There is a faint knock at your door. You open it to find a cowering man who timidly asks, “You wouldn’t want to buy a vacuum cleaner, would you?” Unless you either took great pity on this poor excuse for a salesman or you badly needed what he was selling, you would not respond positively to his weak presentation.

While there are many differences between salesmanship and evangelism, most notably that evangelism depends on the power of the Holy Spirit and the gospel, there are a few parallels. An obvious parallel is that if you want to communicate effectively, you must be confident about your subject. The best salesmen honestly believe that their product is something that people really need. The best evangelists are confident that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and that people desperately need to trust in Him or they will perish.

God had just used Peter and John to heal a beggar in his forties who had been lame from birth. The spectacle of this man walking, leaping, and praising God drew a crowd, and Peter proclaimed the gospel to them. Perhaps after the main message, John joined Peter in responding to the crowd, since Acts 4:1 says, “As they were speaking to the people….” Suddenly they were interrupted as the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees came upon them, extremely upset that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. They arrested Peter and John, put them in jail over night, and the next day brought them in front of the Jewish Sanhedrin.

Although they were on trial before this intimidating council, Peter quickly turned the tables on the Sanhedrin, showing that it was they who were on trial. He points out that it was not a crime to do a good deed to a cripple. Then he indicts the Sanhedrin because they had crucified Jesus, whom God had raised from the dead and in whose name this lame man had been healed. Furthermore, Peter let them know that “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (4:12).

The members of the council were amazed at the confidence of Peter and John, who had not been educated in the rabbinical schools. When the council saw the man who had been healed standing there (proof positive of his healing), they had nothing to say. After a private conference (Luke may have learned of the details from Paul or Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus), the council commanded Peter and John not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Peter and John replied that they had to obey God, because they could not stop speaking what they had seen and heard. After further warnings, the council let them go, since the crowd was glorifying God on account of this miracle.

While Peter and John had to be commanded to stop speaking, most of us need to be reminded of the command to speak to others about Jesus Christ. Many modern Christians think that Jesus’ Great Commission was really the Great Suggestion. Or, we think that it applies to those called into missionary work, but not to the rest of us. But every believer should be able to say with Peter and John, even under threat of persecution, “I cannot stop speaking about what I have seen and heard.” If we are prone to be timid witnesses for Christ, we should pray that the Lord would give us the confident boldness that we need to speak out for Christ, even if we suffer for it.

We all should seek to be confident witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Note four characteristics of a confident witness as seen in Peter and John:

1. Confident witnesses are filled with the Holy Spirit.

To picture this scene correctly, we need to understand how threatening it was for Peter and John. The Sanhedrin was like their Supreme Court and Congress all rolled into one. They had religious and, to a great degree, civil authority in Jerusalem. The high priest was the most powerful Jew in the city and the captain of the temple guard was second behind him. Furthermore, they had just been the main force behind the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Even if they didn’t go so far as to crucify Peter and John, they certainly could make life very uncomfortable for them. They were powerful men. The fact that they arrested Peter and John, kept them over night in jail, and then threatened them with dire consequences if they continued speaking in Jesus’ name shows their use of power to intimidate.

We also need to remember that just a few weeks before Peter, in order to avoid possible arrest, had denied that he knew Jesus Christ to a lowly servant girl. But here he is before this powerful body of men, boldly reminding them that they had crucified Jesus, that God had raised Him from the dead, and that He is God’s only way of salvation. If Peter had been fearful, he would have said only what he thought was necessary to secure his release. But instead, he boldly witnesses to these murderers of Jesus. What made the difference? Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit (4:8).

Some by nature may be more daring souls than others, but we’re not talking here about natural inclination, but supernatural power. If we want to be like Peter and John, who (as we will see) were like Jesus, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus had told the disciples that they would be brought before the rulers, but not to worry in advance about what to say, because the Holy Spirit would teach them in that very hour what to say (Luke 12:11-12). Later He again told them that they would be brought before rulers for His name’s sake, and that it would lead to an opportunity for their testimony. He promised that He would give them utterance and wisdom which none of their opponents would be able to resist or refute (Luke 21:12-15). So Peter’s witness before the Sanhedrin was not due to his natural boldness or to his brilliant oratory. It was due to the filling of the Holy Spirit. What does this mean?

A. Spirit-filled witnesses are controlled by God’s Spirit.

On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). Here, again, Peter and John were filled with the Spirit. After they were released, they joined with their companions and had a prayer meeting, at the end of which they were all filled again with the Holy Spirit (4:31). While the baptism of the Spirit happens once at the moment of salvation (it is a fact, not an experience), the filling of the Spirit is repeated often. Someone has said that we need repeated fillings because we leak!

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? We find a clue in 5:17, where we read that the high priest and his Sadducee associates were filled with jealousy. It means that jealousy so overwhelmed them that it controlled their actions. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul commands us not to be drunk with wine, but to be filled with the Spirit. Just as a drunk is under the influence or control of alcohol, so a Spirit-filled man is under the control of the Holy Spirit. That is the meaning of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Assuming that you are a believer, the main requirement for being filled with the Holy Spirit is to be cleansed from all sin and to be yielded to the Spirit. A Spirit-filled person is not self-willed, but rather is submissive to God’s will. Also, being filled with the Spirit implies a moment-by-moment dependence on the Spirit, pictured in the metaphor, “walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16). Since the Holy Spirit’s main ministry is to glorify Jesus Christ (John 16:14), a person who is filled with the Spirit will seek to glorify Jesus.

B. Spirit-filled witnesses obey God rather than men, even under the threat of persecution or death.

Most of us don’t know much firsthand about persecution for the sake of Christ. The threat of someone rejecting us or thinking that we’re weird is enough to make cowards of us when it comes to witnessing. We don’t know what the council said by way of threats, but 4:21 indicates that they were not vague about the fact that if Peter and John continued to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they would pay a severe price. But rather than saying, “Yes sir, we’ll be more restrained in the future,” they said, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (4:19). Then they went back to their friends and prayed for greater boldness than they already had (4:29)!

There are two common misconceptions that we need to keep in mind regarding opposition or persecution for our faith. The first is that if we’re faithful to the Lord, He will protect us from persecution. I’ve heard many Christians say something like, “I don’t understand what’s happening. I was faithful to the Lord, but I’m being attacked by my co-workers or friends. Why isn’t the Lord protecting me?”

I don’t know where this idea comes from, because it clearly is not in the Bible. The Old Testament prophets were bold and faithful witnesses, but many of them were persecuted and killed. John the Baptist, the twelve, the apostle Paul, and the Lord Jesus Himself all were faithful witnesses who suffered much because of their faithfulness to God. Paul promised, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).

The second misconception is that persecution comes mainly from those outside the church. We expect the pagans to oppose the name of Jesus, but for some reason, we are surprised when those who profess to be Christians that attack us. But it was the religious establishment that opposed the prophets. The religious leaders opposed and crucified our Lord. Here the religious rulers lead the opposition against the apostles.

The Sadducees were mainly wealthy priests who wanted to protect the status quo in order to preserve their wealth and influence over Jewish affairs. Thus they were loyal to the Roman government and opposed any kind of uprising or disturbance among the people that might upset Rome. The chief priest and the high priests were all Sadducees, along with the captain of the temple guard. They denied the existence of angels and spirits, along with the resurrection of the dead and any future life (Acts 23:8; see D. A. Hagner, Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible [Zondervan], 5:211-216).

As then, so it has been down through church history. Opposition to those who preach the gospel and who uphold God’s Word often comes from the religious establishment, whose power and privileges are threatened. In countries where the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church are strong, they are the source of most opposition to the gospel. Their power and wealth would be threatened if they had to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. In our country, theological liberals, who deny the resurrection, are often our main opponents. But, Spirit-filled witnesses are bold to obey God rather than the religious establishment, even if it means persecution. If we want to be confident witnesses, we must daily be filled with God’s Spirit.

