Is it Man Made or God Built? Acts 7:1-53
- Series: "Pandemic" - The Gospel Unleashed
- by: Chris Mayfield 01/31/10
Acts 7:1-53 Stephen on Trial
In Chapter 7, we have the first martyr for the cause of Christ: Stephen. The Bible doesn’t say much about him in comparison to how much it talks about some of the other heroes of the faith, but there are still things we can know about Stephen. We know from chapter 6 that he was full of faith and that the Holy Spirit worked powerfully within him. We know that he spoke well, performed miracles in Jesus’ name, and lived such an upstanding life that the only way anyone could oppose him was to lie about him. We also know that he was willing to die for Christ.
In verses 1-53, Stephen defends himself before the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin thought they could intimidate him with their verbal and physical threats and that he’d just shrink away like when you bite into cotton candy. A big glob of pink stuff is there, and then it quickly dissolves into nothing; no real substance. However, Stephen proved that the religious leaders were the ones who had no consistency to them and no foundation under them. They would either be proven wrong or they would have to kill Stephen before he would stop proclaiming the truth.
Engage the Text
1. How does Stephen address the council he is standing in front of? What does his address show us in terms of how he thought of them?
2. Was Stephen sharing new information with his speech or defending his teachings to the Sanhedrin?
3. In what ways does Moses represent a foreshadowing of Christ? How are they similar?
4. How did Stephen's accusation against the Sanhedrin relate to the peoples' accusations (6:11-14) against him?
5. What does it mean to have uncircumcised ears and hearts?
6. In a sentence or two, summarize Stephen’s message.
From Thought to Action
1. What does it mean to resist the Holy Spirit? What happens when we resist the Holy Spirit? Share a time in which you knew the Lord was leading you to do or not do something and you resisted?
2. How do we discern if the Holy Spirit is leading us? What role does Scripture play? The community of faith? Prayer?
3. What areas are you currently fighting against the Spirit of God within you? What is keeping you from submitting to the Lord? How can your community group serve and build you up in this area?
