Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken

Stephen’s prompt response must have surely caught the attention of the high priest who had asked the question, ‘Are these things so?’ v. 1. The false witnesses who were suborned to bring a false report against Stephen charged him with speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God, and against the holy place and the law, 6. 11, 13. They actually gave him an audience and opportunity that he might not have had otherwise. What they meant for evil God meant for good, and Stephen was intent on turning it to the glory of God. Philip was quick to open his mouth to testify to the eunuch in the desert, 8. 35. Peter did the same in the house of Cornelius, 10. 34. Stephen also opened his mouth to speak a word of testimony for his Master. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel of our salvation, for in the furnace of affliction the Son of God will manifest His presence to us as well. He enlarges us in our distress, Ps. 4. 1, while the Holy Spirit teaches us in the same hour what we ought to say, Luke 12. 12. Stephen was not intimidated by their accusations and neither should we when facing the opposition.

Stephen began his discourse with a detailed account of the history of the nation and the fathers, from Abraham to Moses; to David and Solomon. It was a glowing report of the faithfulness of God, the faith and leadership of Abraham and Moses, and the importance of the holy place and law. It contradicted the baseless accusation that Stephen had spoken against these very things, but it came from the one whose face appeared as a face of an angel. Intertwined with the account was the common thread that the actions of the leaders to whom he was speaking paralleled the fathers of the past. Despite God’s work for them and the testimony of the patriarchs, they rejected His law and ‘thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt’, Acts 7. 39. The connection between those fathers and these was undeniable. They too had proven to be stubborn and self-willed. Driving home the point, Stephen exclaimed, ‘Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye’, v. 51. The words were blunt but necessary to convict the heart and faithfully deliver the message.