Even brother, it's good to make
it back home at a challenging weekend challenging couple weeks
and Challenges aren't anything new and they're not anything
that's going to go away So it's just as it should be for our
message tonight the scripture reading. I'd like for you to
turn this goes with accompanies our text and We need all the company we can
get. Matthew 21. This summarizes when we look
at Acts 7 at Stephen's message. His message, his last message.
A message unto death. He preached till they killed
him. And this is what he preached. This summarizes his message. The Lord says this in fewer words
than what Stephen said. And Stephen's going to say it
in fewer words than what I'm going to say. It didn't take
him long to say what he had to say. It was a real short message.
We had a three minute message. If the Lord's pleased, that's
plenty enough. He had just a couple words sometimes, wasn't he? Here
in Matthew 21, look at verse 33. We'll read to the end. Matthew
21, verse 33. The Lord had been speaking in
parables, and he said, hear another parable. There is a certain householder
which planted a vineyard. and hedged it round about, and
digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out
to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And when the time
of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that
they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took
his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants
more than the first, and they did unto them likewise. But last
of all, he sent unto them his son. Now, unless the Lord mentions
the servants, I don't want to preach for minutes, but maybe
I will. The Lord mentions his servants first. That's leading
to a point. If we stop there, we don't get
the point. We can see servants being stoned,
and people's talking about stoned servants and killed servants.
Yes, Stephen's going to die at the end of his message. But if
we stop there, We stop short of the point. We stop short of
the point. It says in verse 37, but last
of all, he sent unto them his son. He sent his son, saying,
they will receive my son. And when the husband saw the
son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us
kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. And they called
him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. When the Lord therefore
of the vineyard cometh, the Lord's asking a question now. The master
has been given this parable. Now he's asking a question. The
main point here is the son. When the Lord therefore of the
vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They
say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men and
will let out of his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which
shall render him the fruits of their seasons. And he saith unto
them, did you never read the scriptures, the stone which the
builder rejected? The same has become the head
of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. and it is marvelous in
our eyes. Question mark, is that marvelous
to us? That's what happened to Christ, wasn't it? Is that marvelous
to you? This is the way he saw to do it. That's marvelous to
me. Is it marvelous in our eyes? Therefore
say unto you, verse 43, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you
and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. the
ones that declare that all of our fruits are of Him. Whosoever
shall fall on this stone shall be broken. That doesn't mean
we tripped because we stumbled. That means that we dove and sprawled
out wide and hugged to Him and collapsed on Him and put all
of our weight on Him and rested on this stone, this cornerstone,
this son that the Father sent that owns everything, the husband.
If we just fall on Him and look to Him and rest on Him, we'll be broken. of a broken
and contrite heart. That's a good thing. That's a
blessed thing to have. But on whomsoever it shall fall,
those that won't fall on him, he'll land on them, and he'll
grind him to powder. When the chief priests and the
Pharisees had heard this parables, they perceived that he spake
of them. And they got mad several times.
They said, you calling us sinners? You talking to me? He's saying,
I'm a sinner. I think he's talking about us.
He was, that's who he was talking to. But when they sought to lay
hands on him, they're about to kill Stephen. And they sought
to lay hands on our Lord too. They feared the multitude because
they took him for a prophet. How did they know they took him
for a prophet? Well, if you got a marginal reference, Mark 12
is there. Look over there. Mark 12, 35.
It's just three verses. Here's what those ones that fell on the stone, those that
were ground by the stone were angry and wanted to kill him.
sought to kill him, and those that had already fell on the
stone saw this was precious, saw the son as precious. And this is that reference. This
is what it is that we can sit, they think he might be a prophet.
It's what the Pharisees said. Here's what God said about him.
Mark 12, verse 35. And Jesus answered and said,
while he taught in the temple, how say the scribes that Christ
is the son of David? For David himself said by the
Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right
hand, till I make thine enemies a footstool. David therefore
himself calleth him Lord. And whence is he then his son?"
What's the topic there? The son. The son. And the common
people heard him gladly. They found him precious. That's
the two responses. You talking to me and there's
anger? Oh, this is wonderful. This is the sweetest thing I've
ever heard. God sent his son for us. That's what we needed. One thing, Naples, and the Lord
provided it. And common people, regular old folks, receive it
gladly. I said, that's great. That's
great. Let's pray together. Father,
as we hear the message you provided for Steve and your messenger,
Lord, make our eyes be on your son and make us receive it gladly. Thank you for talking to us,
Lord. Thank you for sending this messenger to those folks there
that we can read tonight. Thank you for sending a messenger
to me. Save my soul. Teach me these things. You've
provided everything so abundantly. If we were to count our blessings,
Lord, there's no No number that high. We would die before we
scratch the surface. You're holy and just, Lord, and
on your throne and everything that has come to pass up till
now, this very second, and what is to be is your will to honor
your son, your namesake, and to be good for your people. We
receive this gladly, Lord. We're thankful for him. We're
thankful for the son. We find the son precious. And
if you're pleased, send your spirit and make us see him high
and lifted up again tonight. Don't leave us to ourselves,
Lord. If you don't go with us, don't let us go. If the message
isn't from you, Lord, stop my tongue. Cut it out. And don't
let me go any further. Don't let that be the case, Lord.
