Acts chapter 7. I want to consider what happened
here as another example, another demonstration of God's reigning
grace here in the of Stephen, the martyr Stephen, the first
martyr after our Lord's resurrection. But I want to begin by using
something from the Old Testament. It's a familiar passage, you
need not turn there, but if you want to, that's fine. But use
this passage in 2 Samuel chapter 9 as a caption for what we're
going to read in Acts chapter 7. This is familiar scripture. David has ascended the throne. Saul, his enemy, is gone, destroyed. But David had made a pact with
Saul's son Jonathan. They were brothers, not literally,
but one in heart. Saul hated David, but Jonathan
loved David. Saul's son loved David, and David
loved him. So after the dust had settled,
We read in 2 Samuel 9, and the king said, is there not yet any
of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God to him? And Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet. And the
king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
Behold, he is in the house of Majir in Lodabar. Then king David
sent and fetched him out of the house. Now David said unto him, when
Mephibosheth came in, David said unto him, Fear not, for I will
surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and
will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father, and thou
shalt eat bread at my table continually. My soul, how gracious, how gracious. And he bowed, that is Mephibosheth,
he bowed himself and said, what is thy servant that thou shouldest
look upon such a dead dog as I am? The last verse of that
chapter says, so Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he did
eat continually at the king's table and was lame in both his
feet. Now take that picture and bring
it back, if you will, to Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7. I want to preach to you this
morning, or this afternoon, tonight, we'll get it right. About God's
fetching grace. Fetching grace. That's what David
told his servant Zeiba concerning Mephibosheth. You go down there
and fetch him. You go fetch him. I'm going to
show him mercy for his father Jonathan's sake. And God shows
us mercy for another's sake, doesn't he? We're accepted in
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, even as God, for Christ's sake,
has forgiven us. I'm sure when Mephibosheth sat
at David's table, as we just read continually all the days
of his life, David saw in his face the image of his father,
Jonathan. And God Almighty, by His grace,
has changed believers into the image of His Son, and He accepts
us, for Christ's sake, being made a new creation in Christ
Jesus. Fetching grace. Do you like the
sound of that? I do, Houston, I do. Fetching
grace that God has purpose to save a people. And he sent his
son into the world for that very purpose. To fetch those people
back to glory. To fetch them to himself and
then to fetch them all the way to heaven to be with him forever. You may have heard this story.
Brother Don Fortner, many years ago, he worked as a shoe salesman,
as a young man. I think he was still in college.
And one day he was trying on shoes for this black lady. And he was making conversation
with her as he tried on one pair after another, and he asked her
her name. And she said, my name is Grace
Grabs. Grace grabs. And Don said, lady,
you may not know it, but that's exactly what God's grace does.
It grabs you. And that lady said, it sure do,
honey, it sure do. Fetching grace, grace that grabs. Here in Acts 7, we have another
blessed example of fetching grace. It fetched one to glory and fetched
one had set his heart upon, that is, Saul of Tarsus, soon after
this, fetched him to himself. Let's begin reading at verse
54. Verse 54 of Acts 7. This is the conclusion of the
so-called trial that Stephen was put through before the Sanhedrin. They hated what he preached,
they hated the gospel, and here's the conclusion of 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 steadfastly to heaven, and saw the glory
of God, and Jesus Christ 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. And 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 their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. Grace would fetch him. 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. What a picture this
is of God's fetching grace. Stephen was being fetched home
to glory. And at the same time, there was
a young man, the most unlikely candidate there was, Saul of
Tarsus was a chosen vessel for that fetching grace. The great
shepherd, at the same time that he was taking one to glory, had
already set his affection upon Saul of Tarsus before the world
ever began. Who would have ever imagined?
that Saul of Tarsus was a trophy, would soon be a trophy of God's
amazing grace because Jesus Christ came into this world on a mission.
He came to save sinners. He didn't come to try to save
sinners. He didn't come to offer to save sinners. I declare people
that consider that good news just don't know what good news
is, do they? No, he came to save his people. He came to fetch
them out of darkness into his marvelous light and to bring
them all the way back to glory. When Robin and I got home from
Kentucky in March and found our house unlivable, we stayed in
the Holiday Inn for about 13 days until the furniture was
in the church and we moved into the church. But there was a lady
there at the desk named Benji, and she knew I was a pastor.
