SER:The Martyred Messenger

   Thank you, and once again good morning to students and teachers of
the word of God. Our lesson this week is called "The Martyred
Messenger," and deals with the first New Testament martyr following the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Stephen. The word "Stephen," by
the way, "Stephanus," means "a crown." This is the first man in the New
Testament following the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ who
earned the martyr's crown.

   As James says, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for
when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life." And the writer
of Revelation chapter 2 verse 10 says, "Be thou faithful unto death,
and I will give thee a crown of life."

   Stephen, of course, did not get eternal life by being faithful unto
death, as eternal life is the free gift of God, and is given by the
grace of God freely. But the earned reward, the crown of life, is given
as a reward to a martyr. And this is "The Martyred Messenger"-- Stephen.

   Our basic text is Matthew chapter 10, verses 24-31, and the main
part of our lesson, of course, is found in Acts chapter 6 and chapter 7.

   This passage of Scripture is one of the most crucial passages in the
New Testament, because it shows how the Lord concludes His dealing with
the nation of Israel in the city of Jerusalem. If you study the Book of
Acts you will notice that there are three "breaking-off" points there,
where the Lord ceases His dealing, first of all, with the nation of
Israel in Jerusalem, and this takes place in Acts chapter 7. Then He
begins to move away with His dealings with the Jews in the land of
Palestine as a whole group along about Acts chapter 13. Then He begins
to move away from His dealings with the nation of Israel on the Asiatic
mainland along about Acts chapter 18, and the European mainland along
about Acts 28.

   This transition shows the gospel gradually going from the Jew to the
Gentile, or, as the Bible says, "to the Jew first, and to the Gentile."

   In our lesson today, we'll take up a study of Stephen's message. Of
course, we'll have to study very briefly and in a very abridged form,
because the chapter runs for over 60 verses. And we'll talk mainly
about the charge brought against God's messenger in chapter 6, the
condition of God's messenger in chapter 6, the content of God's message
in chapter 7, and then finally what happened at the conclusion of this
message given by the martyred messenger.

   All right now, in our study for today, we're dealing with Stephen,
the martyred messenger. First of all, we want to notice the charges
brought against him. These are found in chapter 6. In chapter 6, verse
13, we read that the false witnesses, set up against Stephen, said,
"This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy
place and the law. For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of
Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which
Moses delivered us."

   In verse 11 we read, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words
against Moses, and against God."

   So the charge brought against Stephen is the charge brought against
Jesus Christ. This charge also is the charge brought against Naboth, if
you remember your studies in the Old Testament. Naboth, one of the
greatest types of Christ in the Old Testament, was accused of
blaspheming both God and king, and was taken out and stoned to death,
so Ahab could steal his vineyard.

   One must never forget, when the Lord Jesus Christ was brought up for
trial, and brought up before the Sanhedrin, they said in Mark chapter
14, verse 64, "Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all
condemned him to be guilty of death." The Lord Jesus Christ was accused
of blasphemy--that's the thing. That is, an attack on the holiness of
God, or the sacredness of God's word, which constitutes blasphemy. This
is the charge, as I said before, brought against the Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is amply apparent by the passages given in Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John.

   Notice when the same bunch is after Stephen, the same bunch who
tried to shut up Peter and James and John, and the same bunch had Jesus
Christ in their hand, they said in Matthew 26:65, "He hath spoken
blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have
heard his blasphemy." Who said that? The high priest! Matthew 26, verse
65--same bunch. It's the same crew any time you pick them up. Never has
changed, never will change.

   You say, "Well, you can obviously spot those wicked, bad men." You'd
be amazed how much trouble people have today, spotting the wicked, bad
men who are out to destroy the preaching and teaching of the word of
God. You'd be amazed how much trouble people have spotting them.

   Why, this bunch back in Christ's day were the most pious-talking
bunch of the whole bunch! Why, they were the ones who were standing up
for orthodoxy! They were accusing the people who were speaking the
truth of speaking blasphemy.

   "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and
against God." That's interesting, isn't it? Look at the order of
preference. They were more worried about what he said that didn't agree
with Moses than what he said that was against God. Now, the reason for
that, if you know history, is the fact that the Jewish people, at this
time, had their Talmud, and of course their Midrashim and the Gemara,
the Mishna and the Kabala. And there are many oral traditions handed
down that Moses was supposed to have said that are not written in the
first five books of the Penteteuch. So, by saying that he spoke
blasphemous words against Moses, you could get Stephen on the grounds
of the fact that he didn't agree with something that somebody said that
Moses said, where Moses may or may not have said it.

   But, when you talk about blasphemy against God, then you've got to
hold him down to the words of God.