Glorify Christ. It's because of him we ask it.
Amen. Acts chapter seven. I'm on safe ground tonight. I
had a terrible time preparing a message, looking for one and
begging the Lord. And I'll tell you, that was the
motive in the beginning. Whenever I was preparing, and
I had to cry out to God to beg for a message. And so I looked
for a message that was already there. And I'm gonna read you
his message. Stephen's gonna preach here in
Acts 7. We'll look at all the verses. And I'm gonna make some comments
along the way. This was a great comfort to me. I received it
gladly. I rejoiced in the Son, dear, and I pray you do too.
We remember the charges against Stephen we looked at last time.
They said Stephen blasphemed Moses. That was the first charge. God comes second. This deals with sinners, doesn't
it? You ever worried about God second? Or third or fourth or
fifth? I don't know about you. I have.
I have. I'm the sinner. Stephen was charged
with that. He blasphemed Moses, he blasphemed
God, and what they really liked was this building. You blaspheme
this holy place and our ways of doing things and the ceremonies
that we have and the order of service and how long it is and
how short it is or whatever. You blaspheme these things, Stephen. Blaspheme Moses. Blaspheme God. Is this true? You tell us, is
this true? Tell us, tell us, Stephen. Is
this what you meant? Did you get a message from God?
Are you lying to us? That's what they asked him. Chapter
seven, verse one. Then said the high priest, are
these things so? Are these things true? Now Stephen's
going to preach to them. It won't be long. Might seem
like if we just read through this chapter, it would seem like
it's just a history lesson. Well, these are just historical
facts is what he's talking about. This is a timeline. He's skipping
a rock over the book of Genesis, touches on Exodus, and then he
says some really mean things to these people, and he probably
had stoning coming to him. That was hard. If that's all we get's a history
lesson. I miss his story. were people most miserable. This
is good news. This is good news. This isn't
a history lesson. This is good news to sinners, and it's a good
warning to these people, and it's a good warning to us, and
it's a good message. Stephen just preached a good
message. That was a good gospel message he preached. Here in verse two through seven,
he touches on Abraham. He's going to show us a sovereign
God that commands something and then he does it. He says, do
this and it's going to happen. It's going to happen. Acts chapter
seven, verse two. And he said, men, brethren and
fathers hearken. He's not in a fit of rage, is
he? These are the Pharisees that are there that just whipped Peter
and John and they're accusing him to the face. They're taking
him to task. They're sticking their finger
in their face and they're yelling at him. And he says, brethren. If we didn't, if he didn't get
him, he didn't have him in Christ, he prayed that they might be
that day after this message, but he got him and had him, didn't
he? Brethren, fathers. This is the somebody he cares
about. He's not here just to pop off and be mean to somebody.
He cares about these people. He's a preacher. It's as if he
has to give an account for their souls, children. He says, I love you. And this
is for your good. Now you listen to me, hearken,
hearken to me. The God of glory appeared unto
our father. He was a Jew too. And our father
Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charon, and
he said unto him, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred,
and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then he came
out of the land of Chaldeans. The Lord said, get out of there,
and he left. He did what God commanded. This
is a sovereign God we're dealing with. And he dwelt in Charon,
and from thenceforth, from thence, when his father had died, When
his father was dead, he, the Lord, allowed this disobedience
to go to chair him for a season till his father died. Told him
not to take his father, and he took his father anyway. And they
said, you stay right there halfway. Some people say that his dad
made it halfway to Canaan. A lot of people make it halfway
to Canaan, don't they? The Lord allowed this to happen. And when he removed him into
his land, wherein ye now drill. God moved him. God said go. Abraham
was disobedient. God made him go anyway. This
is a sovereign God we're dealing with. 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. The Lord was promising miracles.
