Today’s passage is about Stephen.  He was one of the 7 who were chosen to distribute the food to the widows.  Here he is described as having a countenance like an angel in verse 15.  Today let’s look at 3 things that we can learn from his countenance.

I.                A person full of grace and strength (vs.8)

The signs and wonders that Stephen performed among the people were so amazing that those who witnessed them were surprised and realized that they were from God.  He performed the signs so that the people would know that Jesus was the savior that God had sent. The apostles had performed many signs and miracles (2:43; 5:12), but the miracles that Stephen performed were even more amazing.  He was able to do so because he was filled with grace and strength.

He was full of grace so he was willing to distribute the food to the widows. Also when he saw sick people, he had compassion and prayed for them.  We too need to be filled with grace.

Ephesians 2:8

Grace is a gift from God that we receive by being touched by the grace of God ourselves.  Therefore, we ourselves need to experience the grace of God.

            Stephen was also filled with strength.  This strength is the strength of the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 1:8

Stephan was filled with the Holy Spirit so he was full of strength.  He was a strong witness to the Lord whether he was performing miracles or distributing food to the widows or preaching the Gospel.  We can see in verse 10 that when he spoke no one could speak against him. Stephan was that strong.  The church needs to pray to be filled with strength so that the pastor, the church leaders, and everyone who is serving in the church can work powerfully.

II.              A person full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit  (vs. 9)

Stephen performed many miracles and signs by being filled in God’s grace and strength and as a result there were people who were opposed to him. These were the people who were in the Synagogue of the Freedmen. In 61 B.C. many Jewish slaves were brought to Rome.  They were soon set free and they and their descendants returned to Jerusalem where they began to worship in another temple than the temple that the Jews worshipped in in Jerusalem.  Their temple became known as the temple of the Freedmen.  These people had been from all parts of the world so there were Jews from Cyrene and Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia. Each area formed their own group within the synagogue.  They were seen as not being as religious as the Jews who had always lived in Jerusalem.  They used a Greek Bible instead of the original Hebrew one.  They didn’t worship at the official temple. Therefore, they were seen as liberal.  However, they were people who returned to Jerusalem、the center of Jewish worship and so in reality there were a lot of really religious people in this group.  For example, Paul who later became a Christian and spread Christianity through out the world, was from the Freedman temple. If you look at 21:39 you will see that he was from Tarsus, Cilicia. He was very zealous, in fact, zealous to the point that he was responsible for Stephan’s stoning. (7:58) So there were very, very zealous Jews in the Freedmen synagogue.  It was probably these zealous men that began to argue with Stephan. They were probably objecting to points about the law.  The Apostles call Jesus, Christ, the savior.  The Jews from the Freedmen synagogue could not accept that and considered the Apostles to be blaspheming God.  However, Stephen was full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit so no one was able to oppose him.  Therefore, they “secretly persuaded some men to” speak to the elders and the teachers of the law against Stephen saying that he had blasphemed against God. (11)  They managed to get the elders and teachers of the law stirred up to the point where they “seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.” (12)  Up until now it has been the elders and the teachers of the law that have persecuted the church.  Now it is the Freedmen that are the leaders in the persecution.

Proverbs 18:17

The first person to give his case is at the advantage.  The court that Stephen is standing in is the court the persecuted the apostles.  Therefore, he is facing a very difficult situation.

Next according to verses 13 and 14, they found false witnesses to testify against Stephen.  To go against the temple or law was according to the Jewish court was a death penalty.  Therefore, since they weren’t able to oppose Stephen, they are trying to kill him.  However, we can see that their witness was untrue.

1.               vs. 11. This was originally something they planned.

2.               vs. 13 The word that is used for “This fellow” is a very degrading word.  It is used again in verse in verse 14 for “this” Jesus.  Stephen would never use this word for Jesus.  Therefore, they are not using Stephen’s words, but adding their jealousy and hostility to his words.  They are using Stephen’s words for their own purposes.  This in itself shows that they were false witnesses.

3.               However, the greatest lie was that they testified that they heard that “Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.” (14) This is a lie.  Jesus never said this. He said that he was going to build this holy temple.

John 2:19

              Jesus said this in reference to His house of prayer being used for a den of robbers.  In other words they were destroying the temple      Therefore, Jesus says that he is going to build the temple.        

4.           Another mistake was the temple that Jesus was talking about was his body, but they failed to understand that and considered it to be the Jerusalem temple.  Even if they were spiritually blind and didn’t understand what Jesus was saying, in reality their inability to understand came from their evil hearts and lies.  If they were responsive to Jesus they would have asked Jesus what he meant. The fact that they didn’t asked Jesus and made their own interpretation shows that they thought their thinking was correct and wanted to use Stephen to make it so.

The disciples too at first didn’t understand the meaning of what Jesus was saying.  When Jesus rose, they remembered what Jesus had said and they were able for the first time to believe in the Bible and what Jesus had said.  Also Stephen in 7:48 in his message tells us that the real temple is the body of the resurrected Lord, not the temple made by man.  Therefore, what they are testifying is not true but a result of hostility and bitterness.  They just wanted to get rid of him.  How scary this is!  We need to be careful that such thinking doesn’t grow up within us. 

Romans 12:1.2

               If we look at verse 10, we can see how Stephen reacted to the Freedmen.  He spoke to them in wisdom and by the Spirit.  

Acts 7:48

               Here Stephen is saying that God doesn’t live in a house made by hands.  This refers to the temple.  In other words, God doesn’t live in the Jewish temple, but in Christ’s body, the church.  When Jesus said that in 3 days he would build it up, he is referring to building his body, the church.  In other words, the Christian church is the replacement of the Jerusalem temple, the real house of God, the place where God lives.  This is the wisdom that he had.

Colossians 2:3

I Cor. 1:24

               This is the deep secret to how Stephen was able to perform unbelievable signs and miracles among the people.  It was because he trusted in Christ. He believed that  in Christ was God’s strength, and God’s wisdom. This gave him power.

               It doesn’t matter what problem the church has because through the resurrected Jesus Christ the life of God is running through it.  God is with us so we have nothing to fear.  The problem is that we don’t realize this and try to do things by our own power and emotions.  We can overcome any problem by following God’s will and His Word. This was Stephen’s faith.  He was full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit, grace and power.  Therefore, even if we are facing opposition like the freedmen opposed Stephen, we can have deep peace.  That is what Stephen’s countenance was like.   

III.            A countenance like an angel  (vs.15)    

This is an unbelievable record because we all when we face a situation when we are being condemned for something that we did not do, we get very upset.  However Stephen didn’t.  He had no bitterness.  His heart was not stirred up, and his countenance was like an angel. His countenance was like Jesus’ at his transfiguration. It was glowing. This was because he was speaking on God’s behalf and because he was filled with the Holy Spirit.  He trusted in his heart in the Lord and was filled with the Holy Spirit so he was able to have a countenance like an angel even in the midst of opposition.

We too need to experience life through the church of Christ that Christ promised to build up in 3 days.  And then by walking by the Word of God, be filled in the Holy Spirit.  Then no matter what circumstances we are in, we need to have a countenance like an angel.