INTRODUCTION

We are now reading about the very beginning of Saul’s Christian life, and his apostolic ministry. We are looking at just 21 verses, and in that short span we see two distinct attempts on his life. The thing that infuriated them against him was the fact that he was so powerful in his proclamation and reasoning. In fact, it was the very same response that Saul had earlier given to Stephen. Saul was now on the receiving end.

THE TEXT

“And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake . . .” (Acts 9:10–31).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Lord appeared in a vision to a certain discipline named Ananias, a man who lived in Damascus (v. 10). The Lord called him by name, and Ananias answered. The Lord gave the address of the house of Judas, on a street called Straight, and told him to inquire for Saul of Tarsus, who was praying (v. 11). In Saul’s prayer, he has seen a vision of a man named Ananias coming to lay hands on him in order to heal his sight (v. 12). Ananias protested, for he had heard about the evil Saul had done to the saints in Jerusalem (v. 13). And he has authority from the chief priests to arrest Christians there in Damascus (v. 14). But the Lord told Ananias to goanyway—Saul was a chosen vessel to bear the Lord’s name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel (v. 15). The Lord said he would show Saul how much he would suffer for “my name’s sake” (v. 16). So Ananias obeyed, came into the house, laid hands on Saul, and said that the same Jesus who had appeared to Saul had also appeared to Ananias, sending him to restore Saul’s sight, and to fill him with the Holy Spirit (v. 17). Scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see, and then he got up and was baptized (v. 18). Saul then ate and was a strengthened, and stayed with the disciples there in Damascus (v. 19). He began preaching Christ as the Son of God in the synagogues immediately (v. 20). Those who heard him were amazed, recognizing in him the former persecutor (v. 21). But Saul increased in strength, and was able to confound the Jews there, proving that Jesus was in fact the Christ (v. 22). After many days of this, the Jews plotted to kill Saul (v. 23). Their plots became known to Saul, that they were watching the city gates closely in order to assassinate him (v. 24). So the disciples lowered him from the city wall in a basket by night (v. 25). Saul came back to Jerusalem and tried to join up with the Christians—but they were afraid and didn’t believe him (v. 26). But Barnabas undertook for him, brought him to the apostles, told them about the Damascus road vision, and how Saul had preached boldly in Damascus (v. 27). And so Saul joined with the Christians, in and around Jerusalem (v. 28). Saul spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed with the Hellenistic Jews, to the point where they determined to kill him (v. 29). When the brothers discovered this, they took him down to Caesarea on the coast, and shipped him to Tarsus, Saul’s home town (v. 30). There was then a period of relative calm in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. The churches were walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Spirit, and continued to multiply (v. 31).

BUILDING A TIMELINE

We don’t have hard dates to begin our calculations, but Stephen was likely murdered a few years after the Lord’s resurrection. Saul was busy with persecuting the church after that time, and so the Lord’s appearance to him was likely a few years after Stephen’s death. And then in Galatians, Paul says that God was pleased “to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days” (Gal. 1:16–18). This means that Saul did not return to Jerusalem until three years after he headed off to Damascus. He was in Damascus/Arabia/Damascus before he returned.

BEFORE KINGS

So the Lord told Ananias that Saul was a chosen instrument to speak to three categories—to Gentiles, kings, and to the children of Israel. Why to kings, if God is uninterested in what happens in the political sphere. And sure enough, Agrippa remarked that Paul was trying to convert him (Acts 26:28). And Paul acknowledged it—he wanted everyone to come to Christ. This is why believers are to pray for kings and for all those in authority (1 Tim. 2:1-4). And why? Because God wants all kinds of men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4).

JESUS APPEARED TO ANANIAS

Three men named Ananias appear in the book of Acts. The first is a false friend of the Lord, the Ananias (Acts 5). The second is the true disciple in our passage, Ananias, the man who baptized Saul (Acts 9). And the third was Ananias the high priest, the enemy of God (Acts 23-24). This Ananias was notable among the disciples, but he is described simply as “a disciple,” even though he is authorized to baptize Saul.