He was promising something. He just did what he said he was
going to do. And now he's saying, I'm going to do something that's
impossible with man. 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 400 years. The Lord
told him, said, they're going to take your people. You have
a a great number of people in your family, your offspring,
and I'm gonna put them in bondage for 400 years in Egypt. This
land's yours. I'm gonna give it to your seed,
but here's what I'm gonna do. And the nation to whom they shall
be in bondage will I judge, said God. And after that, they shall
come forth to serve me in this place. That was the exodus we're
looking at right now. He said, I'm gonna send those
plagues. Stephen was preaching about, very briefly, The plagues
that went through Egypt. This is a sovereign God. All
power is potentate. Potentate. Verse eight. Here's
a covenant given. This is a heart work shown and
taught. Acts seven, verse eight. And
he gave him the covenant, speaking of Abraham, the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham begat Isaac, and
he circumcised him the eighth day, and Isaac begat Jacob, and
Jacob begat the 12 patriarchs. Lord told him in Genesis 17,
and you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it
shall be a token. This is just a picture of a covenant betwixt me and
you. What's that covenant? God said, I'll circumcise your
hearts. I have a people, they're coming through you because of
that seed that's going to come through you. And just like you,
they'll be rebellious. They'll be at war with me. They
won't have anything to do with me. They won't be looking for
me to find me. And I'm gonna go into their hearts.
I'll come to them. And I'm gonna circumcise their
hearts. That's the token that he gave. And as these Jews, these
priests, think of the audience. That's part of public speaking.
Consider your audience, who you talking to. These are all men
that were circumcised. We got stock in this. We done
all the right things. We checked all the right blocks.
And he said, that's a hard work. God gave it as a token. You've
read it. They knew the scriptures. They know exactly what he's talking
about. Sovereign, holy God has done this. God has given us a
sign to show a heart work that only he can do. Man can't do
it. Verse nine speaks of Joseph in
Egypt. This is talking about the sun coming down to an unfavorable
land and raining and bringing his own to himself. Look here
at Acts 7 verse nine. And the patriarchs moved with
envy. and sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered
him out of all of his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom
in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and made him a governor
over Egypt and all his house. Now, there came a dearth over
all the land of Egypt and Canaan. It was a dearth that came across
the old land. I had a friend named dearth. That was his last
name. And I said, you ever thought
about changing that? You know what that means? Famine. Famine. A God-sent famine. That's what
that was. A dearth. The Lord's gonna save
his people. He's gonna put them there for
400 years. And in God's blessing and His covenant promises of
a holy and sovereign God, He said, I'm going to put a famine
on them. I wouldn't do that, would you? Would those Jews that
Stephen's preaching to do that? He said, that's what God did.
They know the stories. They knew it. They knew Exodus,
or Genesis at this point, and they know what's going to happen.
They knew it well. That was on Egypt and Canaan,
it's worldwide. In great affliction, our fathers
found no substance. And then verse 12, but when Jacob
heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers
first. Jacob's too old, but he said,
you boys, you go out there and find this corn. We heard, I always
do this, heard, heard the message came, the word came. Jacob wasn't
looking for no word, he's just hungry. God provided the hunger
first before he provided the corn. That's a blessing. Provided the necessity. There was a need there before
he provided the necessity. What a blessing. He heard there
was corn in Egypt. If you're starving to death,
I'll tell you what, and you know there's corn in Egypt, you'll
go to Egypt. You will. And at that second time, Joseph
was made known to his brethren, and Joseph's kindred was made
known unto Pharaoh. Remember whenever we looked through
that, and Joseph revealed himself to his brethren, and fell on
their necks, and cried, and hugged them, and loved them after he'd
spoken another language in front of them, and set them up, didn't
he? He hid things in their bags, didn't he? To put them right
where he wanted them, to break their hearts. We need to be brought
to a place not of arrogance and of pride and of being so well-rounded
that we just know everything. We need to be brought to our
knees to have Christ the Son revealed to us. It says in Genesis
45, and Israel said, it's enough. Joseph, my son, is yet alive.
The Lord liveth. I will go see him before I die.
I'm gonna go where he is. He's revealed himself to me.
I heard, I had good witness. This report came and I tell you
what, him on his throne's enough. Him on his throne's enough. Verse 14, the victorious foreseeing
son, Joseph, who's enough. And he's all in all. He called
Jacob, sinners, to where corn was, to where life was. Look
here in Acts 7, 14. Then sent Joseph and called his
father Jacob. That's Israel, right? We're sons
of Jacob. He called his father Jacob to
him and all his kindred, three score and 15 souls. That's what
the Lord does, this picture of Christ calling his children and
making them come to him where there's food, where there's life. provision that he's done it all.
Verse 15 and 16, Jacob died and he's taken to a purchased land,
a prepared place. Someone went and prepared a place
for Jacob before Jacob was ever born. Verse 15, so Jacob went
down to Egypt and died. He and our fathers, just like
everybody else, were all going to die and were carried over
to Shechem and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham bought for a sum
of money from the sons of Emor, the fathers of Shechem. This
sovereign holy God that sends a message to his people on his
power and his will and brings them out, brings them to himself,
congregates that family together. We're going to be carried, brethren.
