Stephen: The Spirit-Filled Man
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The church body decided to select seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom to put in charge of organizing the church. Those men are identified in Acts 6":5. The first men in the list and the only one about whom it says anything is a man named Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. He becomes the main character in the narrative through the rest of this chapter and chapter 7.
Stephen is a sort of transition between Peter and Paul; he’s a transition between the evangelization of Jerusalem and the evangelization of the world. In a very real sense, Stephen is a forerunner of Paul.
So let’s study this man named Stephen and learn more about the Holy Spirit from this man.
I. The Disposition of a Spirit-filled Man (6:8-15)
What is the disposition of a Spirit-filled person?
5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit,
A. His Character
His disposition, his character… and mark it now coz this should be the standard for every Christian. It says, “full of… faith and the Holy Spirit.” Now, that guy was full of two things: faith and the Holy Spirit. Now “full,” Gk. Plērēs, the verb plēroō out of fill up means to be filled up.
The concept of filling in the spiritual realm in the New Testament, has to do with domination or control. When it says he was full of faith, it means that that which totally controlled him was faith. He was full of the Spirit, it means that that which totally controlled him was the Holy Spirit.
For example, the Bible talks about people who are full of rage, full of sorrow, full of joy, full of love, full of madness, full of anger. And what that means is that they were controlled at that moment by that thing.
1. He was full of Faith
You know what dominated his life? Trust. He believed God. He was dominated by faith in God through Jesus Christ.
Well, what specifically did he believe in? Later we see in chapter 7 that Stephen believed…
that God is sovereign and ruled human history. That’s basically the content of his long defense in chapter 7.
He believed in the Holy Spirit (7:51).
He also believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah (7:52).
He believed Jesus was risen and exalted to the right hand of the Father (7:55-56).
He believed Jesus cared for him (7:59).
He believed. And he rested in his belief, and it never bothered him that he was going to get into trouble because he wasn’t trying to protect anything. He knew God was in control of it.
Now, he knew that the only person controlling his life was God. He absolutely believed it, so he did whatever God told him to do and didn’t worry about it.
2. He was full of the Holy Spirit
5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit,
It means that he was under – he was under the control of the Spirit. He was not only totally dominated by faith, but he was totally dominated by the Spirit of God, which meant he trusted and he obeyed. You see? Full of faith is to trust, and to be full of the Spirit is to be obeying His control. Right?
The two greatest words in the Christian life: trust and obey. And Stephen had them both. He believed God; he did what the Spirit told him to do. His life was full of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? It means to be under the control of the Holy Spirit. It means that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is evident in his life. He has that reputation. People see that in him.
3. He was full of Grace
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.
“He was full of full of faith and the Spirit,” therefore, “he was full of grace and power.” Now, to be full of grace Gk. Charis, which means God’s favor, is a result of being full of faith. Now, there are several kinds of grace, but all grace comes as a result of faith. Right? For by grace are you saved – what? – through faith. Grace comes from faith. Stephen was a gracious person. Grace was simply spilling over from this man.
4. He was full of Power
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.
Where do you think he got that? Because it says in verse 5, “He was full of the Holy Spirit.” And if you’re full of the Holy Spirit, what are you? Full of power.
So, you see, what you have in verse 8 is a statement of effect - what you have in verse 5 is a statement of cause. He was full of faith; therefore he was gracious. He was full of the Spirit; therefore, his witness was powerful. And his power was seen in that very verse, “He did great wonders and miracles among the people,” verse 8.
Listen, you will be filled with the Spirit of God, and you will be powerful. “Ye shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is” – what? – “come upon you.” Stephen was the right man. Therefore, he gave off the right vibrations. Now watch it, trust and obey equals grace and power.
Now notice how this power is spilling over Stephen.
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.
B. His Courage
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.
They couldn’t handle, number one, his wisdom; number two, his spirit. I think it’s a small S there. That means his demeanor. His energy, his power, his zeal, his sincerity, his fervency, his ability to create. Stephen had two things that every good speaker needs: content and delivery. They couldn’t handle either.
So what did they do?
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.”
C. His Countenance
15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
This is one of the greatest rebukes of all times in the Bible. They’re saying, “Evil, evil; blasphemer, blasphemer,” and he’s sitting there with a holy face. Can you imagine the rebuke? Whoever’s seeing him says “There’s something wrong, guys.” See? The face of an angel, a holy angel of God, manifesting the glow of God that he receives from being in the presence of God Stephen had on his face.
I believe Stephen manifested the glory of God, for Peter says,
“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
(1 Pet. 4:14)
I believe Stephen had radiated from his face the glory of God. What a rebuke. Unbelievable rebuke. They had said, “You blaspheme Moses.” But listen to this. Listen to this, God had put on Stephen the face of the glory of God. Only one other man in the history of the world ever had the glory of God on his face. Who was it? Moses.
