Acts 7:1

Then there arose certain members of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the libertines, along with the Cyrenians, the Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia. They were not able to resist the wisdom of the Spirit by which he spoke. Subsequently, they suborned men who said, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God." They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they came upon him, caught him, and brought him to the council. They set up false witnesses who said, "This man ceases not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the custom which Moses delivered unto us."

All who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Then the high priest asked, "Are these things so?"

Let's pray. Father, as we look now into Your Word, I pray that we would see You. We would see You high and lifted up, as we just sang, Lord, just as Isaiah saw You in Isaiah chapter 6. In seeing You, may we see ourselves in light of who You are. Lord, if there is any sin in my life or in the lives of my brothers and sisters here today, may it be exposed and convicted by Your Spirit. Lord, help us to confess those things and be cleansed. May we hear Your call and fulfill the call that You have given to us. I pray that You would continue to teach us by Your Word, Lord, and guide us through Your Word by Your Spirit. For we ask it in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, "Amen." You can be seated.

In Acts chapter 6, we saw that there was an area of ministry within the early church that had been overlooked by the disciples. Therefore, they gathered the body of Christ together and exhorted the church to seek out from among them seven men who would be appointed to this task. Seven men were chosen to take on the responsibility of tending to or waiting upon the widows within the body of Christ.

You see, there were two sections, two groups within the church. There were the Jewish believers who came from a Hebrew background and had become Christians, and there were Jewish believers who came from a Hellenistic or Greek background. The Hebrew widows were being taken care of, but the Greek, the Hellenistic widows were not. This situation led to envying, which resulted in murmuring and anger within the body.

The disciples, the apostles, gathered the church together as a reminder that they were all one body. They instructed the congregation to identify seven men whom they could appoint to this task. Last week, we discussed the criteria that these seven men had to meet, which we find in Acts chapter 6, verses 3 and 4. The men had to be, first and foremost, of honest report. They needed to have a good testimony and be full of the Holy Spirit and full of wisdom.

The apostles said to the church, "You identify seven men who fit this criteria, and we will appoint them to the work." This work involved administering or distributing the alms and goods to the widows within the church. You might think that seems like a simple enough task. Why do they need men who are of good report, full of the Holy Spirit, and full of wisdom? The reason, as we will see, is that God often has different plans than we do.

How many of you have noticed that in your own life and your walk with the Lord? Many times, God's plans for you and God's plans for me are bigger than the way we plan for ourselves. As these seven men were going to be ordained to this work or sent out to this task, God knew that the task was much greater than just waiting on tables.

We read about these seven men in Acts 6, verse 5, and the first one was a man by the name of Stephen. Notice what we read about him in Acts 6, verse 5: "The saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose first and foremost Stephen, a man full of what? Full of faith and full of the Holy Spirit." They set him and these other six men to this task. They brought them before the apostles, who laid hands on them and prayed for them.

Then, down in verse 8, it says that Stephen was full of faith and power. He was full of faith and power, and he did great works among the people.

Great miracles were happening among the people there. God's plans are oftentimes much bigger than the plans we have for ourselves. Sometimes we may look at the task before us, the work that God has us doing. Many of you within this church are serving in different capacities. Perhaps you help with the cleaning crew, the children's ministry, or you are an usher or a greeter. There are so many different areas where you are serving, including the nursing homes. Today, we have many people in the nursery, with nine babies present this morning. The church is growing just through the babies. My son is over there too.

However, sometimes we can look at the work we are given to oversee and think it is just a small thing, but it is not small to God. Oftentimes, God has a plan that is much greater than what we think we are ultimately doing at that moment. He is doing something greater in our lives. As a result of the work that God had Stephen doing, we see that opposition arose. As is always the case when God is doing a great work in and through you, the enemy will be there to try to combat that work. If you have ever served God in any capacity, even for just a short time, you know that there is an aspect of opposition, of spiritual warfare.

We see that opposition come to Stephen in Acts chapter 6, verse 9. As he was out doing the work of the ministry that God had given him, the work he was ordained and appointed to do within the body, it says that certain Jews from the synagogue arose. There are a number of different synagogues mentioned here. The first one is the synagogue of the Libertines. It is believed that these Hebrew men and women from this synagogue came from the area called Libertina, which is near the city of Carthage in northern Africa, in the modern-day country of Tanzania.

