The text for the sermon is Acts 6, 8 through 15. And we've heard the whole chapter, but I'd like to go ahead and read the second half of the chapter once again. Hear God's word. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. But some of the men from what was called the synagogue of the freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly induced men to say, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the council. They put forward false witnesses who said, this man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the law. For we have heard Him say that this Nazarene Jesus will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us. And fixing their gaze on Him, all who were sitting in the council saw His face like the face of an angel." Let's pray together. Father in Heaven, thank You for Your Word. Thank you for the privilege of being together as your people. Thank you that you do use means to work in the lives of your people. You use the means of singing praise. You use the means of You use the means of prayer. You use the means of reading the Scriptures. You use the means of preaching. And so we pray that as we take a short time to look into this particular portion of Your Word, that You would be pleased to be with us to apply Your Word to our hearts, properly respond to what you say in your word, we pray in the good and gracious and great name of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Amen. In January of 2007, Kelly James, a landscape architect, was climbing on Mount Hood and in the midst of a big storm, he took refuge in a snow cave. He died there of hypothermia. His brother, Frank James, is a professor at what is it now? Now it evades me. This is not good, is it? Gordon Conwell, yes, is a professor at Gordon Conwell, and he teaches historical theology there. He wrote in a blog. In response to his brother's death, where was God? And in this blog posting, he tags on to a similar question that David asks. And he says in essence that, well, perhaps the question cannot be answered, but even asking the question is a token of faith. Well, we wonder, to put it in a little bit different terms, what is success? Is success climbing the mountain and then returning? Is success being able to answer the question, the nagging question about this seemingly untimely death? Well, I think the Jaynes family would confess that even in the midst of this tragedy, they experienced the grace of God. And they were upheld by the grace of God in the midst of this tragedy. And they experienced the triumph of grace. And this is exactly what takes place, I think, in the life of Stephen and in the life of the New Testament church. Was Stephen successful in his defense before the Sanhedrin? Well, he lost his life. But there's a sense in which, yes, we can say he was successful because both he and the church experienced the triumph of grace. And so from God's perspective, I think each one of us needs to realize that this is the measure of success. That you can call it success when you've experienced the triumph of God's grace in your life. Let's look at the text and see how this unfolds, this idea unfolds. Look, for example, at verse 8 in our text. Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs. among the people. I would say to you this morning, dear people of God, like Stephen, you have power and grace in your lives. Stephen, full of grace and power. You may not lay hands on individuals and perform miracles, but if you're here this morning, one of the reasons you are no doubt here is that you're born again. That God's Spirit has worked vitally within your heart and He has changed the inclination of your heart. He's changed your disposition. He's brought you out of darkness into light. In the words of Peter, He's caused you to be born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. You are recipients of grace. And what a wonderful thing that is. This is one of the reasons you're here today. And so, in many ways, you see, you can connect with Stephen. And then look at verse 15. and fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the council saw his face like the face of an angel." It was not just grace and faith and power that resided within Stephen, but it was grace and power which came to expression in his life. And those who were in the Jewish council, which were not really too happy with Stephen, Those in the Jewish council saw the manifestation of grace on His countenance. You remember the great benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord cause His face to shine upon you. The Lord lift up, what is it? His countenance upon you. His countenance lifted up upon you so that you are taking on the image of Christ. See, this is God's objective, is it not? In your life and in my life. And so as recipients of grace, the grace which is inside should come to expression on the outside. And it's a wonder, isn't it, that in this situation in which Stephen finds himself, He appears to be rather calm, cool, and collected. I wonder how many of us would be calm, cool, and collected. My heart would be beating. so that I could feel it in my temples and in my hands and in my pulse throughout my body. I'd be sweating profusely in a circumstance like that. But it seems, we don't know Stephen's physiology here for sure, but it seems that Stephen is rather cool under the circumstances because of the infusion of grace. And so what does Stephen do? Stephen is a witness as a result of grace. In fact, he's quite a profound witness. Look at verse 14, for example. For we have heard him say that this Nazarene Jesus will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses had handed down." Well, Stephen had obviously been vigorously preaching Christ. He was a follower of Christ. And he had been vigorously preaching the Savior. how much contact he had and how much teaching he had, we don't know. But I would surmise that he had considerable teaching from the early church and from the apostles and from those who were in the early church. And he preached Christ. I'm struck by this because here is this deacon that we learn in the early part of chapter 6, that the ministry of the Word, it appears, was not reserved for a select few. That others carried out the ministry of the Word. Hello, folks. There's a little philosophy of ministry here, is there not? Some would say that the ministry of the Word is reserved only for a select few. But it appears that the ministry of the Word was breaking out further in this circumstance. And Stephen was no doubt preaching that Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, lived a perfect life. in preparation to die as a sacrifice for the sins of his people. And that