Acts 6:18-15
As we saw last week the church is growing fast, and now we have Deacons elected to help the Apostles administer the body. One of these first Deacons, though that title will not be used until much later, is Stephen. Peter is falling away as far as the account in Acts is concerned, and soon the account will focus on Paul, and the bridge between the two is this account of Stephen.
Stephen served the Apostles directly and would be well known to the body of believers at this time. Stephen was one of the men elected to help with the distribution of the wealth that was given to the Church, but as with all members of the body his purpose was much greater then that. He core purpose was, as it is for all Christians, to lead the lost to Christ.
“Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.” (Acts 6:8) Stephen is one of only a few mentioned in Acts, other then the Apostles who works miracles. That small group is limit to only Stephen, Philip and Barnabas. This I think is an easy to over look detail, but it is important. When we read the Bible, the focus is on the main players, such as Peter and Paul, and not on the common Christian. These main players have great impact, and do wondrous things that most Christians only can dream of. The problem comes in that we read these accounts we can almost be tricked in to thinking that this behavior is normal, and if we are not living up to these standards, something is wrong with us.
The time of Acts was a special time in the life of the Church that can never be repeated. The church can only be born once. This special time required special intervention by God and that is what is empowering the very few people working great deeds. Nothing of this magnitude has been seen since, and likely will not be seen again still the end times. Even with this great magnitude of power on display, only a few people are using this power. The vast majority of the members of the body of Christ are not even mentioned, never mind shown to be doing great works.
In our modern times we have people making all kinds of claims to faith healing, and they even have special healing services were people come to be healed in large numbers. They are almost always shown to be fakes, and the media loves the scandal it produces so we get it stuffed in our faces, repeatedly. A question any Christian can easily ask when they see these events, is if this guy is for real, why doesn’t he go empty the hospitals?
This is not to say that healings do not happen in our day. Indeed, that would be the height of hypocrisy for me to make that claim, as my own son received a work of healing from God. It is however to say that we should not expect to see the mass healings of Acts in our time, as the specific purpose for them has passed. God can do whatever He wants, when He wants, but He does seem to follow the pattern that only in times of significant change does he dump out his power in to miracles like these. He seems to use these events to show He has put His stamp of authority on the event, so that men are without excuse that do not believe.
This display of power was not taken well by the leaders of the Jews, and in Acts 6:9-14 we see their response. They gathered up men from various groups and tried to discredit him through debate in front of the people. Try as they might, they were “not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.” (Acts 6:10) The word here for “spirit” is often capitalized, but likely does not refer to the Holy Spirit; rather it more likely refers to Stephen’s enthusiasm and passion.
Logical debate fails the attackers of Stephen, so they turn to lies and deception. Here we can see the hand of Satan being played. If we compare this account in Acts to 1 Kings 21:1-16, and then to Matthew 26:57-66 we can see an obvious pattern. In all three accounts, the same set of lies is used against good men. In all three cases false witnesses are dug up to produce the lies, and in all three cases the lies result in the death of a good man. While we would like to think that truth will win out; the sad reality to remember is that we lived in a curse world, and until that curse is lifted, evil will win many battles.
Stephen apparently was a great public speaker, and he apparently was having a major impact on the people around him. In Acts 6:12 we read that his opponents raised up a mob in response, violently seized him, and brought him before the court. This is a major change from how Peter and John had been treated previously, and it sets the tone for where things are going for the new church.
It would be good to remind ourselves at this point that the leaders of the Jew’s put tremendous faith in Moses and the Law. They held it above all things, and they could have quoted it to you from memory. Given this level of importance they put on the Law and Moses they should have seen an obvious sign that was literally right in front of their faces. In Acts 6:15 it says “all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him [Stephen], saw his face as the face of an angel.” If we compare this to the account of Moses in Exodus 34, we will see the sign that the leaders missed, Moses face also shown like an angel when he had been with God. This shinning was one last sign to the rulers that God was with Stephen, just as He had been with Moses.
In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 we can read the reason for this blindness. Satan has blinded his own from the truth so that they will not be saved. When a person chooses to ignore God, and the obvious signs around him, they also choose to allow Satan to blind them. This blinding will become progressively worse the longer they continue to choose to ignore the clear testimony of the world around them, and at some point they harden their hearts so much that even if a man were to return from the dead, they would not believe it. (Luke 16:19-31)
The big question that we are left with answering, is what lesson should we pull from this today? I would say that the most obvious lesson is that contrary to what is portrayed in modern entertainment; good people do not always win. This is because we are still in the war, and each battle may go either way. We know that in the very end God wins the war, but until then His people may appear to loose individual battles. We cannot let these losses discourage us, as they are ultimately part of the plan whose end goal is to save as many people as possible. Sometimes it is only through death and failure that people can see the real strength and truth of the Gospel.
Take courage as you face daily battles, and fear not the losses that seem to set you back for ultimately they are for the good of all, and all includes you. Sometimes, perhaps even most times, it is hard to see that, but you can have faith in the nature of God. As one songwriter put it, “when you can not see His hand, trust His heart.”
Print This Post