Lechem Panim #149 "Living The 'Full' Life” (Acts 6:9-15) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. Today we will be continuing to take a look at one of the most remarkable early Christians we find in the book of Acts; a man by the name of Stephen, whose life was characterized by “fullness”.  In Acts 6:5 he is first described as being a man full of faith. And that faith was foundational to his life.

Full of The Spirit— And flowing from that fullness of faith was also a fullness of the Holy Spirit (cf. 7:55). And it was the Holy Spirit who empowered him, taught him, and re-made him in the image of Christ so that he lived like Jesus. And that is always the mark of somebody filled with the Spirit; not miracles or prophecy or any other dramatic gifts, but whether or not they look like Jesus. And Stephen apparently did, which is why he ended up facing much of the rejection and persecution that Jesus Himself had experienced.

Full of Grace— Now the third spiritual reality that Stephen had fullness of was grace; a lovingkindness that flowed from his trust, obedience, and submission to the Holy Spirit. And it was probably for this characteristic that the Church chose him to help minister to the widows. But nowhere do we see the grace of Stephen more graphically lived out than in the final moments of Stephen’s life when (as he is being pelted with stones in 7:60) he looks up to heaven and (just as Jesus had done on the cross) asks God that this sin might not be held against them. Now I don’t know what I would say if faced with similar circumstances. But in those moments his heart didn’t burn with anger, or even fear or terror. He was both at peace with the death coming upon him in those moments and also able to (even then) demonstrate the love of God in a way that no doubt shook the hearts of many who were watching. Because that kind of grace doesn’t happen naturally. That is a God-empowered, Holy Spirit filled kind of love which can only come from a heart that has been transformed by the reality of what Christ did for us on the cross. And it is that kind of grace that will most draw people to Christ through us as well.

Full of Power— Now the last thing Stephen was full of was power. [Stephen was full of power. That was a direct result of his being filled with the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:8). That he was performing great wonders and signs among the people suggests he was far more than simply a deacon. Instead, his deeds of power show his close link with the apostles. In the New Testament church only the apostles, Stephen, Philip (Acts 8:6–7), and Barnabas (15:12) performed miracles. {And} The imperfect tense of poieō (was performing) shows Stephen was continually doing those mighty works, no doubt with the same impact as the apostles (5:12–14). {Now} Taken together, verses 5 and 8 give both the Godward and man-ward sides of Christian character. {Stephen was} A man full of faith toward God, and yielded to the Spirit’s control,]. And anybody who is like that [will be gracious toward others and manifest great spiritual power.]

Under God’s Control— So [The emphasis in Stephen’s life is on fullness: He was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3,10), full of faith (v. 5), and full of {grace and} power (v. 8).]. What a great description for a person. Are any of you full today? Stephen was a guy who was full; able to be used by God because He was completely surrendered to Him. Now in the midst of his proclaiming the Gospel, Stephen encounters a few different groups of religious leaders. It says in…

Acts 6:9 (ESV)— 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen.

The Role of Synagogues— Now synagogues were places of worship that began during the inter-Testamental period all the way back to in and around the Babylonian captivity.  Remember that Jews who were dispersed (of the dispersion) (usually Hellenists) (Because they did not have access to the temple in Jerusalem) needed a place to worship and read the Old Testament. Hence synagogues were developed. And because you had [Jews from many nations {who} resided in Jerusalem in their own “quarters,”…some of these ethnic groups had their own synagogues.]

3 Synagogues— And here we likely have mentioned [3 synagogues: {the first being} the Synagogue of the Freedmen, a second composed of Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and a third composed of those from Cilicia and Asia. Cultural and linguistic differences among the 3 groups make it unlikely they all attended the same synagogue.]

Freedmen— But let’s look at these groups one by one just to give us an understanding of who these guys were. First, we have a group known as the Freedmen (“libertines”). You will remember from your history books about the city of Pompeii in western Italy, southeast of Naples. Mount Vesuvius would later erupt in AD 79 and the volcanic ash would perfectly preserve the remains of buildings, mosaics, furniture, the personal possessions of the people, and many of the people themselves in that city. Well the freedmen mentioned here were [Descendants of Jewish slaves captured by {the city of} Pompeii (63 B.C.) and taken to Rome. They were later freed and formed a Jewish community there.]