he went to that cross to die in payment for sins as a perfect sacrifice. And that that wasn't the end of the story. That he rose again from the dead and that He ascended on high, and that He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty as King of kings and Lord of lords. That Jesus Christ is King. Caesar is not King. Jesus is King. And this was a vital message. Paul puts it this way, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, correct? Now, this doesn't mean that he's just a good person and you show deference to him and say, Sir, to him. But this means that he was in fact the divine being who came into this world and lived and died and rose again as the Savior. And Peter, or Stephen that is, was preaching this Jesus You see, we need to be busy about, you need to be busy about proclaiming the same Christ. I would submit to you that just like Stephen, you too are a witness. Now, why would I say that? Well, to put it crudely, I guess, since you're born again, God caused you to be born again, as we said. You were at the scene of the accident. You follow me? There's no way that you can avoid that this is the case. If there's an automobile accident, and you're involved in it, you're there. There's no way that you can avoid being there, and you're a witness, whether you like it or not, as to what took place. And statements will be taken by the police and recorded. And you'll have to sign off on the statements that you make. You, whether you like it or not, are a witness. And because you are born again, because God has worked in your life, you are a witness to what Jesus Christ has done in your life. In fact, I would say to you that you're a better witness as to what Jesus Christ has done in your life than anyone else. And so you can testify. to what Christ has done. And as you look at this text, you find out something, I think, rather significant about the testimony of Stephen. Let's go back to verse 14. Here are these witnesses now that have been brought into the court. to testify against Stephen. Maybe we better read verses 13 and 14. They put forward false witnesses who said, this man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us." You notice they use the term, this Nazarene, a little pejorative there. Will any good thing come out of Nazareth? That was kind of the view. But what's the accusation? Jesus will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us. You see, Stephen was testifying to the finality of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And he was testifying to the fact that this temple and these ceremonial laws written so eloquently by Moses, are going by the board. And why is it that they're going by the board? Because as Stephen says in his defense in the Sanhedrin, if you really understand the temple and the meaning of the ceremonies in the temple, if you really understand those things, you will follow Jesus. And if you really understand Moses, you see, he was accused of blasphemy against Moses. And Stephen says, no, no, no, no. I'm not the one that's blaspheming. I'm not the one who repudiates Moses. I'm not the one who repudiates the meaning of the temple. This is where he really gets under the skin of the Jewish Sanhedrin. You're the ones who don't properly understand Moses. You're the ones who repudiate Moses and repudiate the temple. Because if you understood Moses, do you remember what Moses said? Or that God said through Moses, I will raise up a prophet like you, whom you will follow. And that prophet is Jesus. Don't you Jewish scribes and teachers understand that this is the case? And so, Stephen argued for the finality of the work of Christ that these sacrifices which point to Christ are no longer needed. That they are set aside for the purpose of establishing firm the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The once for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. You see, in many ways, this is your task and my task also, is it not? To argue for the finality of the work of Christ. It's so common to hear when individuals are asked, how is it that you will enter heaven? And one of the most common answers is, well, I'm not so bad. As if somehow God is going to smile on my life as wretched as it is. I'm not so bad. Well, you're not so good either. This is why the work of Christ is so important. And that the work of Christ is the final work that brings about the salvation of your soul and mine. That you must trust in the finished, isn't that how we put it? The finished work of Christ. And nothing else. You may add nothing to that work. He lived a perfect life. Are you going to add by your life some perfection? Doubtful. He paid the penalty for your sins in His death. Are you somehow going to earn points with God by how you live your life? Doubtful! It's the finished work of Christ. Well, of course, the Jewish Sanhedrin is outraged at all of this. And there are those who argue with Stephen even before he gets to the Jewish Sanhedrin. Let's go back to our text again. Let's read verses 8 and 9. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. And some men, from what was called the synagogue of the freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. Now, the way the New American Standard Version reads it, it looks as though there may have been one synagogue that Luke has in mind here. And that's possible. The synagogue of the freedmen. And that may have been a group of Jewish folk who had previously, their families had been previously taken into captivity by the Romans. Pompeii earlier had come in and taken a lot of Jews out of Jerusalem and taken them back to Rome and they were in captivity and they were subsequently freed. They were slaves and they were subsequently freed. It could be, it could be that that's what Luke has in mind here. But it could be that there was more than one synagogue in view here, because the text talks about the Cyrenians and Alexandrians, people from Cyrene in North Africa, just over the border of Egypt into Libya and Alexandria, that great city in the north of Egypt, that these Greek speaking Jews had come to Jerusalem. And so there was a synagogue to which they repaired on a regular basis. It could be that that's the case. And the text also talks about some from Cilicia and Asia, two other provinces. These on the northern side of the Mediterranean in what is now Turkey. And interestingly enough, Tarsus. The city of Tarsus is a city in Cilicia. And it may be that Paul is actually in this synagogue or in one of these synagogues. We don't know for sure, but it's quite possible. And it's quite possible that the Apostle Paul, later the Apostle Paul, is one of those who argues with Stephen. Now read the