Sermon Tone Analysis

The Stoning of Stephen

, [1] And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” [2] And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me.

The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, [3] and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’

[4] Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran.

And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.

[5] Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.

[6] And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years.

[7] ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’

[8] And he gave him the covenant of circumcision.

And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

[9] “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him [10] and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

[11] Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food.

[12] But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit.

[13] And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh.

[14] And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all.

[15] And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, [16] and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.”

[1] And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” [2] And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me.

The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, [3] and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’

[4] Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran.

And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.

[5] Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.

[6] And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years.

[7] ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’

[8] And he gave him the covenant of circumcision.

And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

[9] “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him [10] and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

[11] Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food.

[12] But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit.

[13] And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh.

[14] And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all.

[15] And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, [16] and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.”

The remedy for discouragement is the Word of God.

When you feed your heart and mind with its truth, you regain your perspective and find renewed strength.

Stephen was the right man, at the right time, doing the right time, for the only true and Right God and was operating right in the center of God’s will.

This is the longest address in the Book of Acts and one of the most important.

In it Stephen reviewed the history of Israel and the contributions made by their revered leaders: Abraham (vv.2-8),

Joseph (vv. 9-17), Moses (vv.

18-44), Joshua (v.

45), and David and Solomon (vv.46-50).

But this address was more than a recitation of familiar facts: it was also a refutation of their indictments against Stephen and a revelation of their own national sins.

"When it seems as if God is far away, remind yourself that He is near.

Nearness is not a matter of geography.

God is everywhere.

Nearness is likeness.

The more we become like the Lord, the nearer He is to us."

Stephen proved from there their own Scriptures that the Jewish nation was guilty of worse sins than those they had accused him of committing.

What were these sins?

Well this morning as we start this series on the Stoning of Stephen we will examine to of those sins.

(1) Their sin of misunderstand their spiritual roots and (2) Their rejection of God’s prophets and the rule.

Stephen lays out a detail case of both sins and confronts them with the truth in love but they are convicted by that true.

Yet, their replied is not conviction but one of cowardice.

Thomas Fuller, once said, “Despair gives courage to the cowards.”

And “ We too could become cowards if we had enough courage.”

Let us pray…

They stoned Stephen… because they misunderstood their own spiritual roots.

, [1] And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” [2] And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me.

The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, [3] and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’

[4] Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran.

And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.

[5] Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.

[6] And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years.

[7] ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’

[8] And he gave him the covenant of circumcision.

And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.”

Stephen addresses the most serious crime first- the accusation of blasphemy against God.

He establishes that he believes fully in the God of Israel, and that the Old Covenant is not abrogated but fulfilled in Christianity—and this is God’s will.

Jesus has already taught back in, , [17] “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

[18] For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

[19] Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

[20] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The “Law” or “Torah” refers to the first five books of the OT, while the “Prophets” includes the rest of the OT, all of which was held to have been written by prophets, which cites ; on “Law [and the] Prophets,” Jesus “fulfills” all of the OT in that it all points to him, not only in its specific predictions of a Messiah but also in its sacrificial system, which looked forward to his great sacrifice of himself, in many events in the history of Israel which foreshadowed his life as God’s true Son, in the laws which only he perfectly obeyed, and in the Wisdom Literature, which sets forth a behavioral pattern that his life exemplified.

Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom does not replace the OT but rather fulfills it as Jesus’ life and ministry, coupled with his interpretation, complete and clarify God’s intent and meaning in the entire OT. , speaks to the fact until heaven and earth pass away.

Jesus is confirming the full authority of the OT as Scripture for all time,

,” All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Jesus drills down even down to the smallest components of the written text: the iota is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet (or the yod of the Hb.

alphabet) and the dot likely refers to a tiny stroke or a part of a letter used to differentiate between Hebrew letters.

Jesus teaches here that The OT remains an authoritative compendium of divine testimony and teaching, within which some elements (such as sacrifices and other ceremonial laws) predicted or foreshadowed events that would be accomplished in Jesus’ ministry and so are not now models for Christian behavior.

The words “until all is accomplished” points to Jesus’ fulfillment of specific OT hopes, partly through his earthly life, death, and resurrection, and then more fully after his second coming.

These commandments refers to all the commands in the OT (although many will be applied differently once their purpose has been “fulfilled” in Christ; v. 17).

When Jesus speaks of someone relaxing one of these least of these commandments.

Jesus is demanding a commitment to both the least and the greatest commandments yet condemn those who confuse the two (cf.

23:23–24).

The entire OT is the expression of God’s will but is now to be taught according to Jesus’ interpretation of its intent and meaning.

Jesus calls his disciples to a different kind and quality of righteousness than that of the scribes and Pharisees.

They took pride in outward conformity to many extrabiblical regulations but still had impure hearts.

But kingdom righteousness works from the inside out because it first produces changed hearts and new motivations.

, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” so that the actual conduct of Jesus’ followers does in fact “[exceed] the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.”

The text shares with us that the high priest, who was probably Caiaphas, who was in office until A. D. 36, began the proceedings by asking Stephen.

Are these things so?

He was asking, “How do you plead to the charges against you” Guilty or not guilty?”

Stephen’s reply does not appear at first glance to be a direct answer to that question.

The defense of Stephen before the Sanhedrin is hardly a defense in the sense of an explanation or even an apology that was calculated to win an acquittal.

Rather, it is a proclamation of the Christian message in terms o the popular Judaism of the day and an indictment of the Jewish leaders for their failure to recognize Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah or to appreciate the salvation provided in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Look how Stephen uses this lengthy historical summation to make his primal fisca case.

Stephen challenges them to remember their spiritual roots in the Old Testament.

Stephen calls them to “… Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting.

Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.”

Stephen reminds them of ,,, his purpose was to show that Christ and the Christian faith, which he preached were the perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament.

He traces the line of God’s sovereign will from Abraham through Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and David to our Lord—the Righteous One.”

Stephen began his historically derived response by appealing to the as brethren, fellows in the same ship, this was to appeal to their solidarity with Him.