These Hebrew individuals had lived away from Jerusalem, but they returned and gathered together in a synagogue in Jerusalem. Not only was there the synagogue of the Libertines, but also the synagogue of the Cyrenians. Cyrene was a city outside of Jerusalem, located in the modern-day nation of Libya in northern Africa. Additionally, there were Jews from the synagogue of Alexandria, the Alexandrians, with Alexandria being in modern-day Egypt. Lastly, there was Cilicia, which is north of Israel. In fact, the capital city of Cilicia...

There was a city called Tarsus, and there was a man from that city named Saul. We are going to be introduced to him today, and it's very likely that Saul was a part of this group. He was from the synagogue of Cilicia and also those of Asia. These were the Jews who had come from foreign lands; they had gathered together in Jerusalem with like-minded individuals. They came together with people from their own countries, where they had grown up, and they fellowshipped within the synagogue.

The interesting thing is that many of the cities mentioned here—Libertino, Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and other areas of Asia—had a very Greek influence in their lives. Remember that these seven men whom the church ordained to tend to the widows were among the more Greek-culture believers in the church. As Stephen began to do the work that God had called him to, the Lord opened up a door of opportunity that was much bigger than just waiting on tables and serving the widows. He found himself beginning to talk with and debate these Hebrew Jewish people from the synagogues mentioned in Acts 6, verse 9.

The verse states that they came and began to contend with him. They disputed with him, but, as verse 10 notes, they were not able to resist the wisdom of the Spirit by which he spoke. The Greek word translated as "disputed" here can also mean questioned, examined, discussed, or debated. They came together and began to question him and discuss various topics. However, it wasn't long before their conversation escalated and became a bit louder.

If you've ever seen anyone in the Middle East talk with each other, you know they often speak in a much louder tone, much like Pastor Eric. As these men talked, their discussion turned into an argument, and eventually, it became a full-on fight. One commentator noted that it is not uncommon for those who have a bad cause, which cannot withstand the test of Scripture or reason, to support it with physical force rather than logical force. When you are discussing something with someone and cannot defend your position, you may have strong convictions and a strong cause that you are trying to defend, but if you cannot logically support what you have to say, tensions can rise quickly.

Sometimes we're tempted to move away from logical discussion and into physical force. People prove their doctrine to be true or orthodox by using apostolic blows and punches instead of the Word of God. Now, every single one of you who is married in this room knows what I'm talking about. There are those times—hopefully it doesn't go to blows and punches—when you're having a discussion and you are very convinced that you are right. We never have that problem, do we? You're convinced that you're right, but the more you discuss, the more you start to realize that you might be wrong. However, you don't want to admit you're wrong, so you get louder.

This is exactly what was happening as Stephen was debating with these individuals. Sometimes, in the height of frustration, with an unwillingness to yield in your conviction or cause, it's easier to turn an argument into a fight than to coherently make an argument with logical wisdom. The individuals Stephen was talking with could not defend what they were saying, but he could. He was full of the Spirit and full of wisdom. At every single turn, he was able to answer the questions they had, and they could not resist the wisdom of the Spirit that was in him.

Even though Stephen was probably an unlearned and untrained man, he had the Spirit of God, and God was speaking in and through him. The crowd of foreign Jews gathered around him was unable to oppose what he was saying with logic, so they resorted to force. We are told that they found men who induced evil to come around and begin to bring false accusations against him. They accused him of blasphemous words against Moses and against God.

In verse 13, they accused him after bringing him before the council, before the Sanhedrin—the very same Sanhedrin that had told Peter, James, John, and the rest of the apostles that they were not allowed to speak in the name of Jesus. This was the same council that had jailed and beaten the apostles for their proclamation of the truth in the name of Jesus. It was the very same council that had crucified Christ just several months before this. They brought Stephen before them and said he had spoken blasphemous words against this holy place, against the temple, and against the law.

We have even heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth, and remember, the Sanhedrin had told them they were not to teach or preach in the name of Jesus of Nazareth anymore. But they said he claims that Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the customs that Moses delivered unto us. They brought him before the council, just as Jesus said they would.

