Thank you, and once again good morning to students and teachers of the 
word of God.  Our lesson this week is called "The Martyred Messenger," 
and deals with the first New Testament martyr following the 
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Stephen.  The word "Stephen," 
by the way, "Stephanus," means "a crown." This is the first man in the 
New Testament following the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ who 
earned the martyr's crown.
   
As James says, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when 
he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life." And the writer of 
Revelation chapter 2 verse 10 says, "Be thou faithful unto death, and 
I will give thee a crown of life."
   
Stephen, of course, did not get eternal life by being faithful unto 
death, as eternal life is the free gift of God, and is given by the 
grace of God freely.  But the earned reward, the crown of life, is 
given as a reward to a martyr.  And this is "The Martyred Messenger"--
Stephen.
   
Our basic text is Matthew chapter 10, verses 24-31, and the main part 
of our lesson, of course, is found in Acts chapter 6 and chapter 7.
   
This passage of Scripture is one of the most crucial passages in the 
New Testament, because it shows how the Lord concludes His dealing 
with the nation of Israel in the city of Jerusalem.  If you study the 
Book of Acts you will notice that there are three "breaking-off" 
points there, where the Lord ceases His dealing, first of all, with 
the nation of Israel in Jerusalem, and this takes place in Acts 
chapter 7.  Then He begins to move away with His dealings with the 
Jews in the land of Palestine as a whole group along about Acts 
chapter 13.  Then He begins to move away from His dealings with the 
nation of Israel on the Asiatic mainland along about Acts chapter 18, 
and the European mainland along about Acts 28.
   
This transition shows the gospel gradually going from the Jew to the 
Gentile, or, as the Bible says, "to the Jew first, and to the 
Gentile."
   
In our lesson today, we'll take up a study of Stephen's message.  Of 
course, we'll have to study very briefly and in a very abridged form, 
because the chapter runs for over 60 verses.  And we'll talk mainly 
about the charge brought against God's messenger in chapter 6, the 
condition of God's messenger in chapter 6, the content of God's 
message in chapter 7, and then finally what happened at the conclusion 
of this message given by the martyred messenger.
   
All right now, in our study for today, we're dealing with Stephen, the 
martyred messenger.  First of all, we want to notice the charges 
brought against him.  These are found in chapter 6.  In chapter 6, 
verse 13, we read that the false witnesses, set up against Stephen, 
said, "This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this 
holy place and the law.  For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of 
Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which 
Moses delivered us."
   
In verse 11 we read, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words 
against Moses, and against God."
   
So the charge brought against Stephen is the charge brought against 
Jesus Christ.  This charge also is the charge brought against Naboth, 
if you remember your studies in the Old Testament.  Naboth, one of the 
greatest types of Christ in the Old Testament, was accused of 
blaspheming both God and king, and was taken out and stoned to death, 
so Ahab could steal his vineyard.
   
One must never forget, when the Lord Jesus Christ was brought up for 
trial, and brought up before the Sanhedrin, they said in Mark chapter 
14, verse 64, "Ye have heard the blasphemy:  what think ye?  And they 
all condemned him to be guilty of death." The Lord Jesus Christ was 
accused of blasphemy--that's the thing.  That is, an attack on the 
holiness of God, or the sacredness of God's word, which constitutes 
blasphemy.  This is the charge, as I said before, brought against the 
Lord Jesus Christ.  And this is amply apparent by the passages given 
in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
   
Notice when the same bunch is after Stephen, the same bunch who tried 
to shut up Peter and James and John, and the same bunch had Jesus 
Christ in their hand, they said in Matthew 26:65, "He hath spoken 
blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses?  behold, now ye 
have heard his blasphemy." Who said that?  The high priest!  Matthew 
26, verse 65--same bunch.  It's the same crew any time you pick them 
up.  Never has changed, never will change.
   
You say, "Well, you can obviously spot those wicked, bad men." You'd 
be amazed how much trouble people have today, spotting the wicked, bad 
men who are out to destroy the preaching and teaching of the word of 
God.  You'd be amazed how much trouble people have spotting them.
   
