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Acts 7:51-53  STEPHENS ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE SANHEDRIN

Introduction:

	In this text Stephen concludes his defense before the Sanhedrin Court or Sanhedrin Council and he levels  his own accusations against them.  

I.  The court before which Stephen stood

	Let me remind you that Stephen was on trial before men who were prejudiced against him from the start.  This was the court which had plotted the death of Jesus.  Under Roman rule, the Sanhedrin Council had no legal authority outside of Judea.  Therefore, back when Jesus was living, they had no authority over Him as long as He was in Galilee.  But the Sanhedrin members knew that as the time approached for the observation of the Jewish Passover Jesus would leave Galilee and come to Jerusalem.  Therefore, well before it was time for the Jews to start gathering at Jerusalem for the Passover, the Sanhedrin Council met and plotted His death.  What I want you to take note of is that before Jesus arrived at Jerusalem and before they had ever arrested Him or before He had ever appeared before them in trial, they already had unofficially convicted and sentenced Him to death.  
	Then, once Jesus did arrive at Jerusalem and was arrested and brought to trial before this court and before these very men, they never once considered anything but death for Him.  The members of the Court hired false witnesses to testify against Him.  Then, even though the witnesses contradicted one another in what they said and there was no valid witness against Him, there was still a unanimous vote against Him.  They pronounced Jesus worthy of death and carried Him to the Roman authorities where they pressured Pilate into ratifying the death penalty.  Pilate said, “I find no fault in Him.”  But with the aid of a huge mob of people screaming for the crucifixion of Jesus and by means of a threat of bringing charges against Pilate before the Roman Caesar, they bullied Pilate into sentencing Jesus to death by crucifixion.  
	Later, after the Apostles Peter and John were used of God to heal a lame man at the gate of the temple, this court issued orders for them to be arrested.  This court then ordered them not to perform any more miracles in the name of Jesus nor to speak any more about Jesus.  This court then threatened to severely punish Peter and John if they were to ever disobey these orders.  
	After Peter and John reported to the church what the court had done to them, they and the other apostles went to the temple and spoke openly in the name of Jesus, healing the sick and afflicted in His name and telling everybody that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  This infuriated the court.  They then arrested all twelve of the apostles and intended to put them to death.  But Gamaliel had been able to persuade the court not to killed the apostles, at least not at that time, but he was never able to persuade them to give up their desire to kill them.  

II.  Stephen before the court

	It had been shortly after this that the deacon, Stephen, had gone through the streets of Jerusalem healing the sick and afflicted much like the apostles had done and declaring to all that Jesus is the Christ, much like the apostles had done.  He even attracted great crowds much like the apostles had done.  It had been the leaders of four Jewish synagogues which arrested Stephen and had brought him to the Sanhedrin Court charging him with speaking against God, against Moses, against the law of Moses and against the temple.  
	The high priest, who presided over the court, had followed the customary procedure of allowing the accused to speak in his own behalf before the court in an effort to defend himself.  Stephen had done a magnificent job of refuting the false charges which had been presented against him.  But there was one more thing he had been unable to do.  He had been unable to convince the members of this court of his innocence.  In their minds, anybody who would speak favorably about Jesus in public was blaspheming against God, Moses, against the Law of Moses and against the temple.  
	Stephen was apparently aware that he had failed to convince the court of his innocence and that they were still dead set against him.  There was no one else to testify on his behalf.  His fellow Christians could not come before the court and speak for him.  Even if they could, their testimony on his behalf would have been rejected and they, themselves, would also be arrested.  
	We are not told in the Scriptures just how Stephen knew that he had not been successful in changing the minds of the court, but it is obvious that he knew because of what he now said to them.  Some have suggested that there must have been some kind of outburst on the part of the court to the things he had already said.  At any rate, Stephen knew that they were still dead set against him.  Furthermore, he knew that the reason they were against him was because they were still dead set against Jesus Christ, whom they had crucified.  
	Therefore, Stephen suddenly stopped trying to defend himself and sought rather to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When speaking in his own defense before the court, Stephen had been very calm and collected.  He had spoken very respectfully to the court.  But now he speaks out in defense of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he lashes out in righteous indignation against his accusers and against the members of the court before whom he stands.  We may question his judgment in doing so, but we have to admire him for his courage in speaking to these men as he did.  	