Carried. I can't walk fast enough. I got
a limp. Can't walk far. I ain't got good
shoes. That matters we're gonna be carried
not walking with our head held high. We're gonna be carried
by the shepherd Into a place that was purchased by him. He
said I go to prepare a place for you We aren't there yet,
though We aren't there yet Trouble was happening Trouble has happened. Trouble
is happening now, and trouble will come until we're carried
out of here. Man's a few days and full of
trouble. My brother John Chapman said
that this weekend, and it's just an arrow through my heart. I
told him about it after and thanked him. David said, Lord, make me
number my days, not my months, not my years. I may not have
months or years. I got days. Just days. And if I live 50 more
years, that's just a couple of days. It's just a vapor. That
ain't nothing in eternity, is it? What am I going to do with
my time? I want to serve God that so faithfully
carried me, and provided for me, and looked after me, and
His power sustained me. Don't you? You do. You do. You love Him. You want to honor
Him. Verse 18 and 19, there's 400
years of silence from God. And through that trouble that
God sent, the Lord brought his people out. We got the whole shooting match
in the first 16 verses. And now it's going to affect
us where we live in our day. Acts 7, 17. 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 subtly with our
kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so they cast out their
young children, to the end they might not live." Remember that?
Right before Moses was born, those midwives, right at the
beginning of Exodus. Pharaoh said, I don't remember
this guy Joseph, I don't remember that stuff. I'm the new boss
here. And them Hebrews were becoming
a problem. Killed the children. You tell them midwives, as soon
as a boy comes out, drown it. Go float in the river. And remember
what happened? They kept being boy children. And they went to
the Hebrew wives and midwives and says, why ain't you drowning
these babies? And they said, them Hebrew women ain't like
the Egyptian women. That may be your experience with women,
but these Hebrew women, they're lively. They deliver them before
we even show up. I ain't got a chance to put it
in a bucket of water. Don't know what to tell you, Pharaoh. Sorry. I always thought that was precious,
too. In spite of all man's efforts,
the Lord cannot be frustrated. He can't be. And he gave them
these taskmasters, didn't he? And he heard their cry. Remember,
let's look at that. Because of the taskmasters, the Lord sent
the taskmasters. He did everything he promised
he was going to do. He said, I'm going to do this, Abraham.
We forget. But he sent these taskmasters so the people would
finally cry out to him. And he said, oh, I heard you.
Right on time, right when I put it in you, I heard him. I'll
deliver you, I'll deliver you. In verse 20 through 37, Moses,
the deliverer, drawing out the Lord's people was sent. And we'll
read, we're going through this on Sundays right now, so we'll
just read through these. Verse 20, in which time Moses
was born and was exceeding fair, Why was Moses exceeding fear?
He's just a baby, wasn't he? He's a picture of Christ. This
isn't just a son. This is a son that's a picture
of the son. And nourished up in his father's
house three months. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's
daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son. Moses was
learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty
in words and in deeds. But you thought the same thing
I thought. Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor
with God and man. How could that be? It's amazing. That's a mysterious
and gracious and wonderful thing. Because I had to, that's how.
You had to. We were born babies, born of
Adam and a mother into this world. And we had to learn right. And
we had to grow right. And we had to increase in favor.
People had to learn to not get to know us, spend some time with
us, and find us favorable. And the Lord had to be pleased
in all this. That was a requirement God had. And he's saying, that's
what Christ did for his people. Anything required in infancy
has been fulfilled. Anything required as a toddler
has been fulfilled in him. As a teenager, it's been fulfilled.
As a young person, as a parent, as an adult, as an old person,
everything that is, it's fulfilled in him. That's what Moses is
showing us. Verse 23, And when he was full
forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren
and the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer
wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote
the Egyptian. He killed him. 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 showed
himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one
again, saying, Sirs, are you brethren? Why do you wrong one
another? But he that did his neighbor
wrong thrust him away. They thrust away Moses, saying,
Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? I'm going to have you
reign over us. Wilt thou kill me? You killed
that Egyptian. Maybe you'll kill me next. Is
that what you want to do? as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday.
Then fled Moses at this saying, and he was a stranger in the
land of Midian, where he begat two sons, and when forty years
were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness at Mount
Sinai an angel of the Lord, and a flame of fire in a bush. And
Moses saw it, he wandered at the sight, and he drew near to
behold it, and the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, I
am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
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've seen, I've
seen the affliction of my people, which is in Egypt, and I've heard
their groanings, and I'm come down to deliver, and now come. I will send thee into Egypt.'
And 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." We're about to see this play out at the end
of this chapter. There was one that's just refusing
everything and nobody wanted. He's going to be used modestly.
The very thing, just like the Lord, right? He's the chief cornerstone
at the builders. Everybody's a builder and a founder
and a contractor. And we decide where everything's
set. We don't like that. Moses was rejected. It's the
very thing the Lord's gonna use. The very thing. Verse 36, and
he brought them out after he had showed wonders and signs
in the land of Egypt and the Red Sea and the wilderness 40
years. This is that Moses which had said to the children of Israel,
a prophet the Lord your God raise up, shall the Lord your God raise
up unto you of your brethren like unto me, him shall you hear. Lord's raising up a prophet.