And one morning as I was leaving, she said, Pastor, what are you
going to preach on? I've been studying this. I brought
this message at our church in Fairmont Grace in Sylacauga.
And she said, what are you going to preach on this morning, Pastor?
I said, well, Benji, I'll tell you what. If God enables me,
I'm going to preach about Stephen going home to glory. While they
were stoning him, he looked up and saw Jesus Christ. And it
was as though he said, go ahead and throw your stones. Because
by that means, God's going to take me to be where I want to
be forever. So just let those stones fly. And Benji said, that sounds pretty
good. You need to go preach that. So by God's grace, I want to
take another stab at it. In verse 58, we have another
example that where sin abounds, God's grace does much more abound. Look at it again. They cast him
out of the city, that is Stephen, and they stoned him. And the
witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose
name was Saul. Saul did all that he could. Why
he did not himself throw the stones is a matter of conjecture,
but I know that he would if he had been allowed to. He did all
that he could. He rooted them on. Throw another
one. Throw another one. Bash his head.
He's not fit to live. That's Saul of Tarsus. If you'd
have been there and you'd witnessed that, would you have thought
that that man, that young man, that man that hated Jesus of
Nazareth with all of his heart would soon be preaching the gospel
that he labored to destroy? Is that not an example of God's
fetching grace? This reminds me. Miracle by the
way, he said, so to speak, when our Lord went to the house of
Jairus. You remember that? It's in Luke's
Gospel, Chapter 8. Jairus comes to him and he says,
my daughter is dying. Would you come to my house? And
as the master goes, there's this woman who's dying with an issue
of blood. You know the story, it's a familiar
one. And she spent all that she had and was only made worse.
But our Lord is on his way to the house of Jarius and he's
detained by this woman. Can you imagine that? Can you
imagine how this man Jarius must have felt? I wonder how long
it took for this to take place. This is why I say this is a miracle
by the wayside. This is grace on top of grace.
The Lord is full of grace and truth. And as he's going to one
house to perform a miracle, he performed He performs one on
the way. Jairus receives this news. Your daughter's dead. Why trouble
the master? Don't bother. There's no need
for him to come now. Can you imagine the thoughts
that must have ran through that grieving father's mind? Now all
hope is gone. If he'd have been just a few
minutes sooner, there may have been hope. But now there's no
reason to hope. Why troubles thou the Master
any longer? Is there still no hope? Was there
still not even a glimmer of hope? Only and unless Jesus Christ
is all that he claimed to be. Unless Jesus Christ is indeed
the Son of God, then there's hope. Otherwise, there's none. If what he said was true at the
tomb of another grieving family, when he said to a grieving sister,
I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? If that's not true, there's no
reason to hope. Oh, but it is. He's all that
he claimed to be. When Jesus Christ is pleased
to call a sinner out of darkness into his marvelous light, he
gets the job done, doesn't he? Fetching grace, but God, who
is rich in mercy, for his great love with he loved us even when
we were dead. Dead. and trespasses and sins
have quickened us together with Christ by grace ye are saved. As long as there is the God of
all grace, there is reason to hope for mercy, grace, and everlasting
life. Is it not the case here with
Jarius demonstrates that Jesus Christ is always full of grace.
