Stephan, the first Martyr

Monday, October 24, 2011: Acts 6:6, 8 – 10 (NKJV)

Why was Stephen’s wisdom irresistible?

And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

Why was Stephen’s wisdom irresistible? It was not his own, but given by the Holy Spirit.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011: Acts 6:11 – 14 (NKJV)

What was the accusation?

Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”

What was the accusation? Stephan was accused of speaking against the Temple and Mosaic customs.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011: Acts 7:35 – 39a (NKJV)

What was Stephan’s rebuttal?

“This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear. This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected.

What was Stephan’s rebuttal? Their fathers rejected Moses and now they reject Moses’ prophecies.

Thursday, October 27, 2011: Acts 7:51 –53 (NKJV)

What was Stephen’s counter-accusation?

“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

What was Stephen’s counter-accusation? Their fathers persecuted and killed all the prophets: now they murdered the one Moses prophesied about, Jesus Christ.

Friday, October 28, 2011: Acts 7:56 – 58 (NKJV)

What was verdict?

(Stephen) said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

What was verdict? There was none pronounced, no deliberation occurred. They cast him out of the city and stoned Stephan to death.