It was the Lord who appeared to Ananias in a vision. The Lord here is Jesus, as Ananias says in v. 17. This same Jesus that appeared to you appeared to me. Moreover, the Lord says in v. 15 that Saul will bear “my name,” and He also will suffer greatly “for my name’s sake.” This is all about Jesus.

HOW MUCH HE MUST SUFFER

When God tells Ananias to go, he is reluctant. One of the things that the Lord says to him in order to reassure him is that Saul will be shown the great things that he will suffer for the sake of the Lord’s name (v. 16). Later in Acts, Paul tells Agrippa that he was “not disobedient to the heavenly vision,” which means that he walked into a life of tribulation with his eyes open. Attempts on his life begin almost right away, with a narrow escape from Damascus in a basket, followed by an escape from Jerusalem back home to Tarsus. Paul put it this way later on in Acts, as he was “confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

It follows that suffering is not a refutation of anything. It is frequently a confirmation of everything we say we believe.

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INTRODUCTION

We come now to Luke’s account of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Remember that Saul is not his non-Christian name, but is rather his Hebrew name. Paul is his Roman name, not his Christian name. He goes by Saul for some years after this event. But such was the nature of this remarkable appearance that we still routinely refer to any surprising conversion as a Damascus road conversion. One moment Saul had murder on his mind, and a few moments later he was being led by the hand to the place where he would be baptized three days later.

Remember also that Saul of Tarsus was wound tight inside when the Lord appeared to him. The Lord had appeared to him directly, but the Lord had also done some preparation work in Saul’s heart beforehand through the faithful testimony of Stephen—how Stephen argued, how Stephen preached, and how Stephen died.

THE TEXT

“And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink” (Acts 9:1–9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Saul was furious. He was breathing, as Luke puts it, both threats and murder against the Christians (v. 1), and so in that frame of mind he approached the high priest (v. 1), requesting letters to the synagogues of Damascus, authorizing him to arrest and bring back to Jerusalem any followers of the Way that he found there, whether men or women (v. 2). Remembering our table of contents from chapter 1, notice that the Christian faith has spread by this point into the synagogues of Syria. As he was approaching Damascus, a spotlight from heaven shone all around him (v. 3). It is worth nothing that Lord appeared to him in Syria—remember the central point of Stephen’s speech (v. 3). Saul fell to the ground, and heard a voice asking him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (v. 4). Saul asked, naturally, who was it that was speaking to him. The answer was “I am Jesus,” the one you are persecuting. The Lord Jesus then adds a quotation from the play The Bacchae by Euripides—it is hard for you to kick against the goads, which is interesting (v. 5). Saul was astonished, and so trembling, he asked what he should do. The Lord said to go into the city, and he will be told what he should do (v. 6). The men with him said nothing—they heard a voice, but saw no man (v. 7). So Saul got up, opened his eyes to discover he was blind. They led him by the hand into Damascus (v. 8). He was in this condition for three days, a suggestive note, and had nothing to eat or drink (v. 9).

THREE ACCOUNTS 

There are three accounts of Saul’s conversion in the book of Acts. Recall that all three are coming from Saul and then given to Luke to record. There are variations in the three accounts, but no contradictions.

In our passage, Paul falls to the ground, blinded by the light. He heard Jesus, who told him that he would be further instructed when he was in the city. The men with him did not see the light, but heard the voice. It records they were standing.

In Acts 22:6-11, Paul is giving his defense to a rioting crowd in the Temple. This account says that the men saw the light, but did not hear the voice. And although they saw the light, they were not blinded the way Saul was.

In Acts 26:13-19, Paul is giving his testimony before King Agrippa. Here he says he saw a brilliant light and heard Jesus, who commissioned him as a minister and witness. Here he says that the men with him fell down also.

I would harmonize these accounts this way. Paul says elsewhere that he had seen Jesus (1 Cor. 9:1), which was his authorization to function as an apostle. So he saw Jesus and the light, and was blinded by the encounter. The men with him heard the sound of the voice, but could not distinguish what was said. Jesus was speaking in Hebrew (Heb. 26:14: Aramaic is a dialect of Hebrew). The men with him saw the light, but not the source of the light. They did not see Jesus, not seeing what he did. And they all fell to the ground, but had gotten back up again before Paul got up.

A COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION 

We need to be reminded of what kind of person Saul was. He was a religious zealot, bigoted to the point of madness. He was an insolent persecutor, as he put it, and a blaspheming, insolent man (1 Tim. 1:13). He considered himself to be the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). He approved of the judicial murder of Stephen (Acts 7:57-8:1), and was likely one of those behind the false charges against Stephen (Acts 6:9). When the persecution broke out after Stephen’s death, Saul took the lead in that persecution, savaging the church, dragging men and women both off to prison (Acts 8:3). He made havoc of the church, destroying it. He punished Christians, and compelled blasphemy from them, on account of being exceedingly enraged against them (Acts 26:11). He imprisoned many (Acts 26:10), and when any of them were executed, Saul voted for the death penalty (Acts 26:10). The word for voice here is psephos, which means “voting pebble.” This indicates that Saul was quite possibly a member of the Sanhedrin. Although he was conflicted inside, he was nevertheless a hammer against the saints. He was proceeding to Damascus in the full fury of his wrath, and that was the moment when God determined to save him. The sovereign grace of God can reach anyone, anywhere.

SO BE ENCOURAGED 

So let us return to a verse cited earlier, in order that you might draw some comfort from it. If God can save Saul, entirely and completely against Saul’s will, He can save anybody. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). When we are summoned to come to Christ for the cleansing He offers, the only thing that we contribute is the dirt. He does all the saving, and the only thing we do is get in the way. Have you stolen what was not yours to take? Christ is powerful to save. Are you given over to lust and pornography? Christ is powerful to save. Are you full of complaints, murmuring, and grumbles? Christ is powerful to save. Are you unkind to your wife? Christ is powerful to save. Are you disrespectful to your husband? Christ is powerful to save. Are you an adulterer? Christ is powerful to save. Have you murdered Christians simply for being Christians? No? But note this—even if you had done, Christ is powerful to save. And when He saves, He saves to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25).

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INTRODUCTION

Remember that the Lord had said the gospel would progress from Jerusalem to Judaea, to Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. The books of Acts begins in Jerusalem. After the murder of Stephen, the disciples scatter into the province of Judaea, and also Samaria. Philip went to Samaria and ministered there. An angel then sends him into the wilderness toward Gaza, but does not tell him why. While there, Philip sees a chariot (and probably a caravan, given the importance of this man). As the gospel fans out across the world, this is the next stepping stone, and the word of the psalmist is fulfilled.

“Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God” (Psalm 68:31).

And as the next verse makes plain, Ethiopia is the harbinger of all the other nations coming to Christ. “Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah” (Psalm 68:32).

THE TEXT

“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? . . .” (Acts 8:26–40).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After Philip’s success in Samaria, the angel of the Lord commanded Philip to go down to the south desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza (v. 26). So he obeyed, and encountered an Ethiopian eunuch, a very important officer under Candace, the Ethiopian queen. He was her treasurer (v. 27), and was returning home after worshiping in Jerusalem. Sitting in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah (v. 28). The Spirit spoke to Philip, and told him join up with this chariot (v. 29). When Philip did, he heard him reading Isaiah aloud, and asked him if he understood it (v. 30). In the ancient world, there was no such thing as reading silently. The eunuch replied that he was not able to without an interpreter, and invited Philip up into the chariot (v. 31). As it turned out, the place where he was reading was Is. 53:7-8—the place where the Suffering Servant is led as a sheep to the slaughter, not protesting, and his life was taken from the earth in a humiliating way (vv. 32-33). The eunuch asked whether the prophet was speaking about himself or about somebody else (v. 34). So Philip began to speak, starting from that passage, and preached Jesus to him (v. 35). As they continued traveling, they came to a place that had some water, and the eunuch asked what would prohibit him being baptized (v. 36). Philip said that if he believed with all his heart, he certainly could, and the eunuch replied that he did believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (v. 37). Indicating a difference in manuscripts, some of your Bibles don’t have v. 37 included. So the eunuch then commanded the chariot to stop, and both men went down into the water, and Philip baptized him (v. 38). When they both came up out of the water, the Spirit caught Philip away from the eunuch and so he went on his way back to Ethiopia rejoicing (v. 39). But Philip appeared at Azotus (Ashdod), where he preached through all the cities, until he came to Caesarea (v. 40).

