Act 6:1-15  They Were not Able to Resist the Wisdom and the Spirit by Which He Spake

[Study Aired January 15, 2023]

Act 6:1  And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
Act 6:2  Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
Act 6:3  Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
Act 6:4  But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
Act 6:5  And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
Act 6:6  Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
Act 6:7  And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Act 6:8  And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Act 6:9  Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
Act 6:10  And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Act 6:11  Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
Act 6:12  And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
Act 6:13  And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
Act 6:14  For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
Act 6:15  And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

The holy spirit was given on the day of Pentecost, and three thousand people were added to the one hundred and twenty already noted as believers. There were devout Jews from every nation under heaven in Jerusalem that day who heard the wonderful works of God in their own language. This miracle of the gift of languages maximized the effect of spreading the message of the salvation offered by the death and resurrection of Christ.

Shortly after the miraculous events of Pentecost and the giving of the holy spirit, the apostles Peter and John healed a beggar who had been laid at the gate of the temple for decades and was known by everyone in Jerusalem. Peter and John gave the risen Christ His deserved credit for that healing and for doing so were arrested, along with the man they had healed. The Sanhedrin could not deny the wonderful healing of a man the whole city knew, and therefore they were compelled to let the apostles go free with the order not to speak in the name of Christ. The healing of this particular man and the arrest of Peter and John, as well as the man who had been healed, again served to maximize the message of the gospel of a risen Savior.

Act 4:14  And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
Act 4:15  But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,
Act 4:16  Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.
Act 4:17  But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.
Act 4:18  And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
Act 4:19  But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
Act 4:20  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
Act 4:21  So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.
Act 4:22  For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed.

Five thousand members were added to the church that day, and the apostles went back to speaking of Christ in Solomon’s porch, and multitudes were being healed from cities all around Jerusalem. In desperation the Sanhedrin panicked again, and in spite of the fact that “they were healed every one” (Act 5:16), they arrested all the apostles for disobeying their orders not to speak in the name of Jesus. The arrests were made very publicly in Solomon’s porch in the presence of all the people of the city. The Lord’s response to those who had Him crucified and then imprisoned His witnesses was to open the prison by night and release all the apostles commanding them to return to the temple and continue teaching the people in the name of Jesus.

The Sanhedrin was embarrassingly blindsided the next morning when they convened, anticipating the opportunity of putting the apostles on trial for teaching the people that they and their leaders had crucified their own Messiah. However, when they sent men to the prison to have the apostles brought to appear before their council, they found the prison secure, but the apostles were not inside. It wasn’t long before someone reported that all the men they had imprisoned a second time were back in the temple teaching the people. The people had witnessed their arrest the previous day, and the disciples were forced to explain that the man they had crucified had freed them from prison and had commanded them to return to the temple and proclaim that the risen Christ had died for their sins. All they needed to do was to truly repent and believe on the risen Christ. This very public arrest for no apparent reason, other than being told to stop teaching in the name of Jesus, had the maximum effect of proving that though Christ was not visible, He was as alive and active as the wind and far more powerful than electricity. All the supernatural healings and the miraculous deliverance from the prison by the risen Christ were demonstrating the meaning of what He had explained to Nicodemus about being born again of the spirit:

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Joh 3:8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

This just had to be stopped, so the Sanhedrin again had the apostles arrested and brought before them. This gave the apostles another opportunity to witness to them and to tell them that they had crucified the Son of God and that it was the risen Christ who had freed them from their prison and was calling all Israel to repentance. It must be remembered that the apostles at this time did not believe that God was calling the Gentiles to Himself. Indeed, at this time Peter still has not been told that he ought not call any man common or unclean (Act 10:28). None of the apostles at this time would ever think of defiling the temple, much less destroying it.

Act 5:26  Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned [for taking their teachers and healers away from them].
Act 5:27  And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
Act 5:28  Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. [Which is exactly what they had asked to be done.]

Mat 27:24  When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
Mat 27:25  Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

Act 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Act 5:30  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Act 5:31  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Act 5:33  When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.