Back in Matthew chapter 10, as Jesus was sending His disciples out to preach the gospel among the lost sheep of the house of Israel, the Lord said to His disciples in Matthew chapter 10, verse 16, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you to councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. You shall be brought before governors and before kings for My sake and for a testimony against them and the Gentiles."

But when they deliver you, notice this in verse 19: "Do not take any thought or be anxious about how you shall speak, for it shall be given to you in that same hour what you shall speak, for it is not you that speaks, but the Spirit of your Father." It is not you who speaks, but the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you.

And so here was Stephen before the men of the synagogues, these foreign Jews who were accusing him and disputing with him. They were not able to contend with him; they were not able to resist him because of the wisdom and the Spirit that spoke through him. Now Stephen is brought before the judgment seat, before the council. As he stood there, perhaps a thought went through his mind: What am I going to say? But the Lord would be faithful and would give him the words, as we will see.

As he came and stood before the council, he had this great promise from our Lord that He would give him the words to speak in that very hour. We read in verse 15 of Acts chapter 6, "And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel."

Now, as the Sanhedrin was gathered together, all these 70 judges and men from the synagogue were looking at Stephen. Did they hear this beautiful voice from heaven and then see light shine on him?

In a little halo, and he glowed? Is that what they saw when they looked at his face as an angel? Probably not. I believe that what they saw was that Stephen, as he stood in their midst, was at complete and total peace. Even though they no doubt desired to intimidate him, standing before that great council, they probably figured that would be great intimidation for him. Yet, he stood in their midst in peace. How is that possible? How did he do that?

Well, I believe the answer is given to us in Isaiah chapter 26, where the prophet Isaiah says in verse 3, "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you." The prophet says, "God, you will keep that individual in perfect peace." Perfect peace. In the original language, in Hebrew, if you were to read this, you would see, "You will keep him in shalom, shalom." Peace, peace. In Hebrew, the word for peace is "shalom." A lot of times, in poetic Hebrew, if you want to emphasize a word, you would reiterate it over and over again. So, he says, "You will keep him in peace, peace, perfect peace."

Who stays in perfect peace? It's the one whose mind is stayed or set upon the Lord because that individual trusts God. The logical outflow of that, the logical application of what the prophet Isaiah says, is in the very next verse, Isaiah 26 verse 4. If God will keep you in perfect peace as you trust in Him, then Isaiah says, "Trust in the Lord forever." Amen? We should trust in God forever.

Several times in the New Testament, we read the exhortation from Paul and others to set your mind on things above, not on the things of this earth. We are to fix our focus on the Lord. In Hebrews chapter 12, we are told to set our attention upon Him, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

When we go through trial, when we go through tribulation, when we go through difficulty or testing, whatever it may be, we are encouraged and exhorted by the Scriptures to set our focus upon the Lord, not on the things of this world. Jesus said...

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things that the Gentiles worry about, that unbelievers worry about, will be taken care of and added unto you. Seek first the kingdom. He will keep you in perfect peace as your mind is set or stayed upon Him.

Paul the Apostle, in Philippians chapter 4, said in verse 6, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Paul exhorts the church in the next verse, verse 8, saying, "Finally, my brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, those things that are of good report; if there be anything virtuous, if there be anything praiseworthy, think on these things."

Now, we live in a world that is completely ordered in such a way as to remove our focus off the Lord and place it on the things of this world. If you don't know this already, it is very true that if you fix your focus on this world, you will be discouraged. I see so many heads nodding; I think you all know this, especially recently. If your focus is on this world, the Dow Jones, the NASDAQ, and your 401k that has become a 201k, you will be discouraged. It will be a bummer, won't it?

I believe that the enemy, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, our adversary, the devil, orders this world in such a way to distract you from the Lord. He wants you to be discouraged, anxious, and not in perfect peace, but in fear, worry, and concern—synonyms for those feelings. The enemy wants you to be discouraged.

The Lord says to set your mind on things above, not on the things of this earth. We have a great example in the men and women of faith from the Old Testament. In Hebrews chapter 11, we are told that these men and women who followed God faithfully in the times before Jesus came did not look for an earthly city. They did not set their focus on this temporal world, but they looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. As a result, they gained a good testimony through faith. They looked not at the things that they could see by sight.

But they looked to him by faith, and they received a good testimony. They were pleasing to God.