2. Confident witnesses have spent much time with Jesus and learned from Him.

The council was amazed at Peter and John’s boldness, especially since they were uneducated, untrained men (4:13). But they also began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. The boldness of Peter and John reminded the council of the boldness of Jesus Christ, who also was not trained in their schools. What a wonderful compliment, for people to recognize that we are like Jesus because we have been with Him!

We often say that we want to be like Jesus, but we have misconceptions about what Jesus was like. Some years ago, a man who had served as an elder at my church in California and who was on the staff of an evangelical ministry, came to me with his wife. I had just changed my view of Christian psychology and had preached a message explaining why I thought that it was wrong. They, among others, were offended. They told me that I should get out of the pastorate because I was too much like the apostle Paul and not enough like Jesus. When I asked for clarification, they said that Paul was confrontational, but Jesus was always kind and loving!

I’m not sure which translation they were reading! In Matthew 23, Jesus confronted the scribes and Pharisees, calling them hypocrites, whitewashed walls, and a brood of vipers. In Luke 11:37-52, Jesus was invited to lunch at a Pharisee’s house. He deliberately avoided the pharisaical ceremonial washing before the meal, and when His host said something, Jesus pronounced woes upon the Pharisees for their hypocrisy! Another guest, a religious lawyer, pointed out that Jesus’ words insulted them, too. So Jesus pronounced woes on the lawyers for their hypocrisy! He was not a polite dinner guest! On many other occasions, Jesus deliberately did something to provoke controversy (see Luke 6:1-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-24; etc.).

The point is, if we’re going to be like Jesus, we will be bold witnesses who confront religious hypocrisy and false doctrine. We won’t be mean or rude. We will have the fruit of the Spirit, including kindness and gentleness. But we will have spent enough time with Jesus to learn from Him the importance of speaking out when God’s truth is being compromised. We will fear God more than we fear social customs or what others think of us.

3. Confident witnesses testify of what they know for certain.

The disciples could not stop speaking of what they had seen and heard (4:20). They had seen the risen Lord Jesus. They saw Him ascend into heaven. They had heard Him explain from the Scriptures the many passages about Himself. They had seen Him heal this lame man by His power. And so they spoke confidently about these matters. Our text reveals four things that we know for certain:

A. We know for certain that Jesus is risen from the dead.

Even though the Sadducees were known for not believing in the resurrection, and Peter knew that this would be a sore spot for them, he didn’t hesitate to confront them with the truth. He tells them boldly, “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health” (4:10-11). The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith. If it can be disproved, our faith is worthless (1 Cor. 15:17). F. F. Bruce states,

It is particularly striking that neither on this nor on any subsequent occasion (so far as our information goes) did the Sanhedrin take any serious action to disprove the apostles’ central affirmation—the resurrection of Jesus. Had it seemed possible to refute them on this point, how readily would the Sanhedrin have seized the opportunity! Had they succeeded, how quickly and completely the new movement would have collapsed! (The Book of the Acts [Eerdmans], p. 103).

When we bear witness about Jesus Christ, we can confidently proclaim the fact of His bodily resurrection from the dead.

B. We know for certain that Jesus fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies.

Peter here mentions one, that Jesus was the chief corner stone (or capstone) that the builders had rejected (Ps. 118:22). In all, there are some 300 Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 are especially clear and detailed in describing Jesus’ death on the cross.

C. We know for certain that Jesus performed many attested miracles through the apostles.

Hebrews 2:3-4 says concerning our salvation, “After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” The Sanhedrin could not refute the fact that this man had been crippled from birth, but now he was standing in their presence (Acts 4:14). Irrationally, they acknowledged the miracle, but they rejected the implications of it (4:16-17)! Stupendous miracles are not enough to convince those whose hearts are hardened against God. But we can still testify to the credibility of the eyewitness testimony of those who saw these miracles. If people refuse to believe the testimony, it is because they want to continue in their sin, not because evidence is lacking.

D. We know for certain that Jesus has saved us through faith in His name, and that He will save any that will call upon Him.

Peter and John knew that Jesus had changed their lives. The formerly crippled man knew that the name of Jesus had changed him. Anyone who has called upon the Lord to save him from his sins knows that He is mighty to save even the chief of sinners. So we can confidently offer the good news of God’s salvation to any and every sinner, knowing that, as Jesus said, “the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37b). Often the most powerful witness is someone, like this lame man, whose life has been dramatically changed by the power of Jesus Christ.

We’ve seen that confident witnesses are filled with the Holy Spirit. They have spent much time with Jesus and learned from Him, so that they remind others of Him. They testify of what they know for certain, especially that Jesus is risen.

4. Confident witnesses insist on Jesus as the only way of salvation.

The Sanhedrin had asked Peter, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?” (4:7). So, Peter told them: We did it “by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead” (4:10). Furthermore, His name is the only name by which anyone can be saved: “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (4:12).

We live in an age where tolerance has become the primary virtue. People don’t object if you say, “I’ve found Jesus as my personal Savior.” They say, “That’s nice for you, but I’m into something else.” Or they say, “All that matters is that you’re a good person and believe in something. All roads lead to God.”

But Jesus Christ cuts across the “tolerance” of our culture and intolerantly proclaims, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). “There is salvation in no one else …” (Acts 4:12). But what about sincere Buddhists or Muslims or Hindus, who are kind and loving people? They are not saved unless they trust in Jesus Christ alone. What about faithful Roman Catholics, who go to Mass, who pray the Rosary, who pile up good deeds in their efforts to go to heaven? They are not saved if they are depending on any good works or ceremonies or religious devotion to get into heaven. There is no other way to God except through faith in Jesus Christ alone. And before you get angry with me, remember, I didn’t make it up. I’m just telling you what Jesus and the apostles proclaimed.

But while there is salvation in no one else, the good news is, there is salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ for all who will trust in Him alone! To trust in Christ means to abandon your trust in your own good works. It means to let go of your pride and acknowledge that you are a sinner, alienated from God. Like the lame man, there is no hope for you to heal yourself. Only Christ can heal your soul. And He will save you, if you will cast yourself upon Him.

Conclusion

In Ephesians 6:19-20, the apostle Paul shares a startling prayer request: “Pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” Twice he repeats his request, that he might speak boldly. It’s the same Greek word translated “confidence” in Acts 4:13. If Paul had on his prayer list the need for boldness as a witness, then perhaps you and I should add it to our lists! We all should seek to proclaim with confident boldness the good news that there is salvation in no one else except in Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead.

Discussion Questions

1. How can we know how bold to be in our witness to family members? Is it better to err on the side of caution or boldness?
2. Can we discern a pattern in Jesus’ ministry as to when He was gentle and when He was more confrontational? What is it?
3. Will a shy person become bold when he is filled with the Spirit? Does the Spirit change our basic personality?
4. How do you answer the challenge, “Won’t a sincere, good person who has never heard of Jesus go to heaven?” Why must we insist on Jesus as the only way of salvation?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2000, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

A 12-year-old boy was waiting for his first orthodontist appointment and was a bit nervous. Apparently he wanted to impress the dentist. On the patient questionnaire, in the space marked “Hobbies,” he had written, “Swimming and flossing” (Reader’s Digest [8/94], p. 112).

That’s a humorous example of how we’re all prone to hypocrisy. But spiritual hypocrisy is not humorous; it’s a dangerous and deadly sin. The hypocrisy of professing Christians has served as an excuse for many to disregard the claims of Christ, saying, “The church is full of hypocrites.” The hypocrisy of Christian leaders has caused many believers to stumble. While Jesus was tender with many notorious sinners, He used scathing language to denounce those guilty of religious hypocrisy.

