The Glory of God Reflected in a Deacon

Acts chapter six, the whole chapter. So starting from verse one. Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom whom we will appoint to this duty.

But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

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. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. 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. And they set up false witnesses who said, this man never ceases to speak words against his holy place and the law. 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.

And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. And please leave your Bible open there at Acts six and I want to ask you later on to turn with me to some other verses of scripture as well. Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Bible often talks about people who were filled with the Holy Spirit. And here in this reading this morning, it said of Stephen that he was spirit filled. Notice how it talks about him in verse five speaking there about the election of the first deacons and we read there, they chose Stephen a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.

So brothers and sisters in Christ, what does a spirit filled person look like? Well, you may say that's fairly obvious. We're told in verse eight it says Stephen was doing great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. So does that mean that we recognise spirit filled people by the special ability they have to do miracles? That would seem to raise some serious problems for us, wouldn't it?

I mean, are you spirit filled? Well, please raise your hand if you've performed great wonders and miraculous signs. If you did raise your hand, I would want to ask you some more questions though because Stephen didn't have to put his hand up, did he? In Stephen's case, the gifts were self evident. My problem is, congregation, that I don't know anyone today who does great wonders and miraculous signs.

Now does that mean then that we have no spirit filled people anymore in our day and age? Well, of course it doesn't. Okay, Stephen certainly did those awesome signs and wonders. The apostles laid hands on him and he joined them in doing miraculous things. That was God's way, friends, of reinforcing the ministry of the early church in those tender years before they had a New Testament part of the Bible written.

Now please understand me well. I am not suggesting that miracles can no longer happen. I'm just pointing out this morning that we mustn't judge someone's spirituality by that standard. Hey, even the devil can do miracles, can't he? He can do great wonders.

Think of Pharaoh's magicians. And please remember that these great wonders and these miraculous signs are only mentioned here in verse eight, but then we've got two whole chapters devoted to other things in Stephen's life. So I want to highlight this morning for you three things that bring out that Stephen was spirit filled. Three ways in which we see a spirit filled man. Or to put it another way, three ways in which God's glory is reflected in the life of this deacon.

The outstanding nature of Stephen's character is very obvious, congregation, in this chapter. The chapter begins with a problem that the church needed to solve: the care of the widows in a very fast growing congregation that by this time numbers about ten thousand. And so obviously, the twelve apostles can't possibly deal with all of that themselves. So they have a special meeting to find someone so that they can keep concentrating on their teaching, preaching ministry, and praying for the church to which God has called them. And so the chapter begins with the congregation choosing the first seven deacons.

But notice that the list begins with Stephen. Why? Certainly not because they're listed in alphabetical order and Stephen happens to come first. No, he's listed first because he's such an obvious choice. In fact, he's the only one about whom we're given some details apart from Nicholas of whom we're told that he was a Gentile, a non-Jew, and that he was from Antioch.

But Stephen is said to be full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. He was an obvious choice, and so he's listed first. And there is a special mention of his giftedness. So this man is highly suitable because he is a spirit filled man. Notice it's repeated in verse eight.

Now Stephen was a man full of God's grace and power. And so Stephen's outstanding character didn't lie in the fact that he was a jolly nice guy. No. It lay in the fact that God's gifting of grace and power was at work in his life. That's why he was such an obvious choice.

And as the chapter unfolds, it soon becomes obvious what a spirit filled person looks like. And so we see the first way in which the glory of God is reflected in the life of this deacon. Stephen is appointed at a time when opposition to the church is growing. We saw that last time I was here, where in the previous chapter, the apostles are dragged in front of the Jewish council called the Sanhedrin and that Jewish council determined to put them to death for preaching Jesus except that Rabbi Gamaliel got up and advised otherwise, so they got off with just a beating. Opposition we're told now arises from what's called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, possibly a special Jewish meeting place for foreigners visiting Jerusalem and they engaged Stephen in debate. And so Stephen is doing more than just waiting on tables and caring for widows.

Stephen is a very competent defender of the Christian faith. In fact did you notice in the reading it said that in his debate he could not be excelled. They couldn't stand up to Stephen's wisdom. So hey friends, here we've got the first way in which we recognise spirit filled people by their wisdom. And so God's glory is reflected in the life of this deacon through a wisdom that cannot be opposed.

A wisdom that engages unbelievers in debate so as to leave them speechless. And so the richness of Stephen's spirituality is evident in the wisdom that he demonstrates in debate. Do you want to know friends where that wisdom comes from? What its source is? Well, guess? The obvious answer is from the Holy Spirit who indwelt Stephen.

