If you were put on the spot, would you be able to give an adequate defense for what you believe or would you crumble like a wet noodle?  In our text today, Stephen, is gifted and expert at defending and proving the truth of Christianity.  Stephen, Stephen, full of faith is our example of the power and perils of apologetics. 

Why you should be able to defend your faith: 

#1.  It will help you defeat your own doubts

#2.  It will make you a better witness.

#3.  You will be able help others grow strong in their faith. 

Apologetics is the study and discipline of defending the faith. 

1 Pet 3:15 – be ready to give a defense. 

Col 4:5-6 You should know how to answer.  

2 Cor 10:4-5 The truth destroys every argument against God.

Miracles are Apologetic Evidence of Christianity - 8

Stephen was full of faith and power. 

If you are going to be a good witness, you need faith.

Faith Makes Ministry Effective. 

1 Peter 3:15 “set apart the Lord God in your heart.” 

God used Stephen to do great signs, wonders and miracles. 

“signs”  Are an apologetic evidence of Christianity. 

He did extraordinary miracles, we receive providential miracles! 

When God answers prayer we should tell others about it!

Answers to prayers are meant to be apologetic. 

Miracles are the result of faith, not generators of it. 

Rational Arguments are Apologetic Evidence of Christianity - 9-10

The synagogue of freedmen was built by Jews who once were slaves. 

They made a concerted effort to prove Stephen wrong. 

“Dispute” συζητέω “question, enquire, reason, seek answers.” 

Positive apologetics: an argument for the validity Christianity.

Negative apologetics answering objections against Christianity.

God is not against using your mind. 

We are not afraid of questions, because Jesus has the answer.

If you want wisdom you need to study God’s Word. 

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Persecution may be the Response to Apologetics  11-15

Some people don’t like to be proven wrong! 

10 The Jews lost the argument. 

11 they doubled down and decided to discredit Stephen.

12 they arrested him and brought him to court 

You can give the best answers and still be met with unbelief. 

Faith is unmoved by opposition.  Stephen didn’t pale and fear opposition; instead, he had a glow of faith and love for Jesus.  You could see it glistening!  You could sense it.  It sparkled in his eye and shone from his face. His life and his lips were a powerful apologetic for the kingdom of God.  Lord make me a Stephen, that I may be used by you. 

If you were put on the spot, would you be able to give an adequate defense for what you believe?  Or would you crumble like a wet noodle?

There are several reasons why you might want to be able to defend your faith.  #1.  If you want defeat your own personal doubts, you must have an adequate idea of why you believe what you believe.  In a 2017 study, Lifeway Research found that young adults who drop out of church are less likely to say, “The church taught me how to defend my Christian faith” (46% v 63% among those who stayed in church).[i]

#2.  If you want to be a good witness, you should be able to answer some of the basic questions that people ask.  #3.  If you want to help your family, or other Christians grow strong in their faith, you should learn the Scriptural answers to these difficult questions. 

So how about it?  Can you answer basic objections to Christianity?  How about questions like these:  #1 How do you know there is a God? #2 How could a good God allow evil?  #3 Can you trust the Bible? #4 Why do you think Jesus is the only way? #5 How can a loving God send good people to Hell? #6 What about those who have never heard?

Today, I’m not going to answer all those questions, even though we have good answers for each one… but I’m going to make the case that answering objections, otherwise known as the study of apologetics is essential if you want to win the world and strengthen your faith.  However, let me say, that you can give convincing answers to difficult questions and people may still not believe.  In fact some of them will just stubbornly dig in and oppose you in spite of the evidence. 

Let’s talk about apologetics.  What is it?  First of all, let me say that apologetics is not apologizing for what you believe.  Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, “speak in defense”) is the study and discipline of defending the faith.  It equips believers to defend their faith with confidence, clarity, and compassion.  Apologetics allows Christians to explain the rational basis for belief in God, inviting others to recognize His divine presence and respond to His call.

Did you know that the Bible indicates that all of us should be apologists?  Apologetics is not optional. Every follower of Christ is instructed to be a defender of the faith.  Let me give you a couple of verses. 

1 Peter 3:15 – “But set apart the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you for a reason of the hope that is in you with gentleness and respect:”  The word “reason” is our Greek word ἀπολογία – a defense of the faith. 