The story of Ananias and Sapphira warns us of the danger of the sin of hypocrisy. It was literally deadly for this couple. Someone has said that if God dealt with all hypocrites in the church as He dealt with this couple, our churches would become morgues!

We are not told whether or not Ananias and Sapphira were true believers in Jesus Christ. Some argue that they were; some that they were not. Perhaps we are not told because if we knew that they were not true Christians, we would shrug their story off as not applying to us. If we knew that they were true Christians, we might say, “Thank God that this was just a one-time occurrence!” We would not pause and ask ourselves, “Is my faith in Christ genuine? Do I need to deal with the sin of hypocrisy?” We do know that Ananias and Sapphira were a part of the early church. Their story applies to us all!

In Acts 4, we saw the enemy attacking the church from without. The Jewish leaders persecuted the apostles and threatened them with more severe measures if they continued to preach in the name of Jesus. But in spite of (or perhaps because of) their threats, the church continued to grow dramatically. There was a spirit of unity, love, and unusual generosity among the believers (4:32-35). In this context, we are given a positive example of a godly man, Joseph, better known as Barnabas (4:36-37). Then we are given the example of this couple, who put on the mask of hypocrisy and were struck dead by God (5:1-11). This threat of seduction from within is much more subtle and dangerous than opposition from without. It is especially a danger when a church is experiencing God’s blessing and power. The lesson is:

Because we are all prone to the deadly sin of hypocrisy, we should diligently pursue godly character.

1. We are all prone to the deadly sin of hypocrisy.

We need to be clear on the exact nature of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira. Their sin was not that they had sold their property and had given only a part to the church. In fact, Peter makes plain (5:4) that it would not have been a sin for them to have sold their property and not given anything to the church. Their sin was that they conspired together to deceive the apostles and the church into thinking that they were giving the entire amount, when in fact they kept back a portion for themselves. In other words, they were trying to impress everyone with a higher level of spirituality and commitment than they really had.

Have you ever done that? I hope you do not say “no,” or we might need to have a sudden funeral this afternoon! We’ve all been guilty of trying to impress others with our commitment and devotion to Christ, even though we know in our heart that we are exaggerating. A pastor had been preaching on the importance of daily Bible reading. He and his wife were invited over to a parishioner’s home for dinner. His wife saw a note on the kitchen calendar: “Pastor/Mrs. for dinner—Dust all Bibles” (Reader’s Digest [3/90], p. 129). Note four things about hypocrisy:

A. The seriousness of hypocrisy:

Liberal commentators are shocked at this sudden, severe punishment. Ananias is not given a chance to repent, even though his sin seems not all that serious. His wife is not even told of her husband’s death and of what will happen to her if she lies. The instant that she agrees with her husband’s lie, she is struck dead. In this age of tolerance, we might think, “What’s the big deal?”

But we need to view this sin from God’s holy perspective, not from our world’s relativistic view. Jesus always hit hypocrisy hard. In Matthew 23, He pronounced many woes on the scribes and Pharisees, whom He repeatedly called hypocrites. He warned His disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1). Like leaven, hypocrisy starts small and unnoticed. It doesn’t seem to be a big deal. But if it is not quickly checked, it spreads. It deceives the person into thinking that things are right between him and God, when in reality, things are very wrong.

The leaven of hypocrisy can soon infect an entire church. The church at Laodicea thought that things were going well. They said, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.” But the Lord’s perspective was, “You do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17)!

Some ask why God dealt with Ananias and Sapphira so severely when He does not do so with other hypocrites in the church. Probably, it was because the church was in its infancy, and He needed to set before us a sober lesson of the seriousness of this sin among God’s people. He did the same thing with Achan (Joshua 7; see also Lev. 10:1-3; 2 Sam. 6:6-7). The word “church” first occurs in Acts in verse 11 (out of 16 times). The word means an assembly or congregation of people. Luke wants us to know that the church should live in the holy fear of God and especially should be on guard against this serious sin, hypocrisy.

B. The subjects of hypocrisy:

This couple that fell into this sin were professing Christians, “members” of the church in Jerusalem. This means that we’re all in danger of falling into this subtle sin. We don’t want other Christians or those outside the church to think that we have problems. That wouldn’t be a good testimony, would it? So we put on our spiritual mask when we’re around others, even though we know and our family knows that we do not live as we profess to live. When a prominent Christian is shown to be a hypocrite, the world heaves a sigh of relief, thinking, “Christians are really no different than anyone else. If they’re phonies, then Christianity must not be true.”

Notice also that this sin affects both men and women. Some sins may be more prevalent in men, while other sins are more prevalent with women. But both sexes are vulnerable to hypocrisy. Ananias and Sapphira had agreed together to this act of deception (5:9). Whether you are male or female, you need to guard yourself against hypocrisy.

By the way, some argue that a wife should submit to her husband, even if he asks her to join him in doing wrong. This story shows the error of that view. When Peter asked Sapphira whether they sold the land for the amount that her husband had claimed, she should have obeyed God above her husband (5:29) by telling the truth.

C. The selfishness of hypocrisy:

Motive is everything in this sin. If Ananias and Sapphira had sold their land and had told the apostles, “We feel led to give half to the church,” it would not have been a problem. Their sin was the evil intent of their hearts, to make others think that they were more spiritual than they really were. They were motivated by love of self, not by love of God and others. God, who always knows the motives of our hearts, judged them on the spot.

Hypocrisy is always motivated by self-love. We want to impress others, to make them think that we are something that we know in our hearts we are not. Kids, by the way, have a built-in antenna to detect hypocrisy in their parents. Nothing turns kids away from the faith as quickly as hypocritical parents. If they hear you put on your spiritual voice around church people, but you verbally abuse them at home, they can see right through you. They will not be drawn to follow the God you profess to follow. That’s why it is crucial for parents to acknowledge their wrongs and ask forgiveness of their children when they sin against them.

D. The short-sightedness of hypocrisy:

Hypocrisy is short-sighted in several ways:

1) Hypocrisy focuses on group dynamics, not on personal reality with God.

It was an exciting thing to be in the Jerusalem church in those days. There were the large gatherings in Solomon’s portico, where thousands heard the apostles preach about Jesus (5:12; 2:47). The church had an unusual sense of unity and caring (4:32). The apostles were performing extraordinary miracles to confirm the message of the gospel (4:33; 5:16). Every day there were stories of more people getting saved (5:14). Even by those on the outside held the church in high esteem (5:13). It was easy to get caught up in the group dynamic and to ride on the bandwagon of what was happening, but to lack personal reality with God. That’s what happened to Ananias and Sapphira.

It’s always exciting to be a part of a movement of God’s Holy Spirit. Some of us were a part of the Jesus movement of the 1970’s. The church I grew up in couldn’t attract more than a handful for a midweek service! But I used to go out to Calvary Chapel in Santa Ana and thousands of young people would be there for a mid-week service. The singing was not the traditional hymns, sung halfheartedly to the accompaniment of the organ and piano. Everyone enthusiastically sang new praise choruses, accompanied by long-haired musicians playing guitars and drums. It was a great experience to join in with that sort of gathering. And yet, while many young people truly got saved, there were always some that were just riding on the group experience. It was always sad when they would later fall into some serious sin and abandon the faith.

One of the main ways to avoid hypocrisy is to make sure that you are walking in reality with God every day. Have you personally trusted in Christ as your Savior and Lord? Do you spend time in His Word and in prayer on a regular basis? Do you deal with the sin in your life, especially on the heart level, when His Word confronts you with where you are wrong? If not, you have to start faking it when you’re around other Christians, to keep up the appearance that you’re doing fine. That’s the beginning of hypocrisy.

