Are you Resisting the Holy Spirit?
VideoTranscript
This is the video’s transcript, lightly formatted. Tap a time to jump to that moment.
The sun beat down relentlessly on Jerusalem that day, the same way it had for centuries before. The city was buzzing with activity. Merchants selling their wares, children playing in the streets, religious pilgrims making their way to and from the magnificent temple that dominated the skyline. It was an ordinary day for most, but for one man named Steven, it would be his last. Steven wasn't particularly noteworthy by appearance. He wasn't a prestigious family member, wasn't wealthy, didn't hold any official religious title. What made Steven extraordinary was something that couldn't be seen with physical eyes.
He was described as full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts tells us he was full of God's grace and power and performed great wonders and signs among the people. This was a man who radiated something different, something that made people take notice. His prominence in the early church had come about somewhat unexpectedly. The apostles, overwhelmed with the growth of the Jesus movement in Jerusalem, had asked the community to select seven men to oversee the daily distribution of food to widows. Steven was chosen first among these seven, but it quickly became clear that his gifts extended far beyond any administrative abilities or duties. He became known as a powerful witness for Jesus, boldly proclaiming the message throughout Jerusalem.
This boldness eventually landed him in serious trouble. A group from the synagogue of the freedman, likely composed of former slaves or their descendants who had returned to Jerusalem, began to argue with Steven about his teachings concerning Jesus. Now, these weren't casual theological discussions over a meal. These were heated public confrontations where Steven's eloquence and spiritual wisdom left his opponents frustrated and embarrassed. Well, unable to defeat defeat Steven in open debate, they resorted to underhanded tactics. Surprise, surprise. They secretly persuaded men to falsely testify.
We have heard Steven speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. This was no small accusation in first century Judaism. Blasphemy was punishable by death under Jewish law. They also stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes against them. Before long, Steven was seized and dragged before the Sanadrin, the highest Jewish court composed of 71 of the most powerful religious leaders in Israel. The high priest presided over this intimidating assembly. Picture the scene.
Steven standing alone in the center of a semicircle of sternfaced religious authorities, many of whom had likely played roles in Jesus condemnation just months before. Witnesses step forward with their rehearsed accusations. This man never stopped speaking against this holy place and against the law, for we had heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us. Well, the high priest turned to Steven and asked simply, "Are these charges true? What happened next was extraordinary." Instead of cowering in fear or offering a brief defense, Stephen launches into what would become one of the longest speeches recorded in the New Testament. As he began to speak, the Bible tells us that all who were sitting in the Sanadrin looked intently at Steven and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
There was a supernatural quality to his countenance that could not be denied. Steven began by addressing them respectfully as brothers and fathers and then proceeded to walk them through their own history starting with Abraham. But this was not some random history lesson. Steven was carefully constructing a narrative that would reveal a pattern in how God's people had repeatedly rejected the very messengers God had sent to them. He reminded them how God called Abraham from Mesopotamia to a new land. promising it to his descendants even though Abraham didn't yet have children. He recounted the story of Joseph, how his brothers, the patriarchs of Israel, rejected him out of jealousy, selling him into slavery.
Yet God was with Joseph. And eventually those same brothers came to depend on him for their survival. Steven then turned to Moses, a figure the religious leaders claimed Steven had blasphemed against. With careful detail, he told how Moses was rejected by his own people when he first tried to help them. Who made you ruler and judge over us? They had asked. Moses fled to Midian for 40 years before God called him through the burning bush to return and lead Israel out of Egypt.
This same Moses whom they had rejected, saying, "Who made you ruler and judge?" was the one God sent to be their ruler and deliverer. Throughout Israel's wilderness journey, Stephen pointed out that people repeatedly turned away from Moses and from God, fashioning a golden calf to worship and later turning to various idols. He noted that even though God commanded a tabernacle to be built according to the pattern shown to Moses, and even though Solomon later would build a magnificent temple, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands.
Up to this point, Steven's history lesson might have seemed like a respectful, if somewhat puzzling, defense. But then came the turning point that transformed his speech from a history lesson into a prophetic indictment. With fire in his eyes, Steven directly confronted his accusers. You stiff necked people, your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors. You always resist the Holy Spirit. Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?
They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one. And now you have betrayed and murdered him. You who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it. These words cut to the heart. Steven had flipped the script entirely. He wasn't on trial. They were.
The real blasphemers weren't those who followed Jesus, but those who rejected him. The real lawb breakakers weren't Jesus' disciples, but the religious establishment itself. As rage filled the Sanadran chamber, Steven looked up to heaven in a moment of divine revelation. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the son of man standing at the right hand of God." This was the final straw. Not only had Stephen accused him of murdering their Messiah, but now he claimed to see Jesus in a position of divine authority standing at God's right hand. The council members covered their ears and yelling at the top of their voices rushed at him together.
They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. The witnesses who had falsely testified against him took off their outer garments and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul, who would later become the Apostle Paul. As stones crashed against his body, breaking bones and tearing flesh, Steven followed his master's example. He called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell to his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep. The beautiful euphemism used to describe the death of those who die in faith.