Those who had Christ slain are in a very bad position. The man they had crucified now has twelve of His disciples teaching the people the very same things for which they had Him crucified. Instead of one man demonstrating their hypocrisy, there are now twelve, and their numbers are exploding as multitudes of the people in Jerusalem and the cities around Jerusalem, as well as many of the priests, are now also being converted to the Lord’s doctrines.

The Sanhedrin had every intention of having the apostles put to death just as they had done to Christ just a few months earlier. However, the Lord had a rabbi whose name was Gamaliel to convince them that if what the apostles were saying was not true then their work would be destroyed by God as He had destroyed so many others before them. However, if what the apostles were saying were true, then the Sanhedrin would find itself at war with God, a battle they were sure to lose.

Act 5:34  Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;
Act 5:35  And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
Act 5:36  For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.
Act 5:37  After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.
Act 5:38  And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:
Act 5:39  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.
Act 5:40  And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
Act 5:41  And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
Act 5:42  And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

The ‘higher power’, the Sanhedrin, had not beaten Peter and John when they arrested them after healing the forty-year-old man who was born lame and “laid daily” at the gate of the temple. Instead, they commanded them to stop teaching in the name of Jesus whom they had crucified. Peter told them at that time that Christ had commanded them to be witnesses to His resurrection and that He and John could not deny what they had seen and heard from Christ. Therefore, when they returned to the people and told them of their answer to the authorities, they continued to teach the people in the name of Jesus. The number of Christian converts continued growing as multitudes were hearing the gospel and being healed even after the apostles were commanded not to teach in the name of Christ.

This second arrest included all the other apostles and, thanks to the Lord’s words through the highly esteemed rabbi, Gamaliel, they decided to let them go again after they were all beaten as well as being commanded to refrain from teaching in the name of Jesus. The chief priest and the Sanhedrin were hoping the beatings would deter their determination to spread the words of Christ. Instead, it had the opposite effect of strengthening their resolve to remain faithful to Christ and ‘counting it a blessing to be counted worthy to suffer shame for His name’.

While Christ tells us to be obedient to the higher power, He never tells us to obey that ‘higher power’ when it commands us to disobey Him:

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Act 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

We are all placed in the same position as the apostles. Every day we must decide… “Will I please men or will I obey the Lord’s commandments?”

It is in this spiritual atmosphere of a growing church that the apostles are again released to resume preaching Christ while performing miracles and healings which no one could deny.

While Christ was teaching in Solomon’s porch He never once said a single word about destroying the physical temple. Even the Sanhedrin knew that when He drove the money changers out of the temple, He was referring to His own body when He told them that they would “destroy this temple and I will raise it up”:

Here are Christ’s word which the children of the serpent twisted to their own evil purpose of having an excuse to demand Christ’s crucifixion:

Joh 2:13  And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
Joh 2:14  And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
Joh 2:16  And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
Joh 2:17  And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
Joh 2:18  Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, [You] Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Here is Christ clearly telling the religious leaders of the established church that they would destroy the temple of His body, and He would “raise it up.” The Jews twisted His words to say that He threatened to destroy the temple so they could have an occasion to put Him to death, and they knew very well He was referring to His own body when He made that statement. This is revealed in their petition to Pilate to set a guard over His grave after He was crucified:

Mat 27:62  Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
Mat 27:63  Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
Mat 27:64  Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.
Mat 27:65  Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
Mat 27:66  So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

“The last error [was indeed] worse than the first,” but it had nothing to do with Christ’s disciples stealing His body away. There was no ‘body’ to steal, and yet He showed Himself to over five hundred people at once. There was no denying that the Father had raised Christ up from among the dead, and had given Him all power in heaven and in earth:

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

1Co 15:1  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2  By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:5  And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1Co 15:6  After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
1Co 15:8  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

The death and resurrection of Christ is as well-documented an event as is to be found in all history. Yet “His own” still deny Him until this day:

Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

It is those who claim His name but do not do the things He says who do not receive Him to this very day. These early Jewish Christians had not yet learned that Christ would accept the Gentiles, but they were faithful to the understanding they had been given, and the Lord was blessing their service, and His church was growing. The Lord does not even begin to hint at having a relationship with the Gentiles until He sends Peter to the house of the Roman centurion in chapter 10:

