And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. (9) Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. (10) And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. (11) Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. (12) And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, (13) And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: (14) For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. (15) And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
We here enter upon the interesting history of Stephen, the first of the seven brethren, in the government of the Church under the Apostles, and the first martyr in the Church of Christ, after the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. It is evident, that Stephen preached, as well as did wonders and miracles among the people; for we read, that those who opposed him, were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit, with which he spake. But the most important point for us to consider is, what blasphemy it was, with which these foes to Christ, and to his people, charged him? I conceive this to be no unimportant point, For if, as I am inclined to believe, Stephen died a martyr to the Godhead of the Lord Jesus, it will throw a light upon this part of the Church's history, and serve to teach us, that this glorious truth, which is the very foundation of our holy faith, was then, as in modern times it hath since been, what infidelity most revolts at.
If the Reader will gather into one point of view, the several charges before the council brought against Stephen, and. consider them a little attentively, he wilt perceive that the whole together were four in number. First, Blasphemous words against Moses, Secondly, Against God. Thirdly, Blasphemous words against this holy place, meaning most probably, the temple; or, perhaps, the city of Jerusalem, called the holy city in which the temple stood, Matthew 27:53. And, fourthly, Against the law. Now, by analyzing these several and distinct charges, and examining them, one by one, under their respective heads, we shall be enabled to form a clear apprehension of the ground upon which the council acted, when stoning Stephen, according to the Jewish law, for the supposed blasphemy.
And, first, concerning the blasphemous words against Moses. It is, indeed, an extraordinary, and to this time an unheard of accusation, to talk of blasphemy against a man. For nothing can be called blasphemy, except it hath the Lord for its object. Blasphemy, is peculiarly, and specially, a sin against Him. But here was the drift of their resentment. Stephen had said, that the Lord Jesus would change the customs, that is, the rites, which Moses had delivered to the people. Indeed, the Lord had done it. Those rites were only shadowy representations, and Christ himself was the substance; and as such, the whole of Moses' institutions, having accomplished the end for which they were originally appointed, did of themselves cease. But, as this doctrine implied, that Moses was the servant of Christ, and consequently God; He who was with the angel, (as he told them in the following chapter), when speaking to Moses from the bush; (Acts 7:38) the conclusion became undeniable, that Christ was God; and this they deemed blasphemy. I pray the Reader to turn to Hebrews 3:5-6
The second charge of blasphemy against God, could have been no other than the ascribing divine honors to the Lord Jesus Christ. And if the Reader will in this place, by way of ascertaining more, clearly the matter of fact, anticipate in some measure Stephen's history, by turning to the close of it, towards the end of the next chapter, (Acts 7:56-58) he will immediately perceive, by what this faithful servant of the Lord then said, how firm his mind must have been in the belief of Christ's Godhead. We there find him exclaiming in a rapture of holy joy, and regardless of all around him, that he saw the Lord Jesus in person, as the Shechinah in the Old Testament, which manifested the presence of the Lord, used to appear; and nothing could be more decisive in proof, that Stephen considered Christ as God. Indeed his enemies themselves so interpreted Stephen's words, and as such, unable to suppress their indignation, they dragged him instantly from before the council, and stoned him with stones till he died. Nothing, surely, can be more full in point, that Stephen died a martyr to the profession of the Godhead of Christ. See Leviticus 14:23; Leviticus 14:23; 1 Kings 21:13; Deuteronomy 17:2-7
For the third of those charges against Stephen, namely, blasphemous words in relation to the temple, or the city, we may consider this as in some degree included in the former, being by a necessary consequence implicated in it. For, if the Lord Jesus would destroy the temple, it implied the divinity of his nature in the deed. Indeed Christ had predicted the destruction of it, Matthew 24:1-2. But then it was for rejecting him, Luke 19:44. And, therefore, here also was an indirect acknowledgment of Stephens faith in the Godhead of the Lord Jesus.. Stephen, as a Jew, would have been equally shocked, as those carnal Jews were, at the idea of any one destroying their beloved city and temple. But Christ as God, in the faith of Stephen, not only reconciled that, and every other event which the Lord appointed, but gave him an holy joy, in contemplating the sovereignty of Jesus.
And, lastly, for the fourth of those charges; blasphemous words against the law; the very introduction of the Gospel, in superseding the law, became blasphemy in the extreme in the eyes of a Jew. And as none but He who gave the law could have authority to do away the law, by so much, while Stephen asserted that Christ would change the customs, which Moses delivered; plainly he asserted also, that Christ was God. So that each, and everyone of those charges, to which they annexed the crime of blasphemy, most evidently prove their views of the faith of Stephen. He stood forth a firm champion for the Godhead of Christ; and it was for this supposed blasphemy, for which he was stoned. Indeed, in the very moment of his death, he committed his soul into the hands of the Lord Jesus as God. Lord Jesus! (said he), receive my spirit? Acts 7:59
I stay not to notice, (though highly meriting our notice, in respect to the Lord's tender regard to his faithful servant), what is said in the close of this chapter, of the bright countenance of Stephen, like an angel, which all in the council, it is said, beheld. I cannot speak upon it with any decision. As such, I rather decline any observations, than to run the hazard of speaking presumptuously. But, I would just humbly ask, might it not have been similar to the case of Moses, when in the Mount, Exodus 34:29-30. And, if so, were not both instances, Moses and Stephen, from the same Lord Jesus? But, as God the Holy Ghost hath not been pleased to record anything further than the fact itself, it becomes us not to enquire. But of one point we are taught, and in which we cannot err. Stephen was here engaged in his Lord's cause; and for the testimony of Jesus, he was brought before the council. Hence Christ's promise, Luke 21:12-15. Very blessed is it, therefore, to discover, as in the case of Stephen, that a suited grace is always dispensed, as the circumstances of the Lord's tried ones shall require. As thy day is, thy strength shall be. Reader! let you and I take occasion from this view of Stephen, to calculate upon it for every hour of need, and especially like his, for the hour of death. Oh! for the Lord in that season to be eminently present, as he assuredly will, with all his re deemed. Lord! lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon my soul! that when I awake up, I shall be satisfied with thy likeness, and behold thy face in righteousness!