Ray Stedman (transcribed message, “Body Life,” Peninsula Bible Church, 4/26/70) pointed out that the moment we start pretending to be what we really are not, death enters in, because we are cut off from the vital reality of communion with Christ and His body, the church. We lose the reality of walking in the Spirit. To avoid hypocrisy, we must maintain daily reality with the Lord.

2) Hypocrisy focuses on what people think, not on what God thinks.

Ananias and Sapphira wanted to look good in front of the apostles and the rest of the church. Barnabas had just given the total amount of a sale of some property. Everyone thought highly of Barnabas. Ananias and Sapphira wanted everyone to think highly of them. But, sadly, they didn’t stop to consider what the living God thought about them.

To avoid hypocrisy, you must live daily with the aim of pleasing God above all else. The minute you start trying to look good to others, without being concerned about what God thinks, you are into hypocrisy. Both Peter and Barnabas later fell into this sin. The church in Antioch had both Jews and Gentiles together in one fellowship. When Peter first visited there, he ate together with the Gentiles, contrary to Jewish customs. But when the Jewish circumcision party showed up, Peter withdrew and only ate with the Jews, out of fear for what they would think. Peter’s hypocrisy wrongly influenced Barnabas. Paul confronted him publicly, and to his credit, Peter accepted the rebuke (Gal. 2:11-14). If such godly men as Peter and Barnabas could be carried away by this sin, then certainly we all need to be on guard!

3) Hypocrisy focuses on this life, not on eternity.

If Ananias and Sapphira had been thinking about the shortness of life and the certainty of judgment and eternity, they would not have done what they did. But whether we get struck down instantly for our sin or have to stand before God at the judgment, in a few short years we all will face God. Scripture reminds us, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:13, NIV). Twice our text mentions that great fear came on all those who heard of what happened to Ananias and Sapphira (5:6, 11). Great fear of God should come on us as well! We’re all a heartbeat away from standing before God and giving an account. Keeping eternity in view will keep us from the sin of hypocrisy.

Ananias and Sapphira warn us of the deadly sin of hypocrisy. But our text not only warns us about what not to be; it also shows us, in both Barnabas and Peter, how we should live.

2. We should diligently pursue godly character.

These men show us four aspects of godly character:

A. To pursue godly character, we must grow in the fullness of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

We have already seen (2:4) how the apostles were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Again, before he preached before the council, Peter was filled with the Spirit (4:8). In 11:24 we read that Barnabas “was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” It was the Holy Spirit who showed Peter that Ananias was being deceptive. Peter accuses him of lying to the Holy Spirit (5:3), whom Peter also calls God (5:4).

By way of contrast, Peter says that Satan had filled Ananias’ heart (5:3). As we have seen, to be filled means to be controlled. Peter and Barnabas were under the control of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. Ananias and Sapphira were controlled by Satan in their act of deception because they had yielded to his temptation. Being full of the Holy Spirit and of faith does not mean that a believer will be sinless. As we have seen, both Peter and Barnabas later fell into hypocrisy themselves. But it does mean a daily walk of dependence on the Spirit, yielding to Him so that the fruit of the Spirit grows in our lives. To be full of faith means that we daily trust in God and His promises, rather than leaning on our own schemes or on worldly wisdom.

B. To pursue godly character, we must grow in the ministry of encouragement.

We hardly remember Barnabas’ real name, Joseph, because his nickname is so prominent. Scholars cannot determine the etymology of the name, but Luke translates it for us as meaning, “son of encouragement.” “Son of” was a common Hebrew designation for a dominating characteristic. James and John were “sons of thunder.” Judas was the “son of perdition.” Barnabas was so marked by his encouraging spirit that he was the “son of encouragement.”

You communicate encouragement by your attitude, your actions, and your words. An encouraging person has an attitude of trust and hope in God that makes others look to His promises. He acts in ways that encourage those who are down. This may mean helping a person with some overwhelming task, or just taking the time to listen to the person’s problems. His words are not sarcastic and demeaning, but full of hope and love. He communicates, “I believe that in the Lord’s strength, you will live in a manner pleasing to Him.” All of us should seek to be sons of encouragement.

C. To pursue godly character, we must grow in the ministry of generosity.

Barnabas sold a piece of property and gave it all to the apostles to use in meeting the needs of the poor among them. Barnabas was of priestly descent, and according to the Law, priests could not own property (Num. 18:20; Deut. 10:9). Whether this law was no longer observed (after the exile) or whether Barnabas had just inherited some land and was disposing of it, we do not know. But we do know that he could have spent the money on himself, but he chose to give it to the Lord’s work. As I emphasized last week, believers will grow to be like Jesus, who was rich, but for our sakes became poor, that we, through His poverty might be rich (2 Cor. 8:9). No doubt greed was a factor that motivated Ananias and Sapphira to hold back part of the profit from the sale of their land. As believers, we must put all greed to death and grow in generosity by sharing what God has given to us.

D. To pursue godly character, we must grow in integrity.

I imagine that Ananias and Sapphira’s gift was quite substantial. If Peter had not been a man of integrity, he could have thought, “I dare not offend these wealthy donors.” Even if he suspected some deception, he would have been careful to praise them for their generosity in hopes that they would give more in the future. But Peter was more concerned with purity in the church than he was with taking a gift that was given with the wrong motives. So he strongly confronted their deception.

Liberal commentators castigate Peter because, they say, he did not display the grace that Jesus showed toward sinners. They say that he was more of the spirit of Elijah calling down fire from heaven, than of Jesus who offered forgiveness to sinners. But Peter did not pronounce the death sentence on Ananias. He rebuked him, but I believe that Peter was a bit surprised when Ananias dropped dead in front of him. With Sapphira, he predicted that the same thing that had just happened to her husband would happen to her. But Peter was simply God’s instrument to speak His truth. It was God who cleansed His church of these hypocrites.

Any time we take a strong stand against sin in the church, someone will accuse us of not being loving. But to tolerate sin in the church, sin that will spread like leaven and contaminate and destroy many others, is not to act with love or compassion. We must always offer forgiveness and restoration to those who repent. But we must never tolerate sin under the banner of love. People of integrity hold both to kindness and truth (Prov. 3:3).

Conclusion

George Verwer, the founder of Operation Mobilization, tells of a time when he was about 19. He heard a man deliver a powerful sermon. It moved Verwer to rededicate his life to Christ. He went up to talk with the man at the end of the service. As he stood there, he noticed all of the church people in their expensive clothes. He also noticed that the speaker was very well dressed, exuding an aura of success. He asked him whether he thought that these people would respond to the message of giving everything for Christ. He speaker looked down at Verwer and said, “See here, young man, I’m an evangelist, and this is my living. This is how I make my money, by preaching and doing God’s work. What I was speaking about, that was all true, but I doubt if anyone would really live that way, unless perhaps there was a war on.” Verwer walked away feeling very shaken.

Hypocrisy is a deadly sin. It destroys the hypocrite and it damages many that are contaminated by it. In this New Year, I urge you to allow God’s Word to confront your life. If you’re playing the religion game, quit now! Get real with the living God. Spend time each day with Him. Judge your sins and turn from them. Seek to grow in godly character. Our God desires truth in the innermost being (Ps. 51:6).

Discussion Questions

1. How would you respond to the unbeliever who charges, “The church is full of hypocrites”?
2. Why is hypocrisy such a deadly sin? How can we detect it and fight it in ourselves?
3. How can a person who is prone to be a people-pleaser become a God-pleaser?
4. How honest should we be about our personal struggles? Should we share all our struggles with everyone? What guidelines apply here?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2000, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

Someone has said, “If you ever find the perfect church, don’t join it because you will spoil it!” I often tell the new members class, “I promise that if you join this church, we will at some point offend you.” Or, as some wag put it, “To dwell above with the saints we love, O that will be glory! But to dwell below with the saints we know, well, that’s a different story!”

