Well, good morning and welcome
to these services. It's so good to be with you once
again. And we welcome our friends on Zoom and we also welcome our
friends on Sermon Audio. Greetings to you Would you turn
with me to the book of Acts chapter 7 this morning Acts chapter 7
it is our intention to finish this seventh chapter of the book
of Acts that's our prayer and We have just a few verses to
look at and we are going to be starting with verse 52 of the
seventh chapter of the book of Acts verse 52 and Stephen has been a minister of the gospel. He's been a faithful servant
to the saints there at Jerusalem. He has been faithful to those
widows. He was selected as one of those
servants, special servants, to help with those widows. He has
been faithful in preaching the gospel in Jerusalem, and it is
for that cause that he has been apprehended, arrested, by the
council there in Jerusalem. And I, as I shared last week,
I can't help but think that they thought they would just bully
him into submission, but there was no bullying Stephen because
he had the grace of God, he had the message of grace, and he
was going to speak his peace there as the Holy Spirit gave
him utterance. And he only brought up what was known by that council. He brought up their own history.
And he shared with them that they, as all of national Israel,
very, very few of them had ever followed the truth of the gospel. Very few had been revealed the
truth of the gospel. And most of them died in unbelief. But here in the book of Acts
chapter seven, as he concludes his words to this council and
the final results of it, which of the prophets, verse 52, which
of the prophets have you not your fathers persecuted? And
they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the just
one. Now, these two words, just one,
they're both capitalized. Very important to recognize that
fact. This is a message about Christ. This is Old Testament reference
to him. And we find out that those in
the Old Testament, they had showed before of the coming of this
just one. Now that just one was the Messiah,
that was Christ. And he brings it right to their
very lap, to their very feet, of whom ye have been now the
betrayers and murderers. So he brings this out to them
very forcefully. He's not going to be bullied
over this subject. He's just going to lay it out. And then
he says in verse 53, who have received the law by the disposition
of angels and have not kept it. God gave in some respects, this
law by angels, by messengers, and you have had nothing to do
with it. You haven't kept it. Verse 54,
and when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and
they gnashed on him with their teeth. So as this dear brother,
this dear brother, he is going to suffer the death. Some people
call him the first martyr. I have to say, I think Abel was
the first martyr. Well, here he goes on and tells
us in verse 55, as they came, they were cut to the heart, which
means that they, it's like being sawn asunder. That's what that
word means. And it says they were cut to
the heart or they were just rent with vexation. They were so mad
at what he had done, bringing their history right down to their
lap and then sharing with them they had crucified the just one.
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly
into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on
the right hand of God." Now, before we go any further, I'd
like to say a few words about that phrase there, being full
of the Holy Ghost. There's much ado about this subject
in religion, and yet the Bible sheds a lot of light on what
religion does. In this verse of Scripture, we
have being full of the Holy Ghost, and if we just read down through
there, he looked steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory
of God. So that's one of the things that being filled with
the Spirit is going to do. We're going to see the glory
of God. But let's look at a couple other places found in the Scriptures
that share with us this subject of being filled with the Spirit.
Now, over in the book of Colossians chapter one, Colossians chapter
one, there's a verse of scripture, verse nine of Colossians one,
verse nine, we have here the subject of being filled. And
in this verse of scripture, it tells us that when God is active
and works in our lives, lives of believers, it says, for this
cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to
pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled. Now what
are we needing to be filled with? With the knowledge of His will
in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Now that, again, is the subject
of being filled with the Spirit. It is having this great knowledge,
being filled with the knowledge of His will. not being led astray,
but knowing that the Bible speaks, and it speaks clearly, and it
speaks honestly, and it speaks the truth. And we are so much
better off by revelation of Jesus Christ to know that this is the
Word and it is the truth. It's the knowledge of His will
and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Now, I can't help
but think that Stephen understood that this was the will of God,
that he be taken out and slain. He be a martyr. He be a demonstration
of those who love the gospel, even unto death. So, here in
the book of Colossians, the apostle Paul was writing, be filled with
the Spirit, has very little to do with what religion would tell
us. Turn with me, if you would, just a little further. in the
book of 1 Corinthians chapter 14, and we find something about
being filled with the Spirit. Now, this person says they're
filled with the Spirit, and that person says they're filled with
the Spirit, and what they confess or what they say is an absolute
contradiction. Well, we find out that those
who are truly filled with the Spirit, they have an understanding
about knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,
And we're going to find out over here in the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter 14 that God doesn't work that way. He doesn't reveal something
to somebody and absolutely contrary to someone else. There is going
to be absolute agreement in everyone that is filled with the Spirit.
