Text: Acts 7:51-8:4<\/p>\n
I. Stephen, the defendant, charges his judges of resisting the will of God<\/p>\n A. They acted no differently than their ancestors – proof would be their killing of\nJesus\n
B. Few prophets of God ever escaped being killed by them<\/p>\n C. They killed the prophets that announced the coming Messiah, including John who\nwas beheaded\n
1. They killed the Messiah when he came.<\/p>\n
D. They received a law from angels which they did not keep.<\/p>\n
II. Stephen’s words hurt.<\/p>\n
A. His judges were cut to the heart.<\/p>\n 1. They knew he was right, which made the charges that much more\nunbearable.\n
2. They were so angry, they were grinding their teeth.<\/p>\n B. Meanwhile, Stephen is given a vision of the glory of God with Jesus standing at\nHis right-hand.\n
1. Stephen announces what he sees<\/p>\n
2. But it was too much for these judges. <\/p>\n
C. They rush in unison and pull Stephen out of the city<\/p>\n 1. They give their cloaks to a young man named Saul to watch while they\ntook stones up to hurl at Stephen\n 2. As Stephen dies he calls on Jesus to receive him and he asks that Jesus not\nhold his death against these men.\n
D. While Saul did not throw stones, he was in hearty agreement with the action<\/p>\nIII. Starting with this death, the Jews began an active campaign to eliminate the disciples of\nJesus\n
A. The church was forced to scatter throughout Judea and Samaria.<\/p>\n
B. Only the apostles were able to stay in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
C. Stephen was buried by devote brethren and he was greatly mourned<\/p>\n
D. But Saul began a campaign to ravish the church<\/p>\n
1. He went into people’s homes to drag them off to prison. <\/p>\n 2. Saul, who later changes his name to Paul, describes his actions – Acts\n26:9-11\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tActs of the Apostles\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Death of Stephen and the Persecution of the Church Text: Acts 7:51-8:4 I. Stephen, the defendant, charges his judges of resisting the will of God A. They acted no differently than their ancestors – proof would be their killing of Jesus B. Few prophets of God ever escaped being killed by them C. They killed the prophets that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":10021,"menu_order":13,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10142","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10169,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/the-church-in-antioch\/","url_meta":{"origin":10142,"position":0},"title":"The Church in Antioch","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Church in Antioch Text: Acts 11:19-30 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The text of Acts now switches to focus on Saul, who later is known as Paul. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The persecution that started with the death of Stephen has scattered Christians beyond the boundaries of Israel. They have gone to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0However, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10132,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/the-trial-of-stephen\/","url_meta":{"origin":10142,"position":1},"title":"The Trial of Stephen","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Trial of Stephen Text: Acts 6:7-15 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As the numbers of the disciples grew, it began to attract members of the priesthood. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This was, perhaps, the greatest insult to the Jewish mind \u2013 that a priest would actually leave Judaism for another religion. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Notice it wasn\u2019t one or two, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10021,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/","url_meta":{"origin":10142,"position":2},"title":"Acts of the Apostles","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Acts of the Apostles by Jeffrey W. Hamilton October 2001 Outline Study of the book of Acts. This series is currently incomplete. Lesson 1 Introduction and the Ascension of Jesus\u00a0(Acts 1:1-11) Replacing Judas\u00a0(Acts 1:12-26) Lesson 2 Baptism by the Holy Spirit\u00a0(Acts 2:1-13) Peter's First Sermon\u00a0(Acts 2:14-36) The Establishment of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10124,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/popularity-and-persecution\/","url_meta":{"origin":10142,"position":3},"title":"Popularity and Persecution","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Popularity and Persecution Text: Acts 5:12-42 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Miracles continued to be done among the Jews of Jerusalem \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The church, with such a growth, was meeting at the largest building in the city on Solomon\u2019s portico of the Temple \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This caused no direct problems. Jews worshiped on the Sabbath and Christians on\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22656,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-acts\/","url_meta":{"origin":10142,"position":4},"title":"Survey of the Bible – Acts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - Acts Text: Acts 1:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The book of Acts is a continuation of Luke\u2019s earlier account - Acts 1:1-3 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All early manuscripts use the title \u201cActs\u201d or \u201cActs of the Apostles\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The author is not named, but continuation and the style makes it clear that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10112,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/the-healing-of-the-lame-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":10142,"position":5},"title":"The Healing of the Lame Man","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Healing of the Lame Man Text: Acts 3 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Peter and John enter the temple one afternoon, about 3 pm \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of the temple gates was named \u201cBeautiful\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A man lame from birth was daily carried to this gate to beg of the worshipers entering the temple. Acts 4:22 notes\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10142\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}