Why, this bunch back in Christ's day were the most pious-talking bunch 
of the whole bunch!  Why, they were the ones who were standing up for 
orthodoxy!  They were accusing the people who were speaking the truth 
of speaking blasphemy.
   
"We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against 
God." That's interesting, isn't it?  Look at the order of preference.  
They were more worried about what he said that didn't agree with Moses 
than what he said that was against God.  Now, the reason for that, if 
you know history, is the fact that the Jewish people, at this time, 
had their Talmud, and of course their Midrashim and the Gemara, the 
Mishna and the Kabala.  And there are many oral traditions handed down 
that Moses was supposed to have said that are not written in the first 
five books of the Penteteuch.  So, by saying that he spoke blasphemous 
words against Moses, you could get Stephen on the grounds of the fact 
that he didn't agree with something that somebody said that Moses 
said, where Moses may or may not have said it.
   
But, when you talk about blasphemy against God, then you've got to 
hold him down to the words of God.
   
Notice, too, the order of preference in Acts 6:13.  They're more 
worried about the blasphemous words spoken against "this holy place"--
which God burned to the ground--then they were the blasphemy against 
"the law."
   
Notice, again, the preference in verse 14; they were not just 
concerned about blasphemy against what God said, but they're worried 
about the traditions and customs delivered to them, which were 
supposed to have come from Moses.  They changed "the customs which 
Moses delivered unto us."
   
That is, they pretend that Stephen is a first-rate criminal.  He's not 
only blasphemed God, but he has attacked Moses and he's attacked the 
Mosaic law, and more than that he's attacked the customs, the body of 
tradition that came down from Moses.
   
You'll have to watch this, of course, because you'll remember the 
words of the Lord Jesus Christ about these matters.  Jesus Christ said 
to these chief priests and scribes and Pharisees, "Do not think that I 
will accuse you of the Father.  There is one that accuseth you, even 
Moses, in whom you trust.  For had you believed Moses, you would have 
believed me, for he wrote of me.  But if you believe not his writings, 
how shall you believe my words?" I'm quoting from John chapter 5, 
verses 44-47.
   
I say that because the charge against Stephen that he perverted the 
customs of Moses is not necessarily a charge to be taken seriously.  
Because these fellows themselves didn't pay attention to Moses when 
they didn't want to pay attention to Moses anyway.  That is, it was 
more the kind of a thing, you know, just said for convenience' sake, 
for they knew that the people honored Moses.  The people had respect 
for what Moses said; the people had respect for the law.  So they knew 
if they accused Stephen of this they'd have a mark they could shoot 
at, before the eyes of the people--not that they themselves gave a 
flip about what Moses said.  And, according to what the Lord Jesus 
Christ said, they didn't give a flip about what Moses said.
   
As a matter of fact, according to the Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew 
23:2,3, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:  All 
therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do 
not ye after their works:  for they say, and do not."
   
So these people who are complaining about Stephen's misuse or his 
abuse of Moses and the law of Moses and the customs of Moses are a 
little two-faced.  Or, as we say in the modern vernacular, more 
subtly, "inconsistent." I believe that's the polite way to say it.
   
All right, now, look at the condition of God's messenger, this man 
Stephen.  Notice, first of all in chapter 6 verse 8, the man is "full 
of faith and power," and "did great wonders and miracles among the 
people." Why?  Because this man is a man converted under the Apostles' 
ministry; and in apostolic times, the signs that were given to Israel, 
the signs that follow them which believe, are mentioned to be "wonders 
and miracles" in Mark chapter 16.  So, Stephen is a man in verse 5 
"full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," full of power, and that isn't 
all--in verse 10, "They were not able to resist the wisdom and the 
spirit by which he spake." And that isn't all; in verse 15, his face 
looked like it had been the face of an angel.
   
Now, here is a deacon (chapter 6, verse 5).  Stephen, a man full of 
faith and of the Holy Ghost, who is a Spirit-filled minister of the 
word of God.  The apostolic signs that follow the ministry of the 
Apostles in the Book of Acts follow this young man.  And during 
apostolic times, they're dealing with Israel, and the signs are for 
Israel, because the Jews seek for a sign.  Stephen manifests these 
signs, and the people who argue with him can't get to first base with 
him.  They can't "resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake."
   