III.  Stephen’s accusations before the court

	Listen to his words, V. 51, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost...”  The word, stiffnecked, carries the idea of “Stubborn, rebellious, unyielding.”  The accused is now the accuser.  Stephen said that his accusers and the members of the court were stubborn, rebellious, unyielding men.  They were stubborn and  rebellious against God and against the word of God brought to them by the prophets.  Even now, as the Holy Spirit through Stephen and the apostles and other Christians bare witness that Jesus has arisen from the grave the members of the court were stiff-necked to that message.  They were rebellious to the message from the very Holy Spirit of God.  The Holy Spirit, One of the Holy Trinity, God Himself, had spoken to them through the testimony of Christians.  But the members of the Sanhedrin Council were too stubborn and too rebellious to yield to the message of the Holy Spirit of God.  They were to prejudiced against Jesus, the Son of God and against anybody who would speak for Jesus to believe them.  
	( V. 51), “...as your fathers [did], so [do] ye.”  Their forefather had rebelled against the message which the Holly Spirit had given about Jesus through the prophets.  Now these men followed the same course of action which their forefathers had taken.  They were too stubborn and too rebellious to yield to the message of God.  
	V. 52, “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One...”  The Just One spoken of here is Jesus Christ.  The prophets of old have foretold the coming of the Christ, but the forefathers did not welcome that message nor rejoice in it.  Instead, they persecuted the prophets who told them about the coming Christ.  They even killed some of those prophets.  They did not kill them all, but they did persecute them all.  They despised the message about the coming Christ and they persecuted the prophets who brought them the message.  
	Now the members of the Sanhedrin Court were just as stiff-necked, just as rebellious, just as unyielding as their forefathers.  (V. 52)   of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers.”  The forefathers had persecuted and killed the prophets who foretold the coming of the Christ.  Now Stephen says that the members of the Sanhedrin Council were guilty of murdering the Christ Himself.  When they plotted the death of Jesus, they were plotting the death of the Christ, the Son of God.  When they brought false charges against Jesus, they brought false charges against the Christ of God.  When they demanded of Pilate that he sentence Jesus to death, they were demanding that the Christ, the Son of God, be crucified.  They were just as guilty of murdering Jesus as if they had taken a knife and cut His throat and Stephen told them so.  
	V. 53, “Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept [it].”  Those men sat on the highest court of that land which the Jews under the Romans were allowed to hold.  They were there to judge men according to the rules set forth in the law of Moses.  This was a law which had been given to Moses by God through angels.  This had been passed on down to them and they were now to judge men by rules of divine justice.  But they were not administering the court by any rule of justice.  Jesus had been falsely accused and now Stephen was falsely accused.  Stephen says that they themselves were guilty of doing more than speaking against the law.  They were breaking the law.  
	Now let me tell you what my first impression of Stephen’s outburst was.  My first impression was that Stephen did not do himself any good by speaking to those people in that harsh manner.  And really, he didn’t.  He did not help himself with those people.  But he really did not hurt himself either.  He did not change the outcome very much.  Those people were dead set against him from the beginning.  There was nothing that he could have done or said that would have changed their minds about him.  They were determined to put Christians to death and they had failed in their attempts to put the apostles to death.  Therefore, they were bent and determined to put Stephen to death.  They did not intend to set him free.  They were too stiff-necked, too stubborn, too rebellious against God to yield to any defense which he might offer.  They were too stubborn to change their minds this time.  The only difference that Stephen made on the outcome was that his death came quicker than it would have if he had quietly waited for their verdict.  

IV.  The big mistake on the part of the court

	There is another thing which I especially want to call to your attention.  It was not Stephen who made the mistake by telling them that the innocent man whom they had murdered is the Christ of God.  The sad mistake was on the part of those men for not believing him.  He had testified to them by the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God.  This was the God’s truth that Stephen was telling about Jesus.  What these men need to do was to recognize their own guilt and repent of their sin.  
	The fact that the people had been guilty of murdering Jesus would not prevent them from going to heaven.  They could repent of their sin and be saved.  It is true that they had committed a grievous sin.  They had crucified the Son of God.  But they were adding to that by another huge mistake --- a huge sin.  They were about to kill one of the Lord’s most devoted disciples.  But they still refused to believe that Jesus is the Christ.  If they had only recognized their wrong, if they had confessed their wrong, if they had only repented of their wrong and if they had turned to the Christ trusting in Him, He would have pardoned that sin.  He would have pardoned all their sin.  By the very blood that was shed on Calvary’s cross, they could have been cleansed of all sin.  They could have been saved by the grace of God.  They would be in heaven today.  But they made the worst mistake of their life and today they are not in heaven.  Instead, they are in torment in the fires of hell awaiting the day of judgment when they will be cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.  

V.  My concern today

	I can do nothing to help those men.  I can do nothing to undo their huge mistake.  But I can do something about men, women, boys and girls who are just as much in danger of the Lake of Fire and Brimstone as wee those men on that Sanhedrin Court.  I confess that I cannot save anyone.  But I can tell people about Jesus who is the Son of God.  I can tell them that Jesus died on the cross in order that He might save them from eternal torment.  I can tell them that what they need to do is to turn to God the Father in heaven and confess their own sinfulness to God.  They do not have to name every sin that they have committed.  They do not have to name any particular sin that they have committed.  But they do have to know that they have sinned against the God of heaven and they have to seek His pardon and forgiveness of their sin.  
	They have to place their faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior whom God the Father has sent.  How can anyone expect God to forgive his sin if he  will not place his trust in the Savior whom God has sent?  How could anyone expect a doctor to help him if he will not take the medicine which the doctor prescribed?  How can one expect God to forgive him if he will not trust the Savior whom God has sent.  
	What you need to do is to just call on Jesus the Savior.  Talk to Him.  Ask Him for mercy and salvation.  One should place his eternal destiny in the hands of Jesus and trust Jesus to save his soul.  Leave the saving to Jesus.  One should not try to save himself.  He should let Jesus save Him.  
	I remember when I was a teenage boy and I almost drowned.  I was trying with all my might to save myself from drowning, but all my efforts were in vain.  Then a friend came to save me from drowning and when he came I just relaxed and gave myself into his hands.  If I had kept on struggling to save myself I could have caused us both to drown.  But by surrendering into his care, I was saved.  
	Listen, that is what you need to do with Jesus Christ.  You need to stop trying to get yourself to heaven and let the Son of God do it for you.  

Conclusion:

	Now is your opportunity to place your faith in Jesus Christ and be saved.  Please do not make the same mistake that the members of the Sanhedrin Council made.  Take advantage of the opportunity which you have today and turn to Jesus Christ.  Put your trust in Jesus and let Jesus save your soul.