Here in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 33, We have in this letter that Paul
was used to write to the Corinthians, he summed up much of what could
be summed up as taking care of the problem, for God is not the
author of confusion, but of peace in all the churches of the saints.
So what God reveals to one person that's in the church, one person
that's a Christian, one person that's saved, He's gonna reveal
something that would be complementary to that. He may not reveal the
same thing, but it's gonna be complementary to that, and it
doesn't matter who he reveals his word to, they're all gonna
be complementary. There will be no differences.
There will be no position for argument. So he's always going
to reveal the truth, and the truth is the same, whether it
be in the book of Genesis or in the book of Revelation. So
he's not going to bring confusion into the church. He's not going
to bring people doing things that are contrary to the Word
of God, especially when it comes to being filled with the Holy
Spirit. In the book of Acts chapter 2, we find there on the day of
Pentecost that there was a group of men, 12 by number, that were
called to preach on that great day, after the Lord Jesus had
ascended back to the Father, after his great successful work
of putting away sin. When he went back, there we have
a little wait, and then the Holy Spirit came in a special capacity
to the church. And in verse four of the second
chapter, it says, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. and
they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them
utterance. So they began to speak as the
Spirit gave them utterance, and if the Spirit is going to give
utterance, it will be Christ in him crucified. It will be
things with regard to the gospel. It will not be things of confusion.
He's not going to give Peter one message and one of the other
disciples an absolutely different message. I can't help but believe
that every one of those men that preached that day whatever group
of people they were with, whatever language they were with, whatever
tongue they were with, was preaching the same thing that the Apostle
Peter was preaching, and that is Christ and Him crucified.
So, they were filled with the Spirit, And as the Spirit gave
them utterance and dropped down in that same chapter to verse
11, and it tells us here that there's a whole list of people
that were there, languages that were present. They had come down
to Jerusalem for to worship, and God came in a mighty way
as the Spirit came upon the church in this particular way. And there's
a list of the people, the list of the languages, but notice
with me, Here in the book of Acts chapter 2 and verse 11,
this is what those folks heard. It says, Cretes and Arabians,
we do hear them speak. That's the apostles. That's those
disciples that are preaching. We do hear them speak in our
tongues, in our languages. there were at least 12 that were
being preached that day because there was 12 apostles that were
preaching, says, we do hear them speak in our own tongues, in
our language, the wonderful works of God. So if anybody is filled
with a spirit, he's going to be, they're going to be telling,
she's going to be telling the wonderful works of God, Christ
in him crucified. Well, in this same vein, let's
follow this a little further here in the book of Acts, and
that's in Acts chapter 4. In Acts chapter 4, and there
in verse 31, we read this about being filled with the Spirit.
It tells us here in Acts chapter four and verse 31, and we can
just see this in Stephen, that being filled with the Spirit,
he spoke with great boldness. Being filled with the Spirit,
he spoke Christ. The words, the wonderful works
of God, he declared to that council. He's filled with the Spirit.
The Spirit of God is gonna lead his gospel preachers to preach
the truth. as we read with regard to Noah.
He was a preacher of righteousness. Christ's righteousness imputed
to us, not our righteousness. All right, here in the book of
Acts, chapter 4, verse 31, And when they had prayed, the place
was shaken, where they were assembled together, and they were filled
were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and notice this. This
is what happened when they were filled by the Holy Ghost. This
is a time when the church came together after a trial. They came together, and they
prayed, and now look what happened. They were filled with the Holy
Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. It's not
some nonsense that they are in when they are filled with the
Spirit. We find out that it's actually God using these folks
to be gospel ministers, preachers of Christ. They spank the Word
of God with boldness. It was not confusion, it was
truth, truth, truth. All right, let's follow this
down just a little further in the book of Acts chapter nine.