The apostle Paul says the same thing in Colossians 4:5-6 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of your time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.  The Word answer is ἀποκρίνομαι apokrinomai which means “to speak up!”

Another powerful passage is 2 Cor 10:4-5 which tells us, the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. λογισμός logismos which is reason or logic.

In our text today, Stephen, full of faith is gifted and expert at defending and proving the truth of Christianity.  He is our example of the power and perils of apologetics.  Let us begin with the power.  Verse 8: 

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

My first point is that

Miracles are Apologetic Evidence of Christianity - 8

Stephen was an exceptional man!  His faith was explosive: He was full of faith and power.  Last week we saw that the early church chose seven men to serve tables.  They are considered the first deacons of the church.  In order to reach this esteemed office you had to meet three qualifications: 

Verse 3.  You had to have a “good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.”

And Verse 6, comments, that Stephen was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. 

If you are going to be a good witness, you need to be filled with faith (because it takes faith to witness) and you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Faith Makes Ministry Effective.  How do you get to be full of faith? 

Just a moment ago, we read 1 Peter 3:15 which tells us to “set apart the Lord God in your hearts:”  That is what Stephen did.  He decided that his heart was going to be completely set apart for one thing and one thing only:  Jesus!  What this means is that Stephen was so sold out for God, that there wasn’t room for anything else in his heart!  He was so full of faith in Jesus, and so full of the Holy Spirit that that was all he knew.  That when his heart beat, it beat Jesus!

And it turns out that He was so exceptional that God used him to do great signs, wonders and miracles.  Besides the Apostles, there were only a few who did wonders and signs in the early church.  Stephen was one of those who received a portion of the power of the Apostles. 

And these early miracles are evidence of Christianity.  In fact they are called “signs.”  They are a sign post that points to the validity of the faith.  They were apologetic.

Can you imagine what it must have been like to do apologetics in the early church?  When neighbor Jacob the Jew asked the average Christian why he should follow Jesus, he may have met with a response like this:  “well, Jesus healed my uncle the lame man, gave sight to my cousin the blind man, raised my aunties son from the dead, walked on water, fed the 5000, died for our sins, and by the way, I’m sure you know that he arose from the dead.”  Any questions? 

And just in case that isn’t enough, did you see that Peter and John healed the lame man and Stephen the deacon has been doing some amazing miracles in Jesus name. 

Miracles are apologetic evidence of Christianity.  We believe in miracles.  Miracles have always been the evidence of the God on the earth.  We do not have the same exceptional gifts as they did during the age of the apostles; we don’t do extraordinary miracles, instead, we get providential miracles.  What that means is that we pray and God answers.

Every time God answers prayers with his miracle power, those signs and wonders and answers to prayers are meant for you to tell others about the wonder and glory of God’s grace! Answers to prayers and the miracles of faith are meant to be apologetic.  Here’s what you can do to be a good witness like Stephen:  Be filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, and Tell everyone the amazing things that God has done for you!

Now let me say this: Miracles are the result of faith, not generators of it.  Remember that the Jews of Jesus day saw all his miracles and many still did not believe.  It is not that man cannot believe, it is that he will not believe!  Miracles are evidence of Christianity… and

Rational Arguments are Evidence of Christianity 9-10

9  Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. 10  And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

There was a synagogue in Jerusalem that was apparently founded by freedmen…[ii]  meaning they once were slaves and now they are free.  These men were Jews who had been slaves in North Africa, Lybia, Egypt and Asia.  That’s where Cyrenia, Alexandria, and Cilicia are.  But they had been freed and made their way back to Jerusalem. 

Some think that among these zealous members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen was Saul of Tarsus, who was a great debater.  In fact the Orthodox tradition suggests that Saul and Stephen were relatives!  That would have been quite the debate:  Saul Vs Stephen.  If it happened, guess who won?

Verse nine says there was a concerted effort to prove Stephen wrong.  A group of them “disputed” with Stephen.  συζητέω suzeteo “to question, to enquire, to reason with, to seek answers.” 

Apologetics is the study of responding to the disputes of those who don’t believe, asking questions about why people believe what they believe, and it is the science of seeking answers to the big questions of life. 

In Mr 8:11  the Pharisees came forth, and began to question συζητέω  Jesus

Later on in Acts, Paul, a master at apologetics “spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed συζητέω against the Greeks.”  Acts 9:29

Lu 22:23  the Disciples began to reason συζητέω among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing.

