Sunday Morning Service

Acts 7 (Click title for audio access)

"5 Ways To Make More Friends!"  •  7.17.11  •  Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro

•  Acts 7:1  :  "Then the high priest said, 'Are these things so?'"  : This chapter would be profoundly shorter if Stephen had just answered "no!"'

- In a Jewish legal environment, the accused was allowed to answer his accusers. Seeing that the charge was blasphemy against Moses, God and the temple, death was the penalty.

- Stephen is not interested in defending himself. He sees a golden opportunity to speak to his brothers about the glory of God and the gospel of Christ!

- What we are about to examine is a sample of some of what Jesus communicated to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

- Luke 24:27 tells us that Jesus began at Moses and the Prophets and expounded all the scripture that concerned Him. What we find here is Stephen following suit.

- He begins in the book of Moses, at the beginning, with Father Abraham.

Text

•  Acts 7:2-8  :  "And he said, 'Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. ‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs."  : Abraham was called by the "God of Glory" to come out of the land of ancient Babylon to go to Canaan.

- The words "God Of Glory" reflects a belief in every single one of God's attributes. It's a way of saying, "I believe everything there is to believe about God."

- Abraham, in the midst of an idol glorifying nation, was called by the real God to embrace a promise that neither he nor the initial patriarchs would physically experience.

- What he did receive was circumcision, a miracle child in Isaac and lots of grandchildren.

•  Acts 7:9-16  :  "And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem."  :  The sons of Jacob's jealousy had propelled Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him and raised Him to the highest place in the land, second in command only to Pharoah!

- When a famine came and it forced the sons of Jacob to come into Egypt, they did not recognize Joseph, the man that they betrayed, but was the leader of the world system.

- Time came and Joseph, the one that they envied and rejected, saved their lives! When Jacob died in Egpyt, Joseph had his Father placed in the Canaanite grave of Macpelah that Abe purchased.

•  Acts 7:17-22  :  "But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt till another king arose who did not know Joseph. This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds."  :  As God's people remained in Egpyt, the difficult time of Israel's first captivity began when a new King was crowned. From that time, God began to grow a second deliverer.

- God allowed Moses to grow and to be saved by the Pharoah's daughter.

- Moses became very skilled in wisdom, words and deeds. God prepared Him through Egypt.

- Josephus tells us that Moses was a skilled military man. He had the makings of a great deliverer, but that would have made sense to the world.

•  Acts 7:23-29  :  "Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons."  :  When Moses began his fleshly deliverance ministry, it initially backfired.

- The people he was hoping to deliver fought against him. They resisted Moses' efforts.

- This drove Moses into Midian, where he had two sons, meaning that he took on another life.

•  Acts 7:30-36  :  "And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. ‘Then the Lord said to him, 'Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.' This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge? is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years."  :  Moses was happy in the Midian desert and as an 80 year old man, was now a perfect candidate for God to use.

- God saw the oppression of His people and when Moses had given up, God still went after the man that His people rejected! He brought about the greatest human exile that has ever happened!

- If the people had had their way, they would never have seen such a wonderful exhibition of God's power through this old, 80 years young man Moses!

- Before we move on, note the similarities between these two redemptive pictures of Christ. Both Joseph and Moses were rejected in their first coming. Jesus was rejected in His first coming.

- Both men were raised up by God and recognized by the people in their second coming. Jesus will be recognized in His second coming.

- Interestingly, both men were rejected by the people of Israel, and both took on Gentile brides! The nation of Israel's rejection of Jesus paves the way for a Gentile bride, namely, the church!

- For men that supposedly revered Joseph and Moses, the people rejected those men in the same way that the Sanhedrin rejected Jesus. They rejected typical prophecy and God's law.

•  Acts 7:37-43  :  "This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’ This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: ‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’"  : Their memory or honor of Moses was quite different than what happened in their history. They made his life miserable!

- Stephen quotes Moses' prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15-19, which speaks of another like himself who would come to the people. This specifically refers to their Messiah Jesus!

- They were to look for Him. Moses had made this clear to them.

- Moses gave them the law, the "living oracles" of God. How did they respond? They did not obey but still had an idolatrous heart! They rejected the law.

- They were radically compromised, revealing that by their quick embrace of an idol.

