Courage to Speak, Acts 6:8--7:2a, Sunday School Lesson

In our Sunday School lesson this week, we are moving to our second unit which will ask the question "Who Understands Faith" moving out of the unit where we just discussed "What Faith is"?

Why is this transition necessary? When you began to understand what faith is, you should also learn what faith does? Right living ought to turn into right doing, or when you know/learn better you ought to do better.

Throughout the ages the church has been blessed to have men of courage who not only preached the gospel but provided spiritual leadership and Christlike examples. Stephen was one of those men. God allowed and used the death of Stephen to fulfill his ultimate purpose found in Acts 1:8.

Stephen means "a crown" or "a garland." The Greek word was used for the reward given to a civic leader or to the crown of glory received by a victor in the Olympic Games.

Stephen was thus a key figure in the early history of the church. But apart from his historical role, he was significant because of his character. He was proof that the impact of a man's life and ministry has nothing necessarily to do with length. His ministry, though brief, was essential to God's plan for world evangelism. He showed that the efforts of one courageous person, though of short duration, can have far-reaching effects.

A devotional outline to Chapter 6 is:

1. He Was Greatly Esteemed (Verses 1-7)
2. He Was Graciously Endowed (Verse 8)
3. He Was a Gifted Expositor (Verses 9-10)
4. He Was a Glorious Example (Verse 11-15)

Acts 6:8-15 presents three further evidences of Stephen's spiritual nobility: his character, his courage, and his countenance.

His Character

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. (6:8)

Verse 5 described Stephen as "full of faith and of the Holy Spirit." Full both there and in verse 8 translates plērēs, which means "to be filled up." Stephen was totally controlled by faith, the Holy Spirit, grace, and power. His sermon before the Sanhedrin reveals the content of his faith.

Sadly, many Christians today could not be described as full of faith. Like the father of the demon-possessed boy healed by Jesus, their cry is "I do believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). While trusting God for their eternal destiny, they find it difficult to trust Him with the concerns of their everyday life. Stephen, however, was not like that. He trusted God fully and concentrated on doing what God wanted him to do. The consequences he gladly left in God's hands.


Taken together, verses 5 and 8 give both the Godward and manward sides of Christian character. A man full of faith toward God, and yielded to the Spirit's control, will be gracious toward others and manifest great spiritual power.

His Courage

But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. And yet they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God." And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and dragged him away, and brought him before the Council. And they put forward false witnesses who said, "This man incessantly speaks against this holy place, and the Law; for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us." (6:9-14)

Men from all three synagogues came together and argued with Stephen. Argued is from suzēteō, which refers not to a quarrel but to a formal debate. Luke does not give us the content of the debate. Some of Stephen's arguments can be inferred from the charges brought against him (6:13-14) and his speech before the Sanhedrin.

The debate no doubt centered on the death, resurrection, and messiahship of Jesus, and the inability of the Mosaic law and temple ritual to save.
Whatever the precise issues of the debate were, Stephen won. His opponents were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Their human reasoning was no match for Stephen's God-given wisdom.

The phrase the Spirit with which he was speaking probably does not refer to the Holy Spirit but to the energy, zeal, sincerity, and fervency with which Stephen spoke. He thus had the two requirements for effective public speaking and triumphing in debate: unarguable truth and potent delivery. The impact of those two was more than his opponents could handle.

Unable to defeat Stephen in a fair debate, his opponents changed tactics. Resorting to an ad hominem argument, they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God." Secretly induced is from hupoballō and means "to suggest or prompt" with an evil motive. They recruited and coached false witnesses to accuse Stephen, the same tactic used at Jesus' trial (Matt. 26:59-61). Even the trumped-up charges of blasphemy were like those against his Lord.

His Countenance

And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel. (6:15)

This entire trumped up ordeal has been nothing but false words and accusations flying left and right. Emotions of anger and frustration are running wide open. Hatred and animosity is dripping from every word and action. All of directed toward a Spirit-filled servant of the Lord who is simply preaching Jesus and pointing men to God.

Then, all of a sudden, everyone's attention turns from what they are hearing to a sight like they have never seen. "And all that sat in the council...saw his face as it had been the face of an angel."

Doctor John Phillips suggests that after hearing all the charges and arguments that the "council" probably turned to see how Stephen was reacting to these deadly charges. And when they did, man were they surprised! It reminds us of another incident in Acts 28:1-6 where Paul was snake bit on the island of Melita and everyone looked when he should have swollen or died, but he didn't!

Much to the surprise of the council they "saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." What does an angel's face look like? Who knows? Some think this refers to a heavenly glow or brightness so brilliant they couldn't stand to look upon him. Others interpret it to means Stephen had a heavenly peace and serenity that was out of this world. 

God is being magnified in Stephen's courage to speak and His presence is all over the place. God doesn't forsake us when we courageously speak for Him. In fact, those who hear us speak will be able to sense His presence around us and upon us.

God Himself answered their false charges by putting His glory on Stephen's face—something experienced by no other person in history except Moses (Ex. 34:27-35). He thus showed His approval of Stephen's teaching in exactly the same way He did that of Moses. Paul writes,

If the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory on account of the glory that surpasses it. For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory. (2 Cor. 3:7-11)

By putting His glory on Stephen's face, God showed His approval of the New Covenant and its messenger.