Extreme Makeover

“Like the Face of an Angel”

(Acts 6:8-15, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, July 10, 2011)

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.

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

A Christian needs to live in the presence of God. Stephen, one of the seven chosen by the church to address the needs of poor widows in Jerusalem, was such a man. In the coming chapter we are going to hear Stephen's preaching.

All human beings were created in the image of God. We are told in John 1:18 that “no one has ever seen God,” but that “the only God, who is at the Father's side,” Jesus the Messiah, “he has made him known.” Jesus, the son of God, is the perfect visible representation of the Father. John says that Jesus is “the son of the Father in truth and love.” He looks like His Father.

Whatever it may mean to be with Jesus, however men are able to do that, however we can practice the presence of God, when we do this, we begin to look like Jesus in some vitally important way. We become sons of the Father in truth and love. Stephen was a Christian.

What Stephen possessed, came to him from God. He was full of grace and power. Jesus was also full of grace and power. Those who stay near him will be full of grace and power. God's gives gifts to His people, especially the greatest gift, love. The gift of love can come upon the church in power. This changes the way that we feel and act, and even the way that we look to others. Malcolm Muggeridge and Indira Ghandi both said of an elderly woman who had dedicated her life to serving Christ by serving the poor that there was something about the way that she looked. The latter, who was a Prime Minister of India in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, wrote this about her: “Gentleness, love, compassion, radiate from her tiny person.”

What attributes of the Son of God shine through your face? How might God use these summer messages from Stephen, the deacon, preacher, martyr, Christian, to give you an extreme makeover? God's grace and power changed the way Stephen looked. The Lord's presence was also expressed through this man in heavenly signs and wonders.

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.

Christians are supposed to shine with the presence of Jesus. That does not guarantee that everyone will admire them. The face of Moses was glowing with the light of heaven after his encounters with God. Even though he was a very meek man, he had his detractors.

Stephen had enemies too, including a number of people from a group called the “Synagogue of the Freedmen.” We do not know who these people were, or even whether the word translated “freedmen” means slaves that were freed or refers to a region outside of Jerusalem. Verse 9 gives us two key facts that we do know: 1. These Jews were foreigners who had settled in Jerusalem, and 2. They rose up and disputed with Stephen, a man who had a very good reputation, but who they felt was causing a stir because of his Jesus-like words and actions.

10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

This Stephen was a great man. The apostles had instructed the church to pick seven men who were “of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.” Stephen demonstrated these qualities in his interactions with those who had determined that they hated him and that he had to be stopped.

Paul reminds Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:14 to teach the church “not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.” This is good advice. But this Stephen was not a trouble-maker. When he spoke, it was not to start a fight, but to end it with the power of heaven-sent wisdom and the love and truth of the Spirit of God. Ending a quarrel does not mean that everyone agrees with you or stops hating you. Jesus ended a verbal attack against him from the chief priests, scribes, and elders in Mark 11. That did not make them all like Him. Their hatred against Him grew.

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.”

The same thing happened here with Stephen. Defenders of the Law, at least in their own eyes, hated him. Ironically, they set up false witnesses and stirred up others with hatred and murder. Their accusation: Blasphemy – speaking against God, against Moses, against the temple, and against the Law.

What were these foreign Jews really upset about? They did not want Jesus of Nazareth, and they did not want other Jews to hear what the followers of Jesus were saying about the customs of Judaism. They called these traditions, “the customs that Moses delivered to us,” but we know that they mixed up the Rabbis with Moses, even deciding that you can't heal on the Sabbath. Moses never said that.

15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Stephen was before the same council that condemned Jesus, the same Sanhedrin that told Peter and the rest that they could not preach and teach the Name of Jesus, the same men that listened to Gamaliel when he urged his colleagues to let the apostles alone since if they were not of God they would fail. They were all looking at Stephen. He was just there, in front of them.

What did they see? They did not see something that was of men. They did not see a failure. They saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Angels look a certain way because they go before God. Gabriel said this when He came to announce the coming of Messiah: “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.”

Stephen had good news. He had a gift that the enemies of Christ could not answer – Jesus. Jesus is the Word that cannot be refuted. Men who will not receive Him may feel the need to rid the earth of Him. To die for Him is an honor. To kill His messengers is a colossal mistake.

1. What does the passage reveal about Stephen?

2. What does the passage reveal about Stephen's adversaries?

3. What does the passage reveal about the Holy Spirit?

4. What has the ruling council of the Jews faced since some among them began their plots against Jesus?

OT Passage: Psalm 101