text again. But some men from what was called the synagogue of the freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. There's some opposition. There's some opposition that arises because Stephen is talking about the decline of the Mosaic system. And it's passing away because of the work of Christ. And you can imagine that these Jewish folk who are tied up in the ceremonies of the law are angry at the thought that their whole system, their whole way of life might be taken away from them. And so they argue vehemently. As I thought about this, I thought, you know, it's pretty interesting that a large part of evangelical Christianity today teaches that the rebuilding of the temple is an absolute necessity, and that a going back to the Jewish law is a necessity. for Israel. Well, what is this? See, I would say, from Stephen's perspective, to do this is a repudiation of the work of Christ. Why would you go back to the sacrifices that foreshadow the reality When you already have the reality, why would you go back? This is the whole argument in the book of Hebrews, is it not? Don't go back. Don't go back. And so we, as individuals, may encounter the same kind of opposition. The opposition can become very, very strong. Let's read some more in this text. Verse 9. But some men from what was called the synagogue of the freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the council. You're a heretic, Stephen, and we're going to take you before the courts of the church. There's no other choice that we have. Now, things like this are not terribly pleasant. I can testify to this from some personal experience. Years ago in a church which I pastored, a number of men before I arrived had been elected to the office of elder. This was a reformed church, and interestingly enough, They would not stand for election. Or stand for ordination, I should say. They were already elected. Why? Because they couldn't take the vows. They couldn't subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith and the larger and shorter catechisms. They were doctrinally out of sync with the doctrines of the church. So guess what happened? See, I was accused of being the rabble rouser and being divisive, and they filed charges against me at Presbytery. This is a strange turn of events. But you see how these things go. This is sort of the situation in which Stephen finds himself. He has the truth. But he's dragged before the Jewish council because he holds to the truth. So don't be surprised, folks. Don't be surprised. If similar things do in fact at some time happen to you, it would not be out of accord with the teachings of Scripture that such things would take place. But now notice, notice again the demeanor, the stance, the grace in Stephen's life. Look at verse 8 again. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. And verse 10 says, But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the spirit with which Stephen was speaking. You see, they didn't have the strength. The Jewish people who argued, and this, as I say, may have included Paul, they didn't have the strength, the reserve within them to withstand the wisdom and the spirit of Stephen. And what is wisdom? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And this was an eminent quality in the life of Stephen. The power, the resident power of the Spirit. W. G. T. Shedd makes a little statement, something like this, he says, the power of the mind is truth. The power of the man. is God. And the interesting thing here is that Stephen had the truth. And those who listened to him couldn't bear the truth. And he also had the power, the strength of the Spirit. And so he stood. How do we have truth? How do you have strength from the Spirit? It's grace. Is that not the case? It's grace. It's God's grace. And in the midst of this terrible situation, God's grace is triumphant. Stephen doesn't win the argument. You see, this is this is also what's amazing. But his experience of grace. Is what's so terribly important? And we can think down now as to what takes place just a little bit. Stephen makes his defense. He's taken out and stoned to death for presenting the truth. And you remember the story, he sees the vision of Jesus in heaven at the right hand of God. And as he's breathing his last, he has two things to say, Lord Jesus, Receive my Spirit." And then the other thing he says is, Lord Jesus, do not lay this sin to their charge. Don't hold this sin against them. And he prays. One of the individuals who was a recipient of that of the answer to that prayer of grace is none other than Paul, at whose feet the perpetrators spread their own garments so that they could have the freedom to hurl rocks at Stephen. And then, Paul preaches and writes And guess what, folks? You and I are recipients of the good words written by that apostle. And it goes back to Stephen. What is success? Is success climbing a mountain and coming back? Is success being able to answer all the difficult theological questions and issues? Is that what success is in the end? Or is success from God's perspective? You see, the other is man's perspective. From God's perspective, is success the triumph of grace? And when you experience the triumph of grace, God's grace in your life, then you can count it success. When you fall on your face before God and say to Him, Lord, I have sinned and I am undeserving, forgive me. And he does for the sake of Christ. It's a triumph of grace. And when you're in a difficult situation and you can say to others, I remember this situation I was in, and you can say to others, I know that love covers a multitude of sins. and I can back away and back off. That's a triumph of grace. And when someone comes to you and says, you sinned and you really offended me, and you can step back and you can say, You're right. I can see it. Please forgive me. It's a triumph of grace. What is success? I think you see in the life of Stephen, that the work of grace by God in His life, and I think you can see in your own life, the work of grace by God. That's the measure of success. Let's pray together. We thank you for your grace. How else could Stephen walk through this valley of the shadow of death and fear not except by your grace? How is it that we, as your people, can live in this life? adequately. We confess, Father, supremely unsuccessful in so many ways, and so we gladly, we humbly come back to your grace, and we thank you that Your success in our lives is what matters. Your grace doing its work to your glory and to your honor. And so hear us, we pray. Bless us, we ask. and continue to pour out your grace upon us, we pray in the good and gracious name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.