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8 Stephen was richly blessed by God who gave him the power to do great miracles and signs among the people. 9 But some people were against him. They belonged to the synagogue of Free Men (as it was called), which included people from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia. They all came and argued with Stephen. 10 But the Spirit was helping him to speak with wisdom, and his words were so strong that they could not argue with him. 11 So they secretly urged some men to say, “We heard Stephen speak against Moses and against God.” 12 This upset the people, the elders, and the teachers of the law. They came and grabbed Stephen and brought him to a meeting of the leaders. 13 They brought in some people to tell lies about Stephen, saying, “This man is always speaking against this holy place and the law of Moses. 14 We heard him say that Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and that Jesus will change the customs Moses gave us.” 15 All the people in the meeting were watching Stephen closely and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel. ~ Acts 6:8-15
Today, we conclude our study of Acts 6 where we have been following the growth of the first century church. As with any meaningful undertaking, there will always be adversity because we live in such a fallen world. Given the case, the Lord has always been able to use this tool of adversity for the growth of our faith in the God of the Bible. I have discovered that God is the master at using today’s difficulties to strengthen us for tomorrow's victories. There are always those times when He seems to be absent during our adversity only to discover that He caused or allowed that adversity for our growth in Him. It is almost always that when we find ourselves on the edge of disbelief that our adversity gives God the platform to prove to us that He is bigger than any problem we encounter.
In v.8-10 of today's passage we read, "8 Stephen was richly blessed by God who gave him the power to do great miracles and signs among the people. 9 But some people were against him. They belonged to the synagogue of Free Men (as it was called), which included people from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia. They all came and argued with Stephen. 10 But the Spirit was helping him to speak with wisdom, and his words were so strong that they could not argue with him."
Stephen was richly blessed by God because he was yielded to the Holy Spirit who filled him with the wisdom of God. The concept of being "filled with the Spirit" is not a command to empty Christians who haven't been born again. Each born-again believer in Christ has the Holy Spirit from the moment we believe. The goal, according to Ephesians 5:18, is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit who Himself does not push the will of God upon us. The experience of "being filled with the Spirit" is not an experience we initiate. This command was written in the passive voice which means that we receive the action from the Holy Spirit.
To "be filled with the Spirit" delivers the idea of pressure from the blowing wind. In the spiritual realm, this concept depicts the Holy Spirit providing the thrust to move the believer down the pathway of obedience to God. A Spirit-filled Christian isn't motivated by his own desires or his own will or his own obedience. Instead, he is yielded to the Holy Spirit who leads him in the proper direction of obedience to God for the moment. The idea is that we are giving control over our lives to the Holy Spirit and this is done through our obedience to God's Word.
It is most often in the context of adversity that we see best the control of the Holy Spirit over our lives. How we respond to the adversity will echo more profoundly in the lives of others than any good we can produce for the moment. It was Brennan Manning who said, "The temptation of the age is to look good without being good." Our greatest life lessons come out of our deepest wounds. Stephen found this to be true as he had such a deep walk with the Lord that he was known to be a man who was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is a passive thing. It is through our determination to obey God's Word that we are prepared to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. Stephen was a man of faith, thus the Holy Spirit filled Him. It really isn't that we get more of the Spirit, it is that He is getting more of us. If we lack faith and obedience, we will not receive the filling of the Spirit. When we live our lives in accord with the Word of God, in a state of being opened up to God, then we will be filled by His Spirit. The more opened we are to God's control, the more we will be filled by His Spirit's control. God deepens us most often through our adversities.
In v.11-14 of today's passage we read, "11 So they secretly urged some men to say, 'We heard Stephen speak against Moses and against God.' 12 This upset the people, the elders, and the teachers of the law. They came and grabbed Stephen and brought him to a meeting of the leaders. 13 They brought in some people to tell lies about Stephen, saying, 'This man is always speaking against this holy place and the law of Moses. 14 We heard him say that Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and that Jesus will change the customs Moses gave us.'"
Those of the Synagogue of the Freedmen were not able to resist the wisdom of Stephen. This led to them being filled with jealousy. The word translated "secretly urged" is only found here in the Bible. It literally means "to cast down." It provides a picture of a carpet under one’s feet. Hence, the idea of putting one person in place of another. These deceivers brought a false accusation against Stephen, replacing the true intent of his words with a different meaning.
In order to make a charge of blasphemy against another, the words that are claimed to have been said must be presented and proven. Further, according to the Law of Moses, there had to be at least two witnesses in order for the words to be accepted as true. Even though these false witnesses combined their voices into one accusation, their attempts failed because everything Stephen said was the truth, even the statement that the Lord Jesus said He would destroy the temple. Of course, in 70 AD the temple was destroyed by Titus and the Romans. It wasn't that the Lord had not told Israel in Jeremiah 26 that this would happen. In response, the people who were not even in a personal relationship with God wanted to stone Stephen. The flesh was winning the day.
In v.15 of today's passage we read, "All the people in the meeting were watching Stephen closely and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel."
The religious leaders of Israel sat there staring at the accused Stephen as if he were a content angel who had the perspective of time from the view of eternity. Due to having been filled by the Spirit Stephen had confidence, peace, and wisdom from God. Since God was in control of Stephen, he was in control of his emotions and his disposition. According to Acts 7:55, moments before Stephen was stoned to death, as the Jewish leaders were grinding their teeth and shaking their fists in rage, we are told these words: "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." Without even speaking a word, Stephen’s countenance gave witness that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the key to being effective for God in this world and this was the key to Stephen's life and death.