So ended the life of Steven, the first Christian martyr. But his death was not in vain. The persecution that followed scattered believers throughout Judea and Samaria, spreading the very message his opponents had tried to silence. And the young man Saul, who approved of Steven's execution, would eventually have his own encounter with the risen Jesus and become Christianity's most influential missionary. Steven's speech and martyrdom stand as a pivotal moment in the early church. But what does this ancient story have to teach us today? How does Steven's courageous stand before the Sanadrin speak to our modern world, our everyday challenges, and our spiritual journeys?
Well, first, Steven teaches us about the courage to stand for truth, even when it's deeply unpopular. We live in an age where speaking truth can be very costly. Maybe not physically costly, as it was for Steven, at least not in many Western lands, but costly nonetheless. Speaking truth might mean losing family, family relationships, friends, job opportunities, or social standing. It might mean being labeled intolerant, old-fashioned, or irrelevant. Jesus warned his followers that this was going to happen. In John 15 18 and 19, Jesus said, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Steven understood this cost and he accepted it. He didn't water down his message to make it more palatable. He didn't avoid the difficult truths to preserve his own safety. Instead, he spoke with clarity and conviction, trusting that God's truth was more important than his own comfort or even his own life.
Now, that doesn't mean we should be needlessly offensive or look for opportunities to make enemies. Remember, Steven addressed the council respectfully as brothers and fathers. He demonstrated a thorough knowledge of their shared scripture and traditions. He wasn't an outsider throwing stones. He was a faithful Jew calling his people back to their true heritage and forward to God's new work in Jesus.
In the same way, our truthtelling should be done with respect, knowledge, and love, but it must still be truthtelling. Second, Steven shows us that the danger of elevating tradition over transformation. The religious leaders have become so invested in maintaining the religious system that they missed the God that system was designed to honor. They had turned means into ends, mistaking the signpost for the destination. Jesus confronted the same tendency during his ministry. In Mark 7:8, he told the Pharisees, "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions." And in verse 13, "Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down."
Look, it's easy to point fingers at the Sanadrin, but don't we often do the same thing? We can become so attached to certain ways of worshiping, particular interpretations of scripture, or specific cultural expressions of faith that we resist God's efforts to lead us into new understanding and new growth. And we can cherish our religious comfort zones more than we cherish the sometimes uncomfortable presence of the Holy Spirit that's pushing us outside of our comfort zone. The temple was central to Jewish identity and faith. It was where heaven and earth met, where God's presence dwelled. Yet Steven boldly declared that the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. He quoted the prophet Isaiah, "Heaven is my throne and the earth is my foottool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?" God cannot be contained in our buildings, in our traditions, in our theological systems, or in our comfort zones. The moment we think we have God all figured out and neatly packaged is the moment we fashioned an idol rather than encountered the living God. Third, Steven reminds us that rejection often precedes redemption in God's economy. Throughout his speech, Steven highlighted how God's chosen instruments were initially rejected by the very people they came to help. Joseph was rejected by his own brothers before becoming their savior.
Moses was rejected by his own people before becoming their deliverer. And Jesus, the ultimate deliverer, was rejected by the religious establishment before becoming the world's savior. This pattern has not changed. It continues today. The message of the cross remains foolishness to those who are perishing. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 1:18, "The way of Jesus, loving enemies, serving others, putting others needs before our own, that runs very counter to our natural instincts and cultural values. It will be rejected by many, perhaps even some very close to us."
But rejection isn't the end of the story. Joseph's brothers eventually bowed before him, didn't they? Many Israelites eventually followed Moses out of Egypt. And millions throughout history, billions really, have come to recognize Jesus as Lord and Savior. When we face rejection for our faith or our values, we're in good company. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 5 11 and 12, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven.
For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Fourth, Steven demonstrates the power of knowing your story, both the biblical story and your personal story with God. His defense before the Sanin wasn't a collection of abstract theological arguments. It was a retelling of Israel's story, connecting it to the present moment and to Jesus as the fulfillment of that story. Well, in our post-Christian culture, biblical literacy is definitely declining. Many people, even those raised in church, have only fragments of biblical knowledge. A Bible story here, a verse or two there, with little understanding of how it all fits together into the grand narrative of God's redemptive work.
that makes us vulnerable. Without knowledge of our story, we can't recognize when others try to twist it or replace it with counterfeit narratives. There's a lot of people out there looking to get you to follow them. We can't see how our personal stories connect to God's bigger story. We lose our sense of identity and purpose as part of a people with a past, present, and future shaped by God's faithful action. The Apostle Peter understood this in 1 Peter 3:15. He wrote, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect."
Being prepared means knowing the story, being so steeped in scriptures that its truth shape how we see and respond to the world. Fifth, Steven reveals that sometimes our greatest impact comes after our apparent failure. By worldly standards, Steven's speech was a disaster. Instead of winning over his audience, or at least saving his own skin, his words provoked such rage that he was brutally executed. His ministry was cut short, his potential seemed completely wasted. But God's metrics of success are different from ours. In God's economy, faithfulness matters far more than outcomes, and apparent defeats often become the seedbed for future victories.