Now, this group that they dragged Stephen in front of, the Sanhedrin, no doubt wanted to intimidate and scare him. However, when they looked upon him, he had a face as that of an angel. This probably really angered them. They did not like to see that this man was at peace in the midst of the storm they were seeking to bring against him. How is it that he was at peace?

I believe he knew and understood this great truth that Paul spoke of in 2 Timothy chapter 1, when he told Timothy in verse 7, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony, the word that the Lord has given to us, because He has given us His word according to His own power. We have been given the power of God. Do you realize that?

Paul the Apostle, in Romans chapter 1, verse 16, says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation." The gospel of God is the very power of God, and He has given it to you and to me. Therefore, we can stand with the same kind of strength that Stephen did as he was full of the Holy Spirit on that day, standing before the council in the Sanhedrin.

They looked on him and saw his face, as it were, as it had been the face of an angel. The high priest looked upon Stephen in chapter 7, verse 1, and said to him, "Are these things so?" The accusation brought against him was that he had been speaking blasphemous words against Moses, blasphemous words against God, that he spoke blasphemy against the temple and against the law of God, and that he endorsed and spoke in favor of Jesus of Nazareth, claiming that Jesus would destroy the temple and the law. "Are these things true? Are these things so?"

And so, Stephen began to speak in verse 2, saying, "Men, brethren, and fathers, listen." He then proceeded for about the next 50 verses to give them a very interesting discourse straight from the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. I believe that Stephen, as he was stirred by the Holy Spirit,

He knew his audience. He knew exactly who he was speaking to. He was addressing the council of priests, high priests, and all the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin, as mentioned in Acts chapter 5, verse 17, was filled with many Sadducees. The Sadducees were a Jewish group that only believed in the Pentateuch; they accepted only the first five books of the Bible as ordained and inspired by God, dismissing the rest as less inspired.

Stephen, speaking to them by the Holy Spirit, began to reiterate and retell the history of the nation of Israel. They had accused him of blaspheming God, the law, the temple, and Moses. Now, he was going to answer those accusations and preach Christ from the Old Testament. Some of the things he did as he spoke to them were very interesting.

Remember, this was the group that was completely absorbed with and focused on the temple. They boasted about having the temple in Jerusalem, the priesthood, and the law of Moses. They took pride in all of these things. In fact, in that day, if someone wanted to swear by something greater than themselves, they would swear by the temple. If someone expressed doubt about what you were saying, you might say, "I swear by the gold of the temple." The gold of the temple was a significant part of Jewish life at that time. For anyone to speak against the temple, the law, or Moses was considered blasphemy, and blasphemy was punishable by death.

Standing in their midst, full of the Holy Spirit, Stephen said, "Men, brethren, fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran." The first thing we see here is that Stephen identifies, as he speaks with this group, that God appeared to Abraham without a temple. They were so focused on the temple, yet Stephen pointed out that God appeared to Abraham while he was in Ur of the Chaldees, in Babylon.

And there was no temple. God spoke to him. In Genesis chapter 12, we read this story in more detail, where we see that God came to Abraham and said, "I want you to get out of your country, away from your father's house. I want you to leave everything that you have and go to a land that I am going to show you. If you go, I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. All the nations of the world shall be blessed."

However, Stephen points out that Abraham only partially obeyed God. The Lord spoke to him while he was in Mesopotamia, in Babylon, before he had moved about 50 miles away to Haran. God said, "Get out of your country and from your kindred and come into the land that I will show you." Abraham came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. He only partially obeyed God. God had told Abraham to leave Babylon and go to the land of Canaan, but he only went about 50 miles away and settled in a city called Haran.

Thankfully, God is long-suffering and patient. Some of you in this room today may have felt God's call 20 years ago, and at that time, you were only partially obedient to His call. Praise the Lord that you are here today, obeying Him completely. Aren't you thankful that God was long-suffering and patient with you? God was long-suffering and patient with Abraham as well. He had told Abraham, while he lived in Chaldea, to go to the country He would show him and leave everything behind. Yet, Abraham took his father with him, brought everything he had, and only went about 50 miles away.

We don't know how long it took for him to finally obey. We don't know how old Abraham was when he first heard the call of God, but we do know how old he was when he finally obeyed: he was 75. We read in verse 4 that he came out of Chaldea and dwelt in Haran. After his father died, he removed and went into the land wherein you now dwell. It was only after his father died that he left and went where God had told him to go.