There are two sub-disciplines of Christian apologetics: positive apologetics and negative apologetics. Positive apologetics involves giving an argument for Christianity. For example, giving arguments for God’s existence or the reliability of the Bible. Negative apologetics involves answering objections against Christianity. For example, answering the problem of evil.[iii]

Let me be very clear about something.  Christianity is not against using your mind.  You do not need to check your brain at the door when you come to church.  We are not anti-intellectual.  In fact, we encourage difficult questions.  We are not afraid of them.  Because we know what Stephen knew.  Verse 10:

They were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

We know that there is absolute truth.  We know that God has all the answers.  We know that when enquiring minds set out to find the answers to the difficult questions of life, that truth will always triumph and the Bible will always be found to be true! 

If you want wisdom, like Stephen had wisdom, you need to study God’s Word, because the Bible has the answer!  The Bible is the best apologetic against the disputes of the world! 

Century after century, there it stands!  Empires rise and fall and are forgotten, There it stands! Emperors decree its extermination.  Legislators outlaw its teaching.   Atheists rail against it.   Critics deny it.   Fogs of argumentation conceal it temporarily.   Modern man tries to explain it away. Infidels predict its abandonment. There it stands!  Storms of hate swirl about it.   Thunderbolts of wrath smite it.   An anvil, that has broken a million hammers!   The flames are kindled about it.   The arrows of hate  are discharged against it.   The tooth of time gnaws but dents it not.   There it stands!   It is God's highway to Paradise.   It is the light on the pathway  in the darkest night.   It answers every question of the soul. It solves every problem of life.   It is a fortress which never fails.   It outlives, outlifts, outloves, outreaches, outranks, outruns all other books.   Trust it, love it, obey it,  and Eternal life is yours...THERE IT STANDS!

As amazing as apologetics is, there is one downfall to it.  Some people don’t like to be proven wrong!  They take great offense at us when we present the evidence.  And that was the case here.

Persecution may be the Response to Apologetics

11  Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." 12  And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. 13  They also set up false witnesses who said, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; 14  "for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us."

It is ironic that the Synagogue of the Freedmen should call themselves that. They may have been freed from one type of slavery, but they were slaves nonetheless.

Notice the progression here.  In verse 10 they lost the argument.  They were outgunned, and Stephen’s apologetics was far superior.  So did they admit defeat?  No.  Instead, they doubled down and decided if they couldn’t outshine his miracles nor out reason his wisdom, that there was only one thing left to do: discredit him

They used the same tired method that they used on Jesus, and we know how that turned out!  They said that Stephen was heard speaking blasphemy against the Law of Moses and against the Temple. 

The two most sacred things to the Jew were the Law of Moses and the Temple.  To speak disrespectfully of them always aroused the anger of the people.  You were never closer to death than if you would spit words of contempt towards either.

The crowd became irrational.  This whipped their followers into a rabid frenzy and they dragged Stephen before the Sanhedrin.  And there they sentenced him to death.  If they couldn’t shut him up with their logic, they were determined to shout him down and shut his mouth permanently!  In verse 12 they dragged him before the Sanhedrin to be tried.  This is the third time Christianity has been on trial in the Supreme Court of Israel.  And it is here that it gets a fatal condemnation.  It will no longer be tolerated. 

You can give the wisest and best holy spirit filled answers the world has ever heard, and still be met with unbelief.  I don’t know how many times I have reasoned with people about the Word of God and shown convincing truths, only to hear them say, “I hear what you are saying, but I choose not to believe it.  .  (I once did a wedding)

Yet Faith is unmoved by opposition Verse 15 is worth repeating.  15  And all who sat in the council, looked steadfastly at him, and noted that his face looked like the face of an angel.

I don’t know what exactly this means, except I He had a glow of faith and love for Jesus.  You could see it glistening!  You could sense it.  It was something they were missing.  It sparkled in his eye and shone from his face.

Stephen, Stephen, full of faith.  He helped the poor, fed the widows, cared for the orphans, and did amazing signs and wonders.  His life and his lips were a powerful apologetic for the kingdom of God.  It could not be refuted.  If you were put on the spot, would you be able to give an adequate defense for what you believe?  Or would you crumble like a wet noodle?

Lord make me a Stephen, that I may be used by you.