Act 10:28  And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

One of the Biblical definitions of ‘sin’ is: “whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom 14:23). Therefore, it would have been a sin for Peter to even think about eating with a Gentile at this time:

Rom 14:23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

The point is that here in the sixth chapter of the book of Acts the entire church is still living under the law of Moses. No one, Stephen included, had any reason to want to see the temple destroyed. All the disciples are observing the weekly sabbath, the holy days, the clean and unclean meat laws, and all the many other laws of Moses. They have learned that they are not to hate their enemies, and they have learned that they “ought to obey God rather than man”, but they are still very entrenched in the covenant of circumcision, and they still believe that the Lord’s only people are Israelites and proselytes to Israel’s laws and doctrines, which are the law of Moses.

The temple in Jerusalem is currently central to their own doctrine. This will be the case even after it is revealed in chapter ten that the Lord is calling the Gentiles to repentance. The New Testament Jewish church will remain faithful to the law of Moses throughout this entire book of Acts, even after Peter visits the Gentile Roman centurion, Cornelius, and even after it is decided in Act 15 that the Gentiles need not be circumcised nor keep the law of Moses. The Lord still has not granted the Jewish church to dispense with the doctrine that physical pedigree, and being descended from Abraham, is of any advantage. The Jewish church in the book of Acts, by the Lord’s decree, simply is not yet “able to bear” the fact that the time will come when the Lord will reveal that He is “breaking down the wall of partition [the law of Moses] between [the Jews and the Gentiles] and is making of twain one new man so making peace” (Eph 2:15). That revelation will not be given until after the book of Acts. It will be given only after Paul arrives as a prisoner in Rome, where he will write many of his epistles.

We are just in Acts chapter six, and the Lord is blessing His new church with great growth among the Jews.

Act 6:1  And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

Again, we must remember the word ‘Grecians’ has nothing at all to do with ethnicity. It refers only to the Greek culture and the use of the Greek Septuagint, which was read by these Jews who were the so-called ‘Grecians’. The disciples are sincere, and “of one mind and one accord,” but a physical body requires physical administration, and nothing which is physical is yet perfected, as our Lord so graphically demonstrated when He said this of Himself:

Mar 10:18  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Luk 13:31  The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.
Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

It is natural to care for your own before others, and that was happening in the early church. Those who were of the Hebrew culture were being placed above and before those Jews who were of the Greek culture and who read the Greek scriptures.

Act 6:2  Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

Peter is not saying that he is above waiting tables, but he is saying that feeding the flock spiritual food is far more advantageous for the flock than being fed physical food, as the Lord demonstrated with these words to Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus:

Luk 10:38  Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
Luk 10:39  And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
Luk 10:40  But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
Luk 10:41  And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
Luk 10:42  But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

I had a woman brag to me that she was a ‘Martha’ because she was the one that got things done in her family. She obviously had not been granted eyes that see or ears that hear the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and in her bragging, she made it clear that she did not have the mind of Christ concerning Mary or Martha. We are not told Martha’s response to Christ, but we are told much later that she still believed that Christ could heal her brother Lazarus when he was sick:

Joh 11:1  Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
Joh 11:2  (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
Joh 11:3  Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
Joh 11:4  When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
Joh 11:5  Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

Notice that Christ did not reprimand Martha and tell her to sit at His feet and listen to what He was saying. Christ knew that the meal had to be served, and He provided Martha for that very purpose. We are all ‘Martha’ before we are granted to become ‘Mary’ who seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

Mat 6:31  Therefore take no [anxious] thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

There is no doubt, based on the sum of the Lord’s words, that Mary helped with the dishes after the Lord was finished speaking because the Lord never condones slothfulness:

2Th 3:10  For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

So, there is a time for both Mary and Martha within the body of Christ, and the appointing of these seven deacons demonstrates that Martha will always be in demand:

Act 6:3  Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. [of Martha’s serving tables – vs 2]
Act 6:4  But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. [Mary’s seeking the mind of Christ first].

These words of the yet unknown apostle Paul had not yet been written, and yet they were already being demonstrated at the very beginning of the church:

1Co 12:27  Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
1Co 12:28  And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

Each of us is an integral part of the one “body of Christ”.