In Abraham, we see two things. First, God spoke to him without the temple. Second, he did not fully obey the voice of the Lord at first. Ultimately, as he grew in faith, he did finally obey, but initially, he did not. The people that Stephen was speaking to looked to Abraham.

As their father, we also looked to Abraham as the father of faith. He was a faithful man; however, early in his life and early in his walk with the Lord, he was only partially obedient. Partial obedience will not inherit the blessing. If he had not come into the land of Canaan, he would not have received the blessing that God had promised him. That blessing, although I know sometimes people don't like to hear it, was conditioned upon him actually doing what God had told him to do. There are blessings in obedience.

Finally, he came out of Chaldea and entered Canaan after his father had died. He dwelt in the land where the Jewish people resided at that time. However, God gave him no inheritance in it, not so much as to set his foot on. Yet, He promised that He would give it to him for a possession and to his seed after him, even when he had no children.

When Abraham finally obeyed God and followed Him in Genesis chapter 12, he was 75 years old. His wife was about ten years younger than him, and they had no children; she had been barren up to that point. The Lord said, "You come follow me, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing to all nations." God promised Abraham there that he would have descendants when he had none. He also promised Abraham's descendants that they would receive this land as an inheritance, the land of Israel, the land of Canaan.

Abraham followed God by faith, but he did not receive the promise in this life. Even more than that, God tells him in verse six, as we read in Acts chapter seven, that his seed would sojourn or be pilgrims in a strange land, and that they would be brought into bondage and treated evilly for 400 years. God said to Abraham, while he was in the land of Canaan or Haran, "Come and follow me. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to give you descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. I am going to give you descendants, and they are going to be a blessing. They will receive this land of Canaan as an inheritance, but first, they will go down and become slaves in Egypt for 400 years. You are not going to get to enjoy the promises that I'm speaking to you."

Now, how many of you would go, "Wait a minute. What do you mean I'm not going to receive the promises? And what do you mean my people are going to be slaves?"

In Egypt for 400 years? Yep, that's God's word. But Hebrews chapter 11 clues us into something very interesting about Abraham. You see, he was a man of faith, and he recognized that God was giving him a promise that did not necessarily have temporal blessing. It was a promise of a heavenly city, a heavenly inheritance, a heavenly blessing.

Hebrews chapter 11 tells us that if Abraham and his wife had been concerned about an earthly blessing, if they had been focused on an earthly city, then they would have walked away and gone back home. But they declared plainly, by the way that they lived, that they sought a city whose builder and maker was God. Because of that, God was not ashamed to be called their God. This implies that there are some whom God says, "I'm ashamed to be called their God."

What kind of individuals? The kind of individuals that Stephen was speaking to here in Acts chapter 7, who were completely focused on the city of Jerusalem, an earthly temple, and an earthly blessing. They claimed that the God of Abraham was their God, but they focused only on this earthly life. They were so fixed and focused on the temporal that God said, "I'm ashamed to be called your God."

Sadly, there are those in this world today who name the name of Christ, sit in churches every single week, and say they believe in God, yet their lives are completely focused on the here and now, the temporal. God tells us that we are to treasure up our treasures where? In heaven. If our treasures are in heaven with the Lord, when everything here in this life begins to fall apart, will we lose our peace? No.

But these people in Jerusalem, these Jewish members of the Sanhedrin, were losing their peace. Why? Jesus had prophesied that their temple was going to be destroyed, that not one stone would be left upon another, that it would all be torn down. Jesus' disciples and Stephen as well were letting people know that this place was going to be no more, that it was going to be destroyed. These men of Judaism could not stand that. How dare you talk of such things? They were willing to kill to try to protect their world.

Remember the words of Caiaphas just before they crucified Jesus? They said, "This man has to die or we'll lose."

Our whole city will lose our temporal city that we have if this Jesus does not die. Now they look at Stephen and hear the words that he has to say, and basically, they are saying the same thing: he has to die, or we are going to lose it all. Yet God was saying that all of this is going to be destroyed.

The Bible makes it very clear that not only would Jerusalem be destroyed, and it was in 70 AD, but God also emphasizes this in many passages of Scripture, such as Isaiah chapter 24, Matthew chapter 24, and the Book of Revelation. Everything you see in this world is going to burn. There is coming a day when all of this will be consumed.

