the last appeal to
consider Jesus as the Messiah.
3. His arguments were irrefutable and unanswerable and the furor they caused
produced the final break between Judaism and the church.
D. The Freedmen synagogue was for the freed slaves.
1.Those born free as Roman citizens.
2. May have
been Paul’s synagogue as he was from
3. The language of this synagogue was Greek.
E. The knowledge, eloquence, healing and miracles of Stephen provoked these
unbelieving Jews to jealousy.
F. Wounded pride makes the soul furious.
1. They hired informers to spread the word that Stephen was saying
blasphemous words against Moses and God.
2. They were accusing him of plotting to overthrow the temple and the law.
G. He had the radiance of a man beholding glory.
1. His features were transfigured.
2. He radiated the very presence of the face of Jesus.
3. His viewer sensed he was in the presence of God.
4. The reality of Jesus was so great it overshadowed the presence of his
enemies.
5. Perhaps that look burned in the soul of Saul of Tarsus until he too turned to
accept
Jesus so readily on that
H. Full of glory, Stephen is about to give us the longest address in the book of
Acts.
I. Stephen the Man
A. One of the seven deacons would become the first martyr
1. A martyr is one so absolutely committed to the truth that he would die rather
than violate or deny the truth.
2. He was a man full of faith and power.
B. His name had special meaning
1. It indicates he was a Grecian Jew.
2. Stephen meant “a crown” which had a prophetic element in it.
3. He was the first Christian to wear a martyr’s crown
C. Stephen’s life was filled with Christlike qualities.
1. It is seen in his calm, gracious dignity with which he faced the Sanhedrin.
2. His dying words seemed to paraphrase the last word of the Lord Jesus.
“Lay not this sin to their charge.”
II. Stephen’s Defense Before the Sanhedrin (Acts
7:1-50)
A. He is brought to trial because he said:
1. God was not the God of the Jews alone, but of the Gentiles also.
2. His
worship was not restricted to the
3. Christ fulfilled the Law’s demands; therefore one is not saved by trying
to keep the Law.
B. The same group, led by Caiaphas the High Priest, sentenced Jesus.
1. Jesus answered nothing and Pilate found Him innocent.
2. It was an attempt to discredit the church in the eyes of devout Jews.
Judaism with Christianity.
D. It is a defense of pure Christianity as God’s appointed way of worship.
1. God never wanted a permanent house for Himself on earth.
2. It was His intention to dwell in the hearts of His people.
E. He shows his faith in Jewish history is as strong as theirs.
III. The Call of
Abraham (Acts 7:2-8a)
A. The cradle of
the Jewish faith was not
B. Stephen is charged with blaspheming the temple.
1. Anyone who obeys God must “hang loose” be ready to move about.
2. God is not a respecter of places.
C. More
contradictions to the idea that God’s blessing was limited to
1. Abraham had no land other than by promise.
2. His descendants would sojourn in a strange country.
3. Though they had no place to call home they were still the children of God.
D. Circumcision was the heart of Jewish religion.
1. It was already functioning before there was a “holy place.”
2. Before
IV. The Patriarchs in
A. Stephen shows how the Jews have always plotted against God’s plan.
B. Jacob’s sons sold their brother, Joseph, as a slave.
1. Though he was despised and forsaken by his brothers, God was with him.
2. God used famine to reunite the family
C. Jacob and his
sons die in
V. God Called Moses To Deliver
A. The children
of
B. God raised up
two men to move them out of
1. One was a cruel king who caused the people to want to go out.
2. The other was Moses who would lead them out.
C. Moses visited his brethren and received the same treatment as Jesus.
1. He was rejected and despised by his brethren.
2. Once again the chosen people frustrated God’s plan.
D. Moses became a fugitive in Midian.
1. God spoke to him at a burning bush.
2. God declared the spot “holy ground,” showing no spot has it’s own sanctity.
3. He revealed Himself as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob not as God
of Moses,” indicating they had too much zeal for the Law of Moses.
E. Moses delivered
1. Moses miracles were his credentials again just like Jesus.
2. He
delivered them from
3. He brought them forty years through the wilderness.
VI. Israel’s Rebellion At
A. He quoted Moses’ prophecy concerning the coming prophet. (Exodus 3:6,15)
B. Israel became idol worshippers not content with the invisible presence of God.
C. They were ready to abandon the promised land before they inherited it.
D. He was showing long before they entered the promised land, they had
rebellious hearts.
E. He quoted Amos 5:25 -27, to show how God was aware of their
idolatrous hearts.
VII. The Tabernacle
And The
A. Moses’ tabernacle in the wilderness.
1. It symbolized His presence in their midst.
2. It was portable so God could always be where His people were.
B. Solomon’s
1. David was
not to build the house, rather God would make a house out him.
2. Solomon was inferior to David and given the inferior task.
C. He is showing God cannot be localized in a temple, a land, or a law.
1. He quotes Isaiah 66:1-2.
2. God dwells in people not in buildings.
VIII. Stephen Goes On
The Attack (Acts 7:51- 53)
A. He charged the council with:
1. Resisting the Holy Spirit.
2. Being stiff-necked repeats God’s description of them.(Exodus 33:5)
3. Being uncircumcised of heart.
B. This council is no better than their forefathers who rejected God’s Law.
1. They received it by angels.
2. Now God spoke to them by the Messiah Himself and with even greater
decisiveness they rejected Him.
IX. Stephen Stoned To Death (Acts 7:54- 60)
A. He became the first martyr of the church.
B. Stephen was ahead of his time in grasping who Jesus was.
1. He was greater than the Messiah of the Jews.
2. A spirit filled man is more occupied with Jesus than events around him.
C. He saw the heavens open.
1. He saw the glory of God.
2. He saw and declared Jesus, the Son of Man, was standing
at the right hand of the Father.
a. Jesus had said this was his destiny before this same council.
b. What they had proclaimed blasphemy was now a reality.
3. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God as if to welcome him.
D. The Council cast him out of the city.
1. They did not want to defile their sacred soil.
2. It was and illegal act without the Roman governor’s permission.
3. The false accusers were required to participate in the stoning.
of the garments.
E. Stephen’s cry unto the Lord.
1. He commends his spirit to Jesus not the Father as evidence of his
faith in Christ’s deity.
2. His plea for forgiveness of his executioners is also like that of his Master.