THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING HISTORY
Acts 7.1-53
S: Church
C: Purpose of the Community
Th: A People with Purpose
Pr: WE MUST NOT BE SET IN OPPOSITION TO GOD.
We must not set ourselves in opposition to God.
KW: Pleas
TS: Since Stephen stands accused of blasphemy, we will find four pleas he makes in order to be found not guilty.
Type: Narrative (in a somewhat propositional form).
The ____ plea is regarding…
I. GOD (2-16)
II. MOSES (17-37)
III. LAW (38-43)
IV. TEMPLE (44-50)
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• We must not be set in opposition to God; we need to be on God’s side.
• We need Jesus.
Version: ESV
RMBC 19 March 06 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Judge
Taking his seat in his chambers, the judge faced the opposing lawyers. "So," he said, "I have been presented, by both of you, with a bribe."
Both lawyers squirmed uncomfortably.
"You, attorney Leon, gave me $15,000. And you, attorney Campos, gave me $10,000."
The judge reached into his pocket and pulled out a check. Handing it to Leon the judge said, "Now then, I’m returning $5,000, and we’re going to decide this case solely on its merits.”
Well, I am sure you are like me, in that…
When we are being judged, we want fairness.
The issue of fairness is certainly one that pertains to our topic this morning.
TRANSITION:
When we studied Acts 6 last week, we discovered that…
1. Stephen has successfully debated his Jewish colleagues.
It was a formal debate.
The premises were agreed upon.
And as Stephen went point upon point, they were unable to refute him.
He was the clear winner.
There was a problem though.
His conclusions were unacceptable because they meant the destruction of their whole religious system.
So…
2. Since they could not win the debate, they brought fraudulent charges against him (cf. John 2:19).
They deliberately misrepresented what Stephen had been saying about Moses and the law.
In so doing, they stirred up the people to the point of a frenzy.
And so…
3. Stephen is seized and brought to trial before the Sanhedrin.
The Sanhedrin was the Jewish court.
It was a combination of priests and theologians, including both Pharisees and Sadducees.
Stephen was brought forth before this court with the charges of committing blasphemy against Moses and the temple.
In our study today, then…
4. Standing accused of blasphemy, we will find four pleas Stephen makes in order to be found not guilty.
The message that Stephen is about to give in his own defense is perhaps not what we would expect.
We are more used to the Greek-like arguments of Paul.
But this is the proclamation of a Christian message in terms of Judaism, and he has a very distinct point he is about to make.
As our text begins, the high priest asks a question.
(1) And the high priest said, "Are these things so?"
This priest is likely to be Caiaphas, which is not a good sign.
This is the same high priest that presided over the trial of Jesus.
But Stephen is going to answer these charges with a “not guilty” and proving it with history.
He is going to show that he has history on his side because they are repeating the sin of their fathers of resisting the Holy Spirit and the plan of God.
Please note that this text is too large for me to cover point by point, but I will be highlighting the material that I consider the most helpful to our study today.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first plea is regarding GOD (2-16).
(2) And Stephen said: "Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, (3) and said to him, ’Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ (4) Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. (5) Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. (6) And God spoke to this effect — that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. (7) ’But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ’and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ (8) And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
(9) "And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him (10) and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. (11) Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. (12) But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. (13) And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. (14) And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. (15) And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, (16) and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
Stephen first establishes that they agree that…
1. God is in sovereign control.
He is the God of glory!
And this is a stunning statement because “glory” is the composite of all His attributes.
It is a rich description of their holy, almighty and sovereign God.
Stephen provides an atmosphere of belief that they all agree on – God is in control of Israel’s destiny.
So, in using the example of Abraham, he makes the point that…
2. No one should stay put when God says “go!”
You see, when God says “change,” it is time to change.
And this is what Abraham had done.
He was willing to change his surroundings as an answer to God’s summons.
He made no demands of God to know where he was going.
Instead, he accepted the summons of God and received the promise that he would never see fulfilled in his lifetime, the promise that he would become a great nation.
But God is the God of promise.
He is faithful to do as He says He will do.
So when God was preparing their future four generations later…
3. The patriarchs rejected their deliverance.
The twelve sons of Jacob, also known as Israel, were the rudimentary beginnings of the nation of Israel.