Last night, on Saturday night, we went through 2 Peter. In 2 Peter, God, through the apostle Peter, says, "Do you see everything here? It's all going to burn with a fervent heat. The elements are going to melt." For some people, that is so fearful and so scary that they just don't know what to do. If that's you today, you need to turn to Christ and set your affection on things above, not on the things of this earth. This is all temporal; it will fail and it will fall. I believe it could come very quickly. The Lord could come at any time.

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. Sometimes these words are hard for people to hear. No doubt, the words of Stephen were hard for the Sanhedrin to hear, but they needed to hear the truth of the message.

Stephen says that God told Abraham that his people would sojourn and be pilgrims in the land of Egypt, and they would be brought into slavery. The nation to whom they shall be in bondage, God said, "I will judge." After that, they shall come forth and serve me in this place. After the judgment on the Egyptians, God says, "I will bring the children of Israel back into the land of promise." He gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision.

So Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. The patriarchs were moved with envy and sold their brother Joseph into Egypt. The next thing that Stephen points out is that even though the Sanhedrin and the people of Israel looked up to and esteemed the twelve fathers of the twelve tribes, the patriarchs of Israel, those men were still sinners.

With envy, they sold their brother Joseph into slavery. Now, a little background would be helpful if you haven't read the story. Joseph was one of the youngest brothers; at that point, he was the youngest of eleven. He went and told his brothers, "Someday, I've had a dream; you're going to bow down to me." How many of you have older brothers? How many of you know you never say that to your older brother? Joseph said, "I've had a dream, and in that dream, you are all bowing down to me. I'm the leader." They responded, "Who do you think you are?" So, they beat him up, threw him into a ditch, and sold him into slavery, like brothers typically do.

But I want you to notice something: Joseph's dream was from God. Even though his brothers didn't like what they heard, Joseph was speaking truth to them when he said, "Someday, I'm going to be the one who saves you guys." What we see here is that the patriarchs, the fathers of the nation of Israel, rejected their redeemer at first. That will become important in a moment, but they rejected their redeemer at first. Joseph would be their redeemer, and they rejected him, saying, "We're not going to have you rule over us."

However, God was with him. He delivered him out of all of his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom. Notice this: Abraham, while he was in Babylon, in Mesopotamia, received a word from God without a temple. Joseph, when he was sold into slavery and brought down into Egypt, was accompanied by God without a temple. Even though the people in the Sanhedrin were so focused on a temple, God was with him without a temple. The Lord delivered him out of all of his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

Then, a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, causing great affliction. Stephen said to the Sanhedrin, "Our fathers found no food; they found no sustenance." But when Jacob heard that there was food or corn in Egypt, he sent our fathers out first. At the second time, Joseph was made known to his brethren, and Joseph's kindred were made known.

Unto Pharaoh, Joseph was sent to call his father Jacob and his brothers, a total of seventy-five souls. Jacob went down into Egypt, where he died, and our fathers were carried over to Shechem. They were laid in the sepulcher that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.

When the time of the promise drew near, as God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt. Stephen continued to retell the history of the people of Israel to the Sanhedrin. These men knew the history, but he pointed out how God met with His people without the use of a temple. He highlighted that God's people only partially obeyed Him many times and that they rejected their deliverers when God sent them.

In verse 18, the children of Israel multiplied in Egypt until another king arose who did not know Joseph or the children of Israel. This king dealt subtly with our kindred and evilly entreated our fathers, causing them to cast their young children out so that they might not live. Remember Pharaoh in Exodus chapter 1, who commanded the children of Israel that every male child born to them was to be cast into the river Nile and killed.

At that time, Moses was born. He was exceedingly fair and was nourished in his father's house for three months. When he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him and raised him as her own son. Moses' parents looked down at him and said, "This is a lovely child. We can't possibly cast him into the Nile River and kill him." So, for three months, they tried to hide him and take care of him until they could no longer do so. They then placed him in an ark and set him into the Nile River, ensuring that he would be found by Pharaoh's daughter, who took him up and nourished him.