As Stephen was filled with the Holy Ghost, he looked up, who
did he see? He saw Christ, he saw God. That's what God's people do when
they're filled with the Holy Ghost. When they're filled with
the Spirit, they're gonna hone in right on Christ. That is his
direction. We press towards the mark of
the high calling of Christ Jesus. All right, here in the book of
Acts chapter nine, Acts chapter nine, we read this, verse 17.
Acts chapter nine, verse 17, the word of the Lord says, and
Ananias went his way. Now he is one of the believers,
probably a preacher of righteousness down there in Damascus. And if
we got to look at Paul's paperwork, we'd probably find his name in
that paperwork that Paul came down to Damascus with. He was
given the permission by the council to arrest this man, But God came
to him after he saved Saul on the road to Damascus, and he
came to Ananias, and we know. that he was a little trepidatious
about going down to visit with Saul of Tarsus. God called him
and he said, he's a chosen vessel. And from that point on, there
was no argument. God straightened that whole thing
out. He was a chosen vessel. He was one of those chosen, elected
by God before the foundation of the world, just as Ananias
understood about himself. When Ananias went his way and
entered into the house, and put his hands on him, said, Brother
Saul, what a statement to call him. Brother Saul, the Lord,
even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest,
has sent me. So this Jesus, this Lord, has
sent me to come over here that thou mightest receive thy sight
and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from
his eyes as it had been scaled, and he received sight, forthwith
he arose and was baptized, And when he had received meat, he
was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with
the disciples, which were at Damascus. What a blessed revival
they had. Here's the man that came down
to arrest him, and now he's there fellowshipping in the gospel.
I just can't help but believe that as we find this principle
in the scriptures, that when God saves somebody, truly saves
them by his free and sovereign grace, they're gonna be looking
for a place to fellowship. Now, in today's world, it may
be on Zoom, and it may be through sermon audio, but I can't help
but think that most of them would love to be in a place where they
could fellowship with the saints. Well, anyway, it goes down here
that he's filled with the Spirit, and in verse 20, it tells us
what he did when he was filled with the Spirit. He straightway
preached Christ in the synagogue, that he was the Son of God. He
was denying this, he helped, stone Stephen to death by holding
the coats of those folks. He brings it up in Acts, I believe
it's chapter 22, when he mentions about him being involved in Stephen's
death. And now, after God saved him,
he straightway, he preached Christ, he preached the Messiah, the
Lord Jesus Christ in the synagogue, that he is the Son of God. Not that he was the Son of God,
but he is the Son of God. What it is to be filled with
the Spirit. We preach Christ. We preach Christ
as the son of God, Christ in him crucified. All right, if
you travel with me just a little further here in the book of Acts
chapter 13, we find here that this being filled with the spirit
gives them special understanding. And we read that in the book
of Colossians, some understanding of the will of God, understanding
about the gospel. That's what he does when he comes
upon us. He gives us that understanding.
Well, here in the book of Acts chapter 13, verse nine, We read
about a man by the Elimeas, verse eight, the sorcerer. And here
in verse nine, it says, then Saul, who also is called Paul,
and from this point on, that's how we know him, filled with
the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him. Now, what did this do
for Saul of Tarsus or Paul the Apostle? He goes on to tell us
that he had an understanding, a discernment with regard to
the truth of the matter. He understood that this man was
not in the truth. You know, it's not gonna be long
after this, he's gonna withstand Peter over the subject of the
law. And filled with the Holy Ghost,
filled with the Spirit of God, is gonna give people discernment.
And it will not be, well, I don't think that person's saved. It's
gonna be about the gospel. Here it says there, oh, and it
says, oh, full of all subtlety and mischief, thou child of the
devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert
the right ways of the Lord? you have perverted the right
ways of the Lord." So the Holy Spirit gives us the understanding
to have some discernment, knowledge about the gospel and knowledge
about God, knowledge about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. So, this is how we look at this
passage of Scripture with regard to Stephen. Filled with the Holy
Ghost, he saw the Lord. Let's go back over here to the
book of Acts chapter 7. As we continue down through here,
we find in Acts chapter 7 that the Lord is gracious to Stephen.