As I've led you through this time and I defended you and I
spoke to God on your behalf and was a mediator and all those
things, that's just a picture. Moses only pointed to Christ.
He said, this one's going to raise up and whoever he speak
to is going to hear. That's it. Period. Moses only
pointed to Christ. And the master said, what'd he
tell us? Moses wrote to me. Moses wrote to me. Verse 38 through
44. Here's a rebellion against Moses. This is false worship,
which shows rebellion against God. This is, it was against
Moses because God wasn't right in front of them if they could
get a hold of. And so they rebelled against a God that's full of
mercy. They rebelled against a God full of grace. They rebelled
against a God full of deliverance. Verse 38. This is he. that was in the church in the
wilderness, with the angel which spake to him at Mount Sinai,
and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto
us, to whom our fathers would not obey." They would not. but
thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again
to Egypt, saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us. For
as this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt,
we want not what has become of him. They're saying, we don't
know what happened to Moses. Something changed. Everything's fine. We
get out of here. It's going to be good. This took
a lot longer than we thought it was going to take. What's got into Moses?
And they made a calf in those days and offered sacrifice unto
the idol and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Moses
went up the hill to intercede for his brethren, to pray for
them and to ask God to cover their sins. And one time he was
up there, they made a golden calf and worshiped it. And they
said, well, we did good. We made good decisions. We're
really honoring God now. Then God turned, verse 42, 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, ye have offered
unto me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of 40 years in the
wilderness. Yea, they took up the tabernacle
of Moloch, and the star of your God, Rephim, figures which ye
made to worship them, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Our fathers had the tabernacle
of witnesses in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking
unto Moses that we should make it according to the fashion that
he had seen. The Lord gave all this instruction
to Moses to make that tabernacle, this building. And people are
so hung up on that. And they got to looking at the
gift and not the giver. And this table of showbread and
the veil and the candlesticks and all that. And this is all
used to show whenever the Lord came, he said, you see that showbread?
I'm the bread of life. You see that pitcher of water?
I'm the water of life. You see that light? I'm the light. You
see that veil that you can't go between? I'm gonna tear it
in half. Top to bottom, so people don't
think people got horses and pulled the bottom apart first. And on
the other side of that, there's a mercy seat. I'm the mercy seat.
And on that mercy seat's blood. It's my blood. And inside that
mercy seat's everything that you've broken and everything
that you've done wrong, and I've kept it all. And they're worried
about a building. They're worried about this holy
place. And he said, they're worried
about Moses being blasphemed. Moses is a picture of Christ.
We should be more worried about blaspheming Christ, who we've
sinned against, than a picture that he gave us, than some real
estate that he gave us. We ought to be worried about
blaspheming God, shouldn't we? Verse 45 to 50. You see how Thomas,
Stephen's going through the very things they accused him of? You
blaspheme God, let me tell you about God. You blaspheme Moses. Moses wasn't nothing but a picture
of Christ, who satisfied, he is God, and he satisfied God,
and that's who he's at war with. And this holy place, this tabernacle
that you know so well of, you can tell me all about it, what
was on the priest's garment, he's every bit of it. He's the
holy place. He's the holy place. Verse 45
through 50, it all points to Christ on his throne. Verse 45.
Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into
the possession of the Gentiles. Oh man. It might have been okay
for some of you. You saying this is for Gentiles
too? Do you gladly receive that as a Gentile? I do. I'm a Gentile dog. All that law
and all that ceremony, that wasn't for me. That's for them. That was a picture for them.
It was just a picture, a token. That's for them. It wasn't for me. I
need everything. I have those pictures and tops
to look at and to see and these illustrations. I need it all.
I need it all. which also our fathers that came
after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles,
whom God drove out before the face of our fathers unto the
days of David, who found favor before God and desired to find
a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. Solomon built him a house. Solomon
went to honor God by building him a house, didn't he? And us,
by nature, we want to honor the house that's meant to honor God.
Solomon went to build him a house. I'll be at the most high dwells
not in the temples made with hands, as sayeth the prophet.
They're worried about this holy place. Lord don't dwell in this
physical thing. Heaven is my throne and earth
is my footstool. What house will you build me,
saith the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my
hand made all these things? Lord's made it all. Verse 51 through 53, here's the
indoctrination. Stephen went through and hit
every point that they had against him. He said, you're saying I'm
preaching this. That's like predestination. It's to be conformed with the
image of Christ. Don't you want to be conformed to Christ's image?
Don't you want to be made like him? Why are we mad about that? Why are people mad about that?