Hebrews 4. exhorts God's people to come
boldly to the throne of grace. We have a high priest there that
can be touched. He's not unfeeling, he's not
uncaring, he's not cold, he's not distant. He identifies with
that which his people suffer. Therefore, because he was made
like unto his brethren, he feels what they feel. And we're exhorted
because of that to come boldly to the throne of grace, that
we may find help in time of need. There's always grace at the throne
of grace. Jesus Christ, John saw him in
chapter one and tells us that he saw the word made flesh and
tabernacling among people on this earth. And John said the
thing that impressed him was this, he's full of grace and
truth. Think of all the grace. Larry, how much grace do you
suppose it takes to keep you? That's a lot of grace. But there's,
he has grace enough to keep all of his people, all of the time,
to keep them from falling, and to present them fall before the
presence of his glory, and still his grace is ever flowing, ever
full. It's never diminished. So was
the case here with Uriah. His daughter was saved. His daughter
was risen again from the dead. And Jesus Christ is still the
same yesterday, and today, and forever. Here in Acts chapter
7, we read again concerning Stephen. If you look at this just through
the natural eyes, and you see this self-righteous young man
named Saul of Tarsus. Look at chapter 8 here, verse
1 of chapter 8. And Saul was consenting unto
his death, oh yes he was, And at that time, there was a great
persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem, and Saul
was the ringleader. And they were scattered abroad
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except to the apostles. As for Saul, verse 3, he made
havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hailing
men and women, committed them to prison. Therefore, They that
were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the gospel. Look at
chapter 9. Look at chapter 9. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high
priest. He chased them from Jerusalem.
He heard they were in Damascus. He was determined to go there
after them, so he got authority to go to Damascus and bring them
back, men or women, it didn't matter to Saul, that they might
stand trial and probably be put to death. But God's reigning grace says,
fetch that sinner. Fetch that man. But before that,
consider Stephen. Stephen, we're told, in verse,
looking up to heaven, verse 56, he says, behold, I see the heavens
open, looking steadfastly to heaven. Behold, I see the heavens
opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. His eyes were directed to heaven,
as though the Spirit was saying, Stephen, look where you're going. Stephen, look where you're coming
to. He saw the Son of God. In just
a moment, you're going to be with him. In just a moment, you're
going to be with that one who loved you and gave himself for
you. And Stephen died calling upon
the Lord Jesus Christ, his hope, his righteousness, his all in
all. McShane wrote a poem about this. On verse 57, Jesus standing on
the right hand of God, and Stephen directing his vision toward that
glorious place. McShane wrote, when holy Stephen
dauntless stood before the Jews who sought his blood, with angel
face he looked on high, and wandering through the parted sky, saw Jesus
risen from his throne to claim the martyr as his own. angelic
peace that sight bestowed, with holy joy his bosom glowed, and
while the murderous stones they hurled, his heaven-swept soul
sought yonder world. Of rest my spirit's saviour keep,
he cried, he kneeled, he fell asleep." A mob of thirsty madmen crazed,
Stephen calmly falls asleep in the arms of Jesus Christ. Prior to that he said, I see
the Lord Jesus standing on the right hand of God in verse 55. That itself is a picture of comfort,
isn't it? The believers, if Jesus Christ
is standing at the right hand of God as he is, that means that
the believers' sins have been pardoned. They've been put away. If not, they wouldn't be there.
They wouldn't be there. Jesus Christ wouldn't be there.
If the grave had closed over the head of Christ forever, if
the stone had remained in place over the mouth of that sepulcher
forever, then that would be a demonstration, evidence, that God didn't accept
the sacrifice. Is that right? The resurrection
of Jesus Christ is God's eternal testimony of the satisfaction
he has in the death of his son. When Christ said it is finished,
God Almighty evidenced his satisfaction with the death of his son when
he said, raised him up and said, set thou here on my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool. If you were If there
was a prince whose father was king and this prince was sent
out to defend the crown, defend the country that he would soon
inherit, ascend the throne in his father's place, if he went
out to face an enemy and he never returned, he never came back,
time passed and he never came back, The citizens of that country
would rightly assume he must have failed. He must have failed. And if the Lord Jesus Christ
remained in the tomb, we would rightly assume he failed. He failed. Oh, but if that prince,
if that prince would return, it was a sign that by his very
return he was victorious. He accomplished what he went
to do. The Lord Jesus Christ, when God raised Him from the
dead, it was because He was victorious. He did everything He came to
do. He said, I came down from heaven, not to do my own will,
but the will of Him that sent me. Now this is pretty plain,
isn't it? And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that just about all of those He gave me, I'll lose
none. I'll get 99 out of 100. Oh no. Of all that the Father giveth
me, I should lose none. Not one. Child of God, you won't
be the first. You won't be the first. No man
is able to pluck them out of my hand. Of all that the Father
giveth me, I should lose none, but raise them up again at the
last day. When Christ ascended to his Father's
right hand, It was evidence that the Son of God was absolutely
victorious. He accomplished everything He
came to do. And now He makes intercession
for His people until they're brought to be with Him in glory. John chapter 17, we just read
the first three verses this morning, but on down in the chapter, sort
of the icing on the cake. He prayed for so much for his
people, for his church, his bride, his beloved, his blood-bought
people. Keep them, Father, in thy name.