He takes him. I just think about Abel over
there offering that sacrifice and declaring to his brother,
declaring to his parents, if they were present, that he was
a sinner and he needed a substitute and it was only gonna be shed
blood that would take care of it. It's the shedding of blood
that takes away sin. So this subject who was brought
up and then he's promoted to glory by a thump on the head
by his brother. first person to be in heaven
with the Savior, God Almighty and Christ Jesus. A chair was
there with his name on it. He was set aside for that purpose. Well, here in the book of Acts
chapter 7, we read this. Verse 56, I believe it is. Behold, he 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. They were so mad
they killed Him. Now, every once in a while, we
have people so mad that they wish they could kill, but this
group, they were so mad at this gospel preacher that they killed
him. They stoned him to death. They cast him out of the city
and stoned him, and with the witnesses laid down their clothes
at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned
Stephen, and he's calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit. He is going to have what Paul
later writes about, absent from the body, present with the Lord. So we can say, oh, it's a terrible
thing that happened. Yes, it was. They're guilty of
murder, but it was a promotion for Stephen. He was promoted
to glory. There was a chair waiting for
him. And I use that metaphorically, please. They stoned him, calling
upon the God, 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." Now, as we come to that last verse, we find that
there is a word here that's often used in the scripture, to fall
asleep. Jesus uses this. Well, let's
just look at a few verses, and then we'll make some comments
here. We find this term is found other places in the Bible, and
one of them is found in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. In 1 Corinthians,
chapter 15, we read these words, 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and
verse 6, we have these words used. Remember after the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the number of people that he saw,
the number of people, his disciples, those women, there were a number
of people that he saw, it's mentioned. One of the great messages I've
ever heard was the post Christ's post-resurrection agenda. And
that preacher went through and delineated that. Well, over here
in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse six, we read these words. After that, he was seen of above
500 brethren at once. Just think of it, 500 brethren
at once. Knew, saw, was witnessed, was
there, heard. touched, whatever, they saw the
Lord Jesus in his resurrected glory. They saw him. And it says,
Paul goes on to tell us, as he's writing in a later time, of whom
the greater part remain unto this present. So at the writing
of this letter, that the Apostle Paul was doing by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit at the writing of this letter, the time of the
writing, there were many that were still alive. But did you
notice the last phrase? But some are fallen asleep. He didn't use that word dead,
but to us, we know what that means. He is fallen asleep. Stephen fell asleep. He died.
But to a believer, This is not as serious as it sounds. It's
falling asleep. All right, let's look at this
again over here in the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter four. 1 Thessalonians chapter four,
this subject is brought up again. As we think of Stephen falling
asleep, what pleasant result came as he was stoned to death. Now, it's not something I wanna
go through. I don't think any of us want
to go through that. In fact, I remember reading about
an old preacher saying to a believer, someone who knows Christ, someone
who Christ has been revealed to, dying is not the issue. Sometimes we get a little concerned
about how the Lord's going to do that. That can be the issue.
Is he going to take us home in a night very quietly, or is it
gonna be in a car wreck or cancer or something else? But the death
is not the issue, it's how he's gonna do it. And Lord, give us
thine grace. Well, 1 Corinthians 4, verse
13, but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others who
have no hope. Now there's going to be great
lamenting about Stephen's death, chapter eight, and they're going
to bury him. But it was not lamenting him
as those who have no hope. They were able to say, we will
see him again. They were able to say, he is
better off now. they were able to say, he no
longer has any pain. They were able to say, he has
no more tears. That's what we find in the death
of a believer, in the death of a saint. And the Scriptures tell
us so clearly over there in the Psalms, precious, Psalm 116,
verse 15, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints. So this was a precious thing,
even though it was terrible to endure for a moment. But in death,
he's brought to the presence of the Lord. He fell asleep.