And of the twelve sons, Joseph had been set apart for the special blessing of being the leader of the band.
But as soon as God began to reveal His plans for them through Joseph’s dreams, ten of the sons set their hearts against Joseph, and sold him as a slave.
Joseph was their ticket to blessing, but because of their spiritual blindness, they ended up opposing God and His purpose.
Because God is bigger than evil, though, he still used Joseph to save them.
God was faithful to His promise to the brothers.
He had promised their great-grandfather Abraham and He was going to keep that promise through the chosen vehicle – Joseph.
We do not know if Luke has included all of Stephen’s message here.
He may have given us just the highlights.
But subtly, Stephen is drawing a comparison that we can rightly note now.
For…
4. Note the parallels of Joseph and Jesus.
Joseph was condemned by the false witness of Potiphar’s wife.
Jesus was also condemned by false testimony.
Joseph was freed from prison and given the highest office of the land.
God freed Jesus from the prison of death and exalted Him to His right hand.
And…
Joseph was able to deliver his brothers from certain physical death.
Similarly, Jesus delivers us from spiritual death.
This brings us to…
II. The second plea is regarding MOSES (17-37).
(17) "But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt (18) until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. (19) He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. (20) At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, (21) and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. (22) And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.
(23) "When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. (24) And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. (25) He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. (26) And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ’Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ (27) But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ’Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? (28) Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ (29) At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
(30) "Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. (31) When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: (32) ’I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. (33) Then the Lord said to him, ’Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. (34) I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
(35) "This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ’Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ — this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. (36) This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. (37) This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ’God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’
Stephen again makes a point that they all agree on, that…
1. Moses was blessed and designed by God to be the deliverer.
Stephen raises up the person of Moses by saying that he was lovely in the sight of God.
He demonstrates the immense respect he has for Moses.
He understands and respects his unique qualification to be the deliverer of Israel.
But Stephen points to a pattern, for once again…
2. The people rejected their deliverance.
When Moses was ready to make a move, and be the deliverer for Israel, his own people questioned him.
“Who made you ruler and judge?”
And when his own sin had been found out, he went on the run.
Forty years later, he would be recommissioned for his work at the burning bush, finding that though he had run, he had not run where God could not get to him.
And though rejected over and over, Moses stayed faithful because God was faithful.
Stephen again draws the attention of his hearers to the need of change.
For…
3. Moses foretold of future deliverance (cf. Deuteronomy 18.15).
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers — it is to him you shall listen…
Moses was foretelling the Messiah.
A greater prophet was coming because God was faithful to provide Him.
But for Stephen, he understands that this change has come and because the Messiah has come, they are once again rejecting Moses, not revering him.
Again, Stephen is making the comparison, so…
4. Note the parallels of Moses and Jesus.
Moses humbled himself in leaving Pharaoh’s palace.
Jesus humbled himself by becoming man.
Moses was rejected by Israel.
Jesus was rejected by Israel.
Moses was a shepherd.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
Moses redeemed his people from the bondage of Egypt.
Jesus redeems humanity from the bondage of sin.
This brings us to…
III. The third plea is regarding LAW (38-43).
(38) This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. (39) Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, (40) saying to Aaron, ’Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ (41) And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. (42) But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
"’Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
(43) You took up the tent of Moloch
and the star of your god Rephan
the images that you made to worship;
and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
1. God was graciously present in the wilderness.
Whenever matters were not going smoothly, the Israelites had a consistent response.
They complained.
And they longed to return to Egypt, even though the evidence of God’s work in their lives was all around them.
Continuing to follow the pattern of the past…
2. The people rejected the law.
In fact, they rejected the law before they even received it.
They were down on the mountainside making a calf to worship.
It was a demonstration that they were more interested in the work of their own hands and a god they could control.
This was a people that consistently depended on their own wisdom, righteousness, and morality, and kept failing when they did so.
Now we come to…
IV. The fourth plea is regarding TEMPLE (44-50).
(44) "Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. (45) Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, (46) who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. (47) But it was Solomon who built a house for him. (48) Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,
(49) "’Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
(50) Did not my hand make all these things?’
These Jewish leaders that Stephen was standing before had overemphasized the importance of the temple – especially this temple that had been built by the pagan Herod.
