Living In The Spirit, By The Word | Acts 7

INTRODUCTION

When we live in this world, we are to take a lot of decisions and involve in a lot of situations. So, how are we to conduct ourselves? The Spirt of God has been given to us to empower us for our daily living and the word of God is the foundation or forms the framework of our behaviour. In short, we an say that “We are to Live in the Spirit by the Word of God.”

I want to show you one person in the Bible who lived in the Spirit by the word of God.

Acts 7:54-60

⁵⁴When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

As we’ve been going through the Book of Acts, this book is showing as a major conflict between those who proclaimed the Word of God about Christ and the Jewish Leaders in particular who refused to believe it.

Today, we look at the first martyr of the New Testament Church, Stephen. What could have possibly led to a man being filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking the Words of God to be stoned to death?

For that we need to go back to Acts 6.

Who is Stephen?

• 7 men were set aside to serve the widows while the Apostles spoke the Word; 6:3-4
• Stephen is appointed as one of the 7 to care for the needy widows.
• Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; 6:5
• Stephen full of God’s grace & power, did great wonders & signs among the people; 6:8

What was the problem?

The problem comes when Stephen begins sharing his faith in the context of his ministry. He shares it at the synagogue and the Jews were provoked at his sharing; 6:8-10

Acts 6:8-10

⁸Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. ¹⁰But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

Charge Against Stephen: Blasphemy against Moses and against God; 6:11

Acts 6:11-12

¹¹Then they secretly persuaded some men (false witness they are to be executed Deut. 18:18-19; as per Roman law as well.) to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” ¹²So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.

Stephen’s Demeanour; 6:15

Acts 6:15

All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

This is like transfiguration. His dignified calm, fearless serenity, completely courageous, dependent on the Lord, with his heart set on the things above.

Acts 7:1

Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

Chapter 7 is this long defence that Stephen gives to this group of Jewish Leaders.

Stephen’s Defence 1: Israel’s Repeated Rejection of God’s Deliverers

Acts 7:2

²To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. ³‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’

Stephen responds from the History of Israel all the way to Jesus. If you want to know God, then history is of great importance. “God has chosen to use the canvass of history on which to paint his self-portrait.” It is in history that God has revealed himself. God is known through his historical acts. Israel’s history is important for us as well, we are the spiritual seeds of Abraham.

What are the three parts of the Hebrew Bible? The Torah, the Prophets, the Writings.

He starts with the Torah.

He begins with God’s Promise to Abraham, v2

It’s interesting that he begins his defence with Abraham because he wants to focus their attention on the hope of the promise that the God made to Abraham. And so he begins his defence by reminding them, “Don’t you remember that God told Abraham that He was going to give him and his seed the Land?”

Acts 7:4-5

⁴“So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. ⁵He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.

Abraham lived in the promised land but the expectation of the inheritance of the offspring would come after God would bring His people out from under their Egyptian oppressors.

Acts 7:6

⁶God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. ⁷But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’

He brought Abraham out. Then comes Isaac and Jacob. Ultimately their seed was brought down to Egypt in the story of Joseph and Jacob.

Joseph was the Deliverer. They rejected Joseph (sold him), but God used Joseph to Deliver Israel (from famine); v9

Even after Joseph is elevated in Egypt, they are going to have to wait for the promise.

Acts 7:17

¹⁷“As the time drew near for God to fulfil his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. ¹⁸Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’ ¹⁹He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.

Moses was the Deliverer. They Rejected Moses, but God used Moses to Deliver Israel; 23, 39

Acts 7:20

²³“When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. ²⁴He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.

You see a series of 40 years here. When Moses is about 40 years he begin defending his people, the Hebrews in Egypt. Look at verse 25. It’s kind of a sad verse:

Acts 7:25

Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.

Acts 7:26

²⁶The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’

²⁷“But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? ²⁸Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.

And so Moses has to flee for his life, the deliverer runs for his life and sojourns for the next 40 years in the Land of Midian. Their Exodus, their deliverance, would have to wait.

Acts 7:30, 33-35

³⁰“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. .

³³“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’

³⁵“This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

It’s very ironic. The irony of the story is not missed on Stephen. It very much is that unnamed Israelite who, forty years earlier, was spot-on when he said, “Who made you to be ruler and judge?” And what’s the answer? God did. God made you ruler and judge. God was indeed sending Moses as their ruler and their redeemer.

Acts 7:36

He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.

There’s our 40 forty-year time period. This man Moses was indeed the one who led Israel out of Egypt. Well, God raised Moses as a ruler and redeemer and they are still not be in the Land yet?

Acts 7:37

³⁷“This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’ (So Moses told them about their Messiah, the Prophet. According to verse 38) ³⁸He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us. ³⁹“But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. (Despite all that God had done— signs and wonders and redemption and living oracles— they pushed him aside; rejected Moses like the unnamed Israelite who rejected Moses 40 years ago. They turned to their idol worship.) ⁴⁰They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’

⁴¹That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and revealed in what their own hands had made. ⁴²But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.