Cyrenians— Now for the second group; the [Cyrenians. {The Cyrenians were} Men from Cyrene, a city in North Africa. {You will remember that} Simon, the man conscripted to carry Jesus’ cross, was a native of Cyrene (Luke 23:26).]

Alexandrians— Now next we have the [Alexandrians. Alexandria, another major North African city, was located near the mouth of the Nile River. The powerful preacher Apollos {(whom we will encounter later in Acts 18)} was from Alexandria (see note on 18:24).]

Cilicia and Asia— Now the last group of men were from [Cilicia and Asia. {These were} Roman provinces in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Since Paul’s hometown (Tarsus) was located in Cilicia {(Acts 21:39)}, he probably attended this synagogue.] And [it is possible that he heard Stephen in the synagogue and may have {even} debated with him.] We don’t know.

Formal debate— So you have these men from each of these synagogues beginning to dispute with Stephen. Now [The word translated “disputing” signifies a formal debate. {It doesn’t say what they debated about, but} They no doubt focused on such themes as the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the OT evidence that He was the Messiah.] And though they no doubt disagreed with much of what Stephen was saying (particularly about Jesus) it says…

Acts 6:10 (ESV)— 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

Stephen’s Victory— And so we see that they were making arguments, but at every point Stephen proved victorious. And the text says that this was first because of his superior wisdom (which no doubt includes knowledge of the scriptures; but more importantly, understanding what the scriptures mean and how Jesus Christ had fulfilled them). And secondly, because he was full of the Spirit. He was being empowered by God Himself to deliver His message to these Jewish leaders. And so it says that none of them could withstand his wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit in which he was speaking. And this (in and of itself) was a fulfillment of prophecy; because Jesus had said to his disciples all the way back in…

Luke 21:15 (ESV)— 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

And that is exactly what we see here. They could not withstand his arguments. And we know that this will eventually lead to Stephen’s death. But even that was a fulfillment of prophecy. Because in the very next verse of Luke 21 Jesus had said…

Luke 21:16-17 (ESV)— 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name's sake. {And we definitely see here some of that hatred. It says…}

Acts 6:11-14 (ESV)— 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”

Stephen Like Jesus— Now because they could not win against Stephen with rational argument, we see that (because of their unwillingness to accept where the evidence pointed) they decided that their only remaining option was to kill Stephen. And so these men intentionally instigate others to make false accusations; skewing what Stephen was saying and obviously adding things that he himself had never said. And you know, their treatment of him closely resembles how the Jewish leaders had treated Jesus Himself. They hired false witnesses (as they had done with Jesus) and stirred up the people (as they had done with Jesus), who accused Stephen of attacking the law of Moses and temple, just as the Jewish leaders had done with Jesus (Matthew 26:59-61). And the reason this [group falsely accused Stephen of wanting to change Moses’ customs…{was}… because they knew that the Sadducees, who controlled the council, believed only in Moses’ laws.] And they would be highly offended by that. And they also knew the Sadducees’ love of the temple (which was their primary focus); and so they say that Stephen has been claiming that [Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place. {This was} Another lie, since Jesus’ words (John 2:19) referred to His own body (John 2:21).] But it was the same lie the Jewish leaders had used at Jesus’ own trial. Now you would expect that especially in light of what had happened to Jesus, Stephen might be afraid. But it says in…

Acts 6:15 (ESV)— 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Face of An Angel— And what this means was the Stephen was demonstrating [Pure, calm, unruffled composure, reflecting the presence of God (cf. Ex. 34:29–35).] Moses’ face had shown with the presence of God after encountering Him in and intimate way. And here we see Stephen reflecting that same glory that had been on the face of Moses; a glory that flowed from his intimacy with Jesus. And that shows that he was at one with God and even at one with Moses.

Now I don’t know what word you thought of when thinking about the central defining characteristic of your life. I kind of like “angel-face”; having a face that reflects the presence of Jesus. You know we talked last week a bit about waves. Most waves start off pretty small. They don’t become large right away. And a wave that might become a large wave will have no idea the significance it could have later down the road. But you know, that is the same with us. Stephen had the steady breath of God on blowing upon his life; and in later chapters (after his death) we will see the incredible impact of this simple man’s life; this simple man who was called to wait on tables but who ended up moving mountains. If you think God can’t do the same through you, you’re wrong. He can. All you need is to be full; to be full of faith, to be full of the Spirit, to be full of wisdom and grace, and in so doing you will be filled with the very power of God. Be full today.