“Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: “ ‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’ “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, “ ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?’ “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. ” (Acts 7:39-60 ESV)
I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on September 11, 2001. I was taking an Introduction to Biology exam. One of my classmates hadn’t shown up yet and it was thirty minutes into the test. When he finally arrived, he had a look of shock mixed with grief on his face. Risking the punishment that comes with talking during a test, I asked him what was wrong and why he was late. He motioned to the hallway, and we met out there a few minutes later. There he hurriedly filled me on the morning’s happenings. Two planes had just been hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center. One plane had crashed into the Pentagon. Terrorists had attacked America. Later I would learn that the terrorists were blowing themselves up in holy war against America. They were serving Allah and all but guaranteeing, as taught from the Koran, their entrance into heaven.
In Acts 7, we see another act of terrorism taking place. Stephen, the Spirit-filled deacon, is about to blow himself up. But what’s the difference between Christianity and Islam? Why is he dying in this passage? The evidence is as plain as it can get. But let’s get the setting before we pick it apart. In chapter 6, the apostles request the people to appoint “seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to [the duty of the distribution of food to the believing widows]” (Acts 6.1-6). Stephen is one of these men picked to be about this business. He faithfully testifies to the gospel of Jesus Christ. During a dispute over the gospel, some members of a local synagogue were defeated in debate with Stephen. So they secretly conspired against Stephen. They accused him of blasphemy and stirred up the elders, scribes, and people against him. They dragged him before the council in order to answer the false accusations against him.
Chapter seven is Stephen’s response to the charges. Not one word does Stephen offer in defense of himself. He, instead, goes to the very heart of the reason why they had falsely accused him—their disbelief of God Himself. He recounts their history as God’s chosen people starting with God’s calling of Abraham through God’s providence of Joseph to God’s revelation to Moses. Although Israel was not a nation deserving of the God’s mercy, He delivered her out of Egypt through Moses. And Israel rejected Moses and God. She chased after other gods and sought to serve Him by making a temple for Him. Then Stephen summed up the fact that the sins of Israel are all present in the men who accuse him. “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it” (Acts 7:51-53 ESV).
He challenged their understanding of God, their relationship to Him, and the treatment of God’s Son. Because they had the temple, they believed that they were serving Him faithfully. They supposed that no matter their actions, He was always in their midst. They believed that they were earning God’s favor by what they had done for Him. They had no idea who the God is that they tried to serve. He is not served with human hands as though he needed anything. He does not dwell in the Temple. All of their service is blasphemy before Him, for it does not magnify their need of Him. They grieve His Holy Spirit. Instead they turned God’s law, meant to be a tutor to show their need of Him, into a ladder to climb into God’s esteem. Stephen rebukes them as those who received His law and did not keep it. Not only this, they persecute the very messengers of the God whom they claim to serve. And that very God came in the form of the Righteous One, and they betrayed and murdered him!
These indictments were enough to enrage the Jews. They ground their teeth at what He was saying. But then Stephen gazed into heaven and was given a glimpse of “the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (7.56). Unable to take any more, they stoned the young man to death. But not before he revealed the true heart of a Christian to them. They had fallen into the same sin as their ancestors in Israel. A messenger from God arrives and they kill him. Again, they were seeing and not seeing who God really is. Never hearing about the true nature of a believer’s relationship to God, they were consumed with their bloodthirsty rage of self-serving, half-hearted, zealous duty of their idolatry. Notice Stephen’s cry, “Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit.” Stephen is in need of Jesus, not the other way around. Man is needy, God is sufficient to meet out needs. Stephen knew this and commended his very soul into the hands of the One who had saved Him.
Stephen, at this point, became a Christian terrorist. But Christians don’t blow others up in order to make Christians. Christians blow themselves up in order to make Christians. Here, Stephen modeled Colossians 1.24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (ESV). Although the afflictions of Christ are sufficient to atone for all the sins of the elect, there is a way in which they are lacking. Stephen filled what was lacking by becoming a personal embodiment of Christ’s afflictions for sinners. He blew himself up publicly to point to Jesus blowing himself up on the cross—saving the world in the process. Christ’s sacrifice was at the forefront of Stephen’s mind even as died, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Christ has the authority to forgive sins in that all sins were done against Him.
Believer, this is Christianity. Stephen did not seek out people to die in front of, but he was faithful to the testimony of Christ though it cost him his life. How we lack boldness in this age of frowns, laughs, and cutting eyes. We would rather deny our Lord than risk a frown of disapproval concerning our Savior. We are too ashamed of the gospel, afraid that people will laugh at us. We choose our words carefully to remove any context of Christ to keep others from cutting their eyes at our faith. Ought we not to take a stand? Ought we not to speak boldly for Christ? Ought we not to blow ourselves up for others in the cause of love, not because we shall be rewarded heaven in light of our sacrifice; but because our eternity has been paid for by the One who blew Himself up for us?
I’m sure that at least one man could tell you where he was when Stephen blew himself up. One man could point back to that time as something that marked him for life. He could probably tell you what he was thinking and feeling. He could describe to us the whole event. He could paint the picture of Stephen’s face that was like the face of an angel (6.15). He was actually there when the whole thing went down. The apostle Paul approved of Stephen’s execution that day. Paul was just a young man named Saul. And the Lord used this experience and many more like it to make Paul very much like Stephen. He would go from town to town blowing himself up and destroying the stronghold of Satan. As Jesus bids, “Come follow me,” so Paul says, “Follow me as you follow Christ” to ” endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10 ESV).