Act 6:5  And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
Act 6:6  Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

Every one of these seven names are ‘Grecian’ names. This indicates that the people agreed with those who had complained that the Grecian widows were being ignored, and they were happy to appoint seven Grecian Christians to see to it that did not happen again.

The apostles told the church to “look out among you seven men of honest report, full of the holy spirit whom we may appoint over this business [of serving tables].” The church had grown exponentially, and they had all things in common, yet some ‘Grecian’ widows were being overlooked. The apostles were given the wisdom to know that the people knew who those were who were already doing the work of a deacon, so they told the people to “look out among you seven men whom we may appoint over this business” of administering the physical needs of the congregation. These seven men were not placed over the apostles and given the purse strings of the church as is the case in many churches today where the ‘board of deacons’ is empowered to hire and fire the minister of the church. The fiscal funds brought into the church were “laid at the apostles’ feet” not at the feet of these seven deacons whom the apostles appointed over the work of ministering to the physical needs of the church. Neither did the apostles just take the words of the people that these men were fit to administer the physical needs of the congregation. The fact we are told “when [the apostles] had prayed, they laid their hands on them” tells us these men were well vetted before being given that duty:

Act 6:6  Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

1Ti 3:8  Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
1Ti 3:9  Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
1Ti 3:10  And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
1Ti 3:11  Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
1Ti 3:12  Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
1Ti 3:13  For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

These early Jewish Christians had very high standards, and the disciples of Christ still have very high standards until this very day “that the word of God be not blasphemed.” Hypocrisy in the body of Christ blasphemes His name:

Rom 2:23  Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

Tit 2:3  The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
Tit 2:4  That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
Tit 2:5  To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Act 6:7  And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

This seventh verse gives us an idea why the Sanhedrin felt so threatened and wondered “whereunto this would grow”:

Act 5:24  Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.

“A great company of the priests [the sons of Aaron] were obedient to the faith [of Christ].” This had to be stopped or the established church would lose its power over the people.

The Lord used one of the first deacons to be placed into the same position as our Lord. As we demonstrated above, those who rejected the offer to repent of what they had done to Christ, bribed men to lie about Stephen’s words just as they had twisted the words of Christ when they accused Him of saying He would destroy the temple.

Act 6:8  And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

The holy spirit is not confined to doing the business of ministering to the physical needs of the congregation. Stephen was also used by the holy spirit to “do great wonders and miracles among the people,” and he was used by the spirit to witness to unconverted Jews while also doing the work of a deacon.

Act 6:9  Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
Act 6:10  And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Act 6:11  Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

This was all lies. The apostles were still living under the law of Moses and had no intention of destroying the temple. They were still offering blood sacrifices in the temple as we learn in Acts 21:

Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

All the congregation of the New Testament church at this point were all Jewish, and they all “walked orderly and kept the law” of Moses at this time.

The Greek word translated as ‘suborned’ is G5260 – ‘hupoballo’ – and this is how the BT+ defines this Greek word:

Definition:
1. to throw or put under
2. to suggest to the mind
3. to instruct privately, instigate, to bribe or induce (someone) unlawfully or secretly to perform some misdeed or commit a crime
4. to induce (a person esp. a witness) to give false testimony

The Jewish Sanhedrin bribed men to lie about what Stephen had been teaching, using the same lie they used to condemn our Lord:

Act 6:12  And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,

We are not told to what extent the high priest and the senate of the people were involved in what transpires next, but we are told that “the elders and the scribes… caught him and brought him to the council.” The Greek word here translated as ‘council’ is G4892 – ‘sunedrion’. It is the same ‘council’ before whom Christ was brought to be sentenced to crucifixion just a few months earlier:

Mat 26:59  Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council [G4892: ‘sunedrion’], sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

It was the same council which had ordered the apostles to stop speaking at all in the name of Jesus.

Act 6:13  And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
Act 6:14  For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
Act 6:15  And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Verse 14 is the record of a blatant lie being told against Stephen. It is the exact same lie that had been told against Christ just a few months earlier and used as an excuse to have Him crucified.

Next week we will see that Stephen has been given the backbone to stick to The Truth even unto death. We must all have that same resolve, or we are not worthy to be Christ’s disciples:

Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.