MODES OF BAPTISM 

Not surprisingly, this passage has been referred to often when it comes to debates over baptism. Advocates of “immersion only” often refer to the fact that in v. 39, it says that they came up “out of the water.” The problem with this is that it would require the immersion of Philip also. The demands of the text would be fully met if they walked into the water knee deep, and water was poured or sprinkled over the eunuch’s head. At Christ Church, we practice water baptism by three lawful modes of baptism—Christian baptism is any application of water to someone in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).

You have perhaps been erroneously told that baptizo means immersion, and can mean nothing else, which is not the case. It certainly includes immersion, but it is not limited to that meaning.

In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit is poured out on the disciples (Acts 2:17-18), just as the prophet Joel predicted (ekcheo). The verb pour is used twice. In Acts 10:44, the Holy Spirit fell on them (epipipto). When Peter recounts what had happened, he describes it this way. “And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning” (Acts 11:15). And in the next breath, he describes this falling and pouring as a baptism—“ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 11:16). So pouring is clearly a biblical mode.

What about sprinkling (rhantizo)? In Hebrews, we are told about the older Mosaic ceremonies (Heb. 9:10), and they included “divers washings.” The word for washing here is baptismos, the noun. But three verses later, in describing one of the ceremonies, he refers to the “ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean” (Heb. 9:13). This sprinkling was part of the ceremonial ablutions that prepared the Israelites for worship. And in our text, what possessed the eunuch to ask about baptism? Remember that Philip started from Is. 53:7. As it happens, this is what Isaiah says nine verses earlier: “So shall he sprinkle many nations; The kings shall shut their mouths at him: For that which had not been told them shall they see; And that which they had not heard shall they consider” (Isaiah 52:15). So sprinkling is a biblical mode.

And not that you need to be persuaded, immersion is also a biblical mode. “For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing (baptismos) of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do” (Mark 7:8). The washing of cups and pots obviously included immersing them.

BAPTIZED INTO THE LIVING CHRIST 

We are accustomed to think of baptism as resulting when a new believer comes to the water. But what happened prior to that was that the water came into the world, and the only way that the water could do that was because it was living water. Christ is the one who possesses the gift of living water (John 4:10). And when He brings the water to us, the water baptizes us, and that water is Christ Himself. And once we are baptized in His living water, we become a source of that same life that ministers to others. “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

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INTRODUCTION

After the apostles had laid hands on the seven men who were to help administer aid to the widows, two of those men come to the forefront as powerful preachers and miracle workers. We have considered the story of Stephen, who face his martyrdom with remarkable courage and grace. The story of Stephen ended with an introduction to Saul of Tarsus and his early persecuting career, but Luke’s main focus moves on to a second man among the seven, a man named Philip.

Now remember the “table of contents” from Acts 1. Jesus had said they would travel as His witnesses to Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and then to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit was poured out in Jerusalem (Acts 2:2-3), and all the early activity happened there. In the persecution that broke out after Stephen’s death, the believers scattered into Judaea and Samaria (Acts 8:1). And then follows Philip into Samaria (Acts 8:5).