When God's spirit works within us, He gives us insight and wisdom that cannot be opposed. Problem is that's only half the answer to the question where did Stephen's wisdom come from. We see a fuller answer in the next chapter. In the next chapter, we have the sermon that Stephen preached in the Sanhedrin, the longest of all the sermons mentioned in the book of Acts. It's a chapter of sixty verses.

So next month when I come back and we look at those sixty verses, you better bring a packed lunch. Okay? It'll be quite a job getting through those sixty verses, but it becomes very obvious in that sermon, the next chapter, some homework for you. Read the chapter when you get home, and you'll see that Stephen knew his Bible, the Old Testament part of it. And so this is the wisdom that comes from God through the word of God.

God's indwelling spirit in a person brings about a wisdom that comes through the word. You begin to see, congregation, why these Pharisees and the priests couldn't stand up to Stephen's wisdom. For Stephen, the wisdom of God came from the word of God and when the Spirit of God works in a person through the word, what a powerful combination that is. No, I think today we're in great danger of losing that wisdom. Not the idea also as Christians that if we need to know anything you just Google it on the internet, right?

If you want to do something just hunt for a DIY video on YouTube. And yet with all that information at our fingertips, we're living in a world, in a culture, in a society that is unravelling at the seams. Turn your news on any day and you'll see it. We're witnessing bit by bit the breakdown of our western culture. Why?

Because we're turning our back on the wisdom of God in the word of God. Before you brothers and sisters too quickly tell me this morning that that's not true of Christians, let me disillusion you. In our day and age, there is an appalling ignorance among Christians. A man came to the door once, was selling telecom stuff, phone plans, and he mentioned that he went to church and he was a Christian, but when I engaged him in discussion, I had no idea what a Christian really is. Many are not reading the word.

Many churches no longer teach the word. Merle and I, some time ago, were in a church in a worship service, and the word, the Bible was not even opened. I wrote them a letter later and said, how dare you run a service in worship of the living God and you don't even open His word. Instead it's all about feeling good and so biblical exposition in many churches is being replaced by motivational talks. In the story of Stephen, we're shown that biblical wisdom used by God's spirit cannot be withstood.

The wisdom that finds its source in God always triumphs. That's how we win debates folks. It's evidence of the spirit's filling in your life to know the wisdom of God's word. And so these leaders have to resort to hiring liars to make a case against Stephen, because they cannot oppose the glory of God in the wisdom that is there in this man. There's a second way, congregation, a second sign of a spirit filled person and a second reflection of God's glory in Stephen.

And that comes out when Stephen is challenged with blasphemy against Moses and against God. It stirs up the crowd and the elders and the teachers of the law get involved and so once again the Sanhedrin is called together to hear the charges levelled against Stephen. And so what are these words of blasphemy that Stephen allegedly spoke against Moses and against God? Well, verse fourteen spells it out for us. Have a look at it.

It's a message that Jesus would destroy the temple and change the traditions of Moses. Right? So did Jesus actually teach that? Well, yes He did, sort of. Can I get you to turn with me to Mark chapter thirteen?

Mark's gospel. Don't lose your place in Acts. Mark thirteen, Jesus is leaving the temple. You see that in verse one of Mark thirteen. Jesus is leaving the temple and His disciples draw His attention to the magnificent building and the wonderful stones that make it up.

And then notice what Jesus says in verse two of Mark thirteen. He says, do you see these great buildings, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. So Jesus at least is predicting the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in seventy AD. Now turn over to Mark fourteen, next chapter in Mark and have a look at verse forty eight where Jesus goes on trial before the Sanhedrin and here too by the way false witnesses have been brought in to testify against Jesus and what do they say? Well have a look in verse fifty eight, these words.

We heard him say I will destroy this temple that is made with hands and in three days I will build another not made with hands. So did Jesus actually say that? Well again, yeah, in a way, but no, not quite either, but He did say something similar. Back in John chapter two and verse nineteen when Jesus cleansed the temple, He said destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up, but He was talking about the temple of His body. So it's obvious, congregation, in all of this that Jesus thought the temple was at a certain point not going to be important anymore.

And isn't that precisely what God confirmed in the instant in which Jesus died on the cross of Calvary? At the moment in which Jesus cried out it's finished, God supernaturally caused the veil in the temple to be torn from top to bottom. That veil that symbolically hid God's presence from sinful man. And now it's as if Jesus died to remove it once for all. So the controversial question is whether Stephen's teaching, whether this was really a false charge.

Well in some ways it wasn't. Stephen was spot on. He picked up this teaching with Jesus well. In fact, let me put it to you this way this morning, congregation. Isn't this the very heartbeat of the gospel?