   Notice, too, the order of preference in Acts 6:13. They're more
worried about the blasphemous words spoken against "this holy place"--
which God burned to the ground--then they were the blasphemy against
"the law."

   Notice, again, the preference in verse 14; they were not just
concerned about blasphemy against what God said, but they're worried
about the traditions and customs delivered to them, which were supposed
to have come from Moses. They changed "the customs which Moses
delivered unto us."

   That is, they pretend that Stephen is a first-rate criminal. He's
not only blasphemed God, but he has attacked Moses and he's attacked
the Mosaic law, and more than that he's attacked the customs, the body
of tradition that came down from Moses.

   You'll have to watch this, of course, because you'll remember the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ about these matters. Jesus Christ said
to these chief priests and scribes and Pharisees, "Do not think that I
will accuse you of the Father. There is one that accuseth you, even
Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you would have
believed me, for he wrote of me. But if you believe not his writings,
how shall you believe my words?" I'm quoting from John chapter 5,
verses 44-47.

   I say that because the charge against Stephen that he perverted the
customs of Moses is not necessarily a charge to be taken seriously.
Because these fellows themselves didn't pay attention to Moses when
they didn't want to pay attention to Moses anyway. That is, it was more
the kind of a thing, you know, just said for convenience' sake, for
they knew that the people honored Moses. The people had respect for
what Moses said; the people had respect for the law. So they knew if
they accused Stephen of this they'd have a mark they could shoot at,
before the eyes of the people--not that they themselves gave a flip
about what Moses said. And, according to what the Lord Jesus Christ
said, they didn't give a flip about what Moses said.

   As a matter of fact, according to the Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew
23:2,3, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All
therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do
not ye after their works: for they say, and do not."

   So these people who are complaining about Stephen's misuse or his
abuse of Moses and the law of Moses and the customs of Moses are a
little two-faced. Or, as we say in the modern vernacular, more subtly,
"inconsistent." I believe that's the polite way to say it.

   All right, now, look at the condition of God's messenger, this man
Stephen. Notice, first of all in chapter 6 verse 8, the man is "full of
faith and power," and "did great wonders and miracles among the
people." Why? Because this man is a man converted under the Apostles'
ministry; and in apostolic times, the signs that were given to Israel,
the signs that follow them which believe, are mentioned to be "wonders
and miracles" in Mark chapter 16. So, Stephen is a man in verse 5 "full
of faith and of the Holy Ghost," full of power, and that isn't all--in
verse 10, "They were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by
which he spake." And that isn't all; in verse 15, his face looked like
it had been the face of an angel.

   Now, here is a deacon (chapter 6, verse 5). Stephen, a man full of
faith and of the Holy Ghost, who is a Spirit-filled minister of the
word of God. The apostolic signs that follow the ministry of the
Apostles in the Book of Acts follow this young man. And during
apostolic times, they're dealing with Israel, and the signs are for
Israel, because the Jews seek for a sign. Stephen manifests these
signs, and the people who argue with him can't get to first base with
him. They can't "resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake."

   So, what do they do? They lie about him. That is, they can't meet
with him and deal about the issues they're talking about. Why? Because
he's got the goods on them. That is, Stephen is dealing with Bible
truth and Bible fact from God. And this bunch here is dealing with the
customs of Moses and worrying about their holy place, that they got
their salary from.

   Well, then, Stephen starts. Now, there wouldn't be time to go into
this message and cover on a broadcast of less than an hour and a half,
so we'll content ourselves with noticing certain things about the
message.

   Now, the first thing about the message is this: That is, the
messenger here has been called to condemn the highest religious court
of appeal in his generation. This is Stephen standing before the
Sanhedrin, the senate of Israel, the council, which includes the
priests, the high priest, the scribes, the Sadducees, and the
Pharisees. And this bunch is the bunch who controls the governor. That
is, the religious-political bosses control the government of that
particular state.

   So you see that Stephen has been given quite a task to preach to
this bunch.

   Now, if there is any doubt in your mind about the control that these
priests had over the governor, then don't forget to go back to Matthew
chapter 28. And in Matthew 28, notice in verse 11, "Now when they were
going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed unto
the chief priests all the things that were done. And...they gave large
money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night,
and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's
ears, we will persuade him, and secure you." They controlled Pontius
Pilate!

   And this is the bunch that Stephen has been called to preach to.

   Isn't that a commission? Now, let there be no doubt in your mind as
to the control this bunch exercised over the governor. When Jesus
Christ is brought up before Pilate and is declared to be innocent three
times, you know what this bunch says? I'm in the Gospel of John now,
chapter 19, at verse 12. And I'm showing you that the task that Stephen
is called upon to do is a monstrous task, and a task which could only
end in the tragic results that it ended in--his martyrdom. He is called
to bring a negative message to the leading religious council of his day
that controlled the local political government. That's his calling.