What they really should have emphasized is that…
1. God was a pilgrim with His people.
When their worship place was the tabernacle, it proved that God was always on the move with His people.
Wherever God’s people have gone, He has gone with them.
Wherever He has sent them, He has accompanied them.
Thus, God was in Mesopotamia with Abraham.
God was in Egypt with the descendants of Jacob.
And he was in Midian at the burning bush.
These were all locations outside of the holy land.
For what makes ground holy is that God is there.
This is where these leaders were dead wrong about the temple.
As John MacArthur has said…
2. John MacArthur: “The temple was the symbol of God’s presence, not the prison of His essence” (cf. I Kings 8.27).
Solomon, who built the first temple, understood this when it was being dedicated…
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!”
God cannot be confined.
God’s presence cannot be localized.
He is wherever His people are.
- pause -
APPLICATION:
ILL Judge
When Dannette’s son was 4, she was in a Women’s Bible Study Fellowship. They had classes for children as well, while they studied in their groups. One day, she and her son were walking to the car, when the boy said, "Mom, I’m not going to sin anymore."
You can imagine the pride at hearing this. But then Dannette wondered why he said this, so she asked him.
This was his answer: "Jesus said if you don’t sin, you can throw the first stone and I want to throw the first stone."
Well…
The Sanhedrin thought that they were in a good position to accuse Stephen.
In fact, they are getting the stones ready for his execution.
We can be sure Stephen understands his danger.
But he turns the charges back on them.
1. Stephen accuses his accusers.
His plea of “not guilty” has not been a defensive position.
He is on the offense!
(51) "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. (52) Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, (53) you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it."
Stephen refuses smooth talk.
He refuses to make nice.
He says, “You are just like your fathers! You are stubborn and refuse to bow before God.”
The NEB translates it as “heathen still at heart, and deaf to the truth.
In other words, they were as bad as the Gentiles, which was the ultimate condemnation.
Stephen believes that they are far from following the great men of faith they professed to admire and follow.
In fact, they are better identified with the idolatrous forces that had opposed men of faith throughout the history of Israel.
In essence…
2. They are repeat offenders (cf. Luke 11.47-51; John 5.46).
They had rejected Joseph.
They had rejected Moses.
They had rejected the law.
They had rejected the prophets.
And they had rejected Jesus.
They were continuing the historical disobedience.
In spite of amazing privileges, they still rejected the changes God was bringing.
They repeated the pattern of persecuting the prophets.
For when God had brought the Messiah, they acted with great decisiveness, and murdered the Son of God.
And so…
3. Their example is a warning to us: WE MUST NOT BE SET IN OPPOSITION TO GOD.
God is always calling us to fresh adventures.
He is always with us.
He is always directing us.
And He would not have us settle.
He is calling us to something new.
I believe this is true at Randall.
I think that last Sunday night, we began to discover those things that God has for us.
So, in turn, we should be careful not to cross His purposes as we look to the journey before us.
Instead, let us fully rest in them and act on them.
Tonight, we will explore what the essentials are for that journey.
Might I offer the first point of that journey…
4. We need Jesus.
It was missed the first time He came.
Let’s not be repeat offenders.
Instead, let us be true, fully committed followers of Him.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
When God calls us to change…let us be found to be a willing people, to hear and to act, to get up and move and fulfill His purpose.
Let us not be repeat offenders…who somehow think we have arrived and then end up opposing the new thing God desires to do in our midst.
Finally, let us long for Jesus…who us the author and perfecter of our faith – who desires and is dedicated to continue the good work He has started in us.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
RESOURCES:
SermonCentral:
Coget, A. Todd Stephen’s Sermon
Mathew, P. G. The First Christian Martyr
Piper, John The Story of a Stiff-Necked People
Stedman, Ray C. What More Can He Say?
Books:
Barclay, William. The Acts of the Apostles. Revised ed. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1977.
Bruce, F. F. Commentary on the Book of the Acts The New International Commentary on the New Testament, ed. F. F. Bruce. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975.
MacArthur, John, Jr. Acts 1-12 The MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994.
Stott, John R. W. The Spirit, the Church, and the World. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990.