Also, in the book of John chapter 11, the Lord Jesus Christ is
teaching his disciples, and the thing that is being brought up
here in this whole circumstance is for the blessing to the saints. Now, it is the resurrection of
Lazarus, how wonderful it was for him to be brought back, Lord used that for his glory,
his honor, and his praise, but he shares with us here in the
book of John chapter 11, and is it verse 11? Oh, yes. These things said he, after that
he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I but I
go that I may awake him out of sleep. And in verse 12, then
said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit,
the Lord Jesus spake of his death, but they thought that he had
spoken of taking of rest in sleep. So the Lord tells him, this is
a symbol, this is a picture of death, but it's not that serious
death that we're gonna read about here momentarily. As we go on,
we find that we do find in the Bible about dying. You know,
Abraham, it tells us about Abraham. He's 175 years old. Over there
in the book of Genesis, chapter 25. Well, let's just go over
there and read that. There's two verses of scripture
in the book of Genesis, chapter 25. Genesis, chapter 25, verse,
chapter 25, and verse seven and eight. Tells us about Abraham. the father of the faithful. Abraham
believed God and was counted unto him for righteousness. Well,
where did Abraham come from? Stephen started there in his
great message. The God of glory appeared unto
our father Abraham on the other side of the flood. And he was an idolatrous person. Don't get too puffed up here.
He's just an idol worshiper until God came along, the God of glory
came along, And then the God of glory gave him righteousness.
The God of glory gave him peace. The God of glory gave him faith.
The God of glory gave him repentance. These are the days of the years
of Abraham's life, which he lived 103 score and 15 years, 175 years.
Then Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age. an old man and full of years
and was gathered to his people. Then Abraham gave up the ghost,
another term for that, what we know as death. In fact, he goes
on to say, and died in a good old age. In chapter 49 of the
book of Genesis, we read this about Jacob. Jacob has gone down
to Egypt, his son that he loved dearly, Joseph. You know the
whole account there. Genesis chapter 49, a whole account
about Stephen getting down there to Egypt. He became the one in
charge of all the storehouses of food. Jacob comes down there. He settles there for a time. And here in chapter 49, verse
33, the Scriptures share this about Jacob. And when Jacob had
made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet
into the bed and yielded up the coast and was gathered unto his
people." We're going to read this with regard to Joshua. He was gathered up 110 years
old there in the book of Joshua, chapter 24. It tells us about
it. There is a chapter in the Bible,
Genesis chapter five, and eight times, I believe it is, in that
short chapter where it tells us generations of Adam. Well, let's just go over there
and we'll read just a portion of this chapter because it illustrates
a point for us Genesis chapter 5. In Genesis chapter 5, we read
these things about these descendants of Adam. In verse 1, it says,
this is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God
created him, in the likeness of God made he him. Male and
female created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam
in the day when they were created." And it tells us that Adam lived
to be 130 years old, and he got a son in his own likeness. And
then it tells us here he had other sons and daughters, verse
4, And all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he
died eight times. In this chapter alone, that's
the concluding words about the life of an individual. You know,
that's the same thing that we're going to have. And we die. We died. I was talking to another
pastor the other day through texting, and I asked him how
he was doing. He says, well, it hasn't been
my day yet to die. And you know, he's being a little
facetious, but he brought up the truth. Stephen didn't live
any longer than God intended, and he didn't die a day short
of what he intended. Stephen had an appointment with
God. Book of Hebrews, it is appointed
unto man once to die. And after that, the judgment.
It is appointed. There is an appointment that
God has given every individual that is ever born. Now, sometimes
That appointment is before birth. Sometimes that appointment is
just after birth. Sometimes it's in infancy. And
then we find people like Adam, it was in their 900th and, what
was it? 930 years, but he made his appointment. He didn't live a day longer than
God intended. and he didn't die a day shorter
than God intended, there is an appointment. So every one of
these folks here in Genesis chapter five, they had an appointment
and they died. As we look at this, we find when
we think about death, and Paul mentions this some in first and
second Thessalonians about dying, and we'll read a little bit of
that a little bit later. The resurrection, there is gonna
be a resurrection. It's gonna copy the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In many respects, spiritually
speaking, when he died, we died. When he was buried, we were buried.