This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: So, just as their hearts were unwilling to obey His living oracles, and their hearts turned back to Egypt, so God turned away from His people and gave them over to their idolatry.

You see, the story of the rest of the Old Testament then becomes this message about waiting. The story of the Old Testament then becomes that of the Prophets, beginning with Moses reminding the people to avoid their idolatry, to meditate upon the living oracles that their Prophets are giving them, and to wait expectantly in hope for the promises made to Abraham.

And Stephen confirms this by quoting from one of their Prophets.

He quotes from Amos 5, and he says this:

Acts 7:42-43

But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and star

“‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings

forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?

⁴³You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek

and the star of your god Rephan,

the idols you made to worship.

Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.

Just as they’re wandering through the wilderness, they’re also carrying their false gods with them, and they’re offering sacrifices to them and worshiping their other gods. What’s very interesting is that the end, according to Amos and according to Stephen here, was ultimately exile.

And so the OT Scriptures then call upon believers those who would believe in God to demonstrate faith. And that faith would be demonstrated by those who waited and hoped in the promises made to Abraham by means of the Scriptures.

Moses had spoken about a greater deliverer that would come, who is better than Moses; v37; Deut. 18:15

There is a prophet to come, better than Moses.

Isaiah says that the prophet will come.

In the NT, Jesus, the prophet comes like Moses.

• He feed the 5000, then 4000 like Moses feeding the Manna. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” He himself is the ultimate bread that will take care of all your spiritual needs, not just 40 years.
• Moses delivered people out of slavery, Jesus delivered us from the slavery of sin.
• Moses work was atoning for the sin of Israel on the foot of Mt. Sinai and went to the mountain when Israel sinned with the Golden Calf. He prayed, “God please forgive them or blot me from the face of the earth. May your judgement fall on me in order to forgive the people.” When the Moses that was to come, took the judgment and fell in order to forgive the people.

Jesus was their Deliverer, by Israel rejected him and killed him; 7:52b

Stephen’s Defence 2: The Temple was Provisional

God’s presence was not confined to Buildings.

Stephen says: “You accuse me of blaspheming the Temple. Here is my defence.”

Acts 7:44-47

⁴⁴“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. ⁴⁵After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, ⁴⁶who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. ⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

The temple was only a temporary measure that God graciously provided for His people. In the Tabernacle and in the Temple, the repentant could find atonement; the thankful could express their worship; but it was always pointing beyond itself.

Acts 7:48-50

⁴⁸“However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says: (he quotes prophets Isaiah):

⁴⁹ “‘Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool.

What kind of house will you build for me?

Says the Lord.

Or where will my resting place be?

⁵⁰Has not my hand made all these things?’

What is Stephen getting at? Well, he points to the reality that the Tabernacle and the Temple was always temporary and there was always a message of waiting. Waiting until, as the Lord says in a couple of different places: Numbers 14:21 (Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth.), Habakkuk 2:14 (For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of God as the waters cover the sea.”) He says, “If you want to talk about the Temple, let’s talk about what Solomon says:

2 Chronicles 2:5-6

⁵“The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. ⁶But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? 

And, at one point, the whole earth is going to be filled with that. The whole earth will be a Temple unto the Lord.

Stephen’s Defence about the temple:

They are looking at the wrong temple. They are obsessed with the empty building in Jerusalem.

God is not confined in the building in Jerusalem.

God has stated his work way back in another land in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran.

The glory of God is not confined in Jerusalem.

The temple in Stephen’s day was built by Herod, an Edomite, not even a literal Jew. There was no furniture in the holy of holiness, the ark was lost in the temple of Herod when the Babylonians destroyed the, the 10 commandants were lost, the furnishes were gone. What makes the temple, the temple is missing. There is no pillar of cloud or fire. That temple was empty. God is not without a temple when Jesus came, His body was the temple. That temple is Jesus Christ. That is where God and man meet. That was Jesus who was filled with the Spirit.

Who desecrates the temple? Israel when they turned against Jesus and crucified him. You destroy God’s temple, god will destroy them. There days later he rose again to bring them judgement.

You see, Stephen answered all their accusations using the very Scriptures they supposedly knew. Right? It turns out, they were the ones who missed the point just as Jesus said. Listen to these verses in John 5. Jesus said this, when He was being accused by another group of Jewish Leaders:

John 5:45-47

⁴⁵“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. ⁴⁶If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. ⁴⁷But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

Stephen’s closing accusation:

Acts 7:51-53

⁵¹“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! ⁵²Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him—⁵³you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

These Jewish Leaders resisted the Spirit. They killed their Prophet; they killed the Messiah; and they were about to kill another one who spoke the Word of God to them.

You see, Stephen defended himself with wisdom, and the biblical message he proclaimed cut straight to the heart of his accusers.

Acts 7:54-60

⁵⁴When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 7:54-60: Stephen’s Death And Parallel’s With Jesus’ Death.

• Acts 7:56. Jesus stands in heaven – witness or judge.

Normally Jesus is expected to be seated at the Father’s right hand according to Acts 2:34. But a witness would stand while giving testimony and a judge could stand while rendering a verdict. Jesus is either Stephen’s witness or Jesus is portrayed here as the true judge. Actually the false accusers are really on trial.