Why would anybody be mad about that? You mad that I say God
came down in human flesh? That was needed. We're sinners. You saying that we're not respecting
this physical place enough? He ain't in a place. That's all
he is. He made everything. Ain't nothing illegal. Ain't
nothing. Do what you want. That's the
Lord's. Honor him in it. Honor him in it. He'll give us
the right spirit for those things. Remember he started out, brethren,
fathers? I wonder if his tone changed.
I bet it didn't. They've applied their emotions
to the words that come out of Stephen's mouth. And in their
ears, they heard something different. But I guarantee you, his tone
didn't change. He's stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and in ears. Every time I read that, I always
wanted to yell it. Wouldn't you? If I come to somebody, would
they receive it? They would if God sent me. and if God gave
them ears to hear it. If I set somebody down, I was
just angry, angry at the Lord, angry at Providence, and angry
at everything, just mad. Mad about being mad. You ever
been mad because you was mad? I've been mad that I was mad.
I don't know about you all, that was me. If I set you down and
I said, your neck's stiff, and that circumcision we was talking
about, God ain't worked in your heart yet, and he ain't gave
you ears to hear his word yet. That's why you mad. That's why
you mad. You do always resist the Holy
Ghost. You ain't just fighting. Stephen said, you're not fighting
me. You're mad at me. I'm the one you take it out at.
But I want to warn you. I'll tell you Stephen's heart.
Because the same as his father's. If I'm sin of God and I'm telling
you these things, you ain't just resisting me. You're fighting
the Holy Ghost. You're fighting God. Just like your fathers did. We're
born of Adam, ain't we? Are we born of Adam? Do we know
anything about that fall? Ain't that us? Aren't we sinners? That's what
the Lord said. We're two or three are gathered. We can't just say
that and then go to a fancy building and say, well, now God's going
to be there and I'm showing up. He's talking about correcting
our brethren or somebody sinned against us. You remember, I'm
with you. Well, he shows up then. Didn't he say, Lo, I'm with you
always? We'd be reminded. Who are we? We're sinners. We
come from Adam. Just like our fathers. And I've
done everything my father Adam did. Why? Because I'm born of
him? Yeah, but it ain't all his fault. I did it on purpose in
my own way. All by myself. Which of the prophets
have your fathers persecuted? They have slain them. which showed
before the coming of the just one. How come our fathers did
slay the prophets? They was talking about the just
one, capital J, capital O. That whole Old Testament. There's
thousands or millions of people on this earth right now, in this
nation, that don't know that all the Old Testament's Christ. That's
why we don't preach Christ out, because he ain't in it. No, that's
it. That's why they killed him. They didn't kill him. They're
not going to stone Stephen, because he's a bad history teacher. You
get that? And he's a history teacher, and
then he said something mean to me, so let's all get together
and bash his brains in. We can say it's over anything
else. If we're mad, we're mad because of Christ. If there's
a division, it's because of him. That's what he said. Oh, buddy. The coming of the just one, of
whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers. Isn't that the
same message Peter preached? I mean this is this is the Lord's
doing the Father's purpose this but by your hands you've slain
your wicked hands you slain him we killed him we killed him say
oh I could I would I heard a preacher say at one time at a Pentecostal
funeral my uncle he said if I was there in Calvary I wouldn't let
him kill Christ We don't know ourselves too good,
do we? God hasn't revealed to us, we're the sore. Oh brother,
JC, brother sent me that this morning. JC Philpott through
Baca's Veil, today's reading. He was talking about the sores.
And a man can have the right preacher, he can agree with the
right doctrine, he could say that's the truth. But until we
touch, God makes us touch our own sores. Until we see that
we're the sinner, it ain't gonna do us no good. Nobody ever told him that. They
didn't know that stiff neck. They didn't know that they didn't
hear. They didn't know that they didn't see. They didn't know
they didn't have a new heart. And he's telling them. And he said, just
like your fathers were bad. I mean, me too. I know because
I know it's true because it's true in me. It's true in you
too. And they showed Christ and you know, you betrayed him and
you murdered him who have received the law by the dispensation of
angels and have not kept it. We've got all these things and
these types and pictures and the law and the mosaic, Lord,
everything points to him, the one that kept it, and we can't.
And we're fighting to keep something you can't do because you're ignorant.
You're going back to establish your own righteousness. Same
thing Paul said. Going back to establish your own righteousness because
you're ignorant. No one's told you of God's righteousness,
of Christ, the Lord our righteousness. He declared who the Lord is,
his character. He declared who Moses was, a picture of Christ
that delivers an unworthy people that's at war with him. And he
touched on this house they were in, didn't he? This holy place. We take care of the buildings
as unto the Lord, but he dwells in heavens doing whatever so
ever he pleases. Now verse 54, here's the response to it. When
they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and they
gnashed on him with their teeth. In another place it says when
Peter and John was preaching, they were pricked in their hearts.
Here it says cut in the heart. It's a difference. It's a difference.