   Now, if there's any doubt in your mind about their power over
Pilate, look at this business that went on back in John chapter 19,
when Jesus Christ came up before Pilate. John 19:12: "And from
thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out,
saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend:
whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate
therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in
the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the
Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the passover, and about
the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they
cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto
them, Shall I crucify your King? The CHIEF PRIESTS answered..." I'm
reading John 19:15. "...The chief priests answered, We have no king but
Caesar."

   Caesar was king of Rome. Now that's the bunch we've been dealing
with Acts chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6. And, if you've been with us the last
four weeks, you've noticed that it's exactly the same bunch every
single time. It's the same bunch in opposition, with the same method,
with the same way, while operating under the table, behind the closed
door, and controlling the political setup in that particular area.

   Now, did you know that's worth knowing, if you're a Bible believer?
I mean, that'll help you to be loyal to your Lord, and be obedient to
your Lord, and avoid a lot of unholy alliances and compromises which
otherwise you would make for the sake of making a living.

   Let me appeal to you Christians personally as individuals, for just
a minute. I wonder how interested you are in really pleasing the Lord
Jesus Christ? I'm not talking about getting along with anybody. I
wonder sometimes when I preach to a congregation how many of them are
really anxious to please Jesus Christ. I'm not talking about making
friends, or keeping the friends you have. I'm making no reference to
the Second Commandment. I'm talking about the First one.

   Now, listen. If you want to be a friend of God like Abraham was, and
walk with the Lord in the light of His word, you had better know what
His word says about some of your friends and some of your associates
and some of your contacts! And when God gives you light, you'd better
clear the deck, if He has spoken unfavorably of those matters. That is,
if you want to please Him, Christian, if you want to please Him.

   How can some of you Christians sit in the pew and sing, "Oh, how I
love Jesus, Oh, how I love Jesus, Oh, how I love Jesus, because He
first loved me," when you won't read what He said, believe what He
said, and put it into practice where it goes across your own grain? See
what I mean?

   You begin to talk about some of these things, and you begin to talk
about a cross-bearing Christianity, the deal involves self-denial where
it's gonna hurt you. It may hurt your pocketbook. It may hurt your
attendance. It may hurt your enrollment. But it's just a matter of who
you're trying to please.

   And, boy, when you get ahold of Stephen, you're dealing with a
fellow who's got his eye on heaven and his ears to the ground to get
the vibrations. He knows what's going on, how it's going on, what the
trouble, why the trouble's there, and what's to be done about it. And,
taking his life in his hands, he lays his life on the altar as a living
sacrifice, and he puts the bowl over the plate waste-high, and they
kill him! They kill him, just like they killed his Saviour.

   Now, this message in Acts chapter 7 runs along here for 53 verses.
And this message is a review of the history of Israel. It begins with
the calling out of Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia, in
chapter 7, verse 2. It goes through the business of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob's progency in verses 8-9. It talks about Joseph's sojourn in the
land of Egypt in 9-11. It speaks about Jacob coming down to the land of
Egypt with his household (11-15). It speaks about the new king
enthroned down in Egypt who hated the Jews (verses 17- 20). Then it
talks about Moses bringing them out and bringing them into their own
land (verses 21-31). Then it talks about the kings David and Solomon,
and especially Solomon in verse 46.

   And in that message of 53 verses--count them--out of 53 of those
verses, 15 are negative; 38 are positive. That is, that message
delivered the outstanding message that sealed the destiny of the nation
of Israel in the capital of their country. That message was 42%
negative! That's "the martyred messenger." Fifteen verses out of 53 are
negative. Now that's something, isn't it? There are 38 positive verses
in the passage.

   All right, coming down to the end of this message, Stephen lays it
on the line, and what he does is accuse the leaders of Israel--the
Sanhedrin, the chief priests, scribes, Sadducees and Pharisees--of not
being as high and mighty as they think they are. And what he does in
this message is call their attention to the fact that even though there
are many great and honorable things about the nation, because of its
election and calling from God, and even though there are many wonderful
things about the nation, because of its chosen position in God's favor
and God's blessing upon it, that throughout that nation, from the very
start of its history, going clear back to the sons of Jacob (verse 9),
that envy (verse 9), ignorance (verse 25), idolatry (verse 43), and
murder (verse 52) have been present in that nation.