TAKE AWAY

1. The Church Grows

This is part of an ongoing story in the Book of Acts whereby the Church grows because Believers are proclaiming the Gospel in the Spirit, by the Word. What men meant for evil here, God ultimately is going to mean for good, because in the next Chapter we find that what results in Stephen’s death is a great persecution that scatters Spirit-filled, wise people throughout the world. And what did they do? They just proclaimed the Gospel; they just taught the message of the resurrected Christ; Acts 8:1, 4

Application: This is our task dear Church. We are to proclaim the Word by the Spirit throughout the world. So the task for us is to: Boldly proclaim the message of Christ according to the Scriptures. Live in the Spirit, proclaiming the Word about Christ, our resurrected Messiah.

2. We Can Proclaim the Word with Confidence and Approach Death with Hope.

Stephen’s knowledge of God and the resurrected Son of Man taught him to proclaim Christ boldly, but also how to approach death with confidence. The Seed of Abraham, the Son of Man confirmed to His servant the reality of the resurrection and the hope that resides on the other side of physical death, and He appears to him standing at the right hand of the Father; v56

You see, for the believer, for the one who is participating in the New Covenant; for the one who has a new heart and ears that hear; for the one in whom the Spirit dwells, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Right? Thus, we can proclaim the Word with confidence, and we can approach death with hope.

3. Be the Church Beyond Buildings.

God’s presence isn’t confined to sanctuaries. We are His living temples, sent people. Carry worship, witness, and mercy into homes, workplaces, and streets. Prioritize people over places—serve widows, welcome strangers, disciple in small groups, and share Jesus everywhere. Buildings assist; the mission continues everywhere today.

4. We are Called to Live in the Spirit by the Word.

This text concerns Stephen. He is not one of the Apostles, but to a man who was commissioned to go wait tables. He could possibly be a Deacon. However, whatever the case, Stephen was filled with the Spirit and with wisdom, and therefore chosen to serve the widows in the Church. Stephen did great signs and wonders, like Moses, but his ministry was waiting tables; 6:8.

Stephen gives us, as readers, an ideal that we must pursue. The pattern through Acts has been very simple: Those filled with the Spirit spoke the Word. And not just Apostles. New Covenant people were Spirit-filled witnesses. All they did focused on the Apostolic teaching, the message of Christ according to the Scriptures.

Listen, the best way for you and me to prepare for our current and lifelong service in the Church is to grow more and more acquainted with the Scriptures; to commit ourselves to the practice of prolonged exposure to the text. Why? Well, our service in the Body is informed by our knowledge of the Scriptures. Stephen was called to serve widows in their distress because he was biblically prepared to do so.

ILLUSTRATION

It kind of reminded me of when I was growing up in my faith and service to the Lord. I got enrolled in Sunday School ministry and I wanted to lead people in worship. I was leading songs like “Big, Big House,” where we’re talking about God who has a big house and lots of rooms; a big table with lots of food; and a big yard where you can play football. I look back,  I’m kind of embarrassed. I mean, good song, good beat— wrong theology. Right?

It’s one thing to have talent or skills that can obviously be used within the Church. But when they sought to find people to serve these widows, they didn’t seem to look for the best cooks or who had the best ladle technique or something like that. They looked for the ones who were Spirit-filled, and these Spirit-filled, wise people who led and served were those who understood very clearly the Scriptures. Right?

Our best preparation for ministry, on whatever level it happens to be, is to have prolonged exposure to these biblical texts like Stephen obviously did. You see, Deacons or servants are those in the Church who are marked out not just because of their ability and willingness to serve, but because they hold the mystery of the Faith with a clear conscience. God-honouring service in the Church is always a Spirit-filled ministry of the Word.

So, we preach in the Spirit by the Word.

We teach in the Spirit by the Word.

We plant Churches in the Spirit and by the Word.

We counsel our fellow believers in the Spirit, and we do that by the Word.

We disciple in the Spirit by the Word.

We worship as a congregation in the Spirit by the Word.

We serve in the Spirit by the Word.

We meet needs in the Spirit by the Word.

We evangelize in the Spirit by the Word.

Ultimately, everything that we do is in the Spirit and by the Word.

Finally, Stephen gives us an example  that we die with hope in the Spirit, informed by the Word.

So here’s a general principle I really want you to walk away with today: The Church spreads throughout the world; the Gospel is preached throughout the world  in the Spirit, by the Word.

There is no part of our work, of our ministry in the Church that should be done without the Spirit and the Word. Thus, your greatest preparation for lifelong ministry is to hear, to read, to meditate upon, to live according to the God-breathed Scriptures by the Spirit.

COCLUSION

Church, Stephen shows us what life in the Spirit by the Word looks like—courageous witness, compassionate service, and confident hope in Christ. Let us leave as living temples, proclaiming Jesus, serving the vulnerable, and trusting the risen Lord. May the Spirit empower us to obey Scripture and shine glory everywhere.