To have been in the early church would have been a wonderful experience. God was working in powerful ways. Daily there were reports of new people coming to faith in the risen Savior. It was an exciting time. But the early church was not a perfect church. We’ve already seen the problem of hypocrisy, with Ananias and Sapphira. Now Luke shows us another problem that occurred in the midst of this phenomenal growth: a complaint arose that threatened to split the church.

Luke has followed a pattern from chapter one that alternates between a picture of the church alone and the church in relation to the world (James Boice, Acts [Baker], pp. 103-104, develops this). In chapter one, the church is alone, gathered for prayer in the upper room, where they elect an apostle to replace Judas. In Acts 2, we see the church in the world. Peter preaches and 3,000 souls are saved. At the end of Acts 2, Luke gives another picture of the church life. In Acts 3 through 4:22, we see the church again in the world, with the first instance of persecution. For the rest of chapter 4 and through the first part of chapter 5, we again get an inside view of the church. They gather for prayer, and we learn of their unusual generosity and care for one another. But we also learn of the hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira. Then (5:12 ff.) Luke again turns to the church in the world, describing the apostles’ witness before the Sanhedrin, resulting in their being flogged. Now Luke again turns inward, showing us this problem that occurred within the church at this time of unusual growth. By introducing us to Stephen, he sets the stage for the next outward scene, where Stephen is stoned and the church is scattered.

By this alternating pattern, Luke seems to be showing us that the church must maintain a balance. Some churches are so outwardly focused that they fail to attend to problems within. If those problems are not addressed, the church may grow at first, but eventually the internal problems will result in discord and disintegration. Other churches are so inwardly focused that they forget their mission in the world. If they do not recover their sense of mission, they will be consumed with bickering and self-centeredness, leading to demise. Healthy churches maintain the balance of dealing with internal problems, but also staying focused on the task of taking the gospel to the world.

Our text reveals to us some principles for solving problems that arise in the local church. To sum up:

To solve problems in the local church, both leaders and people must be spiritual people in submission to God’s Word.

Since seven is the biblical number of perfection, I want to give you seven principles for problem solving in the church, derived from our text. First, what do I mean by “spiritual” people?

1. Spiritual people orient everything in their lives to God through prayer and God’s Word.

A spiritual person builds his life on God’s Word, in dependence on God through prayer. In the words of Proverbs 3:4-5, he trusts in the Lord with all his heart and does not lean on his own understanding. Rather, in all his ways he acknowledges the Lord. God’s Word permeates all of his thinking and doing. He does not act with human or worldly wisdom, but in accordance with the wisdom revealed in Scripture.

Note our text’s emphasis on these themes: The apostles hear of this problem in the church. Their first response is, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God” (6:2). They reiterate this in 6:4: “We will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” The result was, “the word of God kept on spreading” (6:7). The requirement for these men who were to deal with the problem was that they be “men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom” (6:3). Stephen, one of the seven men, was “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (6:5). Before the apostles laid hands on them, publicly setting them apart for this ministry, they prayed (6:6). The whole problem-solving process was oriented to God through prayer and God’s Word.

This is vital to solving any problem in the church! The entire congregation, especially the leaders, must walk in daily, practical reality with the living God, in submission to His Word, in dependence on Him in prayer. There is nothing wrong with conducting church business according to Robert’s Rules of Order, if people are not self-willed, not acting on the basis of worldly wisdom, not grabbing for power or influence. But I’ve been in church meetings where Robert’s Rules were followed, but the Spirit and the Word were effectively absent. Many churches are run like American politics, with influential men forming power bases, working behind the scenes to get enough votes to orchestrate a victory. But they are not seeking the mind of God in submission to the Word and the Holy Spirit. Such power-hungry men know how to use prayer to make their agenda sound spiritual; but they are seeking their will for the church, not God’s will. Spiritual men seek God and His will for His church through prayer and God’s Word.

Today we have many books on church management, conflict resolution, and church growth that are based more on worldly wisdom than on God’s Word. These books give the overall impression of being based on the Bible, but often they are based on the latest secular ideas. If you’re not discerning, you end up swallowing the whole thing. Spiritual people may glean some insights from such books. But spiritual people judge everything by God’s Word, which is our only authority for faith and practice.

Note also that spiritual people are concerned for the total person. In other words, spirituality isn’t limited to the soul, but also to the body. This problem arose in connection with distributing food to needy widows in the church. The Bible has a special concern for widows and orphans (see 1 Tim. 5:3-16). In that culture, widows often were left destitute, with no family and no means of support. The church tried to meet these needs. True spirituality is not impractical and other-worldly. Spiritual people care about people’s physical and spiritual needs. They don’t just dish out pious platitudes, but they offer real help to those in need. As Amy Carmichael once pointed out to some critics of her ministry to the needy people of India, souls are rather securely fastened to bodies!

You may be thinking, “If everyone in the church were spiritual, there wouldn’t be any problems.” But that is overly idealistic.

2. Even spiritual people have problems.

We have already read of the sense of unity and community in this early church. They had the best leaders imaginable in the twelve apostles. They were growing in a way that can only be attributed to the power of the Holy Spirit. And yet they had this problem.

Whenever you have growth through new conversions, you will have problems. Spiritual babies always dirty their spiritual diapers. They wake you up in the middle of the night with their crying. Like all babies, spiritual babies are usually self-centered at first. Even mature believers are not exempt from self-centeredness, struggles, and sin. So every church, especially every growing church, is going to have problems.

This problem was probably not deliberate. The Hellenistic Jews felt like their widows were being slighted, while the Hebrew widows were getting more than their fair share in the daily distribution of food. The Hellenistic Jews mostly came from outside of Palestine, spoke Greek, and were largely influenced by the Greek culture. The Hebrews were Jews who spoke Aramaic and grew up in a Jewish culture, mostly in Palestine. Both groups in the Jerusalem church had come to faith in Jesus as God’s Messiah and Savior. But getting saved did not erase all of these background factors. It is naïve to think, “Since we’re all born again, we won’t experience any conflicts.” Salvation does not eradicate different cultural assumptions and attitudes. This applies both to the church and to entering a marriage, by the way!

Acts 6:1 is the first description in Acts of Christians as “disciples,” which means “learners,” referring to those who are learning to follow Jesus as Lord. That is a lifelong process. There would not be all of the exhortations to Christians to love and forbearance in the New Testament, if it were automatic. Even spiritual people have problems and conflicts.

Note also that this problem arose out of a ministry. It was because they were trying to serve the Lord by meeting the needs of these widows that this conflict arose, not because they were worldly-minded and doing nothing about the problem. Christians often naively get involved in serving the Lord with the assumption that everyone will get along since “we’re all doing the Lord’s work.” But often it is when we try to serve the Lord together that conflicts erupt, which never would have happened if we had not been serving the Lord. It’s shocking to discover that the Lord’s other servants do not all agree with my way of doing things!

We are not told whether the Hellenistic Jews went directly to the apostles and discussed this problem, or whether the apostles heard about it through the grapevine. We are told that the Hellenistic Jews had a complaint. The Greek word means a “murmuring.” Probably they had grumbled amongst themselves and word spread until the apostles heard about it. But God’s way to deal with a problem is not to grumble amongst the body, and not to leave the church, but to go directly to the leaders who can listen and deal with the problem in a constructive manner. Leaders cannot deal with problems that they do not know about.

When the apostles heard about the problem, they called together the whole congregation. They did not blame anyone or lash out in self-defense. Rather, they explained their philosophy of ministry, laid out some guidelines, assigned the congregation the task of finding seven qualified men to deal with the problem, and gave those men the authority to deal with it.