In verse 22, we learn that Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. Raised as an Egyptian in the house of Pharaoh, Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that Moses was in line to be Pharaoh one day. Trained in all the wisdom and knowledge of the Egyptians, he was indeed mighty in words and deeds. This is interesting because when he was 80 years old, the Lord came to him and said, "I want you to go to Pharaoh and tell him, 'Let my people go.'"

Who was mighty in words and deeds, says, "I can't speak." I think that was just an excuse.

In verse 23, when he was 40 years old, Moses had it come into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. Somehow, in some way, Moses knew that he was one of the children of Israel and not truly an Egyptian. So, it came into his heart to visit the children of Israel.

Seeing one of them suffering wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed by smiting the Egyptian. Moses went out to be with the Hebrew people, the Israelite people, and he saw that one of the soldiers of Egypt was treating one of the Israelites unjustly. Moses stepped in and killed the Egyptian.

Notice this in verse 25: he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God by his hand would deliver them, but they did not understand. Once again, God's chosen deliverer was rejected by the children of Israel. At his first coming, Moses was rejected by the children of Israel. You can see a correlation here.

The next day, he showed himself to them that strove, and he would have set them one to another. There were two Israelites fighting against each other, and he tried to set things in order, saying, "Sirs, you are brethren. Why do you wrong one another?" But he that did his neighbor wrong pushed Moses away, saying, "Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? We don't want you to rule over us." He continued, "Will you kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?"

When Moses heard that saying, he fled. He knew that they were aware of what had happened, so he fled to the land of Midian, where he begot two sons.

Now, here's the interesting thing: at his first coming to the children of Israel in Egypt when he was 40 years old, Moses was rejected. The deliverer was rejected by the children of Israel, and so he went away and took a Gentile bride. Who else did that? Jesus came and was rejected by his people at his first coming. They said, "We will not have this man."

To rule over us. And so he is gone and he has taken on a Gentile bride, you and I. But he will come a second time. Just as Moses came a second time into the land of Egypt, remember that the second time he came, he came with plagues when the Israelites finally recognized that he would be their deliverer. The first time, they rejected him, asking, "Who made you a ruler and judge over us?" Consequently, Moses fled to Midian and begot two sons.

When forty years had expired, and he was now eighty years old, there appeared unto him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in the flame of fire and a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight and drew near to behold it. The voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses trembled and would not behold the Lord. Then the Lord said unto him, "Put off the shoes from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."

Notice that Moses met with God in a holy place apart from a temple. The Sanhedrin and the Jewish people were so focused on the temple, so focused on their patriarchs. Abraham had been partially obedient, and the patriarchs, the twelve fathers of the tribes, had been wickedly envious of their brother Joseph. The children of Israel rejected Moses when he first came, yet Moses met with God there without a temple. The place on which you stand is holy ground.

"I have seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver. Now come, and I will send you to Egypt." This Moses, whom they refused, saying, "Who made you to be a ruler and a judge?" the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer. The same is true for Jesus. This Jesus, whom the Jewish people two thousand years ago rejected and said, "We will not have you to rule over us," this same Jesus will God send once again to be the ruler and the deliverer of His people.

By the hand of the angel which appeared to him out of the bush, he brought them out after he had showed them wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. This is that Moses who said unto the children of Israel, "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me."

Him shall you hear. In Deuteronomy 18, verse 15, Moses prophesied that God would bring the Christ. This is He who was in the church, or in the gathering, in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers who received the living oracles, the living word to give unto us.

But notice this: to whom our fathers would not obey. You see, the fathers of Israel rejected God and Moses. Here they were saying that Stephen blasphemed God and Moses, and yet Stephen points out that their fathers rejected God and Moses. They would not obey His word but thrust Him from them. In their hearts, they turned back to Egypt, saying unto 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."

So they made a calf, a golden calf, in those days. They offered sacrifices unto the idol and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. They refused to rejoice in the works of God but instead 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: "O you house of Israel, have you offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yes, you took up the tabernacle of Molech, a false god, and the star of your god Rimfan, figures which you made to worship them, and I will carry you away to Babylon."

Our fathers, in verse 44, had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness as He had appointed, speaking unto Moses that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Our fathers who came after brought it in with Joshua into the possession of the Gentiles, which God drove out before the face of our fathers unto the days of David.