So, what do they do?  They lie about him.  That is, they can't meet 
with him and deal about the issues they're talking about.  Why?  
Because he's got the goods on them.  That is, Stephen is dealing with 
Bible truth and Bible fact from God.  And this bunch here is dealing 
with the customs of Moses and worrying about their holy place, that 
they got their salary from.
   
Well, then, Stephen starts.  Now, there wouldn't be time to go into 
this message and cover on a broadcast of less than an hour and a half, 
so we'll content ourselves with noticing certain things about the 
message.
   
Now, the first thing about the message is this:  That is, the 
messenger here has been called to condemn the highest religious court 
of appeal in his generation.  This is Stephen standing before the 
Sanhedrin, the senate of Israel, the council, which includes the 
priests, the high priest, the scribes, the Sadducees, and the 
Pharisees.  And this bunch is the bunch who controls the governor.  
That is, the religious-political bosses control the government of that 
particular state.
   
So you see that Stephen has been given quite a task to preach to this 
bunch.
   
Now, if there is any doubt in your mind about the control that these 
priests had over the governor, then don't forget to go back to Matthew 
chapter 28.  And in Matthew 28, notice in verse 11, "Now when they 
were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed 
unto the chief priests all the things that were done.  And...they gave 
large money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by 
night, and stole him away while we slept.  And if this come to the 
governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you." They 
controlled Pontius Pilate!
   
And this is the bunch that Stephen has been called to preach to.
   
Isn't that a commission?  Now, let there be no doubt in your mind as 
to the control this bunch exercised over the governor.  When Jesus 
Christ is brought up before Pilate and is declared to be innocent 
three times, you know what this bunch says?  I'm in the Gospel of John 
now, chapter 19, at verse 12.  And I'm showing you that the task that 
Stephen is called upon to do is a monstrous task, and a task which 
could only end in the tragic results that it ended in--his martyrdom.  
He is called to bring a negative message to the leading religious 
council of his day that controlled the local political government.  
That's his calling.
   
Now, if there's any doubt in your mind about their power over Pilate, 
look at this business that went on back in John chapter 19, when Jesus 
Christ came up before Pilate.  John 19:12:  "And from thenceforth 
Pilate sought to release him:  but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou 
let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend:  whosoever maketh 
himself a king speaketh against Caesar.  When Pilate therefore heard 
that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat 
in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.  
And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour:  
and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!  But they cried out, 
Away with him, away with him, crucify him.  Pilate saith unto them, 
Shall I crucify your King?  The CHIEF PRIESTS answered..." I'm reading 
John 19:15.  "...The chief priests answered, We have no king but 
Caesar."
   
Caesar was king of Rome.  Now that's the bunch we've been dealing with 
Acts chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6.  And, if you've been with us the last 
four weeks, you've noticed that it's exactly the same bunch every 
single time.  It's the same bunch in opposition, with the same method, 
with the same way, while operating under the table, behind the closed 
door, and controlling the political setup in that particular area.
   
Now, did you know that's worth knowing, if you're a Bible believer?  I 
mean, that'll help you to be loyal to your Lord, and be obedient to 
your Lord, and avoid a lot of unholy alliances and compromises which 
otherwise you would make for the sake of making a living.
   
Let me appeal to you Christians personally as individuals, for just a 
minute.  I wonder how interested you are in really pleasing the Lord 
Jesus Christ?  I'm not talking about getting along with anybody.  I 
wonder sometimes when I preach to a congregation how many of them are 
really anxious to please Jesus Christ.  I'm not talking about making 
friends, or keeping the friends you have.  I'm making no reference to 
the Second Commandment.  I'm talking about the First one.
   
Now, listen.  If you want to be a friend of God like Abraham was, and 
walk with the Lord in the light of His word, you had better know what 
His word says about some of your friends and some of your associates 
and some of your contacts!  And when God gives you light, you'd better 
clear the deck, if He has spoken unfavorably of those matters.  That 
is, if you want to please Him, Christian, if you want to please Him.
   
