Stephen's Speech

Transcript

Hi Everyone! Welcome back to the Living on Prayer podcast. I’m Emily and as always I’m glad to have you join me again for another episode in this series on spiritual distractions. We’re now in the middle of the series and last episode we talked through a parable in the scriptures from Luke Chapter 16 known as the rich man and Lazarus. Today I want to talk through the story of the disciple of Stephen. Like I mentioned at the start of last episode, these few episode here in the middle of this series might not seem like they are specifically about spiritual distractions but I will tie them in loosely in the episode themselves and as we pick back up again in Episode 7 I’ll explain more where they fit into the spiritual distractions themselves. In the meantime, I hope you’ll stick with me and maybe you can even be reminded of some of these scriptures again or perhaps even hear of them for the first time.  

So let’s chat about Stephen. I have a few favorite disciples and Stephen is one of them. Maybe it’s not right to have favorites but I don’t mind saying I do. Stephen, Paul, John. Those are my favorites for various reasons and I’m not afraid or ashamed to admit it at all. And all of the disciples were human, which means they were all sinners, they were all imperfect, so having a favorite doesn’t mean that I’m putting them on any kind of pedestal or saying they are perfect or anything like that. They hit my heart on a different level and since I’m a feeler that’s how I work. I can justify my feelings with facts too but in the end they touch me in a deeper way than the other disciples and that’s enough for me.

That being said, I don’t feel like I can do Stephen justice. I honestly don’t know that anyone can do him enough justice honestly. He gave a speech that was recorded in the Bible in Acts Chapter 7 that is so powerful and moving that every time I read it or hear it, it moves my heart so I really wanted it to be a part of this podcast. But before I get into Stephen’s speech itself let me try to summarize Stephen’s life from before the speech. So Stephen was a truly faithful man and from what we understand he was an educated man and a Jew that came to believe Jesus Christ was the son of God and had received the Holy Spirit. And as part of his disciple duties, he was one of 7 men that had been chosen and put in charge of distributing food to the widows in the church. This was during a time when certain widows were being overlooked and the apostles decided to select and ordain these 7 men to handle this task of ensuring the widows, all widows, were receiving food. Think of this position like being a church deacon. You’d be selected and ordained and it would hopefully be a position that was taken very seriously and held sacredly. In addition to being one of these selected 7 men, Stephen was also gifted with spiritual wisdom and with it he was able to argue with most anyone on the topic of faith. He was able to perform miracles and demonstrate wonders with his gifts as well. But of course like most of the disciples, Stephen was met with conspiracy and lies and deception by those who didn’t believe and some who did. 

Now here’s where Stephen’s real story kicks into gear. So in Acts Chapter 6 it gives a prelude. It tells us that Stephen, using his gift of wisdom, went up against some Jews in a debate and as usual he won. But in that case, they got so angry about losing that they convinced some men to lie to the high council about Stephen and say that he was speaking against the law of Moses and Moses himself and even God which was all against the law. These lies convinced the high council to arrest Stephen. So when Stephen was brought before the high council to account for his crimes the men made their claims again and when the high council looked over at Stephen and asked him if the accusations were true, his face was lit up and became as bright as an angel’s and that’s when Stephen gave one of the best speeches I think was ever recorded in the scriptures. 

So now I want to actually step us into Acts Chapter 7 and like I mentioned before I can’t do Stephen justice. I wouldn’t be able to summarize his speech either. So instead I’m going to just read it here. If you heard it before then I hope you enjoy hearing it again and if you haven’t heard it then I really hope you enjoy it for the first time. So here is Acts Chapter 7, read from the NLT version of the Bible:

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

 This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. God told him, Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you. So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.

But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet. God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.  ‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place. God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation. These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace. But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food. Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some. The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors. Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem. As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die. At that time Moses was born—a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action. One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t. The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’ But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. ‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’  When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born. Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him, ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.  I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt. ’So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years. Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’ Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us. But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made. Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,

‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings
     during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
 No, you carried your pagan gods—
     the shrine of Molech,
     the star of your god Rephan,
     and the images you made to worship them.
 So I will send you into exile
     as far away as Babylon.’

Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses. Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David. David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who actually built it. However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,

‘Heaven is my throne,
     and the earth is my footstool.
 Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
     asks the Lord.
 ‘Could you build me such a resting place?
 Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’

 “You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”

The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”

Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.

That was the full Chapter of Acts 7 and included the speech from Stephen to the high council. It’s amazing in my opinion! Stephen summarized everything that had occurred with their ancestors so far. He summarized it all from Abraham to Christ in front of the Jewish leaders, the high council, the elders, everyone. And it is very poignant that he is calling them all out and saying I know of all the facts. I’m a very smart man. You know, it's not like they have the Internet or even a set of encyclopedias where they can just go look these facts up. I mean, you had to be intelligent, schooled, trained. You had to know this information somehow. You didn’t just have this information as the common man. So in a way, he's proving himself. He’s proving his knowledge and facts before he calls the leaders out. And then after he proves that he knows the full history, all the facts, then he calls them out. And remember Stephen was part of the discipleship and the church of believers that Jesus Christ left behind to spread the word that He is lord, the son of God. At this time that Stephen has been arrest, Jesus has already walked the earth and been crucified and ascended to heaven and his disciples have taken over Jesus’ mission and Stephen is part of that discipleship. So just keep that in mind.

