Are You Dynamically Devoted to Jesus or Disastrously Devoted to Self? (AM Sermon Notes)
GIST: Dynamic devotion to Jesus points to the salvation we need while devotion to self points to the destruction from which we need saved!
SCRIPTURE: Acts 6:8-15
This morning we’re breaking from our pattern a bit. Last week we covered a relatively short passage which means we’re due for another longer one ☺️. However, this morning we’re going to wrap up chapter 6, so you’ll get two shorter passages in a row. Nonetheless, don’t get too excited because next week we’re probably going to tackle all of chapter 7☺️!
What we’re coming to today is the life of Stephen. He was one of the seven men chosen to take care of the Greek widows last week. Today, we see what led up to him becoming the first Christian martyr. His death is significant because it becomes the catalyst to moving the witness of Christianity from Jerusalem...to Judea...and to the ends of the earth. We’ll touch on that more later, but for now, let’s focus on the first part of what led to his eventual death.
“8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 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. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 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." 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel."
We’re presented with two separate character studies here. Stephen is a man of God who had been so dramatically transformed by grace that he’s being used to change lives for Jesus. The Sanhedrin, on the other hand, are so focused on themselves that not only have they not experienced changing grace, but they can’t see past their personal desires to make any difference for the kingdom either. The truth here might touch on some of what we addressed last week. However, this is not any agenda I am trying to promulgate. It’s simply where the text is taking us. Yet, I trust God’s sovereignty and believe He’s pointing us here for a reason, which means we need to hear these truths (myself included). So, here’s the gist for us today: Dynamic devotion to Jesus points to the salvation we need while devotion to self points to the destruction from which we need saved!
It’s not a complicated truth, but it’s one we really need to remember...since in reality it’s not always the way we live our lives. So this morning, I want to take a look at the two examples we’re presented, one positive and one negative, and see what we can glean from the contrast.
First, we’ll look at Stephen who demonstrated a→
I. DYNAMIC DEVOTION TO JESUS
Now, let’s start by making this clear, this is not a call to emulate Stephen, but an examination of how Stephen’s emulation of Jesus changed his life...and was used to change those around him. As a reminder, Stephen was one of the seven who was chosen to help sort out the mess with the Hellenistic widows. It is assumed, given his Greek name, that he was himself Hellenistic. This seems to be further supported by his ministry recorded here where he witnesses in Hellenistic synagogues. There is some speculation as to whether or not this was one synagogue where several groups met, or several different synagogues. Either way, he saw a need, went out to meet that need, and God used him! Let’s look at what the results of his devotion to Christ looked like in his life. Basically, the passage tells us he was “full” of a lot of really great things☺️.
Let’s back up just a bit and look at the first time he is mentioned back in verse 5. This is in the list of the seven. He’s the first name provided and the only name that gets this kind of description. “5...and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit…” So he was→
Full of Faith & the Holy Spirit. We are not told a lot about Stephen in the Bible, but all the things we are told point back to this: his faith was far more than surface level. He did not just claim to trust in Jesus; He lived it! And...it was something people noticed about him! His faith was a vital and vibrant part of his life. It is also noted that he was also full of the Holy Spirit. Every Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit upon conversion. The moment you are saved, you are no longer your own, but the Holy Spirit is at work within you. The fact that this was pointed out for Stephen seems to note an intimate communion with God and a special gifting. We’ll see this developed a bit more in the other “fulls”, but Stephen took his walk seriously and was used by God to accomplish many things in a relatively short period of time.
Now, look at verse 8. “8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.” So the next thing we see is that he was→
Full of Grace and Power. Again, the fact that special notation is made of him being full of grace seems to point to the fact that not only had he been transformed by the grace of God, but he was also exuding it. We’ll see next week how gracious he was in his attitude. I mean, he calls a spade and spade, but is quick to offer forgiveness...even while he’s being stoned! Skip ahead a bit and look at the last verse in chapter 7, “60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” That’s grace. Moreover, not only is his attitude gracious, but one commentary I read pointed out that his purpose was “gracing” (IVP)...which I thought was a great use of that word☺️. Why did he go out to these Hellenistic synagogues? He was sharing the gospel! He was pointing them to the grace they so desperately needed. Next week, we’ll see how he responds when put on trial for this. Spoiler alert: he proclaims the gospel then, too!
He is also said to have been full of power. We see the results of this in that he was able to perform signs and wonders like the apostles. He was also bold in his proclamation of the gospel, which is another display of power. Here’s the key: God used him! He was dynamically devoted to Jesus. God was moving, and he was ready to be a part of that! We can’t miss this...but we will if we’re looking for the excitement of God’s movement without the devotion to God’s person.
