Although the sentence of “death” for Jesus could not be retracted, at least there was a chance that the opinion of those who made up the “court” could be reversed. And that’s exactly what Peter and John attempted to do on several occasions on the Day of Pentecost. Today, we will leave Peter and John and move to the appeal of one of the first “deacons” named Stephen. Not long after the Day of Pentecost, the religious leaders, along with members of an antagonistic group called “The Synagogue of the Freedmen,” began to question Stephen because they all noticed that he was,

“…full of grace and power, and was performing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8).

And interestingly, Luke records that as they,

“…rose up and argued with Stephen, they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” (Acts 6:10).

This group proceeded to inflame the people by bringing in false witnesses who accused him of speaking,

“…blasphemous words against Moses and against God” (Acts 6:11-12).

And then they brought him before the Council of religious leaders to answer the accusations of those who were saying that Jesus had said that He would destroy the Temple as well as the customs handed down by Moses. Instead of seeing “fear” in the eyes of Stephen, they saw something quite different,

“Fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15).

As Stephen began to speak, he proceeded to remind those in the Council of all that God had done through the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), including Moses, King David, and his son Solomon, who built the Temple. And then turning his attention to what they had done to Jesus, Stephen boldly said,

“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit, you are doing just as your father’s did” (Acts 7:51).

And then Stephen asked them a question, for which they all knew the answer, and 

“Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murders you have now become” (Acts 7:52).

Ouch! Straight and honest talk coming from the lips of Stephen as he condemned the religious leaders for doing what their forefathers had done, but instead of killing the prophets, this group of religious leaders had murdered the Righteous One, Jesus the Messiah, the One who was sent by God to save them from their sins.

Conviction can result in two separate paths: Repentance or Anger! Unlike those who heard a similar message from the lips of Peter, this group of prideful, powerful, and stiff-necked religious leaders became so angry that they began to “gnash their teeth” at Stephen. They were full of blindness and deceptive thoughts! But Stephen,

“…being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’” (Acts 7:55-56).

With this statement, they had finally had enough. Covering their ears, they “rushed upon him with one impulse” and took him outside the city to stone him. One of the witnesses of Stephen’s stoning was a man named Saul who watched over the coats of those who actually picked up the rocks to throw at Stephen. And then Luke records these final words of Stephen,

“’Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’…And falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them!’ And having said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:59-60).

Following the “appeals” of Peter and John, Stephen presented this amazing historical account of the Jewish nation, beginning with Abraham and continuing to Solomon, the one who built the first Temple in Jerusalem. So far, so good. But when he got to their forefathers killing the prophets in the Old Testament, and then concluded with their own guilt in killing the Prophet of whom Moses spoke, Jesus of Nazareth, their anger boiled to the point of killing Stephen, who became the first Christian martyr.

What a difference in the reaction of the common folk versus the religious leaders. On the one hand, when the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, those with “softened hearts” will be brought to repentance with humble hearts, while those with “stiffened necks” will be brought to anger with stubborn hearts. Repentance leads to salvation, while anger results in condemnation.

The appeal was presented by Stephen, and he, like Jesus whom he served, was condemned to death. And my appeal to each of you is, if you have never done so, ask God to remove your hardened heart and repent of your sin and turn to Christ. He will never turn you away. He always responds to a humble and repentant heart!

There are a few more appeals recorded in the New Testament, and these will come from the one who watched over the coats of those who stoned Stephen. I hope you will join me next week.