Adult Mentor: Third Quarter 2018

By R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation

The Contemporary Training for the Church (CTC) is a church ministry of training. The discipline of the Contemporary Training for the Church guides train church membership in the distinctive beliefs held by Christians. This ministry is designed as an essential part of the total educational program of the church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Apr 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781681673950

Book preview

COURAGE TO SPEAK

QUARTERLY THEME:

Faith Leads to Victory

Lesson Scripture:

Acts 6:8–7:2

DISCIPLINES LEARNED

I. STEPHEN IS FAITHFUL AND POWERFUL

II. REACTION TO CRITICISM

III. MORE FALSE ACCUSATIONS

KEY VERSE:

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

(Acts 6:8, KJV)

LEARNING SESSION

As the number of believers in Jerusalem began to increase, the Greek-speaking Jews of the Diaspora expressed displeasure because their widows were being slighted in the daily distribution of food. To settle this matter, the apostles decided to choose trustworthy men from among the Diaspora Jews to relieve them of this responsibility. Seven men, full of the Spirit and wisdom, were chosen and ordained to attend to the distribution of food to the widows in the community (Acts 6:3, NIV). As a result, the Apostles were able to focus their attention on praying and preaching the Word of God. Today’s lesson focuses on one of these seven men, Stephen, whose faithful work in the community of believers brought glory to God the Father.

Courage is the ability to stand firm and to act appropriately in the face of popular opposition and uncertainty. All believers need courage to boldly proclaim the Christian message to the world. Stephen was one of seven men appointed to minister to the material needs of the Jerusalem church. Although he was not an apostle, Stephen’s faith enabled him to do great wonders and miracles. Stephen courageously spoke the truth, even when doing so led to conflict and slanderous attacks against him. Wisdom, faith, power, and God’s grace helped Stephen to speak the truth and stand firm in spite of the risk. Leaders in the Church today can obtain the courage to speak the truth by seeking the power and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS:

1 Stephen had the courage to speak boldly before the Sanhedrin.

2 He accused the Jewish people of crucifying Jesus.

3 The Jews charged Stephen with blasphemy and stoned him.

EXPOSITION:

I. Stephen Is Faithful and Powerful

Stephen was one of the seven men chosen and ordained to be a servant in the community of believers. Because these seven men, often referred to as deacons, or Diakonoi, attended to the collection and distribution of goods to the needy, the apostles were able to remain steadfast in prayer and preaching. The Church continued to grow as the apostles and the deacons faithfully attended to the spiritual and material needs of the community of faith.

Stephen was also noted for being full of faith and power (see Acts 6:8). He was diligent and faithful in his charitable work in the community, and he was able to do great works and miracles among the people. Because of this, Stephen is an example to us of how God will use faithful believers to do powerful things. He used Stephen to serve the community in a greater capacity than he would have been able to alone.

Believers today can also do great wonders and miracles among the people if we will allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in wisdom and power, so that the Word of God may reach greater multitudes and the body of believers be strengthened.

II. Reaction to Criticism

Those who are faithful workers in Kingdom building can expect opposition. Stephen’s work among the people did not go unnoticed by the members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen—Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, and the provinces of Cilicia and Asia in Asia Minor who had come to live in Jerusalem. They began to argue against Stephen’s teaching that Jesus was the Messiah, but the miracles he was able to perform proved the truth of the message he brought to the community.

ACTIVITY:

MAKING IT STICK

Read Acts 6-7. Compare Stephen’s trial and death with Jesus’ trail and death.

Stephen’s spiritual wisdom was too powerful for the Jews opposing him. They feared that the growth of this new teaching would have negative consequences for traditional Judaism. Indeed, they were right. When they discovered that they were no match for the fullness of the Holy Spirit working inside of Stephen, they sought to devise alternative measures to silence his message and appeal.

First, they hired men to make false accusations against Stephen. He was accused by these men of speaking blasphemous words against Moses and against God (v. 11, NIV). Yet, it was not Stephen who slandered the truth, but these zealous Jews that were guilty of such slander. They showed that they had no real love for the truth when they falsely accused Stephen of blasphemy in an effort to prevent people from hearing the truth concerning salvation through Jesus Christ.

It should not be surprising to us that the enemy wanted to silence the Christian message, but the Holy Spirit gave Stephen the power to be courageous even in the face of opposition. He was wise enough to know the truth and faithful to proclaim it to the world. Believers who seek God’s wisdom and trust God’s Spirit to guide them—like Stephen—will be able to stand firm when opposition tries to silence their witness.

III. More False Accusations

These Jewish foreigners came together to stir up doubt among the people, the elders, and the scribes. They violently subdued Stephen as if he were a dangerous criminal and brought him before the council. They singled him out with false accusations made by false witnesses produced to affirm their charges. Stephen‘s testimony was undermined by the Jewish officials from the outset of his speech.

Stephen was charged with blasphemy on four points. He had, they said, committed blasphemy by making Christ greater than Moses, by exalting Christ above the Temple and the Law, by saying that Christ would destroy the Temple (see v. 14), and by saying that Christ had abolished the Law and made a New Covenant (Ibid.) This charge was made to incite them further.

As Stephen stood accused before the council, everyone who looked upon him saw the glory of God shine through his face. The text describes Stephen’s face as that of an angel. God was with Stephen and allowed the accusers to see His glory shine through Stephen’s face. This was yet another demonstration of His power and miraculous works. Stephen did not dispute the false accusations. He used the opportunity given to him to speak about the history of the Jews’ relationship with God.

In the end, Stephen accused them of crucifying Christ. They had a long history of rejecting God’s prophets and Jesus, the premier Prophet and Son of God, fared no better. Stephen suffered the same fate