3. Spiritual people are committed to harmony expressed through diversity.

It is significant that the apostles did not say, “It’s time that we divide the church up into the First Hellenistic Church of Jerusalem and the First Hebrew Church of Jerusalem.” They never considered division as an option. Even though these two groups had diverse backgrounds and even different mother tongues, they wanted to work this problem out in a spirit of unity, not division.

There are legitimate times to separate from professing Christians or churches, although that subject is beyond the scope of this message. But unless there are biblical grounds to separate, God is glorified when people from diverse cultures and backgrounds worship Him together on the common ground of salvation through Jesus Christ. One Church Growth trend today is to plant churches that are targeted to reach only one segment of our society, such as the Generation Xer’s or the Baby Boomers. That’s not biblical. God wants us to reach all segments of society so that those from every walk of life will gather in love and unity to sing His praises. So we must commit ourselves to work through our problems whenever it does not compromise essential truth.

4. Often problems in the church can be explained and resolved by understanding spiritual gifts.

Not even the apostles could do it all. They were gifted and called to the ministry of prayer and preaching the Word. They were not control-freaks, who had to direct every aspect of church ministry. They were willing to delegate responsibility to other godly men who could deal with the problems. The laying on of hands symbolized the apostles giving recognition and approval to these capable men to carry on this aspect of ministry.

One key to solving church problems is to recognize and implement the division of labor on the basis of spiritual gifts. No one man or group of men, however gifted, can carry on the work of the local church. It is only when every member gets involved in serving in accordance with his or her gifts that the church will be strong.

Also, we need to understand that often people grumble about problems that are directly related to their area of spiritual gift. If someone complains that the church does not do enough in outreach, you are probably looking at a person with the gift of evangelism. If she complains that the church is not friendly enough, chances are she has the gift of hospitality. The one who grumbles about how disorganized the church is probably is gifted in administration. The man who laments the lack of discernment of spiritual error is probably a prophet. The key to resolving differences is for each person to recognize the validity of all the gifted members and to use his (or her) gift to work on the problems that he perceives. The church will only be strong when every member commits himself to the ministry that God has gifted him to do.

5. Spiritual leaders must maintain their focus on prayer and the ministry of God’s Word.

Acts 6:4 (along with Eph. 4:11-12 & 2 Tim. 4:1-5) has been one of my main directional verses in ministry. It has kept me focused on my major task when many other things pressure me to spend my time in other ways. Prayer and the ministry of the Word are interrelated. You cannot properly preach the Word unless you wait upon God in prayer. If you neglect prayer, all you’re doing is putting together clever sermons that may entertain, but surely will lack God’s power. Also, prayer is essential because even when God has gifted you to preach His Word, you will always be overwhelmed with how inadequate you are for the task (2 Cor. 2:16; 3:5). You must pray that God will bless your preaching of His Word with lasting fruit.

Many pastors get carried away with building the church through management and marketing principles, to the neglect of God’s Word. If a man is not committed first and foremost to the ministry of God’s Word, he should not be the preaching pastor of a local church. It takes time to prepare biblical sermons. That’s why the apostles said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables” (6:2). They could not do both. They were not despising the work of serving tables; it was rather a matter of only having so much time in a week. Their focus was on the prayerful study and proclamation of God’s Word. If a shepherd slights his responsibility to feed the flock, even to do other good things, he fails in the primary biblical responsibility of a shepherd.

Years ago my office was at home. Marla would screen my calls while I was studying for the weekly sermon. One day a woman from the national headquarters of Pioneer Girls called and wanted to talk with me about how that ministry was going in our church. It was only with great difficulty that Marla finally persuaded her that I had no clue how that ministry was going, and if she really wanted to find out, she needed to call the woman who headed that program. The reason that woman couldn’t believe what she was hearing is that so many pastors neglect the principle of devoting themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word.

6. Leaders at every level must be spiritually qualified.

The apostles did not say, “Find seven willing bodies and have them serve tables.” To serve tables, these men had to be of the highest spiritual caliber. The congregation wisely chose seven men with Greek names, who probably were from Greek backgrounds. The Hebrews did not demand equal representation or a majority on this board. There may have been seven Hebrews already on this board, we don’t know. But they let the Hellenistic men minister to the Hellenistic widows. Note the qualifications:

(1) They had to be men, not women. The Greek word refers to males. We do not know if these men were the first “deacons.” Probably they fulfilled that role, but the office did not originate until later. While there is a biblical basis for having female deacons (1 Tim. 3:11; Rom. 16:1), they must be under male elders who have oversight of the church (1 Tim. 2:11-15; 3:1-7).

(2) They were plural in number. Every reference to church leaders indicates a plurality of elders in a singular local church. While one man may be the leader among equals, as Peter was among the apostles, he is not to be an autocratic leader who calls the shots without regard for his fellow elders. We do not know why the apostles here designate seven men. Maybe they knew that the job required that many men.

(3) They were to be men of good reputation. The Greek word (“witness”) means that these men had to be attested by others to be men of integrity. Reputations take time to build, and so it is implied that these men were not new believers.

(4) They had to be full of the Spirit. Someone has pointed out that everybody is full of something, either of self or of God’s Spirit. These men had to be under the Spirit’s control.

(5) They had to be full of wisdom. They needed to know how to apply God’s Word to practical, everyday situations. Such wisdom does not come apart from maturity and experience.

The main thing to note is that to carry out this ministry that involved handling and distributing resources, these men had to be godly. It is a major mistake to put men who are not spiritually qualified into a responsible ministry position.

7. A growing organism requires new levels of organization in order to solve problems.

The church is primarily an organism—the living body of which Christ is the head. But all organisms are organized. It is a mistake to over-emphasize organization to the neglect of organism. It is also a mistake to over-emphasize organism and neglect proper organization. The need for new organization grows as the body grows. The apostles here were willing to change the organizational structure of the church to meet this legitimate need. They didn’t cry, “We’ve never done it that way before!”

Note also the blend between apostolic direction and congregational participation. The apostles did not choose these seven men; they delegated that job to the congregation after giving the necessary qualifications. The congregation brought the seven back to the apostles, who validated the choice by praying and laying hands on them. Later, Paul appointed elders in every church to have oversight. He gave us the qualifications to recognize elders (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). The church is not a democracy, but wise elders will involve the congregation on important decisions. The entire church must be functionally under the headship of Jesus Christ, seeking to honor Him and follow His will.

Conclusion

To sum up all of these principles: to solve problems in the local church, both leaders and people must be spiritual people in submission to God’s Word. Verse 7 shows the result of this problem being solved: God’s Word kept on spreading, the number of disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and even a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. Humanly speaking, they would have been the most difficult to reach. They would have been entrenched in the Jewish ceremonies and customs. They would have been prone toward salvation by works or because of their Jewish birth. They would not have seen that they were sinners in need of a Savior. Yet God worked mightily through the gospel to bring them to salvation!

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, that is your first need. You must come to Him as a sinner, let go of your own good works, and trust in the shed blood of Jesus as the only basis for forgiveness and eternal life. If you are a Christian, but are not using your gifts to serve the Lord, you need to seek God for how He wants you to serve Him. If you’re grumbling about a problem in the church, that may be a clue as to where He wants you to get involved. All of us need to make sure that we are walking daily in reality with Jesus Christ, growing in our knowledge of and obedience to His Word.

Discussion Questions

1. How can a person know when problems are so serious as to warrant leaving a church?
2. How can a Christian discover his/her spiritual gift(s)?
3. How can a local church help its pastor to focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word? How can it hinder this?
4. Is the local church to be a democracy? If not, where is the balance between elder rule versus congregational government?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2001, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

In 1777, William Dodd, a well-known London clergyman, was condemned to be hanged for forgery. When his last sermon, delivered in prison, was published, a friend commented to Samuel Johnson that the effort was far better than he had thought the man capable of. Dr. Johnson replied, “Depend upon it, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates the mind wonderfully.”

