Acts 6:8-15

Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.  But some men from the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, as well as some from Cilicia and the province of Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen.  Yet they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.  Then they secretly instigated some men to say, “We have heard this man speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.”  They incited the people, the elders, and the experts in the law; then they approached Stephen, seized him, and brought him before the council.  They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place and the law.  For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”  All who were sitting in the council looked intently at Stephen and saw his face was like the face of an angel.

Stephen was a man chosen by the early church, and blessed by the apostles. Acts 6:5 describes him as, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” While performing miracles among the people, persecution comes, but those who accused him could not stand against the Holly Spirit. The situation escalates and Stephen is brought before the Sanhedrin. God is with Stephen, and his Spirit-filled response to the accusations (Acts 7), speaks the truth clearly and boldly, and condemns his accusers of disobedience, and the murder of Jesus Christ. They can’t handle it, it’s like uncontrollable rage overtakes them. They cover their ears and rush toward him, drag him out of the city, and stone him. While being stoned, Stephen prays for those stoning him. Saul, the future apostle Paul, witnesses this take place and approves of the murder.