How can some of you Christians sit in the pew and sing, "Oh, how I 
love Jesus, Oh, how I love Jesus, Oh, how I love Jesus, because He 
first loved me," when you won't read what He said, believe what He 
said, and put it into practice where it goes across your own grain?  
See what I mean?
   
You begin to talk about some of these things, and you begin to talk 
about a cross-bearing Christianity, the deal involves self-denial 
where it's gonna hurt you.  It may hurt your pocketbook.  It may hurt 
your attendance.  It may hurt your enrollment.  But it's just a matter 
of who you're trying to please.
   
And, boy, when you get ahold of Stephen, you're dealing with a fellow 
who's got his eye on heaven and his ears to the ground to get the 
vibrations.  He knows what's going on, how it's going on, what the 
trouble, why the trouble's there, and what's to be done about it.  
And, taking his life in his hands, he lays his life on the altar as a 
living sacrifice, and he puts the bowl over the plate waste-high, and 
they kill him!  They kill him, just like they killed his Saviour.
   
Now, this message in Acts chapter 7 runs along here for 53 verses.  
And this message is a review of the history of Israel.  It begins with 
the calling out of Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia, 
in chapter 7, verse 2.  It goes through the business of Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob's progency in verses 8-9.  It talks about Joseph's 
sojourn in the land of Egypt in 9-11.  It speaks about Jacob coming 
down to the land of Egypt with his household (11-15).  It speaks about 
the new king enthroned down in Egypt who hated the Jews (verses 17-
20).  Then it talks about Moses bringing them out and bringing them 
into their own land (verses 21-31).  Then it talks about the kings 
David and Solomon, and especially Solomon in verse 46.
   
And in that message of 53 verses--count them--out of 53 of those 
verses, 15 are negative; 38 are positive.  That is, that message 
delivered the outstanding message that sealed the destiny of the 
nation of Israel in the capital of their country.  That message was 
42% negative!  That's "the martyred messenger." Fifteen verses out of 
53 are negative.  Now that's something, isn't it?  There are 38 
positive verses in the passage.
   
All right, coming down to the end of this message, Stephen lays it on 
the line, and what he does is accuse the leaders of Israel--the 
Sanhedrin, the chief priests, scribes, Sadducees and Pharisees--of not 
being as high and mighty as they think they are.  And what he does in 
this message is call their attention to the fact that even though 
there are many great and honorable things about the nation, because of 
its election and calling from God, and even though there are many 
wonderful things about the nation, because of its chosen position in 
God's favor and God's blessing upon it, that throughout that nation, 
from the very start of its history, going clear back to the sons of 
Jacob (verse 9), that envy (verse 9), ignorance (verse 25), idolatry 
(verse 43), and murder (verse 52) have been present in that nation.
   
And, of course, Stephen is telling the truth.  Anybody who reads the 
Old Testament knows the Old Testament is one of the greatest 
indictments ever written against a nation by its own people.  If I 
only had one good reason for believing the Bible was the word of God, 
aside from the mathematical reasons, which are just as prominent if 
not more so than other reasons, it would be the fact that here was a 
Book that was delivered to the Jewish people.  The oracles of God are 
delivered to the Jew, and these oracles are given to the Jew; the Jew 
himself wrote as a testimony against his own nation.  You don't find 
people writing books like that!  You don't find historians of Germany, 
native-born Germans, gettings together and writing the history of 
Germany, where all the bad things are mentioned.  They make their 
heroes heroic.  But not with this Book!  This Book tells the truth, 
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!
   
And Stephen is one of those preachers.  And when he gets to the 
message in Acts chapter 7, the invitation is not designed to win 
anybody to Christ.  The invitation is not designed to share his 
experience with anybody, or tell anybody about God's love.  It's not 
even in the message!  Here is the invitation, verse 47:
   
"But Solomon built him an house.  Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not 
in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, 
and earth is my footstool:  what house will ye build me?  saith the 
Lord:  or what is the place of my rest?  Hath not my hand made all 
these things?  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye 
do always resist the Holy Ghost:  as your fathers did, so do ye.  
Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?  and they have 
slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom 
ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:  Who have received the 
law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it."
   