So when Stephen summarized everything to the audience in temple then he looks at them and calls them hypocrites and in verse 51, stubborn people, heathens at heart. “Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit?” And I just love that. He was pointing out that they were resisting the Holy Spirit now and that their ancestors resisted God’s words and prophecies. And he said their ancestors killed the ones who predicted the coming of the righteous one, the messiah, whom you guys betrayed and murdered. He's calling them out, all of them and their families before them too. Saying you all don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re just a bunch of hypocrites that claim to sit on those priestly high throne chairs in this priestly high council temple and sit here judging me and you’re all claiming to be the most knowledgeable and the wisest of all when it comes to the matters of the spirit and religion the Jewish law but yet you’ve deliberately disobeyed God’s law yourselves. The law that your ancestors received from the hands of angels that was entrusted to you and you’re disobeying it.

Now you know that hit home hard. Right, like if someone was calling you out on your life or your job or your family wouldn’t you come back at them defensively? Whether they were right or not, it’s like human nature to become defensive. And these leaders did. Everyone there did. They became enraged, infuriated and it caused them to attack Stephen. Again, doesn’t matter if they thought he was right or wrong. That natural instinct of defense kicked in. Sometimes the truth really hurts. and maybe that was what caused them to react that way or maybe they were upset that their ancestors were being attacked or disrespected. Whatever it was, they didn’t take to it kindly and they went berserk and they had the authority to do so. So they took Stephen outside and put him to death.

And the first few times I ever read this story my heart just sank. I'm a feeler, and it's hard for me not to feel for Stephen. I mean good grief right? But I realized wow, what a purpose he served. Not only did he serve a purpose for those folks that day to hear that speech also for it been written down and put into our scripture for all of us to read over and over again. What a legacy and purpose his life had. He didn’t know that. You realize that he had no idea while he was living and breathing that his life would have that kind of impact or ripple effect? That I would be sitting here today talking about his life and using it as an example to help someone else. Do you think he would do it all over again if he thought his life might help someone else? If he’s anything like me he’d say yes in a heartbeat. And I believe he would honestly. I think these are the people God chooses for those hardest tasks. Man, I would never want to go through what Stephen or any of the other disciples went through in their lives. But I’m super thankful that he did and I’m grateful that it was recorded and I love talking about his story and using it as an example. I really do! It has impacted me in many ways and I truly enjoy seeing how people react to it, both positively and negatively. It touches my heart both ways. Makes me sad that there are people out there who react to it the way those leaders did in such a hateful or negative, mean, bullying way. But on the flip side, to also see so many people react to it in such a grateful, inspired way like I do.  

And while I do get sad for Stephen’s life to have ended like it did my last thought always going to what a man. What a man Stephen was. To not only do all of these things, to be a disciple, to do all the wonderful things he did prior to being arrested but to then stand up for his beliefs and give that speech and ultimately die for Christ, die because he was a Christian really and he spoke the truth which is something people have a hard time hearing and accepting. But to then ask for the forgiveness from God for his murders while he’s being killed. I mean come on! Like that says so much about the man’s character doesn’t it? He’s dying. He’s being stoned, which is so brutal by the way. Not like they just chopped his head off in a guillotine. No, he’s being painfully, brutally murdered by having stones thrown at him. Like can you imagine? I can’t. That’s got to be torture. They’re probably hurling insults at him too and yet all that’s going on and he just falls to his knees and says ‘Lord, don’t charge them with this sin’ and dies. I mean really. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. That is a true statement. But how many of us actually can do it? How many of us can actually sit back and go, you know what, Lord? I'm gonna let you have this one. And, oh, by the way, please forgive them while they're hurting me. Not even after, not even when I'm over it. Not even when I'm past my grieving process or I don't care about them anymore. I've moved on to something else. Like, not even then. And how many of us can do it then, right? I'm talking about while they're actually hurting us, can we say, please forgive them, much less if they were murdering us? 

I mean just wow. Those are our examples. These are the disciples. These are the leaders that God left for us and their stories and this is the guide that we have to read and use. Like I said I don’t think I can ever do Stephen enough justice but I hope you got something from his story. He will always be one of my favorites from the scriptures. He stood up for what he believed in. He spoke the truth. He died for his beliefs. And he forgave all. Those are all principles I really believe in and try to live by as well. 

Today I will be closing our episode out with Psalms Chapter 5, Verses 11-12 “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy. For you bless the godly, O Lord; you surround them with your shield of love.”

Thank you all for joining again for today’s episode. I hope you find Stephen’s story to be inspiring and encouraging. To know that no matter what we do here on this earth, no matter how long our life is or how small or trivial it appears, our impact, our purpose can have lasting effects that we can’t understand or see or know. So keep that in mind. Don’t let the distractions in your life stop you from what you’re meant to do and be, from what God wants for you. Remember that He loves you and created you with a purpose and will do anything He can to help you achieve it but He gave you free will so use it wisely and let Him help you. Reach out to Him constantly, pray, lean on other Christians and resources that He’s providing you. We’re all here to help each other. Until next time, be safe. We’ll talk again soon.