Keep them. Sanctify them. Keep them from
the world. I don't pray you take them out
of the world, but keep them from the evil in the world. Then on
down he says this, doesn't he? The Great Shepherd prays this.
Our High Priest says, Father, I will. That's the will of Almighty
God. That's the will of the one who
has his way always and all the time. The will that can't be
broken. The will that can't be resisted.
Christ says, Father, this is my will. And his will was the
Father's will. Father, I will that all those
you have given me be with me where I am. Wow. Wow, what a description of heaven. What's heaven? Streets of gold
and such as that. Heaven is to be where Christ
is. Heaven is to be with Him. And
He wills that we be with Him where He is that we may behold
His glory. The glory He had with the Father
before the foundation of the world. That's what Stephen saw. And that's what grace fetched
him to. Fetching grace brought him all the way to glory. And
it brought Saul of Tarsus down sometime after that before the
same footstool of the same king that Stephen went to be with.
One was fetched to glory and one was fetched out of darkness.
Paul said, In Galatians 1, brethren, you know my manner of life. You know my conversation in times
past. It's not a secret. I was very
well known. I hated the Church of God. I
hated Jesus of Nazareth. He was an imposter. And I was
going to do everything I could to erase his name from the earth.
I excelled in my father's religion, my religious tradition. I was
more exceeding zealous than anybody but God. But God, who was rich
in grace, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me
by His grace to do what? To reveal His Son in me. Saul of Tarsus. Oh and now, now
that same man who hated Jesus of Nazareth stands up and says,
let me tell you what, I don't want to hear nothing else. I
don't want to preach nothing else. I'm determined to know
nothing else save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. My soul What
a change. That's what God's fetching grace
does. A walk up an aisle won't do that.
Kneeling at an altar won't do that. Making a decision for Jesus
won't do that. Oh, but when you come to kneel
before the Son of God, when you're saved by His amazing grace, that
rocks a change that will never be undone. That's a miracle that
you'll never get over. That's grace upon grace. And
the psalmist said, God that gives grace will also give glory. Every one of them in Zion appeareth
before God. That's what his grace does. I
know of another rebel that Christ brought down by his
fetching grace. He proved that his arm was not
shortened, that it could not say. Don't you remember one? James,
don't you remember one? Don't you remember one conversion
that even is greater than that of Saul of Tarsus? As great as
that was, as marvelous as that was, as such an evidence of his
power to save as Saul of Tarsus was, I know one that's even greater,
and so do you. If you've tasted that the Lord
is gracious, you know one conversion that even eclipsed Saul of Tarsus,
your own, your own. Oh, I remember his fetching grace,
do you not? I remember when he reached down
his hand for me. Oh, I wish I could sing. People that hear me sing wish
I could sing too. When he reached down his hand
for me, He had to reach way down for me. I was lost and undone
without God or His Son when He reached down His hand for me. I was near to despair. Remember
that? I remember thinking, I've been
too evil. I've been too great a sinner. God won't forgive me. I was like Mephibosheth before
David. Who am I? Why would you even
look on such a dead dog as I am? I shared a little bit of my confusion
when I was going through the religious hoops. I mentioned
some of that this morning and that only added to my despair. But in addition to that, I thought
God's not going to save me, Steve. God's not going to forgive me.