Wow! That’s the disposition of a man filled with the Holy Spirit. You have character, courage and countenance.
II. The Defense of a Spirit-filled Man (7:1-53)
So Stephen was charged and had been accused of speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God. So Stephen is on trial for opposing Moses and his customs and God and his temple.
So in Acts 7:1 the high priest gives Stephen a chance to defend himself, “Are these things so?” he asks. In defense, Stephen does a very strange thing.
Two Ways Stephen Defended Himself
A. He Chronicles their History
He tells a story—a condensed version of the history of Israel.
He starts with Abraham at the beginning (in vv. 1–8). Then (in vv. 9–16) he dwells on Joseph and how the Israelites came to Egypt. Then he spends a long time on Moses (in vv. 17– 44). Then he closes with a brief reference to Joshua and David and Solomon (in vv. 45–50)
B. He Concludes their History
What is Stephen’s conclusion about the Israelites?
“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”” (Acts 7:51–53)
So what was Stephen's defense? He had been charged with speaking against Moses and the law, and against God and the temple. His defense is that history proves the opposite: it is Israel as a people that have stiffened their necks against God and resisted the Holy Spirit. They persecuted the prophets of God, and they killed Jesus the Son of God, and now they are about to kill a man "full of faith and the Holy Spirit.”
Two Ways Stephen's Defense Can Minister to Us
What we need to do today is let Stephen's defense minister to us in at least two ways. He says that Israel "Always resists the Holy Spirit." This means, first, that God had been working for Israel again and again with repeated acts of mercy and patience and long-suffering throughout their history. And it means, secondly, that they had repeatedly hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks and stopped their ears to the work of God.
So I think God wants to speak to us about two things today:
1. Wonder at God’s Patience
He wants us to have awe and wonder by the story of His patience and long-suffering with a rebellious people—that He is "slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and forgives iniquity and transgression and sin" (Exodus 34:6–7). He is not eager to punish. He is eager to forgive and move on with repentant and humble people.
2. Warning at God’s Punishment
He wants us to be warned that there is an end to His patience. There is a resistance to the Holy Spirit that goes so long and so far that God hands a person over into the power of His own sin. You see this in the words of verse 42: "God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven."
So the second way God wants to minister to us today is to awaken us to the hard truth that we can resist Him so long and want other things so much more than we want him, that He will finally turns away, stops convicting, stops giving the gracious feelings of guilt, and hands us over entirely to our sin (cf. Romans 1:24, 26, 28) and ultimately to the demonic forces.
III. The Death of a Spirit-filled Man (7:54-60)
When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.(Acts 7:54-60)
Stephen is the first martyr of the Christian church. Stephen died a very horrible death, by stoning. But even here death was glorious for Stephen because he was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Three Glorious Things About Stephen’s Death
1. He Saw Jesus
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55-56)
The Holy Spirit in Stephen turns the jaws of death into a window of heaven. And instead of seeing the fires of hell and the face of Satan, Stephen sees the glory of God and Jesus alive standing at the right hand of God.
I don't mean that every believer will get the same vision of glory and of Jesus that Stephen got. But I do mean that this is the way the Holy Spirit comforts us when we are dying, and robs death of its power. One way or another he makes death a window to the glory of God and to Jesus. And for those who love Jesus more than anyone and long for the glory of God more than anything the sting of death is gone and the power of death is broken.
2. He Surrendered His Spirit to Jesus
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59)
In other words, not only did the Holy Spirit turn the hour of death into a revelation of the glory of God and of Jesus, he also showed Stephen that the reason Jesus was standing, and not sitting (as it says in verse 55), was to welcome his servant home. So death serves the dying saint not only as a window to see Jesus, but also as a doorway to enter glory—not only a window to see Jesus, but also a doorway to join him.
3. He Showed Jesus
Finally, the Spirit makes death glorious for Stephen by drawing out of him the beauty of Christlikeness in the hour of death.
Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.(Acts 7:60)
When Jesus was dying he had said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Death had failed utterly as a curse to destroy the love and holiness of Jesus. And now, because Stephen was filled with the Spirit of Jesus, he reflected Jesus’ heart at the point of death.
The devil designs for our death to produce despair and hopelessness and self-pity and resentment and bitterness. But the design of the Holy Spirit is very, very different. He destroys the power of death, and makes death into an occasion for showing the beauty of Christ.
Living Like Stephen
Brethren, this is the way we die by the power of the Spirit. And this is the way we live by the Spirit. Seeing the glory of Jesus; Surrendering our trials to Jesus, and Showing forth Jesus in our character.
Let us be like Stephen, the man full of the Holy Spirit. Amen.