"Stephen: A Heart Of Commitment" Series

So Stephen closes this sermon by telling them that they were unclean and he calls them stiff-necked people. That’s a strange name to call someone, huh? We don’t really use that term today. I have never called anyone “stiff-necked.” The Bible uses that term about 6 times. In Israel the farmers would plow with oxen. If the oxen didn’t want to follow the farmer’s guidance then they would stiffen the muscles in their neck so that he could no longer direct them to where he wanted them to go and they could then go where they pleased. We do that. We just don’t use that phrase very often. But in Stephen’s day everyone understood that a stiff-necked person was one who was stubborn and had to have their own way, even if it wasn’t good for them.

The people were refusing to follow God’s leadership. They thought their way was better. Stephen then says to the crowd, you are a stiff necked people. You are resisting the Holy Spirit. You are doing the same thing that Moses did and you are constantly resisting the Holy Spirit you stiff-necked people. Well apparently Stephen forgot to read Dale Carnegie’s book on book on “how to win friends and influence people.” He failed that course. You see if you want to be popular you (1) let people do whatever they want to do (2) don’t call people names (3) you hold back from saying what’s really on your mind … you don’t want to risk insulting anyone and you (4) just take the path of least resistance. But the problem is you never accomplish anything. And your leadership is of no value to anyone.

Parents sometimes do this with their children and it may make them very popular with their kids for a short time but things don’t turn out well when that happens.

Look at chapter 4. The Stoning of Stephen. Acts 7:54-60. Here is what history tells us about how this took place. It was a form of execution used in that day. A criminal would be taken to a location outside the city, to a cliff; a place of some height and those who had witnessed the crime taking place would be the ones who would push the criminal off the cliff. Sometimes they died from the fall but many times they survived but their legs were broken. So there they lay and they were unable to move or to defend themselves. Then the crowd would pick up large rocks, stones and hurl them at the individual until they were dead. Here’s something to think about.

“It is always right to do the right thing, even if it is difficult. Jesus never said the Christian life would be easy. Remember, the symbol of the Christian life is a cross.

It’s hard at times to do the right things because the consequences can be painful. We tell a lie and then we have to admit that we did something wrong and no one liked to do that. Doing the right thing is not always easy. And you very often will lose the support of your friends. It’s hard to imagine but when we do the right thing it can be very, very unpopular. But not with God. Yes your friends may turn on you… and they do that until they see how everyone reacts…they do that because they are looking for popularity too. But there is always one who will not turn on you and that’s Jesus. God will stand with you through every trial, every difficulty and every problem. He will never leave you, He will never forsake you …. and He will stand up for you when no one else will.