The Lord just reached down and Touches his own. We think it's
just we're all crumble. If the Lord ever shows you your
sin, you can't hardly get out of bed. You just weep. You say,
ah! It's just a tiny prick showing
us what we are. It ain't literally a drop of
blood in the buckets that we've been covered in to show us what
we are. And these were cut. They were
flayed open. cut to the heart and then gnashed
him with their teeth. You know what that's like. You
that believe and you try to tell. You have people gnash you with
their teeth. I've been bit before. Physically bit. Not over gospel. Let me clarify. Not over the
gospel. Somebody bit me one time. It
wasn't a zombie movie. We weren't actors. But this means
gnashing the teeth with grit until just the enamel busts.
Out of anger. Or words. You're a bit smooth. I've been bit by words. You told
your families, you that believed. And you talk about that just
when you talk about the son, what he did, why we needed him.
And I don't want to hear that. Shut up. Burn that place to the
ground. They start caring about a building.
I heard somebody say that recently. They said, if I could, I'd bomb
that place. In another state. It's been with my family. I said,
why don't you go there? I said, if I could, I'd bomb
that place. They're telling the truth, unfortunately. Our Lord had that happen, didn't
he? He only spoke gracious words.
Everything that came out of his mouth was wonderful and merciful. And what happened? His very own
friend gnashed him with the teeth. Judas did, didn't he? I'm going
to bring that to our minds now. We're about to look at another
one. Stephen's response, still praising Christ, seeing him high
and lifted up no matter what, even while they bit him and they
yelled at him and just told him everything he'd ever done wrong
and what he's doing, verse 55. But he, speaking of Stephen,
being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly to heaven.
Where's help coming? If our eyes are seeking first
the kingdom of heaven, what are we gonna see? A Mercedes Benz? Baseball team that won We came
over here. Don't go in that bathroom back
there. I'll do this instead of an announcement. I haven't a
message Don't go in the bathroom back here Some of my animals
are there because a big fire broke out within eyesight of
our house and ashes were landing on our home I'm looking to take care of that
home. Am I looking to glorify God this evening? It may be burnt
down. I don't know I don't think so. It's the Lord's house. If he
burns it, it ain't mine. He can burn it if he wants to. Stephen was looking steadfastly
unto heaven and he saw the glory of God. Don't you want to see
that? When we see all this trouble around us and all the grief and
the pain and the anger and we didn't get it our way. Wouldn't
it be nice if that left and we just saw God's glory? I want
that to happen. And get this, this is fabulous.
He saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of
God. Doesn't that say he's sitting?
He is sitting. How come it says he's standing?
It's gonna be precious here in a second. That one standing said,
and this is, he sees him and now Stephens
is telling him. He's just telling him what he
saw. He's preached to him, he's through preaching, and now he's just
talking to him. He's telling him what he's seeing, live reporting.
And he said, behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man
standing on the right hand of God. We know the Lord's seat
on his throne, and for our understanding and our language, he's not pacing,
he's not surprised, he's not caught off guard. There is absolutely
nothing that's happened from eternity past till this very
second time that the Lord wasn't pleased to do. Why are we mad
at him? Why I'm mad at the stuff? No,
that's the secondary cause. The primary cause is the Lord.
First cause of all things, we're mad at him. Why? Stephen said,
I've seen him and he's standing on the right hand of God. The
Lord's not pacing around. I was talking to a dear preacher friend
of mine called me today. I talked to several of them,
but this one said, I was studying this as he calls, what you doing?
So I'm reading here about the Lord standing. I said, he's greeting
Stephen, that's what he's doing. He said, that's right. He said,
our Redeemer is an absolute gentleman. And in joy, he rises to meet
us. He stands up. There is no thought
we can have too high of him. And there's no thought too low
we can have of ourselves and our pride and our mentality. In joy, he's rising to meet us.
Maybe Stephen rejoicing in this adversity. They're biting him.
And he says, I see the Lord standing. The heavens are open. Look, look,
look up. Maybe he thought, if I tell them
what I'm seeing, it'll soften their hearts. So I'm looking
at the Lord greet me right now on the right hand of God. That
didn't work either. Verse 57, then they cried out
with a loud voice and stopped their ears. Stop talking to me. Stop it. Brother Henry, not me,
brother Henry. Whenever he was at Pollard Baptist,
that's where he used to preach. He was talking about these things
and telling about these things. Them people was getting mad.
