Stephen has been been brought before before the Sanhedrin and is questioned by the High Priest and falsely charged with blasphemy. “Are these things so?” he is asked.
He then begins a wonderfully comprehensive but condensed history of God’s mercy to their ancestors.
The first thing I want you to notice is:
I. STEPHEN’S ETIQUETTE IN THE PULPIT
By that I mean his behaviour in the pulpit.
1. He is very polite and respectful to the members of the Sanhedrin. Even though he is falsely accused and on trial for his life and the Sanhedrin has been very guilty of cruel injustices to Christians in recent days.
He addresses them as “Men, brethren, and fathers”, verse 2. We are taught that, “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger,” Proverbs 15:1. You cannot really set forth the Love of God with an angry voice!
2. But Stephen changes his tone after some time preaching. Look at verses 51-53.
“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.”
These are not soft or gentle words. They are condemning words. They are accusing words.
He accuses them of (1). Being stiffnecked and hard hearted. (2). They are resisters of the Holy Ghost. (3) He says they have not kept the Word that God had give to their fathers.
You see girls and boys, there are times when the preacher must speak plainly and tell a people of their sins, WHETHER it annoys them or not!
II. IN HIS SERMON, STEPHEN HIGHLIGHTS THE CHIEF POINTS OF THE GOSPEL.
1. He reminds them of God’s giving His promise to Abraham. “And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, . . . he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell . . . he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him,” Acts 7:2, 3, 5.
Abraham did not choose the Lord but the lord chose Abraham. That is what happens to every Christian. “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth,” 2 Thessalonians 2:13.
2. He reminds them of how the Lord wrought out His purpose despite the sins of the forefathers. “And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt,” verse 9. Boys and girls, how often Christians have foolishly done that which appears to threaten God’s plans!
3. He furthermore showed that the Lord’s plans are greatly opposed by the devil. “But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live,” verses 17-19.
The persecution by the Egyptians, the defiance of Pharaoh, and the pursuit of the Egyptians to the Red Sea — all this happened much more than 400 years after the promise was given. Christians need patience!
“And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ,” 2 Thess 3:5.