When he rose again, we rose with him. When he sat down at the
right hand of the Father, we sat with him. There is such a
union between Christ and the church that we could say that.
And yet there's going to be a separation of the spirit and the body. The
body is going to be taken care of, whether it's buried. You
know, we just don't have any idea what's going to happen and
what has happened to the bodies of God's people through time.
It's just been so assorted. what has happened to their body.
Many of them may have been buried. Many have been burned. Many have
been lost at sea. A lot of things have happened.
And we find out as we look into the scriptures here in the book
of Daniel chapter 12. Let's begin there. Daniel chapter
12. As we begin here in the book
of Daniel, we find that Daniel, and the Lord himself, and other
writers that God called on to write the Bible, they have laid
out for us how God is going to do the resurrection. Now, I was
taught a system of the resurrection, system of theology with regard
to the resurrection. And you know, as the Lord saved
me and I started studying the word, I found out what I'd been
taught is not the truth. The Bible has the truth. We'd
like to look at some of that here in the book of Daniel, chapter
12, last book of Daniel. And in the first two verses of
that chapter, we find this with regard to the resurrection. Now,
everybody is gonna be raised from the dead, everybody. Nobody will be left in the tomb,
nobody will be left in the oceans, nobody will be left, it's just
not gonna happen. God is going to raise everybody
in the resurrection. Notice what it says here, though.
There's going to be a resurrection of the just and the unjust. There's
gonna be a resurrection, same day, whenever that is, and we
know when that's going to happen. We're not looking for signs.
I remember Brother Mahan sharing with me many, many years ago,
he never preached the second coming of Christ because in today's
world, everybody's looking for signs. They're looking for signs,
what's going on over in Israel. They're looking for a red heifer.
They're looking at all these signs. They're looking at the
newspaper, wars and rumors of wars and so forth and so on.
And yet he also shared with us that only an evil and adulterous
generation look after a sign. That's what the Lord said. Well,
Brother Mahan said, I always preach Christ coming the second
time. Now that's the promise. Christ
is going to come the second time. Now I can pinpoint exactly when
he's gonna come back. Not a date, but an event is gonna
pinpoint his coming back. Now it's not something we know,
but we will know when it happens, and that is the last sheep is
saved. The last lost sheep is found.
Then this is gonna be wrapped up. God is not slack concerning
his promises. Some men count slackness, but
his long suffering to usward not willing any of the uswards
should perish. So when the last one is saved,
this is going to be wrapped up, and then we're going to read,
we're going to find out what's going to happen when that happens.
Stephen's going to be brought out of the grave. Now his spirit
is with the God Almighty, and he's going to have a new body,
like in his body, glorious body. They'll be reunited in some miraculous
way, and there's some things You know, the deeper things belong
to God. I'm just going to leave it at that. But this I do know,
at that time, Daniel chapter 12, verse 1, and at that time
shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the
children of thy people. Hallelujah, we have a great prince.
You know, what's his name? His name is Jesus, the Messiah.
And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since
there was a nation, even to that same time. And at that time,
thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found
written in the book. Verse two, and many of them that
sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Now, what is that saying? Well, we're going to go to another
verse of scripture to have that shown what that's saying, but
let's just go over here to the book of John chapter five. Here
we have a resurrection, some to everlasting life, some to
everlasting contempt. Shame and everlasting contempt.
Doesn't tell us that there's a lot of time in between. It's...
