A Sermon That Cost a Preacher His Life

Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, 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, when as yet he had no child. And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem. But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months: exceeding fair...: Or, faire to God And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full 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 him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. like...: Or, as my selfe This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto 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, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Our fathers 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. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. - Acts 7:1-60

    Stephen had been accused of speaking blasphemy against the law and the temple because he told the Jews that the Lord Jesus Christ had fulfilled all the types of the law and satisfied all its demands, and that all forms of carnal worship must be obliterated (Acts 6:8-15; John 4:23-24; Col. 2:8-23). In Acts 7 the Holy Spirit has preserved a transcript of Stephen's last sermon, a sermon preached to the Sanhedrin, a sermon that cost him his life. What did Stephen preach that so greatly enraged these religious leaders? These men were known to be tolerant and compromising with one another. That is how they held their 'denomination' together. But when Stephen had finished his sermon they stoned him to death! Why? What did he say to infuriate them so?

    1. Implied throughout Stephen's sermon is the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty in providence

    Beginning with the call of Abraham, Stephen showed how that everything in the history of the Old Testament pointed to Christ and was fulfilled by him. He demonstrated how that God gradually unfolds and accomplishes his sovereign purpose of redemption and grace in providence.

    2. The Lord our God is a God of purpose (Isa. 14:26; Rom. 8:28; 9:11; Eph. 1:11; 3:11; 2 Tim. 1:9)

    His purpose is good, wise and full of grace. It includes all things. Nothing takes God by surprise. His purpose in all things is the spiritual, eternal good of his elect and the glory of his own great name. His purpose is fixed, unalterable and immutable (Isa. 46:9-11). It cannot be changed, thwarted, or overturned. Therefore, 'We know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose' (Rom. 8:28, italics added). If God's eternal purpose could be altered to any degree, then no promises, prophecies, or threats recorded in the Bible could be believed. We can trust God only to the extent that we recognize his immutability. We can believe the Scriptures only to the extent that we recognize the universality and immutability of God's purpose (Rom. 11:33-36).

    Predestination is the purpose of God. Providence is the unfolding and accomplishment of God's purpose. Everything that God has done or has allowed to be done, is doing or allows to be done and will do or will allow to be done is for the spiritual, eternal good of his elect, to the praise and glory of his own great name. In the end everyone will be made to see this (Rev. 4:11; 5:11-14). Beginning with Abraham, Stephen showed the unfolding of God's eternal purpose until the coming of Christ for the accomplishment of the redemption of his people. Apart from Christ and his great work of redemption, the history of the Jews and all that is recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures would be meaningless (Luke 24:27,44-47).

    3. All the events of Old Testament history pointed to the coming of Christ and redemption by him (7:1-47)

    The whole purpose for which the Bible has been written is to reveal the grace and glory of God in the substitutionary, redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:45). The bulk of Stephen's sermon is devoted to one theme: he shows that all the events of Old Testament history were arranged by divine providence to reveal God's eternal purpose of grace in the redemption of sinners by Christ.

    God's covenant with Abraham was a partial revelation of the covenant of grace made with Christ, our surety, before the world was made (7:1-8; Heb. 7:22; Jer. 31:31-34). In that covenant a seed was promised (7:5; Gal. 3:26). It was purposed that that chosen seed should fall into bondage (7:6), even as God's elect fell into the bondage of sin by Adam's transgression. Deliverance was promised (7:7) by which the glory of God would be revealed. That deliverance of Israel out of Egypt was a beautiful picture of our redemption by the blood of Christ and the power of his grace. The sign and seal of that covenant was circumcision (7:8). Circumcision was typical of the regeneration of God's elect by the Holy Spirit, by which he separates his own elect from the rest of the world and seals to their hearts all the blessings of covenant grace (Col. 2:11; Eph. 1:3, 13-14).

    Joseph was sent of God into Egypt to preserve his people alive (7:9-17). In all things he was a type of Christ. He was the delight of his father (Matt. 3:17;Prov. 8:30). He was despised and rejected by his brethren (Isa. 53:3). He was in the place of God, by God's appointment and arrangement (Gen. 50:19-20; Acts 2:23; 4:27-28). When his brothers bowed before Joseph they were saved alive and accepted by Pharaoh (7:13; Rom. 10:9-10).

    Moses was sent to deliver God's covenant people from the bondage of Egypt (7:18-37). He too was a type of Christ (vv. 22, 35-37). He was a man approved by God (Acts 2:22). He was a prophet (John 3:2). He was a deliverer, by blood and by power. From the day that Israel came out of Egypt they wandered from God, rejected his counsel and despised his prophets. But God's purpose could not be defeated, not even by the unbelief and idolatry of the chosen nation (7:38-43; Rom. 3:3-4).

    The Lord established temporary houses of worship which were to prepare the people for the coming of Christ, but they turned the ordinance of God into idolatry (7:44-47). The tabernacle, with its furnishings, first erected in the wilderness (among Gentiles), was a picture of redemption. The temple was a picture of God's church, of the glory of God dwelling in her, and of her dwelling in the glory of God for ever. These blessed objects which should have prepared the hearts of men to receive Christ, the unbelieving Jews turned into idolatrous objects of worship. They became barriers to faith!

    4. Now that Christ has come and redemption has been accomplished by him, all carnal ordinances of Old Testament worship are forever abolished (7:8-50)

    God has for ever abolished Jewish, legal worship (Heb. 10:1-4). Any reliance upon outward, visible symbols (statues, pictures, crosses, temples, altars, etc.) is idolatry. God cannot be worshipped by the employment of carnal rudiments of the world. All true worship is spiritual (John 4:23-24; Phil. 3:3).

    5. Continued, willful rejection of divine truth results in eternal reprobation (7:51-53)

    God will not trifle with those who trifle with him (Prov. 1:23-33; Matt. 23:37-38). Though the Jews, being rejected of God, rejected his Son, God's purpose was not affected (Rom. 3:3-4; 11:11,22-23,26).

    Our great God even overrules and uses the hands of wicked men to accomplish his purpose of grace towards his elect (7:54-60; Ps. 76:10). The stoning of Stephen was an inexcusable act of wicked ness on the part of these men. Yet it was overruled by God and used by him to accomplish his great purpose of grace. It was best for Stephen. He went to glory! It was best for Saul of Tarsus. It was one of those works of prevenient grace that prepared the way for grace to come to him. It was best for God's church. Soon she would have another apostle, whose conversion, no doubt, had its roots here. It was best for the glory of God! In the light of these things we should learn to trust the wise and good providence of our God!