And he just sat down for scripture one time and started reading
Romans 9. And several of those people audibly yelled out, stop
it! Stop it! He was just reading
the word of God. He was the only one that heard
it. They stopped their ears. Stop it. Don't tell us those
things. They cried out with a loud voice. They stopped their ears
and they ran upon him with one accord. what caution we can learn
from that the enemies of Christ are just as much a one accord
as a family of Christ didn't they they bound together there's
all those different types that were there the Amorites and These
different little sects, and they all bound up together. They joined
together against this one steed. And because of what he said,
because of his words, 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. They bashed his brains in with
a rock. It's not that they were gently throwing pebbles at him
until he just fell asleep. This was violent. It was brutal.
wasn't a quiet lethal injection. And while this took place, these
people laid down their clothes, they took their coats off so
they could swing harder. The man's feet, whose name was Saul,
Saul was present. He was the very one that's going
to be overseeing the murdering of the Lord's preachers and saints
for a few years, isn't it? And he's going to end up laboring
more than them all. He's going to write more of the
New Testament than anybody else did. It's very warm. First, I
want to see two things in this with Saul. First thing, recently,
someone, a man murdered a gospel preacher. And there's a lot of
thoughts people have about that. I thought of this text. Maybe
instead of we casting stones at people and putting them underneath
us with our thoughts, Maybe the Lord allowed that to happen to
raise that man up to labor more than us all. Maybe in that prison
system, there are about 7,000 people that ain't never heard
of the gospel, and the Lord's about to bust it wide open. In the
hearts, they may still stay in prison. I don't know what he's
going to do. But the reason that that's important for us to consider
before we judge someone else that may have done something
is a second, and this is more important. We should see hope
here in Saul for our murderous hearts. If we got that sore old
brother Philpott talked about, well, this is good news for us.
I don't think that's enough, Saul. I'm gonna be Paul. I don't
have nothing against him. I see that the Lord may not have
nothing against me. And if he'll save me, he'll save
anybody. We have that through the grace
of God and his son, the very one standing to receive Stephen.
And here's Stephen's prayer. It's just like our Savior. Verse
59, And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God. saying, Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit. As the rocks hit him in the head
and in the legs and in the arms and in the stomach, and he took
that beating and got beat and got beat and got bit. And they
just kept, they would not stop. And they just kept going after
him for what he said and everything he'd done. And we won't have
it your way. We won't have this man ran over us. You hush. And
he said, Father, I see you. I see your son. Receive my spirit. I'm ready to go home. I talked
to my pastor today. I said, I tell you what, if I
make it to 80, I'm going to be ready to get out of here. You
ready to get out of here, Bob? You get tired of this earth,
don't you? I saw enough of it. I saw enough of me. And I'm ready
to be done with this old body of death that is flesh that's
of this earth and be made like him. He's who I want to be like. Do you want to be like him? I do. Stephen said, this is it. I want to go home. He kneeled
down and cried with a loud voice. The last thing he's preaching.
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. When he'd said this, he fell
asleep. He didn't say he suffered a violent death and bled out,
arterial bleeding, did he? He just went to sleep. How we
die makes no difference. Who we are in when we die is
all, the only thing that matters, the only difference. It's just
as me dying and leaving this world ought to be just as comfortable
for me, no matter the method, as taking a nap. Why would I
be afraid? I've had a couple close calls.
I'm going home now. I just got a couple days left.
I'll tell people the truth between now and then, shouldn't I? Maybe they'll hear him. Maybe
on the way out, I could say, Lord, the nose that gnashed my teeth
right on my deathbed. I could say, Lord, forgive them.
They don't know what they're doing. Just like our Lord prayed
for Matt Cross, Father, forgive them. They know not what they
do. Lord saved some people there. Peter just preached to them again
in his book, didn't he? That's some of those standing right
there, putting cross on that cross. Lord saved them. And this
very one standing here, Saul, maybe none of the other ones.
Stephen planted this seed and the Lord wasn't pleased to make
it germinate a long time from now. He didn't even know he's
dead. Wasn't for us to see. But he
prayed and the Lord was pleased to save Saul, wasn't he? He was. It ain't a long message, but
it ain't a history lesson, is it? It's a history lesson. I pray, Lord, make it a blessing
to your hearts. Let's pray together. Father, forgive us. We know not
what we do. Give us the mind of Christ, Lord.
We see him. We know him. We believe him. Increase our faith. Forgive our
unbelief and increase our faith, Lord. Make us see him more often,
high and lifted up. The work finished in joy on his
face, doing all things well. Lord, make us remember your sovereignty
throughout your providence. Make us remember these pictures
of Christ, of how we are delivered, that it's just, it's right, and
make us remember the holy place that you are, omnipresent, everywhere,
everywhere we are, with us always. And forgive us our sin. Lord, thank you for this day.
Thank you for our brethren. Thank you for those that pray
for us. Pray for this congregation here throughout. They're in Kingsport
and New Jersey and Missouri and Australia. Those that pray for
us in Malawi, South Africa, Philippines, Lord, all over this world, every
nation, tribe, you've got a people. We're thankful for those people.
We're thankful for the one that died for them. Be with every
soul in this place, Lord. It's because of Christ we ask
it. Amen.