I've gone too far. I've been too great a sinner,
too great a rebel. That was my feeling. I was near
to despair when he came to me there and he told me I could
be free. Then he lifted me up, lifted
my feet, gave me gladness complete when he reached down his hand
for me. That's amazing. That's amazing,
isn't it? My son Roger and I were talking
the other day about the comfort of knowing that all Christ's
sheep are in His hands. He was our surety before the
foundation of the world. Before there was a sinner, there
was a Savior. And God committed all of His chosen into the hands
of His Son. everlasting covenant of grace,
and the son agreed to his heavenly father that in the fullness of
time he would come and do everything necessary, everything a holy
God required as the substitute and representative of his people.
I find great comfort in that. Christ has to answer for me. The sheep are not responsible
for their keeping. The shepherd is. Christ promised
his father, I'll live for them, I'll die for them, I'll arise
for them, I'll intercede for them, and I'll bring them back
to glory. I'll answer for them. I like
that. I like that. Jesus Christ promised
to do that. And I find great comfort in that.
He has to answer for me. God his Father. Revelation chapter
7, John sees a multitude before the throne that no man can number.
You know, people hear that you believe that horrible doctrine
of election and they'll accuse you of believing only one or
two will be saved. Oh no, we believe there'll be
a multitude that might, it's not a matter of might be saved,
they shall be saved. They'll be saved with an everlasting
salvation. There's no doubt about that.
It's not dependent upon their will, it's dependent upon the
will of the great and mighty God. Our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ. But the elder asked John, who
are these? This multitude before the throne,
this multitude that stand in the very presence of God, waving
the palm leaf of victory, clothed in white robes, all singing the
same song, worthy is the Lamb. Where did they come from? Who
are these? And where did they come from?
And John said, I don't know. You tell me. You tell me. And the elder answered, these
are they which came out of great tribulation. They came out. They all came out. They all came
plum out. None of them was drowned. None
of them was captured by Satan. None of them was snatched out
of the hand of the great shepherd. They all came out. You ever feel
like you're not going to come out? You ever feel like this
trial, this difficulty, this burden, this heartache is never
going to end? I'm going down for the last time? No, you won't. The shepherd won't
allow that. No, no, you've been bought with
a price as the brother read a moment ago. You're mine. You're redeemed. I bought you. When you go through
the fire, you're not going to be burned. When you pass through
the water, you're not going to drown. You're going to come out.
You're going to come out. I'll tell you what, we'll be
defeated though. Look back on that battlefield. Satan's been
defeated. Sin has been put away. Every
enemy's been destroyed. Death, the last enemy, the sting
of death, that's gone. Oh, but look on the other side.
They all came out. And there they are. My soul,
what a multitude of sinners. Redeemed sinners. And they're
all praising that one. that purchased them, redeemed
them with his own precious blood. I've been reading the poems of
a lady by the name of Annie Johnson Flint. I don't know if any of
y'all received Grace Gems, but I found it on that website, and
they've been very helpful to me. This is what she wrote. It's
called Passing Through. When thou passest through the
waters, deep the ways may be in cold, but Jehovah is our refuge,
and his promise is our hold. For the Lord himself has said
it, he the faithful God and true, when thou passest through the
waters, thou shalt not go down, but through. Seas of sorrow,
seas of trial, Bitterest anguish, fiercest pain, Rolling surges
of temptation, Sweeping over heart and brain. They shall never
overflow us, For we know his word is true. All his words and
all his billows, He will lead us safely through." They all
came out. They all came out. And so were
you, child of God. So will you, my weeping brother
and sister. You'll come out. Your great shepherd
has seen to that. He promised his father he's going
to bring you back to the father's house. And he will. threatening
breakers of destruction, that's insidious undertow, shall not
sink us, shall not drag us out the ocean depths of woe. For
his promise shall sustain us. Praise the Lord whose word is
true. We shall not go down or under. He has said, thou passest
through. When you pass through the waters,
I'll be with you. When you go through the fire,
you'll not be burned. Why? Because I've redeemed you.
I've redeemed you. I've bought you. You're mine. You're mine. Thank God for the
fetching grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that'll keep us till the
river rolls its water at our feet. Then it'll bear us safely
over where our Savior we shall meet. God bless you. God bless
you. Been a pleasure to be with you
today. Thank you.