All the Old Testament rituals, they were a shadow of things to come. All the practices and all the ceremonies in the temple pointed forward to the coming of Jesus Christ. Every animal that was sacrificed pointed to the offering that He would bring for our sins. All the blood that was sprinkled on the altars over the decades and the centuries pointed to the blood of Christ to be shed for us. If you doubt that, read the book of Hebrews.

It speaks about those temple practice and ordinances as mere shadows of reality. And when the full light appears, it drives the shadows away. Or to put it another way, you don't need candles anymore when the sun comes out. Right? So to keep going with all of those rituals would be to act as if Jesus had never come.

And so Stephen in effect says clearly, Jesus has fulfilled everything that the temple stands for. Jesus has fulfilled all the traditions of Moses. And what's that friends if it isn't the gospel? That was the truth that Stephen was willing to die for. It's the truth that He defended to the very end.

And so we have this morning a second mark of a spirit filled man, a spirit filled woman, a spirit filled person is totally gospel focused. If you're a spirit filled person, then you'll have a strong understanding that Jesus has done it all. The truth of the gospel is that it drives you to tell others that it's finished. We don't need temple sacrifices or our own pitiful efforts anymore.

All we need is Jesus. And in that way, the glory of God is reflected in Stephen as He focuses totally on the gospel of Jesus Christ. See here friends is a measure of our spirituality this morning. It's about Jesus, about His doing, His dying and His victory. So how can it be said that these were false witnesses that brought up charges, made up charges against Stephen?

It was false in the sense that they accused him of blasphemy and this was not blasphemy. This was gospel truth. Now please keep in mind there's two sides to this debate and Stephen on the one side was prepared to defend this teaching to the death. In fact, He did pay for it with His life, but the other side of it, it's just as true that the priests and the Pharisees were prepared to kill in order to suppress that truth. The point is this was a huge issue for these people.

Their whole lives revolved around the temple and the traditions of Moses. The temple represented to them the presence of God, and to speak against the temple was to speak against God. Blasphemy. The traditions handed down by Moses were the very heart of the Old Testament faith, and to speak out against the customs of Moses overthrew their system. Blasphemy.

You see why the Jewish leaders killed Jesus because of His talk about destroying the temple? And can you see why the Sanhedrin in Acts six here in this chapter considered it blasphemous for Stephen to talk like that? These people never realised that Jesus did make the temple and its rituals redundant. And in that sense, He did destroy the temple and He did change the customs of Moses. And that fact brothers and sisters threatened their very existence, the very reason for their existence.

I could say in some ways that what Jesus had done in so many ways made them as workers in the temple and chief priests and scribes redundant when it came to the focus on the rituals of the sacraments in the temple. I find therefore that one of the beautiful things in this chapter is what's written in verse seven of chapter six of Acts. We're told there that a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. Isn't that wonderful, congregation? It tells us this morning that there were some men who realised they lost their job.

Jesus had fulfilled all the shadows that the temple and the ceremony of Moses pointed to, and the spirit filled deacon saw that so clearly. Stephen reflected the glory of God in the gospel of His son, and may that be the measure of the spirit's fullness in our own life. Are you gospel focused friends? Is it all about Jesus at the end of the day? That's a measure of our spirituality.

I want to point out yet one more standard by which we can measure whether someone is filled with the spirit of God, yet one more way in which we see God's glory reflected in the life of this deacon. In the closing verse, the last verse of this chapter, Luke specifically draws attention to Stephen's appearance. Notice that He tells us that Luke tells us that his face was like the face of an angel and that was so striking that the whole Sanhedrin noticed it. In fact, I find the language is very, very telling. It says they were looking intently at Stephen because of this.

That expression looking intently has the idea of staring at someone. They stared at Stephen, I mean looking at someone with totally undivided attention. And the reason why they're so focused on Stephen is because his face was like that of an angel. Now I can imagine this is raising some questions for you. Stephen's face was like the face of an angel.

So what does an angel's face look like? I've never seen one, well at least not as far as I know I haven't. I'm tempted to say well they must look a bit like my wife Merle but I'm sure there's other husbands here would disagree with me and say no it's their wife. So let me say two things that I think I can say with reasonable certainty this morning. First of all, the face of an angel would be different in that it would make a big impression.

It would touch you with a sense of awe and doesn't that staring of the Sanhedrin confirm that? Secondly, there would be in the face of an angel some special glow and don't we sometimes see that in human beings? I can remember many years ago, a girl in our office got engaged. The next morning, Monday morning, she got engaged over the weekend. She was showing off her ring and she positively glowed.

So an angel's face would surely have something of a special glow, the glow of God's presence. So am I daring to suggest this morning then that the look of an angel is a sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit? Well, need to be very careful here, don't I? You know, sometimes I wish friends that I could get you all to come up here in turn a while and observe the congregation, because sometimes watching the body language from the pulpit can be rather telling and people who are here but aren't here, you know what I mean? And if I were to judge your spirituality this morning by the glow on your faces, well okay, let's admit that sometimes we get out of bed on the wrong side in the morning, but sometimes, sometimes friends that even shows up when we sit in church on a Sunday morning. But let me tell you another side to it.