- The prophets continually warned them against idolatry throughout their ministry, reminding them that their offerings were seen as only external display.

- Specifically, Stephen is quoting Amos 5:25, 26 from the Septuagint. The context of that entire chapter is a lament from God, mourning the condition of His people.

- Their disobedient wayward, idolatrous hearts led to Babylon being the rod of correction that they needed to be broken of their sin. In this way, even Babylon is prepared in order to save them!

- For all the Sanhedrin and Libertine talk of honoring Moses and God, there was a distinct difference when it came to their history. The rejected redemptive pictures and prophecies.

- Sadly, they even rejected the tabernacle's purpose!

•  Acts 7:44-50 : "Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built Him a house. However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: ‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, Or what is the place of My rest? Has My hand not made all these things?’"  : The temple came from the idea of the Tabernacle which was a tent of dwelling. David had the idea of building a temple, but he had too much blood on his hands.

- Undeterred, David amassed the necessary equipment for the building project and told his son Solomon to build it and he did, but when he finished, only then did he realize the truth.

-  "God won't fit in there! All of heaven is too small!"

- From the inaguaration of the temple, it was already decided that this architecture, though thoroughly brilliant and magnificent, was insignificant to the task!

- Stephen is saying that God, the One that brought true value to the Temple, was not confined to the Temple! Stephen agreed with God.

- He is saying, "You have missed the point! The temple is a place where God will meet with you, but you've gone to far in thinking that it has intrinsic value!"

- The real value is God and having a relationship with Him by meeting with Him there!

- It was the leaders of Israel who had given such value to this building that without God's presence would simply be a wonderful work of art!

- All along the way, the religious leaders had rejected every redemptive signpost that God set up, which spoke throughout their history. Now, Stephen comes to his verdict.

•  Acts 7:51-53  :  "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.'"  : Stephen was bold and brought them to the climax of all that he has said. They had accused and brought him to trial, but it was the Sanhedrin that was truly being examined!

- They had fallen in line with all of their Fathers. Just like Jacob's sons who cruelly got rid of Joseph, who rejected Moses' efforts, who disobeyed and rebelled against God's law.

- They were determined, stiff necked against the direction that God wanted to take them. They were uncircumcised in their hearts, so their flesh was alive and well.

- They, just as their Fathers before them, resisted the Holy Spirit. The word "resisted" means to oppose or to run against. This was how they always lived, trying to keep ahead of God.

- Sadly, this is not an isolated incident! So many others can relate!

- Stephen continues his barrage: Who did your Fathers, the ones that you are so proud of, not persecute? Who did they not kill? Even the messengers who brought news of the Messiah!

- Jeremiah was killed in the temple and Isaiah was sawn in two and Jesus was crucified!

- They had been given the law, but they did not keep it! It was on their lips, but never in their hearts, which is a dangerous place for any of us to be.

•  Acts 7:54-56  :  "When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, 'Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!'"  : They were literally cut in half, as though a sword had pierced them and it had. It was the sword of the Spirit of God, His very own Word!

- They felt the pain of conviction, but instead of repentance, they gnashed their teeth at Stephen, a sign of utter contempt.

- Instead of thanking God for His mercy at sending yet another witness to them, they chose against the Lord's prodding once again.

- Notice what is said of Stephen: But he, being full of the Holy Spirit! Their reaction to him changed nothing in him! He remained dominated by the Spirit.

- They looked at him with anger, but he looked to heaven with longing! He saw Jesus standing, which is unusual. He stands there to receive His brother. He stands to be the first to welcome him!

•  Acts 7:57-60  :  "Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not charge them with this sin.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep."  :  They stopped talking and just screamed their discontent. They quit listening and just came out after him.

- They did this with one accord. Here is the antitype of the church. They were unified in the wicked intentions.

- For the first time, we find this man named Saul. He's interjected here, but I imagine that he stood by agreeing with what was done, but respecting and even fearing what he saw in Stephen.

- This last scene must have really impacted the young man, as even after being reviled and hurt, Stephen called out for their forgiveness.

Conclusion

- Stephen tells them that they rejected every leader and every law. They stiffened their necks, refusing the gentle work of the Holy Spirit. That was their testimony. Don't let it be yours.

- Instead, like Stephen, I pray that we'll be bold, full of the Spirit, full of the word and ready with an answer, regarding Jesus.