Every head bowed, every eye shut!  Is there a hand for prayer?
   
Now, I point this out only to point out a sort of a "balance" type of 
thing.  I realize that much of the material we give you in these 
studies is very negative, probably very depressing to some of you who 
are used to a more cheerful, buoyant type of Christianity.  But you'll 
have to admit that a balance is needed, and God knows there's enough 
"cheerful buoyancy" and enough positive, "I'm all right, you're all 
right, everybody's all right" going on these days.  So you need a 
little balance.
   
By that I mean this.  I mean, we all recognize the fact that God so 
loved the world (past tense) that He gave His only begotten Son (past 
tense), and that Christ shed His blood for us (past tense), and that 
God loved us and we didn't love Him (past tense), and that at Calvary 
God showed His love for lost mankind by what He did (past tense) for 
unsaved sinners.  We all agree upon that.
   
Where we disagree is how much truth a preacher should preach if he's 
called to preach the truth.  That's the disagreement.  The modern 
approach seems to be that the only truth that the preacher should 
preach is positive truth, and negative truth should be carefully put 
away out of sight.  And the reason why, in these studies, you very 
often get a great deal of negative truth, which you might not get in 
some other publications or radio broadcasts, is because God has 
different ministries for different people along different ways and 
different means.  And these studies are Bible believers' studies for 
students and teachers of the word of God.  These studies are not 
primarily just for Christians who want to share experiences or build 
monuments.  These are not studies for Christians who want to get along 
with people, or just win souls.  These studies are Bible believing 
broadcasts, sponsored by a Bible institute, for people who want to 
study and teach that Book.  And if you're going to study and teach 
that Book, you're going to hit negative truth almost every time you 
turn around.
   
Now the problem is, what are you going to do about it when you find 
it?  And our position is the position of Stephen.  Our position is, 
we'll preach it!  And we'll preach it until we're dropped in our 
tracks like Stephen was, or until the Lord takes us home.
   
Now, the Lord gave Stephen the shortcut!  Verse 54:  "When they heard 
these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with 
their teeth." Verse 57:  "Then they cried out with a loud voice, and 
stopped their ears..." They turned him off!  They turned the dial; 
they couldn't stand it!  "They stopped their ears...And cast him out 
of the city, and stoned him....And they stoned Stephen, calling upon 
God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.  And he kneeled down, 
and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.  
And when he had said this, he fell asleep."
   
So this is the end of God's martyred messenger.  He is martyred for 
bringing a message here that is about 42 percent negative--and it's 
aimed again at the very bunch that slew Jesus Christ, the bunch that 
arrested Peter, James, and John, the bunch that had Simon Peter thrown 
in jail, the bunch that persuaded the governor to cut off James's 
head, the bunch that persuaded the governor to let Barabbas go and 
crucify Jesus Christ--same gang, same bunch!
   
And Stephen is faithful unto death.  Far from being a preacher who is 
just trying to run new attendance records or report the number of 
baptisms in a year, Stephen is one of those God-called laymen who is 
called to preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth, and, brother, he preaches it!
   
It is my own personal conviction and opinion--I don't say this with 
Scriptural backing--that if a man is called to preach the word of God, 
and it's the truth of God, that man's whole life should be dedicated 
primarily to the discovery or discernment of truth in every form, and 
his entire lifetime should be dedicated to finding truth in any form 
and publicly proclaiming or explaining that truth at the appropriate 
time with the appropriate Scriptural backing.
   
I never thought for a minute that when a man was called to preach, he 
was simply called to preach John 3:16.  John 3:16 is a precious truth.  
There are 5,000 others, and at least 10 of them are just as important!
   
May God help you as a teacher of the word of God or a student of the 
word of God to love the word of God, for as Jesus said, "Sanctify them 
with the truth; thy word is truth." "He that is of God heareth God's 
words." And Christ said, "If a man love me, he'll keep my words." May 
God help us to do just that.
   
May the Lord bless you, and good day.
   