Some years ago I had a migrant couple that came to our church one day and they came from a country where nominal membership is an issue and they gave me their membership papers and speaking to them I soon discovered they were social Christians, family pressures, that's why you go to church and you could almost see it in them. There was a certain hardness of unbelief and as I got to know them a bit there was a critical spirit and you could see it in their faces. The membership certificate said they'd been baptised but I often thought they'd been baptised in a bath of lemon juice. But when this couple came to know Jesus personally, when they came to faith in Christ relationally, that changed them. And as so often happens, I saw the change in their faces.

They now just radiated a sense of peace and contentment in the Lord. The fruit of the spirit is joy, friends. And that joy sometimes just shines out of the faces that are aglow with the love of God. Now please, I understand we Christians have bad hair days. There are days when in reality a physical pain is reflected in our faces.

And sometimes we come to church and we've got some deep inner struggles that just rob us of our joy and of our smiles. But I want to say it this morning, something of the spirit's indwelling in us should be seen in us even in the outward appearance of God's people. And some have been asked sometimes, what is it makes you so different? You just radiate a sense of something. You know, Paul discusses this in the second letter to the Corinthians.

He remarks there that we with unveiled faces reflect the Lord's glory and that we're being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory. And here it's certainly true of Stephen that this is another mark of the spirit's filling of his life. And that in this matter too the glory of God is reflected in the face of this deacon. This morning I also want to say though that we need to think of Stephen looking like an angel in another way. We need to put this in the context of the false charges that were levelled against him.

Now keep in mind Stephen's being accused of blasphemy against God and against Moses right? In fact doesn't that give us an amazing connection here, friends? I can only think of one other person in the Bible who's face shone. Do you remember who that was? The Old Testament Moses.

In fact, it shone so bright, Moses had to cover his face to be able to speak to the congregation. But that glow on Moses' face was a reflection of the glory of God, was a lingering leftover from Moses having been in the presence of Almighty God for forty days on the mountain. Now we've got the story of Stephen before the Sanhedrin and his face shines like an angel. Can you imagine what that's saying to thoughtful members of the Sanhedrin? Thoughtful members would be thinking, we're charging this man with blasphemy against God and Moses, but if that's the case, why is his face glowing like Moses?

Surely this too is a reflection of the presence of God through the indwelling spirit. God surely is doing this, congregation, as a key testimony to these leaders who are sitting in judgment of this man. So what does a spirit filled person look like? A spirit filled person has the wisdom of God that comes through the word of God, a wisdom that can't be opposed. A spirit filled person upholds the truth of the gospel, the doing, the dying and the victory of Jesus if need be unto death.

A spirit filled person will show something of the glow of the presence of God in their life. So how relevant is all of that to you this morning? Whether you're sitting here this morning and you've been struggling with some issues, one of your kids has been giving you a hard time with rebelliousness. Maybe your bank manager's jumping up and down because you're behind with your mortgage payments or maybe you're sitting here this morning you've suffered a business loss or maybe for some of us and for older people especially there's those health issues that keep us preoccupied. You've got some other serious problems, maybe relational in your family.

I don't know. Too many problems this morning to worry about a spirit filled deacon, this story. But can't you see, congregation, what the glory of God in the life of Stephen can do for you and what it's got to do with you? Stephen didn't exactly have an easy time either, did he? By the end of the next chapter he's dead.

But you see Stephen knew the secret that in our daily life we tend to forget. Not all about us, not all about you. Stephen knew it's all about God, the God who in Jesus makes us His own and that's what drove his life and that's what made him the spirit filled person that he was. And so this morning friends, God is saying to you in all your trials, in all the troubles that are preoccupying, keep one thing central to help you cope and that's the glory of God in the doing and the dying and the victory of Jesus. Keep that central and you'll cope with anything that life throws at you.

Let me pray for us. Father, what we have in this sixth chapter of the book of Acts is simply some narrative, just a story of what happened in the early church. Thank you for showing us this morning that it's so rich and meaningful for us when we unpack it and begin to apply it in our own life. Father pray especially for those this morning that are going through tough times. Tough times with their health, tough times with relationships, tough times in their business. May we always keep in mind in those difficulties that preoccupy us maybe even this morning it's not about us, it's about you.

Father we want you to receive all the glory and the praise because of what you've done for us, what you continue to do in us and through us, through our blessed Lord Jesus Christ to whom alone be glory, praise and honour now and evermore. Amen.