This was preached for years and years and years and years before
this modern stuff came along that God is going to raise everybody
in the world at the same time. and they will all stand before
God. All right, but let's go here
over to the book of John chapter five for just a moment. And in
John chapter five, we have the same message brought out about
the resurrection. Stephen is gonna be raised just
like every saint is gonna be raised, but my friend, he's also
gonna raise every lost person. Every goat will be raised out
of the dust of the earth, out of the oceans, wherever they
are, whatever circumstances. All those that have died in wars,
all those who've died in earthquakes, all those who've died natural
deaths are gonna be raised. Here in the book of John chapter
five, verses 24, beginning with verse 24, we read this. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth
on him that sent me hath everlasting life. and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." What a glorious
statement that is. Everyone that God gives belief
to, everyone that God gives faith to, God gives repentance to,
they have everlasting life. Why? Because he paid for their
sin debt. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
verse 25, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that shall hear
shall live. For as the Father hath life in
himself, so shall he, so hath he given to the Son to have life
in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment
also, because he is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this, for
the hour is coming, in the which, All that are in the grave shall
hear his voice, and shall come forth, and they that have done
good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done
evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Now, there's two groups
of people, those who have life, resurrection of life, those who
have resurrection of damnation. Now, the word good is used in
there, and we know that it has nothing to do with salvation.
What are the works of God? What is that? Those folks came
to Jesus, tell us what works we can do. And Jesus just answered,
said, the work of God is, it is his work. And we're drawn
to him by his great love and by his word. And when the Lord
does that, we understand it is his work. Alright, there's going
to be a resurrection of life and they shall be done evil unto
a resurrection of damnation Simultaneously they shall be raised now if we
follow this out Let's go over to the book of
Acts chapter 24 Acts chapter 24 and once again, we have this
subject brought up in Acts chapter 24 there in the book of chapter
24 verse 10 we read this Then Paul, after the governor
had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, for as much as I know
that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do
the more cheerfully answer for myself, because that thou mayest
understand that there are yet but 12 days since I went up to
Jerusalem for to worship. And they neither found me in
the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people,
neither of the synagogues, nor of the city. Neither can they
prove the things whereof they now accuse me. But this I confess
unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy," now
that's The church, that's Christ's ministry and what he does to
people. So worship I, the God of my fathers. This is exactly what our fathers
believed. Believe in all things which are
written in the law and in the prophets and have hope towards
God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. He knew that was from Old Testament,
and he knew that was the truth. And now, let's go to the book
of Matthew and read about this. Stephen, I can just see the first
person. Now, you know, I hate to make
an illustration like this, but I'm going to anyway. We're going
to see a line of sheep. And I just think that the first
person in that line is our dear brother Abel. just like he died. And down the road somewhere is
Stephen, and the rest are all the other saints. But in the
book of Matthew, chapter 25, we have these instructions from
the Lord about that great day. Just as Daniel brought out, just
as the Lord brought out, just as Paul brought out that the
Old Testament taught, here we have in Matthew, chapter 25,
the results of all of God's work. is elect being saved, every last
one of them. In the book of Matthew, chapter
25, verse 31, we read this. Join me if you would. I'm gonna
take plenty of time. Move over there and take a look
at this. The book of Matthew 25, 31. When the Son of Man shall
come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall
he sit upon the throne of his glory. Now, he has always sat
on the throne, even when it comes from glory down here to raise
and have this judgment, this last great judgment of the saved
and the lost of the goats and the sheep, he's gonna be sitting
in his authority. He's gonna be sitting in his
judgment and glory. And before him shall be gathered
all nations. and he shall separate them one
from another. Now that word nations, we get
the word ethnic from that word. It doesn't mean a nation like
the United States or Germany or France or something like that. Some people interpret that way
and say, well, he's gonna have all the nations gathered before
him in that kind of context, and he's gonna judge them with
regard, well, there's not a nation in the world that has ever stood
for Christ. There's been people in the nations
that have. Very few people that ever have
been in leadership knew the first thing about the gospel. A lot
of them said they knew something, but they had a God which is to
most is an unknown God. It's not known in the Bible.
So here we have before him gathered all peoples, Jews and Gentiles,
every nation, kindred, people, and tongue that we read about
in the book of Revelation. And he shall separate them one
from another. It is his business and his doing,
and he's gonna do it. Separate them one from another. Now he's the one that knows,
and he's gonna do the separating. He's the good shepherd. He's
the shepherd. I know my sheep. They are known
of me. They hear my voice. As a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats. What a statement that is. That's
exactly what we find in the scriptures. Their sheep and their goats.
