Acts 7:54-8:1
What do you do when you feel angry enough to resort to sticks and stones?
- God is ... What do we learn about God in this passage?
- We are ... What do we learn about people in this passage?
- Why did they cover their ears?
- Why are mobs so dangerous? What tends to happen even to “innocent bystanders” around mob scenes?
- What was Stephen’s reaction to his fate? Why do you think Stephen was able to face death courageously? Considering this oppressive situation, what type of person is Stephen? How does Stephen’s example encourage you?
- Why are Stephen's listeners so enraged (see Daniel 7:13-14)?
- Stephen's death was illegal (see John 18:31). What does that reveal about the desperation of the Sanhedrin?
- This begins phase two ("Judea and Samaria") of God's plan (see Acts 1:8). How would you sum up the "Jerusalem phase" (ch. 2-7)?
- I will ... What has the Holy Spirit revealed to us in this passage? How can I apply it to my life this week?
- When Jesus was brought to trial, he was basically quiet before the Sanhedrin; yet Stephen spoke very boldly. How do you decide when to speak and when to be quiet before opposition?
- What has been your experience with people who seem overly concerned with religious arguments?
- What is one very traumatic event that happened to you in your formative years? Can you see now how God has used it for good?
- Peter's speech led to mass conversion (ch. 2), while Stephen's led to his death. What does that teach about success in one's service to God?
- You can ... Who do you know who needs to hear this? Feel free to share with others by social media links at the bottom of this.
Stopping Ears
Russ Lawson
Aboard our flight from L.A. recently was an elderly lady who was taking her very first flight.
We had only been in the air a few minutes when the elderly lady complained to the stewardess that her ears were Stopping up.
The stewardess smiled and gave the older woman some chewing gum, assuring her that many people experienced the same discomfort.
When they landed, the lady thanked the stewardess, saying:
"The chewing gum worked fine," "but tell me, how do I get it out of my ears?"
Have you every stopped your ears? Has there ever been a time when you heard something that you realized was the truth and just decided not to listen or act upon what you heard? Quite possibly each of us are guilty of doing that to some extent.
How many sermons have you heard in your life time and thought, "I really need to change that in my life," or "I really need to work harder on that point," or I really need to mend that relationship". Then you get busy talking with folks after services and the thought goes out of your mind.
How many times have you read scripture and had a sudden revelation of understanding and thought, "Wow, I need to live differently, or serve God more fully." Then after the boss calls from work, the kids need you or some other thing wipes that thought from your memory. We may not stop our ears ourselves, maybe Satan is at work stopping them for us, but could we have made a difference? Could we have listened to God and acted upon what he says.
I know we live in a world where many people do actively deny God and His Word, they have "stopped their ears" and refuse to let God speak to them. The perfect example of course is Stephen found in Acts 7. He is preaching to his people, the Jews, and they didn't want to hear what he was saying. It contradicted what they had been taught before, it condemned them of killing the Messiah and we read: "Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul." (Verses 57-58)
Maybe it's time for us to unstop our ears and begin to listen closely as God speaks to us and then take some action on what we have heard. I like a modern translation of Ecclesiastes 5:1 that says, "As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut…" Maybe instead of talking back to God and telling him what we won't do or why we can't do something, we just need to listen and obey.
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God’s Defense
And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Acts 7:59
In the fullest version (1563 edition) of his work (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs), John Foxe chronicled, in more than 2,300 pages, the lives of Christians who were persecuted, and often martyred, in England and Scotland during the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation.
Though it is true that many faithful ones lost their lives, something else is true: God defended each one who died in true faith. Which raises a question: If God defended them, why did they die? Which begs an answer to this question: What does it mean to be defended by God? The story of Stephen in Acts 7 gives insight. When Stephen stood firm for Christ in the face of Jewish persecution in Jerusalem, he was stoned. But just before the stones began to fly, he had a vision of Jesus in heaven standing at the right hand of God, waiting to receive Stephen’s spirit. Normally, Jesus is pictured seated at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 8:1). But Jesus stood in honor of Stephen’s courage and commitment.
There is something more important than life, and that is eternal life. God defends the eternal life of all who, in true faith, stand for Him.
And walls of salvation surround the soul [God] delights to defend.
Augustus M. Toplady
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