THE TEXT

“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city . . .” (Acts 8:5–25).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Samaria was both a city and a region, and Philip went there to preach Christ (v. 5). It says that the people there gave heed to Philip “with one accord,” hearing and seeing his miracles (v. 6). He cast out unclean spirits and they came out with a loud voice (v. 7). He healed the lame and the palsied (v. 7). As a consequence, the city was overjoyed (v. 8). Now there was a sorcerer in the city named Simon, bewitching the people, and passing himself off as a great one (v. 9). They used to call him the great power of God (v. 10), and because of his sorcery, they had followed him for a long time (v. 11). But then they believed Philip concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, and both men and women were baptized (v. 12). Simon also believed, and after he was baptized, he followed Philip around, marveling at his power (v. 13). The apostles at Jerusalem heard about this, and sent Peter and John (v. 14). When they arrived, they prayed and laid hands on the Samaritans so that they would receive the Holy Spirit (vv. 15, 17). These converts had been baptized in the name of Jesus, but they had not received the Spirit (v. 16). When Simon saw this, he offered them money so that he might be able to bestow the Holy Spirit (vv. 18-19). But Peter said to him, “may your silver be destroyed along with you—imagine thinking the grace of God could be bought!” (v. 20). He said, “you have no part in this because your heart is not right” (v. 21). He calls him to repent in the hope that he might be forgiven (v. 22), which was needed because Simon was “in the gall of bitterness and the chains of iniquity” (v. 23). Simon answer meekly, at least on the surface (v. 24). And so Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages as they went (v. 25).

APOSTOLIC SOLIDARITY 

What is the central point of this story? Why do the Samaritans not receive the Holy Spirit until Peter and John come to lay hands on them? This was not because there was some special power laid up in the apostles, such that without it you couldn’t even be saved. Peek ahead to Acts 15—the single greatest controversy in the early church was whether or not you could even become a Christian without becoming a Jew first. And so here were these despised half-breed Samaritans. God withheld the blessing of the Spirit from them until two of the foremost apostles showed up and demonstrated their solidarity with them. It would be hard to exclude the Samaritans from the fellowship of Christ now—and there would be those who would want to exclude them.

Ethnic animosities are completely natural to the natural man. It is hard to get a carnal man in the grip of this sin even to see that he might be displeasing God. The Jews had “no dealings” with the Samaritans (John 4:9), and the Samaritans were happy to reciprocate (Luke 9:53). And one of the themes of the book of Acts is that of establishing table fellowship between groups that previously would have had nothing to do with each other (Acts 10:28). You are watching an apostolic battering ram take down centuries of bitterness and enmity. But there is only one way to do it, and His name is Jesus Christ. It cannot be done with an secular humanist nonsense. The Lord’s Table has to be at the center of it.

SIMONY 

The sin of simony, which means purchasing a church office with money, derives its name from this attempt by Simon. Simon’s response to Peter’s brusque rebuke is not a belligerent one, but according to some early church fathers, like Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, Simon did come to a bad end as a false teacher. Some early fathers say that he was the founder of Gnosticism, although this is not certain.

Simon does provide us with our earliest example of a perennial pastoral problem in the church. The text says that he also believed (v. 13) along with the other Samaritans, and he was baptized as well (v. 13). So he was a Christian in this sense. But then, after he tried to buy the gift of imparting the Spirit, Peter curses him. Some translations render Peter’s rebuke in really strong language—“may you and your money go to Hell.” Peter says that Simon’s heart is still all twisted (v. 23). He was a Christian in one sense and not in another. Remember what Paul said at the end of Romans 2 about the man who was a Jew inwardly and the man who was merely an outward Jew (Rom. 2:28-29).

CHRIST IN TRUTH

But if you try to determine that you are a real Christian by looking to your own perfections, you will be disappointed. You don’t have any. And if you try to determine that you are the real thing by refusing to look at any of your imperfections, you will also be grievously disappointed when you hear “depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.” Where do you go? Where do you look? Philip came and he preached Christ to them (v. 5). Philip was preaching the name of Jesus Christ (v. 12). Their baptism had attached the name of Jesus Christ to them (v. 16). Your baptism points to the Lord Jesus Christ, and does not point to you and your righteousness. No, it points to Christ, and unlike Simon your faith and life need to point away from yourself and in the same direction—to Christ.

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INTRODUCTION

The early church father Tertullian once famously said that the “blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”  This aphorism has been proven to be true in countless ways down throughout the history of the church. And the great Augustine made the same point:

“The earth has been filled with the blood of the martyrs as with seed, and from that seed have sprung the crops of the church. They have asserted Christ’s cause more effectively when dead than when they were alive. They assert it today, they preach him today; their tongues are silent, their deeds echo round the world. They were arrested, bound, imprisoned, brought to trial, tortured, burned at the stake, stoned to death, run through, fed to wild beasts. In all their kinds of death they were jeered at as worthless, but ‘precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.’”

THE TEXT

“When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. 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. And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (Acts 7:54–8:4).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As the members of the Sanhedrin listened to Stephen’s conclusion, they were completely convicted, and gnashed their teeth at him (v. 54). But he, full of the Spirit, looked up into heaven and saw two things—the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (v. 55). And so he declared it, saying that he saw heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God (v. 56). That was too much for them, so they shouted, stopped their ears against the “blasphemy,” and they all rushed at him together (v. 57). They cast him out of the city, and stoned him there (v. 58). The witnesses against him were casting the stones, and so they laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul (v. 58). This is our first introduction to Saul of Tarsus. As he was being stoned, Stephen called out to God, asking Him to receive His spirit (v. 59). Stephen then knelt, either because of the stoning, or in order to pray, and he prayed (in a loud voice), asking the Lord not to lay this sin to their account (v. 60). Saying this, he fell asleep (v. 60). Now Saul was in full agreement with all of this (8:1). The murder of Stephen was a spark that set off a great persecution against the Jerusalem church, scattering everyone (but the apostles). They were scattered into Judaea and Samaria (v. 1). Devout men buried Stephen, and mourned greatly (v. 2). And for Saul’s part, he made havoc of the church (v. 3). He raided their homes, and hauled believers off to prison (v. 3). But the believers who scattered took the Word with them, preaching as they went (v. 4).

CUT TO THE HEART

These men were infuriated by the things Stephen said (Acts 7:54), and when he said that he saw heaven opened . . . they rushed at him. When God cuts our hearts open, there are two different ways it might go. But there is a way for this to happen that leads to murderous thoughts. A few chapters earlier, this same body were resolving to murder the apostles . .. until Gamaliel warned them off. “When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.” (Acts 5:33).

But in the second chapter of Acts, when they were pierced or cut to the heart, the response of the people was one of repentance. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).

One notable thing about this incident is that they went straight to the execution. Even though they had no legal authority to execute anyone (John 18:31), in this case they didn’t go through the Romans at all. They apparently got away with it because Stephen was not “a famous name” like Jesus or the apostles were.

THE PATTERN OF PRAYER

The normal pattern of prayer for Christians is to pray to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the power of the Spirit. We address the Father at the beginning of the prayer, and we conclude the prayer by saying something like “in Jesus’s name, amen.” We are stirred up to this task by the Spirit of God, who dwells within us. But while this is the normal pattern of prayer, we have to remember that all three persons of the Trinity are fully God, and are worthy of our adoration. It is not unlawful to address the Son or the Spirit directly . . . just unusual. Notice that in this place Stephen sees Jesus directly, and he prays to the one he sees. “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He also asks the Lord (Jesus) not to hold this sin against those who hated him so murderously. At least in the case of Saul, this prayer was gloriously granted. In this prayer, Stephen was privileged to be appointing his successor from among his enemies.

THE LEGACY OF STEPHEN 

We are not Darwinians, meaning that we do not consider survival to be the greatest good. What matters is faith and the faithfulness that faith produces. This was very much the case here. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). Stephen’s life was short . . . but it was exceedingly fruitful. We can see this in two places.

We have already discussed the impact that Stephen had on Saul. Saul was from Cilicia, which was one of the regions represented in the synagogue of the freedmen—the men who lost in their attempts to debate with Stephen. Those men suborned the witnesses against him, who did the actual killing, with Saul right there approving. This was the man who was to write the majority of the New Testament.

The second place we see this is in Luke making a point to tell us that the scattered followers of Christ went everywhere preaching. It was as though the unbelieving leadership in Jerusalem saw a puddle of quicksilver on their table, and sought to solve their problem by slapping it. Quicksilver evangelism.

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