   And, of course, Stephen is telling the truth. Anybody who reads the
Old Testament knows the Old Testament is one of the greatest
indictments ever written against a nation by its own people. If I only
had one good reason for believing the Bible was the word of God, aside
from the mathematical reasons, which are just as prominent if not more
so than other reasons, it would be the fact that here was a Book that
was delivered to the Jewish people. The oracles of God are delivered to
the Jew, and these oracles are given to the Jew; the Jew himself wrote
as a testimony against his own nation. You don't find people writing
books like that! You don't find historians of Germany, native-born
Germans, gettings together and writing the history of Germany, where
all the bad things are mentioned. They make their heroes heroic. But
not with this Book! This Book tells the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth!

   And Stephen is one of those preachers. And when he gets to the
message in Acts chapter 7, the invitation is not designed to win
anybody to Christ. The invitation is not designed to share his
experience with anybody, or tell anybody about God's love. It's not
even in the message! Here is the invitation, verse 47:

   "But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not
in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne,
and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord:
or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these
things? Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do
always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of
the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them
which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been
now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the
disposition of angels, and have not kept it."

   Every head bowed, every eye shut! Is there a hand for prayer?

   Now, I point this out only to point out a sort of a "balance" type
of thing. I realize that much of the material we give you in these
studies is very negative, probably very depressing to some of you who
are used to a more cheerful, buoyant type of Christianity. But you'll
have to admit that a balance is needed, and God knows there's enough
"cheerful buoyancy" and enough positive, "I'm all right, you're all
right, everybody's all right" going on these days. So you need a little
balance.

   By that I mean this. I mean, we all recognize the fact that God so
loved the world (past tense) that He gave His only begotten Son (past
tense), and that Christ shed His blood for us (past tense), and that
God loved us and we didn't love Him (past tense), and that at Calvary
God showed His love for lost mankind by what He did (past tense) for
unsaved sinners. We all agree upon that.

   Where we disagree is how much truth a preacher should preach if he's
called to preach the truth. That's the disagreement. The modern
approach seems to be that the only truth that the preacher should
preach is positive truth, and negative truth should be carefully put
away out of sight. And the reason why, in these studies, you very often
get a great deal of negative truth, which you might not get in some
other publications or radio broadcasts, is because God has different
ministries for different people along different ways and different
means. And these studies are Bible believers' studies for students and
teachers of the word of God. These studies are not primarily just for
Christians who want to share experiences or build monuments. These are
not studies for Christians who want to get along with people, or just
win souls. These studies are Bible believing broadcasts, sponsored by a
Bible institute, for people who want to study and teach that Book. And
if you're going to study and teach that Book, you're going to hit
negative truth almost every time you turn around.

   Now the problem is, what are you going to do about it when you find
it? And our position is the position of Stephen. Our position is, we'll
preach it! And we'll preach it until we're dropped in our tracks like
Stephen was, or until the Lord takes us home.

   Now, the Lord gave Stephen the shortcut! Verse 54: "When they heard
these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with
their teeth." Verse 57: "Then they cried out with a loud voice, and
stopped their ears..." They turned him off! They turned the dial; they
couldn't stand it! "They stopped their ears...And cast him out of the
city, and stoned him....And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and
saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried
with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he
had said this, he fell asleep."

   So this is the end of God's martyred messenger. He is martyred for
bringing a message here that is about 42 percent negative--and it's
aimed again at the very bunch that slew Jesus Christ, the bunch that
arrested Peter, James, and John, the bunch that had Simon Peter thrown
in jail, the bunch that persuaded the governor to cut off James's head,
the bunch that persuaded the governor to let Barabbas go and crucify
Jesus Christ--same gang, same bunch!

   And Stephen is faithful unto death. Far from being a preacher who is
just trying to run new attendance records or report the number of
baptisms in a year, Stephen is one of those God-called laymen who is
called to preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
and, brother, he preaches it!

   It is my own personal conviction and opinion--I don't say this with
Scriptural backing--that if a man is called to preach the word of God,
and it's the truth of God, that man's whole life should be dedicated
primarily to the discovery or discernment of truth in every form, and
his entire lifetime should be dedicated to finding truth in any form
and publicly proclaiming or explaining that truth at the appropriate
time with the appropriate Scriptural backing.

   I never thought for a minute that when a man was called to preach,
he was simply called to preach John 3:16. John 3:16 is a precious
truth. There are 5,000 others, and at least 10 of them are just as
important!

   May God help you as a teacher of the word of God or a student of the
word of God to love the word of God, for as Jesus said, "Sanctify them
with the truth; thy word is truth." "He that is of God heareth God's
words." And Christ said, "If a man love me, he'll keep my words." May
God help us to do just that.

   May the Lord bless you, and good day.