For the last “full”, look at verse 10. In context, this verse appears after the religious elite are disputing with him. “10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.” He was→
Full of Wisdom. Ok, so it doesn’t actually say he was full of wisdom here, but being full of wisdom was one of the original requirements back in verse 3 (“...pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom…”) and it seems to be clearly on display here! One of the verses I quote most often is James 1:5 where we’re told wisdom comes from God. “5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” The source of Stephen’s wisdom was his relationship with Jesus. Period. Remember how Jesus told the disciples not to worry about what to say when on trial because the Holy Spirit would speak through them (Mark 13:11)? Stephen’s faith was real. He trusted this...and he lived this!
Now, look at verse 15 real quickly, “15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel."This all happened because he was→
Faithfully Reflecting Jesus. His life was not his own. He was living for Jesus! And we see this reflection in several areas here. First, his circumstances seem to mirror the arrest of Jesus, right? He was arrested, put on trial by a kangaroo court which brought some of the same false accusations against him, and then killed. Furthermore, the substance of what he says directly points to Jesus. He doesn’t proclaim himself or his own worthiness. He tells people about Jesus’ amazing grace! Then, we see this symbolic testimony of his face glowing like a angel. There are not many instances of this happening in the Bible, but the few that do leave the point behind this unmistakable. When Moses meets with God on the mountain, he has to cover his face when he comes down because people are terrified because it’s glowing. More recently, a few of the apostles saw Jesus completely transfigured. They saw a glimpse of his divinity, and he was glowing, as well. I want to come back to this in a second, but let’s just leave it here for now. This glowing was God’s way and making it clear that Stephen was being used by Him!
So, that’s the result of a life dynamically devoted to Jesus. Now, let’s look at the flip side→
II. DISASTROUS DEVOTION TO SELF
The religious elite, the Sanhedrin, have already begun to oppose the spread of Christianity. They led to the death of Jesus. Now, they’ve arrested and beaten the apostles. Though they had been advised to just let them be (see chapter 5), any passiveness towards the Christians seems to have been short lived. They’re upset because this is messing with the way they want to live their lives. Their apple cart is being flipped and their authority is being threatened, so they react to protect themselves. Let’s look at what this disastrous self devotion looked like...and for the sake of parallelism, we’ll take a few “full” statements here, as well☺️.
First, look at verse 9, “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.” What we see here is that they were→
Full of Self-Defensiveness. I know that sounds weird, but I wanted to make sure I clarified. They weren’t trying to defending God here. We’ll see this pretty clearly laid out in a second, but their interests were entirely self-motivated. Stephen was speaking the gospel, and people were being saved. The results would have been lives that were praising God. Nonetheless, the knee jerk reaction of the religious elite was to pick a fight. What they wanted was threatened by what they needed and they couldn’t stand it.
Next, look at verses 11-13, “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,” Here it’s pretty clear, they were so set on getting what they wanted that they became→
Full of Lies. This is huge! They were willing to outright lie to destroy this man’s life in order to preserve their positions. In doing so, they directly impacted public opinion, as well. Before, the people look upon the Christians favorably, but now they were being accused of blasphemy, and the tides shifted. I don’t need to go further to clarify how despicable this is.
Now, let’s look at verse 14 and wrap this up, “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.” And there you have their true motives. They were→
Full of Blind Devotions to Personal Customs. What were they really worried about? This place and these customs being disrupted! They were so committed to the customs they had built around their worship that they missed out on the Messiah they were supposed to be worshiping!
Ironically, the truth behind the tradition they were afraid of losing was used to point to their error. Remember in verse 15 when Stephen’s face glowed? They accused him of messing with the customs of Moses. Then they looked at him and his face was glowing...just like Moses’ had!
TAKEAWAYS
Just as a reminder, our gist this morning was: Dynamic devotion to Jesus points to the salvation we need while devotion to self points to the destruction from which we need saved! Let me close my just posing three rhetorical questions and then making an observation.
1. What are you not willing to give up?
2. What are you willing to lie to preserve or protect?
3. Are you willing to let Jesus dynamically change you? Because, here’s the deal→
4. This world needs Jesus, and we’re supposed to be reflecting Him. How are we doing? Let me just leave you with these quick encouragements. First, seek Jesus wholeheartedly. Half-hearted seeking doesn’t result in much fruit. It’s like when my kids yell for me to come and find a shoe that they have looked everywhere for...and I find it sitting right in front of them! Here’s a little insight into my life and a struggle I have. It is easy for me to approach a passage of Scripture as a text from which to draw a lesson. This will never help you, and it will never change me. I have absolutely nothing to offer except what He’s given. Instead, I have to approach the Word of God looking to hear from Him. I need changed. I need to experience His direction and correction and encouragement. You don’t need cleverly outlines lessons from an English teacher. You need Jesus. If I’m not seeking Him, I can’t effectively point you to Him. The same is true of all of us. Second, don’t let selfishness detract from your walk or your witness.You can’t be consumed by Jesus and a love of self at the same time. Period. These two perspectives we’ve looked at today are incompatible. And lastly, in Church life, we need to remember only those things which point to Jesus are fundamental. We do many things, but only Jesus and His Word are are musts. We can’t ever fall victim to allowing traditions to supplant His gospel!
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