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand. Now that is his
prerogative to do with the sheep as he sees fit. And he put them
on the right hand, but the goats are on the left. And he says
this to the sheep. Now, as I mentioned, I can just
see in my mind's eye, here is Abel right there at the head
of the line. And he is the first one to hear these words. Then
shall on down the way, is Stephen, he gets to hear the same thing.
You know, that's one thing about the voice of the Lord, whether
you're here or there, it's always going to be the same, and it's
going to be clear, and it's going to be directive, it's going to
be absolute. So, then shall the king say unto
them on the right hand, come ye blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
And then he goes through some statements here about works and
says, you did this and you did this and you did this. And the
interesting thing for us to realize is those sheep on the right-hand
side says, when did we do that? When did we do that? Well, then
he starts to address those on the left-hand side. And he says
there in verse 41, then shall he say also unto them on the
left side, depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels. And then he mentions,
I was a hunger and so forth and so on. And they said, when did
we not do this? We'd prophesied thy name, cast
out demons in thy name. We're preachers, we've done all
of this stuff. And he tells them there, those
on the left-hand side, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire. This is God dividing the sheep
from the goats, and this is exactly how it's gonna be. There's gonna
be a resurrection of the just and the unjust. There's gonna
be a resurrection of Abel, Stephen, Paul, all the saints throughout
all time. And then there's going to be
a resurrection at the same time of all those that are not written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. They had a rebellious spirit
in the fall, and they continued it on. And every time the opportunity
would come, they would refuse it because they had no interest.
They're dead in trespasses and sin. God never dealt with them
with effectual grace, elective grace, and they're standing over
there on that side, and they're gonna shake their finger at God,
but he's gonna stop that instantly. Well, let's just go over here
to the book of Revelation for a moment. Revelation chapter
20, and verse six. Revelation chapter 20, and we
need to hurry along. I'm running out of time. Revelation
20, verse six. Turn there with me. And let's
read this together, Revelation chapter 20 and verse six. It says here, blessed and holy
is he that hath part in the first resurrection. Now, what resurrection
is that? Well, the only resurrection,
if we follow this through, we keep it in context, the only
resurrection that could be is the resurrection from death,
from spiritual death to life. It's illustrated with the resurrection
of Lazarus. That's an illustration. But it's
done to everyone that God comes along, all of his elect, he has
made a choice before the foundation of the world to save them, and
he comes along and calls them out of darkness to his marvelous
light, the first resurrection. It tells us that those that have
part of the first resurrection, on such the second death hath
no power. But they shall be priests of
God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Now a thousand years is just so interesting. You know, it's
not mentioned very much anywhere else except here in the book
of Revelation. It is mentioned one other place,
and that's in the book of 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 8. For one
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
a day. Now you tell me how long that is. One day with the Lord
is a thousand years, and a thousand years is a day. What is he saying
there? It's an uncountable number. Well, that's exactly what it
means here. God has always reigned. The Messiah has always reigned. The Lord has always reigned.
The Son of God has always reigned. He's never not reigned. He's
reigning now. There is a present reign of Christ
right now. And so it tells us here that
all the saints reign with Him all that time. Well, if we drop
down in the same chapter for just a moment, we find here in
verse 12, and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before
God. The books were opened, and another book was opened, which
is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those
things which are written in the books according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which are in it, and death and
hell delivered up the dead which are in them, and they were judged
every man according to their works. And death and hell were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. What
would Jesus read up here in verse six? On such the second death
hath no power. Here, death and hell are cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. Well, here we have it. The final
judgment, God's going to deal with the goats. He's going to
deal with the sheep. He's going to say, welcome to
the sheep. He's going to say, depart to the goats. This is
what's going to happen. Not trying to scare anybody.
It's just what the Bible has to say about it. There's only
hope in Christ Jesus the Lord. He is the Savior. He is the only Savior. And in
him alone do we have righteousness and sanctification and forgiveness
of sins. So as Stephen, his last breath,
he cried out, Father, forgive them. He knew what forgiveness
was. Through the blood, shed blood of Jesus Christ, we have
forgiveness of sins. Well, we're gonna stop there,
and we'll pick this up, chapter eight, the next time when we
get to do this, and may God bless you.