Stephen says God gave to Moses the blueprints, the plan for the tabernacle. Your fathers had the tabernacle of meeting where God would meet with His people as they wandered in the wilderness. When Joshua brought the children of Israel into the land of promise, they brought the tabernacle in, all the way until the time of King David, who found favor before God and desired to find a tabernacle for the Lord God of Jacob. Remember, King David wanted to build God a temple. But God said...

No, you can't build it. And so Solomon built him a house. In verse 47, this temple that they were so focused on was established. God didn't always have a temple, but it wasn't until the time of King Solomon that it was built. However, it was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. It was rebuilt about 70 years later when Ezra and Nehemiah came back into the land. The temple was refurbished and replenished by King Herod just before the coming of Christ. By the time Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin, the temple in Jerusalem had become one of the wonders of the world, filled with gold and all kinds of precious gems.

Yet, in verse 48, it states that the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as says the prophet. The Sanhedrin was so focused on that temple, and yet Stephen proclaimed that God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. He quoted the prophets, saying, "Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. What is the house that you will build for me, says the Lord? Or what is this place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?"

Then, Stephen finishes up in verse 51 as he addresses the ruling council. He calls them "stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears." He tells them that they always resist the Holy Spirit just as their fathers did. He asks, "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?" They have slain those who showed beforehand the coming of the Just One, revealing that the Messiah would come—the Messiah whom they have now betrayed and murdered.

If you want to win friends and influence people, this is not the way. Stephen points out that their fathers disobeyed God just as they do. Their fathers killed the prophets who spoke of the Messiah, and they have betrayed and murdered the Messiah. They received the law by the disposition of angels, but they have not kept it.

When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked steadfastly up into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He exclaimed, "Behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God."

Well, with that, they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord. They cast him outside of the city and stoned him. The witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man whose name was Saul.

Jesus had stood before this same council, the Sanhedrin, and they said to Him, "Are you the Christ?" As He told them that He was, He said, "And you shall see the Son of Man standing before the glory of God." Stephen stood there, looking up into heaven, and the heavens were opened. He had a vision and said, "I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of the throne of God." They all came upon him, closed their ears, gnashed their teeth, and ran upon him, carrying him outside the city to stone him to death. They kept large rocks upon him, but they laid their clothes down at the feet of a man named Saul, who consented to the death of Stephen.

As they stoned Stephen, verse 59 of chapter 7 tells us that he called upon God, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." When he had said this, he died.

You see, why did the church have to choose seven men full of the Holy Spirit, of good testimony, and full of wisdom? Because they weren't just going to be waiting on tables. God had a larger plan in view. He has a larger plan for you as well, larger than anything you can think or imagine. It will blow your mind what God wants to do in and through your life. Yes, there's always opposition and spiritual warfare, but greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Stephen was a New Testament example of a man who was not looking for an earthly city, but for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. I guarantee you that when he breathed his last breath in this life, he stepped into eternity into the arms of the Lord, who is standing beside the glory of God, Jesus, awaiting him there.

But these men who stoned him, many of them, if they refused to repent—remember it says in verse 54 that they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth—if they did not repent, as we sit here 2,000 years later, they are in hell, weeping and gnashing of teeth still today. And they will be for eternity. Let me tell you something.

Two thousand years later, they still remember Stephen looking up into heaven and saying, "I see the Lord." Perhaps you find yourself in a place today of fear. When I remind you of the words of Peter that everything we see here is going to burn, and your focus is only on this life, you may feel overwhelmed. Over the last several months, as you've watched the economy and everything that you've invested so heavily in fall apart, you might be afraid and uncertain about what to do.

I pray that the Lord would speak to you today and remind you that this is not all there is. One day, we shall see the Lord. However, if you reject the Lord—and yes, it's not the most popular thing to say—two thousand years from now, you will remember this message. But may it not be the case. May you be with the Lord eternally. May you be one who is able to, just like Stephen, boldly and clearly proclaim the gospel of truth, even when faced with opposition. Amen?

Let's stand and pray together.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word, and I ask, Lord, that you would help us to make application from it by your Spirit as we go from here and prepare to leave. Lord, would you pour out your Spirit upon this fellowship, upon these, your believers, upon all of us here, that we would be bright shining lights in a dark world and that we would be salt to this earth.

I pray that this week you would give us opportunities to boldly proclaim the truth of the gospel, even though people may not like to hear it. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, Amen.