I cannot say whether Stephen sensed that he was about to be stoned to death when he delivered this message before the Sanhedrin, but his mind was wonderfully concentrated! More than just speaking well because of the threat of death, Stephen spoke powerfully because he was filled with the Holy Spirit (7:55). It is the longest sermon in Acts, and so the Holy Spirit thought it to be important enough for Luke to record it to the extent that he did.

Perhaps Luke wanted his largely Gentile audience to get a brief history of God’s dealings with Israel. The sermon also serves as a transition to the Gentile mission that follows this chapter, in that it shows Israel’s continued stubborn rejection of God’s message and messengers. It shows that God had worked in many places and ways with His servants down through the centuries, and so worship is not limited to the land of Palestine or to the temple. Like Abraham, who obediently followed the Lord, so God’s people must go where He leads.

Stephen was charged with speaking against Moses, against God, against the temple, and against the law and the customs handed down by Moses (6:11. 13, 14). While overall his message shows the charges to be false, it is more a sermon that traces God’s historical dealings with Israel, Israel’s history of rebellion against God, and a climax that indicts his hearers of the very charges that they were bringing against him. They were guilty of rejecting Moses and the law, and even worse, they had just killed the Righteous One whom God had sent for their salvation. Thus the overall theme is that …

Stephen’s sermon points us to the sovereign, abundant grace of God toward rebellious sinners, but also to the danger of hardening our hearts against God’s grace.

Stephen’s message focuses on three issues: (1) the patriarchal period (7:2-16); (2) Moses and the law (7:17-43); and, (3) the tabernacle and temple (7:44-50). The conclusion (7:51-53) is a scathing denunciation of the Sanhedrin, who were following in the rebellious pattern of their forefathers. First we will look at the explanation of Stephen’s message, and then at the application of it.

The explanation of Stephen’s message:

Rather than working through the message in detail, which would take far more time than I have, I want to show you three dominant themes that are woven throughout it. Also, there are several difficult historical problems that I do not have time to comment on. If you are interested in these, you can consult the best commentaries. But I will mention one as an example.

In verse 16, Stephen says that the patriarchs were removed from Egypt to Shechem, where they were laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. However, Genesis says that Abraham bought the Cave of Machpelah (near Hebron) from the sons of Heth (Genesis 23), whereas Jacob bought a piece of land from the sons of Hamor in Shechem (Gen. 33:19). Also, Jacob was buried in the Cave of Machpelah (Gen. 50:13), whereas Joseph was finally buried on the land in Shechem (Josh. 24:32). Scripture does not say where the other sons of Jacob were buried, although Josephus claims that they were buried in Hebron (Antiquities 2.8.2 [199]).

How do we reconcile all of this? Some say that Stephen simply got confused under pressure. This would not necessarily undermine the doctrine of the inspiration and infallibility of Scripture, which only would require that Luke accurately recorded what Stephen said. But, since Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit and since he obviously knew the Old Testament so well, it is not likely that he erred. There are two possible solutions.

First, it may be that Abraham made the original purchase in Shechem, where he built an altar (Gen. 12:6-7), but that since he did not settle there, the land reverted to the original owner, necessitating Jacob’s repurchase of it. Thus we would be lacking information regarding Abraham’s original purchase that perhaps both Stephen and his audience knew from Jewish tradition.

A second suggestion is that due to the time pressure and duress that Stephen was under, he simply telescoped the two accounts into one. His audience would have known that Joseph and Jacob (“they” of 7:16) were buried in separate places. His telescoped reference was sufficient for his audience to recall the entire account without Stephen going into greater detail about who exactly bought what and which man was buried in which place. If Stephen had made a glaring error, his hostile audience would have pounced on it as proof that Stephen was not a knowledgeable man. The fact that they did not shows that Stephen’s shortened reference was acceptable to everyone concerned.

I’ll leave you to find and delve into the other historical problems in Stephen’s message. Let’s focus rather on three themes:

1. Israel’s history reveals God’s sovereign, abundant grace.

Stephen demonstrates clearly that God initiated the process of calling out a people for His name and that He continued to pour out His grace on these people in spite of their own rebellion. He began by calling Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran (7:2). Stephen refers to God as “the God of glory,” showing His majesty and separateness from sinful humanity. Abraham was a pagan idolater, living in a pagan culture, with no merit in him for God to appear to him and make a covenant with him. Why did God not call Abraham’s entire family, or why did He not tell Abraham to reach out to the cities of Ur or Haran, rather than to make the long journey to the land of Canaan? We do not know. All we know is that God sovereignly chose Abraham and poured out His grace on him. God’s sovereignty is further underscored in 7:4 where Stephen states that God removed Abraham into this country. The nation of Israel owed its existence to God’s gracious promise to make a great nation out of Abraham’s descendants and to give them the land of Canaan.

Furthermore, God’s hand was on Joseph, in spite of the wickedness of his brothers in selling him into slavery. God sovereignly used the famine in Canaan to get Jacob and all of his descendants into Egypt, where Joseph cared for their needs. God’s sovereignty and grace are seen in the way He protected the fledgling nation during the 400 years in Egypt, in spite of their trials.

When the time of God’s promise to Abraham approached (7:17), He sovereignly raised up Moses, who is the only baby in the Bible called beautiful (7:20)! But, as Stephen notes, Moses was born at the very time that Pharaoh decreed the death of the Jewish infants (7:19-20). Why would God do that? As John Calvin explains, it was to show that “that time is most fit for God to work in, when there is no hope or counsel to be looked for at man’s hands” (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], Acts 1:268). In His sovereign grace, God protected Moses through Pharaoh’s daughter, and provided him with an education “in all the learning of the Egyptians,” so that “he was a man of power in words and deeds” (7:22).

But in spite of his learning and power, the people of Israel did not at first accept Moses as their deliverer. He had to flee for his life and spend 40 years in the wilderness of Midian. Stephen’s sermon is the only place in the Bible that we learn that Moses was about 40 when he had to flee to Midian, and that he spent 40 years there. Then, God again sovereignly appeared to Moses in the burning bush and promised to use him to deliver Israel from slavery. Stephen makes the point that it was the same Moses whom Israel had at first rejected that God sent to deliver the nation (7:35). It was this same Moses who predicted that God would raise up another prophet after him (7:37). Stephen is not so subtly implying that Jesus is that Prophet, rejected the first time!

But in spite of God’s sovereign, abundant grace, Israel rebelled against God and His servant Moses in the wilderness. They turned back to Egypt in their hearts (7:39) and worshiped the golden calf. God gave the nation up to their idolatry, so that later they worshiped the false gods of Canaan (7:42-43). Even so, in His grace God had given them the tabernacle, and later the temple, as the place where He met with them, although as Stephen reminds them by quoting Isaiah 66:1-2, God is not bound by a man-made dwelling, since He made all things. Thus all through his message, Stephen emphasizes God’s sovereign, abundant grace, shown to the nation of Israel in spite of her repeated sins.

2. Israel’s history reveals their own stubborn, rebellious propensity to reject God’s gracious dealings with them.

We have already seen this theme as we looked at God’s grace, and so I do not need to go over it in detail. But note the repeated pattern of the nation’s rejecting the deliverers whom God had sent. Joseph’s brothers (the patriarchs of the nation) at first wickedly rejected him, but later found him to be their “savior” from death by starvation. Israel in slavery in Egypt at first rejected Moses as their deliverer, but later it was this very man whom God raised up to be both ruler and deliverer (7:35). The parallel with these wicked men to whom Stephen was speaking is obvious. They had rejected the very One whom God had sent as Messiah and Savior. And yet, like Joseph’s brothers and like Israel under Moses, God was offering them another chance to repent and follow Jesus!

3. Israel’s history reveals their pattern of limiting worship to a sacred place, rather than to a sacred Person, who made all that is.