Steven's martyrdom scattered the believers from Jerusalem, spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria exactly as Jesus had commanded in Acts 1:8. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. What looked like disaster was actually God's strategy for mission. Even more remarkably, Steven's death played a role in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. This zealous persecutor of the church, who approved of Steven's execution, later encountered Jesus on the Damascus road and became the Apostle Paul, author of much of the New Testament and the greatest missionary the church has ever known. Now, we may never know the full impact of our faithful witness. We may not see it.
Words we speak may bear fruit long after we've forgotten we ever said it. Actions we take may influence people we never even meet. Seeds we plant may grow into a harvest we don't live to see. In Galatians 6:9, Paul who knew something about delayed impact wrote, "Let us not become weary in doing good. For at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Our job is faithfulness. The results in timing belong to God.
So leave it to him." Six, Steven shows us how to die well and therefore how to live well. In his final moment, Stephen embodied the very grace he proclaimed. As stones crushed his body, he prayed, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Echoing Jesus prayer from the cross, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." Steven died with forgiveness on his lips and his eyes fixed on Jesus. He died without bitterness, without cursing his killers, without renouncing his faith to save his skin.
He died as he had lived full of the Holy Spirit bearing witness to Jesus. Now few of us are going to face that kind of martyrdom but all of us will face death and all of us face little deaths throughout life. Deaths of dreams, relationships, health, opportunities. We respond to these deaths. And how we do so reveals what we truly believe about God in eternity. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4:16-18, Paul wrote, "Therefore, we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are renewed day by day. For our light momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Steven could forgive his killers because he saw what they couldn't see. Heaven opened up in Jesus standing at God's right hand. His eternal perspective transformed his present reality, enabling him to respond with grace rather than bitterness or fear. Seventh, and finally, Steven reminds us that resistance to the Holy Spirit isn't just an ancient problem, it's a human problem. The climax of his speech came with this indictment. You stiff- necked people, your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised.
You are just like your ancestors. You always resist the Holy Spirit. The religious leaders had developed an impressive system for managing their relationship with God. They had rules for every situation imaginable, traditions for every occasion, and explanations for every theological question. What they couldn't control was the Holy Spirit who refuses to be systematized, predicted, or confined. Well, sometimes we too can resist the Holy Spirit, often without realizing it. We resist when we prefer comfort over obedience, tradition over fresh revelation, or control over surrender.
We resist when we elevate our theological certainties above the spirit's gentle prompings toward new understanding. We resist when fear of what others might think prevents us from following where God leads. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:8, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it's going." So it is with everyone born of the spirit. Following the spirit means embracing a certain holy uncertainty, a willingness to be surprised by God. This doesn't mean abandoning biblical truth or discernment.
Steven was full of the Holy Spirit precisely because he was deeply rooted in scripture and the apostles teaching about Jesus. But it does mean holding our systems and structures loosely enough that God can reshape them and us as needed. The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 43 18 and 19, "Forget the former things. Do not dwell in the past. See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. God is always doing new things, making new ways, creating streams in unexpected places. The question is whether we have eyes to see and hearts willing to follow. Steven's story challenges us to examine ourselves. Where have we become comfortable rather than faithful? Where have we elevated our traditions above God's transforming spirit? Where are we resisting the new thing God is doing and thereby resisting the Holy Spirit?
Like Steven, we're called to be people full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. People who know our story, speak truth boldly yet respectfully, maintain an eternal perspective in temporal challenges, and remain open to the spirit's fresh movement in our lives and in our communities. The same spirit that filled Stephen is available to us. The same Jesus that Steven saw standing at God's right hand intercedes for us today. And the same God who used Steven's apparent failure to advance the gospel can use our faithful witness even when it seems costly or fruitless in the face of opposition, cultural shifts, personal limitations, or apparent failure. We can remember Steven. We can remember that the most powerful sermon might not be the one that receives immediate applause, but the one that remains faithful to God's truth, even when that truth is uncomfortable, even when speaking it costs us something.
As we conclude this reflection on Steven's courageous witness, let's allow his example to inspire our own. Let's commit to knowing our story, speaking truth and love, remaining open to the spirit's direction, and keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith. Let this be our prayer. Aba, Father, we thank you for the example of Steven who stood boldly for your truth even when it cost him everything. Forgive us for the times we've chosen comfort over faithfulness, tradition over transformation, or fear over courage. Help us to be people full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, speaking your truth with both conviction and compassion. When we face opposition or rejection, remind us of your presence and give us an eternal perspective that transforms our present challenges.
May we, like Steven, keep our eyes fixed on Jesus even in our darkest moments. And if our faithful witness seems to bear little fruit, give us patience to trust your timing in your purposes. In all things, may we resist resisting your Holy Spirit. Instead, make us increasingly sensitive to your guidance and willing to follow wherever you lead, even into uncharted territory. We pray this in the name of Jesus who stands at your right hand and intercedes for us still. Amen. [Music]