The Jews in Stephen’s day were fiercely loyal to the land, to Jerusalem, and to the temple as the only center for worshiping God. So throughout his message, Stephen repeatedly shows them that God historically had revealed Himself to His servants in Gentile territory, apart from the temple. He called Abraham in the land of Mesopotamia. He did not give Abraham any inheritance in the land, “not even a foot of ground” (7:5). God predicted to Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land, but not until they were enslaved and mistreated in a foreign land for 400 years (7:6).

Also, God revealed Himself to Moses in the foreign land of Midian through the burning bush. That ground was holy because the living God was there (7:33). Also, God was with Moses and the nation in the wilderness (outside of the land), and God spoke directly to Moses on Mount Sinai (also outside of the land; 7:38). By calling the law “living oracles,” Stephen shows that the charge of him speaking against the law was not true. He reverenced God’s Law. It was the rebellious nation that had repeatedly despised it.

Stephen brings up the tabernacle and the temple, but not at great length (7:44-50). By his brevity with reference to the temple (7:47) and by the quotation from Isaiah (7:48-50), Stephen is not despising the temple, but he is challenging the mindset that the Jews had toward the temple. They boasted in the temple as if it gave them special access to God, in spite of their wicked behavior. Stephen is showing them that the main issue is not the place where they worshiped, but rather having their hearts right before the Person of the Holy Creator.

The Jews in Jeremiah’s day had done the same thing. Through the prophet, God said, “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—that you may do all these abominations?” (Jer. 7:9-10). They thought that having the temple gave them special privileges with God, no matter how corrupt their behavior. Stephen is indicting the Jews in his day with the same charge. They thought that worship at the temple gave them a place of special blessing, even though their hearts were wicked and far from God.

Note the repetition in his sermon of the word “hands.” In 7:41, he mentions how in the incident of the golden calf, Israel rejoiced in the work of their hands. In 7:48, Stephen declares, “However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands.” In 7:50, through Isaiah, God declares, “Was it not My hand which made all these things?” Stephen’s point is, men can build idols with their hands, and even temples that they mistakenly think God will dwell in, but the Most High God and Creator is not limited by man-made objects. Whether we worship in a beautiful temple or at a burning bush in the wilderness, we must reckon with His holy presence by cleansing our hearts from all idolatry and wickedness. It is possible to go through the impressive outward motions of worship, but to have stiff necks and uncircumcised hearts and ears (7:51). It is possible to boast in our knowledge of God’s Word, but not to obey it (7:53).

While much more could be said, Stephen’s message reveals these themes. God’s sovereign grace is abundantly shown to rebellious sinners, but we must take heed to the danger of hardening our hearts against His grace. Even though Israel had a history of spiritual privilege unlike any nation on earth, she rejected her Savior and incurred God’s judgment. The temple that she boasted in was destroyed in A.D. 70, and Israel was scattered among the nations for 19 centuries. How can we apply this sermon to ourselves?

The application of Stephen’s message:

1. We should rejoice in and proclaim God’s abundant mercy toward hardened sinners.

This is at least the third time that the Sanhedrin, which was responsible for crucifying Jesus, had heard the gospel and had an opportunity to repent. They heard Peter preach after they arrested him and John in connection with the healing of the lame man in the temple (4:1-12). They again heard Peter and the apostles offer them repentance and forgiveness of sins after they had been arrested, miraculously freed, and re-arrested (5:29-32). Now, again, they hear Stephen powerfully set forth God’s gracious dealings with the nation, in spite of their rebellion. While he never mentions the name of Jesus, he refers to Him as the Righteous One (7:52), and his vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God testifies to the Council again of His resurrection (7:56). If God had given these murderers just one chance to repent after crucifying Jesus, He would have been abundant in mercy. But to give them three opportunities shows His super-abundant grace!

All of us who have experienced God’s salvation know that it was in spite of, not because of, anything in us! Like Abraham, if God had not sovereignly called him by His grace, he would have lived and died as a pagan in a pagan land. Do you rejoice daily in God’s grace to you, the sinner? If you do, you will want to tell other sinners about His grace toward them.

2. We should guard against presuming on God’s grace by falling into a pattern of sin.

Paul tells us that Israel’s history should be a warning to us not to crave evil things as they craved, nor to be idolaters, as they were, nor to act immorally, nor to try the Lord, nor to grumble as they did (1 Cor. 10:6-10). It is a gross misunderstanding and misapplication of God’s grace to presume that we can go on sinning and just keep on claiming His grace. As Paul puts it in Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be!” Jude 4 warns us about “ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” In Titus 2:11-12, Paul shows us the proper response to God’s grace. He says that it instructs us “to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.”

3. We should guard against going through the outward motions of worship, when our hearts are far from God.

Israel was God’s chosen nation. They had His covenant promises, His pattern of worship given to Moses on Mount Sinai, the tabernacle where His glory was shown, and then the temple in all its splendor. God had dispossessed the pagan nations and given Israel their land. They had received the law as ordained by angels. Yet in spite of all these privileges, their hearts were far from God! They had a history of killing the prophets that God sent them, culminating in their eventually killing the Lord Jesus Christ.

Like Israel, we have had great spiritual privileges. We live in a nation founded upon biblical principles. We have a history of great spiritual opportunity. We have the Bible in our language in multiple translations. We have freedom to worship without persecution. We can hear the Bible taught on Christian radio or through many other resources. And yet it is easy to fall into the trap of going through the outward motions of Christianity, but not walking in reality with the living God. The building that we meet in is not God’s house. Our bodies are the temple of the living God, and so we must walk in holiness before the Lord, beginning in our hearts. To offer worship to God when we have not repented of our sins is an offense toward Him (Mark 7:6-8, 20-23).

4. We should imitate Stephen by being more concerned about bearing witness to the truth than about our own protection.

As I said earlier, Stephen does defend himself with this sermon. He shows that he reverenced God, he thought highly of Moses, and he did not speak against the temple or the law. But his main thrust was not to defend himself, but to bring God’s truth to bear on the consciences of these hypocrites. He identifies with them repeatedly throughout the sermon. Eight times (7:11, 12, 15, 19, 38, 39, 44, & 45) he refers to “our fathers.” But when he gets to the pointed application at the end, he shifts to “your fathers” (7:51, 52). He isn’t speaking with polite generalities that no one would connect with their own behavior. He wants them to feel the guilt of their terrible sin of murdering Jesus. Only when they have been convicted in their hearts will they see their need for God’s forgiveness and salvation.

While we should treat each person with grace and tact (Col. 4:6), we also should not be so nice, focusing only on God’s love, that the person never comes under conviction of sin. Until a sinner feels the weight of his guilt before a holy God, salvation is a nice idea, but it’s not a crucial necessity. Often we back off from the hard aspects of the gospel because we want people to think well of us. But we have not proclaimed the gospel if we avoid the subjects of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

Conclusion

We are going to conclude our service today by partaking of the Lord’s Supper. It is very easy for something we do so often to become an outward ritual that we go through without getting our hearts right before God. Paul warned us that we must first judge ourselves rightly before God, and then partake. If not, we may incur His severe discipline, even to the point of physical death (1 Cor. 11:27-31). As the elements are handed out, examine your own heart before God. Make sure that your faith is in Christ as your Savior and Lord. Confess any known sin. Pray with David (Ps. 139:23-24), “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.”

Discussion Questions

1. Do God’s grace and patience have limits? Is there ever a time when we cannot offer His grace to rebellious sinners?
2. Since we all sin repeatedly in many ways, how can we know if we are presuming on God’s grace?
3. How can we guard against outward Christianity? How can we keep our hearts genuinely close to God?
4. Was Stephen too confrontational in his indictment of his audience? How can we know how confrontational to be when we present the gospel to someone?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2001, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation