Well, it's so good to be here
as it is every Sunday. Just such a blessing to come
and worship with you and have the privilege and honor of preaching
the gospel. And I just count it such a joy, such
a privilege, such an honor to be your pastor. It's amazing. Turn a few words to Acts chapter
seven. We'll continue our study in this
wonderful book. The name of the message is called
out, called out. Last week we finished the sixth
chapter of Acts where we saw where our Lord Jesus Christ ordained
seven men. At the beginning of the chapter,
to the office of deacon, a new position of authority in his
chosen blood-bought church. And those men were ordained by
God to be attendants to the widows, to help the apostles and take
the everyday things away from them so that they could give
themselves to prayer and studying the word of God. And then last week we looked
at how certain unbelieving Jews were not able to resist the wisdom
of Stephen as he masterfully bought forth salvation by grace
alone, which infuriated, infuriated those ungodly Jews and those
ungodly men because they couldn't come up with any scripture to
refute him. And Stephen declared the truth
and they brought false witnesses against him, didn't they? And
they said certain things about him. Look at Acts chapter 6 verses
11 to 15. Then they suborned men, so they
paid men, which said, we heard him speak blasphemous words against
Moses and against God. Now to the Jews that was serious
stuff. And they stirred up the people,
similar to what happened with our Lord, right? They stirred
up the people around to the Lord saying, crucify him, crucify
him. And the elders and the scribes
came upon him and caught him and brought him to the council.
and set up false witnesses which said this man seetheth not to
speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.
For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall
destroy this place. Well, he did in 70 AD, didn't
he? Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans. Oh my. And changed the customs
which Moses delivered us So what happened there is the customs
were changed, that salvation is only in Christ and Him alone,
which He was the fulfillment of the types and shadows, right? All through the Old Testament,
which pointed to Him. So the believer is not under
the law, but we're in Christ, and we're free. Free in Christ. If the Son shall set you free,
You'd be free indeed, right? Isn't that wonderful? That's
wonderful, beloved. Oh my. And again, they couldn't come up with anything
against him. It says, for we have heard him
say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and
shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that
sat in the council looking steadfastly on him saw his face as it had
been the face of an angel. Remember what happened to Moses
when he came down from the mountain? He said his face shone like an
angel. Isn't that amazing? Oh my, now
let's go to Acts chapter 7. We'll read our text. We'll read
the context of our text from verses 1 to 8. Then said the high priest, are
these things so? So after they had accused Stephen
of all these things, we see that chapter six, remember this is
a letter, so there's no chapter breaks in the original letter.
It just flows right into the next, right? I'm sorry. Then said the high
priest, are these things so? Talking about the blasphemous
words that he supposedly spake. And he said, men and brethren
and fathers, hearken, the God of glory appeared unto our father
Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Sharon, and
said unto him, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
there's the call, there's the effectual call, and from thy
kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. I'm
sorry. Then came he out of the land
of the Chaldeans, in Deltin, Sharan. And from thence, when
his father was dead, he removed him into this land wherein he
now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance
of it. So Abraham didn't get the inheritance. Not so much
as to set his foot on it. He didn't even set his foot on
the promised land. Yet he promised that he would
give it to him for a possession. and to his seed after him, which
as yet he had no child. See, when God promises something,
it's gonna come to pass, isn't it? It is. Oh, my. And God spake on this wise, that
his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and that this should bring
them into bondage and entreat them evil 400 years. and that
the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said
God, and after that they shall come forth and serve me in this
place. And he gave him the covenant
of circumcision, and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him
the eighth day, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the 12
patriarchs. Now take note in verse one. Then said the high priest, Are
these things so? So he asked Stephen a question. He asked about these accusations
that these folks have brought against you, are they so? And do you notice in Stephen's
answer, he didn't even answer him. You know why? Because they were false witnesses.
He wasn't even gonna entertain it. He right away begins to bring
forth our God's Sovereign, distinguishing grace in salvation. So again, the question
was based on the portion we read in Acts chapter six, especially
verse seven, where it says, then the subordinate said, we've heard
him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. Verse 11, I mean. Oh my. And Stephen didn't even try to
defend himself. He didn't even try. He was doing
exactly what every faithful witness of God would do. He declares
the truth of the gospel in salvation. In and through the Lord Jesus
Christ, the only savior of sinners. And Stephen followed the example
of our Lord Jesus Christ. His example we read back in 1
Peter 1.23 where it says, when he was reviled, he reviled not
again. And when he suffered, he threatened
them not. So Stephen knows they have power
to beat him and stone him. But he's not saying, well, these
guys are a bunch of liars. He doesn't have to defend himself,
does he? But committed himself to
him that judges righteously, Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord
committed himself to God the Father who judges righteously.
Stephen's doing the same thing. He's just committing himself
to the Father, beloved. Same thing we do as God's born-again
blood-washed saints, right? We just commit ourselves. People
bring accusations against us and this and that. We just commit
ourselves to the Father. Lord, you know if these things
are true or not. Oh my. So instead of spending time trying
to defend himself, Stephen seizes the opportunity that was before
him and preaches Christ. We're going to see that through
this chapter. Lord willing, we'll do three
different studies on this whole sermon that he does. But he doesn't
try to defend himself, he just seizes the opportunity to bring
forth Christ. To preach the true gospel for
God's amazing grace. And he's also praying the Holy
Spirit make those truths effectual, right? Which is what every gospel
preacher prays and what every saint of God prays. Make the
messages effectual. Teach us the things of Christ
and then as they go out in the internet, make them effectual.
Oh, please. Draw on your lost sheep. We know
his word won't return unto him void, right? Won't return unto
him void. No, not at all. We're living
proof of that, aren't we? Right? Faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. How shall they hear? Without
a preacher. You guys heard Scott preaching
the gospel to you. Sent by God. And here I am, 2024,
sent by God to preach the gospel. Just like every other sent child
or preacher of God. It's wonderful. Now, the sermon that Stephen
preached ultimately led to his death. Look at the, well, we're
gonna see that at the end of the chapter. But from verses
two to 50, is Stephen's message. And it's recorded for our learning,
beloved. I would encourage you to read
verses 2 to 50 through the weeks that we study in this chapter. And we won't, again, cover all
those verses in one study, but each study we pray well. be blessed by God the Holy Spirit
for our understanding and that he'd give us wisdom to understand
the scriptures. Illuminate them for us, otherwise
we won't learn nothing, will we? Look at verses two to four. And he said, so Stephen, he doesn't
even entertain the question that the high priest asked him. I love it. He just seizes the
opportunity here. And he said, men and brethren,
and fathers, hearken, the God of glory appeared unto our father
Abraham. So he's gonna start right from
the start, because they vaulted Abraham up. Well, Abraham, he's
just a sinner saved by grace like you and I, isn't he? But
he was chosen by God, and God had given him a promise, and
we know that we're his spiritual seed, aren't we? We know from
our study in the book of Galatians chapter three speaks of that.
Oh, it's wonderful. He said, men and brethren and
fathers, hearken, the God of glory appeared unto our father
Abraham. Now this is the same God that
Sister Lynn was saying about, that went and hung on the crowd
of his cross, was made sin for us, endured the wrath of God
that was due us, and extinguished it against us. Right? So not a drop of God's
wrath will ever fall upon us, because we're in Christ. Oh,
it's wonderful. The God of glory appeared unto
our father, Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he
drew out in Sharon. What was he doing in Mesopotamia,
beloved? He was an idol worshiper. He was worshiping stones and
wood. Where'd the Lord find us? Worship and self, some of us
in religion, some of us just out in the world, all dead in
trespasses and sins, right? So he comes to Abraham. Abraham's
not a worshiper. He's dead in trespasses and sins.
But he's a chosen vessel of God, isn't he? That's one of his sheep. One
of his sheep. And God always finds his sheep,
right? He knows where they are. I like what the old timers used
to say, fetching grace. When Mephibosheth, he's over
in Lodabar, David says, go fetch him. We believe in fetching grace,
don't we? God the Holy Spirit fetches us, doesn't he? He seeks
us out and finds us. Look at this. This is one. Think
of that in light of this. He's an idol worshiper. He's
sitting there worshiping idols with his mom and dad and all
the people there. When he was in Mesopotamia, before
he dwelt in Sharon, and he said to them, get thee out of thy
country. And from thy kindred, and come
into a land which I show thee. Does it say in that verse? Well,
God says, get thee out of that land. And Abraham said, well,
you know, I'm going to make a decision about that. You know, I'm not quite sure. I have to exercise my will. Now, we have a will, OK? None
of us deny we have a will. We all have wills, right? But we have to be made willing
by God. Okay? And every one of us who
is a born-again, blood-washed saint, everyone who Sister Linda
spoke about, who looked to Christ, right, or sang about, everyone,
we have to be made willing. But we're not willing by nature.
You must be born again. And then what? We're willing then, aren't we? See, people say, oh, you guys,
you don't believe in will. No, we all have wills. But when
I'm dead and trespassed in sin, the only thing my will wants
to do is sin. And even after I'm saved, my
new will, it don't want to sin, right? Or not my new will, but
my new heart, my new spirit, right? The Holy Spirit in us,
Christ, the hope of glory. That's why we fight against this old
flesh, because that old flesh of ours still wants to do those
things, you see? But now the will's changed because
the will is always guided by the nature. If you have a dead
nature, you're going to do, you're just going to keep plunging headlong
into sin. If you have a new nature, now
you're going to struggle. Now you're going to fight, right?
Did you ever have problems with sin before the Lord saved you?
Honestly. I didn't even think it was bad
until I got caught doing something. Or until I was out doing something,
I'd say, oh, never do that again, Lord, no! Next day, I'm doing
the same thing again. Right? Oh, my. See? If God hadn't came and called
him out, he'd still be worshiping idols. If God hadn't come and
called us and saved our souls, we'd still be in the world. We'd
still be dead in trespasses and sins. Isn't it wonderful? God didn't leave us there. And
he can save to the uttermost all who come to him. All who
come to him. Folks say, I'm not ready. Well,
if he makes you willing, you'll be ready. Right? I got so much living to do. No,
you don't. What if God calls you home just
like that? Or not calls you home, but calls you, requires your
soul? You know, sometimes I go through
the Tri-City Times and look at the obituaries just to see if
anybody I knew from town's in there, right? But also, you see
some, every once in a while you see, 33 years old, 23 years old. Were they expecting to die at
that time? Nope. We've got all kinds of living.
There's going to be a day and time when God says, your life
is over. My oh my. Flee to Christ. He's the only
hope for sinners. I'll tell you what, we're proof
of that, aren't we? Aren't we proof of that? Oh,
he's the only hope. He's the only hope. So here he
is. He's just doing what we all did
before the Lord saved us. He's just doing his own thing.
But I know from studying the history of these folks, they
were a bunch of idol worshipers. And God, who comes to him? Did
he come to God? He wasn't looking for God, was
he, Brother Dan? God came to him, though, didn't he? That's
wonderful, isn't it? Did God come to you, beloved?
Praise his mighty name. Praise his name. Look at this. And he said unto him, get thee
out of the country. There's nothing about Abraham
responding, is there? But we know he did, didn't he? Look at this. and from thy kindred,
and come into the land which I shall show thee. There's another one of them shalls,
beloved. Then came he. What did he do? Did he say, well,
you know, gotta wait and see how things turn out. No, look at the scripture. This
is wonderful. This shows you the power of God, beloved. He's
calling us out of darkness into the marvelous light of the kingdom
of his dear son. God does it all. He's the author
and the finisher of our faith and everything in between, beloved.
And we can look at Abraham's life and see that. God called
him out of our, then God kept him and provided for him and
preserved him. And then when it was his time,
when it was the day that he was to die, God took him home. My, oh my. Get thee out of thy country and
from thy kindred and come into the land which I shall show thee.
Then came he out of the land, he didn't, he came out of the
land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Sharan and from thence when
his father was dead he removed him into this land wherein ye
now dwell. So we see Stephen begins his
message by speaking to all these unbelieving Jews who could hear
his voice. And he got their attention. You
know how? By speaking about how the God
of glory appeared to Abraham. That get their attention just
like that. That get their attention just like that. And who is the God of glory?
Well, none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Is he not the God
of glory? We know the Holy Trinity is the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Oh my, is Christ King
of Kings and Lord of Lords? Does he have a vesture dipped
in blood, beloved? Oh my, dipped in his own blood. My, King of Kings and Lord of
Lords, that's our Savior. That's our King. And that's who calls Abraham,
beloved, out of this land. Jesus Christ is the God of glory. He was a Christophany when he
appeared to Abraham. And now this would have infuriated
the listeners, but God by his sovereign power restrains. When
he told them that it was Christ, and I imagine he probably did,
that would infuriate them. And later on, he's going to tell
them. He's going to tell them, you took Christ and hung him
on a cross. And we're going to see how they
react. Jesus Christ is a God of glory.
But think of this, too. As I was putting this message
together, I was thinking this. If they could have killed him
right away, right, when he was bought before the council, if
they could have killed him right away, they would have. But you
know God restrained them? Because this message had to be
preached. Isn't that amazing? So always look at that too as
we're reading scriptures. Always think, always think about
how God is orchestrating all these things to occur. You never
know, there might be some sheep in that council. We know that
they, we know that they laid the, now think of this, they
laid the coat of Stephen at the feet of who? Saul of Taurus. I wonder if he was one of them
fellows listening to all that. And whose solitaires? The Apostle Paul. I'll tell you what, God's sovereign
grace works mysteriously. And when you try to figure it
out, you find out you can never figure it out. Why did God choose Abraham out
of all those, all those, there was all kinds of other folks
there, all his relatives, his mom, his dad, all family. Why did God choose Abraham? Because it pleased him to do
so. Isn't that wonderful? Why did God choose you and I?
We always ask that. Why me? Because it pleased God
to do so. That's the answer. Because it
pleased God to do so. My! If I was a jumping Pentecostal,
I'd be wanting to jump right now. That's amazing. Isn't it? My, oh my! It's wonderful. Turn if you would to... Oh, I'll just read this. What
God said about... What God said about Abraham.
Abraham's and his wife, Sarah. He said
this, thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan. Thy
father was an Amorite. Abraham was an Amorite. And thy
mother, an Hittite. Do you know that John Gale mentions
this? that the Amorites and the Hittites were considered the
most wicked and idolatrous nations of all the pagan nations? So out of all the pagan nations,
God chooses the worst of the worst. What a picture of you and I,
right? I'm the chief of sinners. I believe that. Do you believe
that about yourself? Yeah. My, oh, my. My, oh, my. They were the worst
of the worst. And that's where we were, beloved,
before the Lord saved us. And Abraham, before the Lord
saved him and called him again out of Shavuot, he is a pagan
idol worshiper. He's dead in trespasses and sins. And oh, he's translated from
the kingdom of darkness. to the kingdom of God's dear
son. Who was his faith in? The Messiah, right? See, all
the Old Testament saints were looking for the Messiah. Who's
the Messiah? What's his name? His name is
the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen, sister. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the Messiah. He's the one they had faith in.
Abraham was trusting Christ just like we are. Abraham was called
out of darkness, just like we were. Abraham's born again by
the Holy Spirit of God, just like we are. Right? One faith, right? There's only one faith. There's
only one spirit. One true spirit, the Holy Spirit
of God. One true faith. Salvation by
grace alone, through Christ alone. And think of this, if we were
not worshiping a false religion, then we were worshiping ourselves
before the Lord saved us. Because who was it all about
before the Lord saved us? Remember the old model? Look
out for number one. That was huge when I was a kid. Look out for number one. Look
to Christ. Look to Christ. I'm nothing without
Christ. Now God's taught me that. Has He taught you that? Praise
God if He has. Give Him all the glory. Go out
of here rejoicing if He's taught you you're nothing without Christ. Because that's a blessing. That's a blessing. I'll tell
you what. We're just a bunch of sinners saved by grace. I
was telling somebody about that. I was talking to someone this
week. I said, we're just a church of saved sinners. Come worship.
That's all we are, a bunch of saved sinners. Saved by the grace
and mercy of God. And remember, these men Stephen
was preaching to, they were self-righteous, unbelieving Jews. And they believed,
do you know that they believed that they were favored by God
because they were Jews? Do you know God only shows favor
to those who are in Christ? Now he's benevolent to the world,
isn't he? He's benevolent to everyone. The rain falls on the
just and on the unjust. He's very benevolent. But his
eternal love is only set upon those who are in Christ. The
true Israel of God. My oh my. And these men believed Abraham
was called out of Mesopotamia. They believed that. And the reason
they believed that he was called out of Mesopotamia, you know
why? Because they believed he was a righteous man. Abraham was a sinner just like
all of us. Was he looking for God in the
text? No, God came to him, didn't he?
Isn't that wonderful? Doesn't that make our hearts
sing, Sister Carolyn? He came and found us. My oh my. God brought you to
this church so you could hear the gospel. And Brother Peter was brought
here so you could hear the gospel. Then Brother Jim was here so
you could hear the gospel. Then now I'm brought here so
you can hear the gospel. And when I die, God will bring
another preacher to you, Lord willing, so you can hear the
gospel. Isn't that wonderful? My, oh my, it's wonderful. Abraham, like all of Adam's children,
had no righteousness of his own. The scripture declares there's
none righteous. No, not one. That's our natural
state. Right? My. And God called Abraham out of
Mesopotamia. He called him out of his pagan,
sinful life, just like he did for each one of us. I know where I was. And God called me and saved my
soul, praise his mighty name. And he did that for every one
of God's people, right? And only we know where we were.
Only we know the depths of our depravity. When he came and we
were in, I like that picture in Jeremiah where he's thrown
in that pit and it's a miry clay and it's all wet. And he tries
to climb up and he slides down. You know, that's where I was
at. Oh, oh, I'm gonna do this. Good, I'm gonna do that. Slide
right back down, right? But what happened? A rope comes
down. Help comes from above, beloved.
Oh, praise Christ's mighty name. Not only did he say that he didn't
set a rope, he put his arm down and pulled us out of that, didn't
he? Oh, isn't God so good to us?
Isn't he so good to us, beloved? We're born again in the Holy
Spirit of God. He came to us, just like he came to Abraham.
Abraham wasn't looking for God. We weren't looking for God when
he came to us. Look at verse three, look at
the command, get thee out of thy country. Oh my. So Abraham's called out of his
pagan sinful lifestyle, why? Well because he's in Christ. He's chosen in Christ from before
the foundation of the world. God's eternal love was even set
upon him while he was a pagan. How do we know that? Because
God's loved us from eternity. God's eternal love was sent upon
us even when we were dead in trespasses and sins. And we didn't
have a clue. We didn't have a clue. Abraham
didn't have a clue here. God just came to him and said,
you get out of there. What does this show us? This
shows us God's distinguishing grace, right? He didn't call
all the people out of the Ur of Chaldeans out, did he? But
he went to Abraham. Shows you God's sovereign grace.
Why are we saved and other people in our family aren't? The grace and mercy of God. Amen,
brother. God's distinguishing grace. Isn't
that wonderful? And people say, well, Well, that's not fair. Praise
God that he saved my soul. Because I don't want fair. You've
heard me say that so many times. I don't want fair. Do you? Fair
would be, oh, fair would be what Sister Lynn is saying about the
wrath of God falling upon us. But it fell upon Christ in our
room and place. Praise his mighty name. And he was made sin for us that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Our sins were
imputed to Christ, beloved. And his perfect spotless righteousness
is imputed to us. Say, how can it be? How can it
be? Because it pleased God to do
so. My! It's wonderful, isn't it? I'll tell you. I'll tell you.
It's just absolutely incredible. Let's read Acts chapter 7, verse
3. And they said unto him, Get thee
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into a
land which I shall show thee. So we see in our text, God called
them. Called them out of that land. Again, this is God's This
is God's marvelous, wonderful, sovereign, distinguishing grace.
Because he chose Abraham. Out of one of the most wicked
nations in the world. Did he say, did he look down
through time and say, oh, Abraham's going to choose me, so I'm going
to choose him? No. Doesn't say anything about that, does it?
It says God chose Abraham. He called him. Because when God
looked down through time, he just saw us all dead in trespasses
and sins. Right? Oh my. So, this clearly shows us God's
distinguishing grace. Abraham was, think of this too,
Abraham was just as sinful as all the other Chaldeans. He wasn't righteous in his own,
he's just as wicked as everybody else. So were we. Right? But that's one of God's
sheep. He looks like a goat right now. Do you know we were always God's
sheep? But we sure looked like goats, didn't we? But we were
never goats. My, oh, my, oh, my, oh, my. That's why Henry preached that
message on the trail of God's sheep. Because God's sheep, when
we come into this world, we're lost sheep. And just like Abraham,
we're just doing our thing. And God comes and calls us by
his effectual, incredible, marvelous, wondrous grace. Born again and given faith to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we what? Our will sure
works then, doesn't it? We run to Christ, don't we? Oh,
I've said this before, I'm going to say it again. Oh man, oh Rupert
Reibenbach, I love this. A team of wild horses. You could
strap 16 wild horses on us and we'd pull that team all the way
to Christ, wouldn't we? And they'd be pulling the other way. Couldn't
keep us from Christ. You know why? Because we're drawn
by the power of God. Fetched. You're mine. God says, you're mine. Oh, it's wondrous, isn't it? It's absolutely wondrous. This
is, this, this, this, I love how he just, Stephen just brings
this forth. And all we can say about this
is, again, Abraham was just as sinful as all the other Chaldeans,
but in the eye of God's eternal love in Christ, it was on Abraham
and Sarah from all eternity. She was a Hittite, he was an
Amorite, but God's love was set upon them from eternity. They're
lost sheep of God, born dead in trespasses and sins. They're
bowing God down to the gods of their imagination. And God's
eternal love is set upon them. Now, that's amazing grace, isn't it? That's amazing grace. God found
us. We were bowing down to our own
idols, weren't we? Idol of self, idol of religion. Idol of money, whatever, anything.
Anything you cherished before you were saved. You know, anything can become
an idol in this world. Anything. Oh my. And God, His eternal love
was set upon us, and the day was set when we would hear the
gospel of God's wonderful grace and salvation in Christ Jesus,
and we were regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, and we were
given faith, and we just cast ourselves upon Christ. Brother
Brian, you were regenerated in your car, man. And you said,
I believe. Ask Brian about what happened
to him. It's amazing. One of our dear sisters said,
one second I didn't believe, and the next second I did. Isn't
that true? Praise his mighty name. That's
God's grace, beloved. Oh, so marvel here at this wonderful
fact set before us. God is drawing one of his people
that he chose in Christ for maternity, one of his covenant people, one
for whom Christ was sent to die for. My, oh, my. Marvel at this wonderful fact
that God loves his people with an eternal love. Therefore, with
loving kindness, he draws us, doesn't he? It's loving kindness.
It's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance, the scripture
says. He draws us with loving kindness.
Oh, he's so wonderful, isn't he? He's so wonderful. No wonder, no wonder Solomon
wrote, he's the fairest of 10,000 to my soul. Oh my. He saved my soul. Did he save
yours? Praise his mighty name. Why'd
he do it? Because it pleased God to do
so. Oh, God's grace is amazing. Listen to this, that we who are
the redeemed of the Lord marvel at this. God has mercy on all
of us who were purchased by his precious blood, the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That was the cost to purchase
our eternal souls. Listen to this, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace. Ephesians 1, 7. And in Ephesians
4, 32 it says, And be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you. See, we're forgiven for Christ's
sake. Nothing we've done. All because of what Christ's
done. My, that's the greatest news
this old sinner's ever heard. Oh my. And our Lord, he called
him. He called Abraham unto himself.
He said, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred
and come into a land which I shall show thee. He called him unto
himself. And God's people again are made
willing. Look at verse 4 of Acts chapter 7. Then came he out of
the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Sharon. And from thence,
when his father was dead, he removed him into this land wherein
ye now dwell. My, oh, my. In Hebrews chapter
11, verse 8, it says this. By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place which he should after receive
for inheritance obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whether
he went. Imagine people coming up to him
and going, Abraham, where are you going? I don't know. What
road are you going to take? I don't know. Why are you leaving? Because
God called me out. Who? God. So you don't know where you're
going? No. But I'm going to obey God rather than man. And I bet
you some of those friends and family were like, what are you
doing? You're crazy. They'd say, our gods are the
true gods. No, they're not. No, they're
not. Oh, my. And this was no small
undertaking because Abraham was a wealthy man. He had servants,
and he had herds of animals. So he'd have to spend some time
preparing for his departure, and marvel at this, that the
word of God tells us again that Abraham didn't even know where
he was going when he left the land of the Chaldeans. He was
told to get out of that pagan country, and he, by God-given
faith, obeyed the Lord's command. Just obeyed it. Again, suppose we were preparing
to leave and were asked by someone, where are you going? I don't
know. Abraham, he'd have to answer,
I don't know. That's what he'd have to answer,
right? Because God says the place where I'll show you. Okay. Okay, God. But Abraham, what are you going
to do when you get to the crossroads? Which road will you take? I don't
know, but I do know this. My master will guide and direct
me. I do know that. When we came here, when we came
here, Brother Norm and Sister Nancy said, fall the cloud. Fall the cloud. Where the cloud
leads and settles is where you're supposed to be. Right? Them Israelites, when
they went through that land in the wilderness, the cloud led
them, didn't it? Followed them. When the cloud
moves, you move, they said. When we got that call, come on
out. Followed the cloud. People said,
well, how do you know when? You just know when. How do you
know if God calls you to preach? You just know. Can't explain
it. I wasn't looking for it. God gives you a message and opens the doors and there you
go. As far as I was concerned, I
was gonna spend the rest of my life in Oregon preaching to seven
people. I preached seven years to seven
people. Oh my. I'll never forget Barb
and Kevin, they said, when you guys said, you still wanted to
come even after all that. And you know, it was amazing
because my, my, the Lord had never ever moved me from that.
Knew I was supposed to be here. Don't know how. Wanted to still
be here. And here we are. Eight years
later, coming on nine in December. I'll tell you what. Hebrews chapter 8, 11 verse 8
again, I'll read that again. By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go up into a place which he should receive for inheritance,
obeyed. And he went out, not knowing whether he went. He didn't
have any clue. That's what that means. He didn't know where he
was going. He just obeyed God. My oh my. That does not mean that we're
to move to the land of Canaan, you know, where there's no place
on earth like a local assembly where God's word is preached. Do you know this is an oasis
in the desert of this world? This is an oasis. We come here
and we drink of the word of God, don't we? Drink of the sovereign grace
of God. Drink of the truth of the free
grace of God and salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's satisfying,
isn't it? Oh my. And those who have experienced
the miracle of the new birth have received the same calling
that Abraham received. Because Abraham was called out
of paganism, right? In darkness, where we called
out of. darkness into the marvelous light of the kingdom of God's
dear Son. Our Lord says this, or I mean,
in Colossians, Paul writes this, if ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above. You ever hear people say, you're
too heavenly minded to be any earthly good. That's, I hate
that saying. You know why? You know why I
don't like that saying? Because I have to keep reminding
myself to focus on Christ. Do you? Can we ever set our mind too
much on Christ? No. Let us keep looking to him. Oh my. If you then be risen with
Christ, if you are crucified in Christ, then seek those things
which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God.
Set your affection, not your heart, on things above, things
above, not on this earth. All kinds of stuff going on in
this earth right now. Today, we can open up the newspaper,
see what happened yesterday, and we can go catch the news
today, right now, find out what's going on, but you know what?
Set your mind above. Don't set your mind. There'll
be wars and rumors of wars. Don't set your mind. People say,
oh, there's going to be World War III. You know what? I'm going
to say something that Milton Howard said a long time ago.
He said this. He said, I know for sure that
this world will not be destroyed by a nuclear bomb. You know why? Because the Bible doesn't mention
that. It says, who's going to destroy
this world? Who's going to roll it up like
a scroll? Our God's going to do that, isn't
he? Our God's in control of every
molecule. There's not a maverick molecule happening right now.
There's not a maverick molecule out there going, well, I'm going
to do whatever I want. There's not an atom that's going, well,
I'm going to do this. It's all under our God's sovereign
control, beloved. So don't get worked up about
things you read in the news, about wars and all that stuff.
Those will always happen. You know why? Because of sin. Because of sin. And don't go looking for signs
either and saying, well, this is going to happen here, it's
going to be near now. Don't even bother with that foolishness. Because we don't know the time
of the day, beloved. Only God knows when he's coming
back. Oh, surely we're getting closer. Every day we're getting closer.
Right? Every single day we're getting
closer to the Lord returning. But we don't have any idea when
that is. But you know what we are to do?
We're to wait for His return, aren't we? Keep your eyes, right? Oh, Lord, what do we say? Even
so, Lord, come quickly, come quickly. Save me out of this
wicked world. You already saved my soul. Well,
deliver me from this wicked world. And you know what? When we go
to heaven, we're delivered. Because we won't have any trouble with
sin ever again. Isn't that wonderful? My, oh, my. We're just pilgrims
and sojourners going through this sin-cursed world on our
way to our heavenly home. My, oh, my. And by God's grace,
he calls out his children, and we will continually keep looking
to Christ by the grace and mercy of God. In this heavenly calling we've
received, it doesn't mean we're to go out and isolate ourselves
from our friends and loved ones. No, what did the Lord say to
the demoniac? Go and tell the great things the Lord has done
for you. That's what we're to do in this sin-cursed world.
Tell the people, tell folks around us, our family, our friends,
the great things God has done for us. What's the greatest thing
God's ever done for us? Amen! He saved our souls. That's the greatest thing God's
ever done for each one of us who are born again. That's the
greatest thing he's ever done. And remember we, on Wednesday
night, we looked at rejoice in the Lord always. We look at that
word rejoice in the Greek. Do you know what it means? Because
people often say, well, you know, I don't rejoice all the time.
Yeah, I agree. I don't rejoice all the time
either. Matter of fact, it's natural
for me to grumble and complain. Is it so for you? Right? It's not natural for us to rejoice.
But you know what that word rejoice means in the Greek? It means
to boast. Can you boast in Christ? Can
you boast the fact that he saved you? Oh, everyone can do that,
can't we? Oh, I'm boasting Christ as long
as He gives me breath to breathe. And how do we boast? Give Him all the glory. Give
Him all the glory and honor and praise for the great things He's
done in your life. In our text, it says that Abraham,
when he came out of the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelled
in Sharan until his father was dead. And his father's name was
Terah. And Terah came out of the land
of the Chaldeans with his son, Abraham. And they dwelt in Sharon
until Terah died. My oh my. And all that was purposed
by God's sovereign hand, wasn't it? All that was purposed by
God's sovereign hand. Now let's read verse four. Then
came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Sharon,
and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into
this land wherein ye now dwell. So Stephen tells these unbelieving
Jews that after Abraham's father died, then God moved Abraham
into this land wherein you now dwell. And look at Acts 7 verse
5. 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. This was a great trial
for Abraham's faith. to be bought out of his country
into another land, which was promised to him in a seed, and
yet not a single part of it was gonna be his possession. And when Sarah, his wife, died,
he was obliged to buy a piece of land for burying her, which
he bought with his own money. Yet we see God promise that he
would give it to him for possession and to his seed after him. Before he ever had a child, before
he ever had a child, beloved, Romans 4.20 says, he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God. My, oh, my. And being fully persuaded
that that which he had promised, he was also able to perform,
and therefore was imputed to him for righteousness. He believed. He believed what God says. That's
what we do as believers. We believe what God says in his
word. My oh my. Now let's read verses six to
eight. And God spake on this wise, that his seed should join
in a strange land and that they should bring them into bondage
and then treat them evil for a hundred years. And the nation
to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God. After
that, they shall come forth and serve me in this place. And he
gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham begot Isaac and
circumcised him the eighth day. And Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob
begot the twelve patriarchs. Now Stephen, again, he was full
of the Holy Ghost and spiritual wisdom. He had all this revealed
to him by God, by God the Holy Spirit. And remember, there was
no New Testament. He just had the Old Testament
scriptures. He's preaching Christ from the Old Testament, isn't
he? And remember, he sat under the same teacher as Paul, Gamaliel. So he was an expert in the law.
Remember, Stephen was a man of standing, a man of knowledge. He'd been taught. He was Greek. He was a Hellenistic Jew. He
was a Greek Jew. who the Lord saved. He was very
familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures. Oh my. And you know at the very
end of his sermon, he's so familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures
that at the end of the sermon, he points his fingers, he gives
historical accounts we're going to see all through this message,
and then he points his finger at these Jews. And they cannot
deny that they murdered Jesus of Nazareth. Look at verses 51
to 54 of Acts chapter 7. And this sets them into an uncontrollable
rage. See, God restrained them. And
then they just go into a rage. It's time for Stephen to come
home. He's stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears. You do always resist the Holy
Ghost as your fathers did. So do ye. Which of the prophets
have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain. Slain them
which showed before of the coming of the just one. Now he's showing
that all these things he's teaching is pointing to Christ. Of whom
ye have being now the betrayers and murderers who have received
the law by dispensation of angels and have not kept it. When they
heard these things they were cut to the heart and they gnashed
on their teeth. They were ready to kill him. And of course they're going to
take him out and they're going to stone him. The Lord's going to take
him home. Let's read verse 6 again. God spake on this wise that his
seed should sojourn in a strange land They should bring them into
bondage and treat them evil for 400 years. Well, we know that
happened, didn't they? They were in the land of Egypt.
This is even before it even happens, isn't it? Oh, see, our God knows the end
from the beginning, doesn't he? My, oh, my. They went into Egypt
because of famine, all again by God's sovereign providence.
And Joseph, their brothers, their brother of the 12 sons, their
brother, He was made prime minister over
all of Egypt, right? The Lord preserved them through
all that by his sovereign hand. And during the time the Israelites
dwelt in Egypt, they became a great nation, multiplying well over
a million. And at God's appointed time,
he raised up wicked Pharaoh, who was cruel taskmaster over
Israel, treated them as slaves, inflicting them with many evils
and painful punishments. Well, how do we know? How do
we know that he was raised up for God's purpose to come to
pass? Well, in Romans 9, 17, it says this, even for this same
purpose have I raised thee up, speaking of Pharaoh, that I might
show my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. My, oh, my. And then look at
Acts 7, verse 7. In a nation to whom they shall
be in bondage will I judge. God judged Egypt, didn't he? said God. And after that, shall
they come forth. And look at that, it's not they
might. How many times this little word shows up now? It's like
we got a new Bible, eh? The ink's not quite dry and that
little word shall. It's everywhere. It's everywhere. And after that, shall they come
forth and serve me in this place? So God did judge wicked Pharaoh
and the ungodly Egyptians under his rule. He brought ten plagues
upon them, the last being the death of their firstborn. In every home where that blood
was not applied, that blood which typified the precious blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And God said, when I see that
blood, I'll pass over you. And beloved, we're covered with the
blood of Christ. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, that
sacrificial lamb, that innocent lamb had to die, right? Think
of that. That lamb didn't do nothing.
It'd be a lamb without blemish, without spot, which pictured
Christ. And all the doors that didn't have that blood, in comes
the death angel. My, oh my. But if there's the
blood, when I see that blood, huh? What? He passed right over
that door. Oh my. And all who are under
that blood are safe. Are you under the blood of Christ?
Then we're safe. Safe. My, it's wonderful. And then, Pharaoh let the Israelites
go, didn't he? He let them go. But after God's people spoiled
the Egyptians, that means they were handing gold and jewels
over, and they spoiled Egypt. Egypt was so wealthy, they spoiled
Egypt. It's like an army coming in and
spoiling them and taking all their wealth. Scripture says
they spoiled the Egyptians. And they went out from his presence.
Pharaoh gathered his army together, and what'd he do? We're gonna
go get him. But that was all part of God's plan and purpose,
wasn't it? Because they were going to be swallowed up by the
Red Sea. God's people pass that Red Sea on dry ground and then
here comes the enemies of God and the enemies of God's people
and they're flying, they're gnashing their teeth, we're going to kill
them all. And they go flying in there and their wheels start
falling off their chariots and the water just comes down. And they're dead just like that. My. And God drowned him in the whole
Egyptian army in the Red Sea. And the Lord's people were safe
on the other side. We'll be safe on the other side,
brother Dave. We get home to glory, we're safe
on the other side, aren't we? Oh my. Let's read verse eight
now, we're almost done. And he gave him the covenant
of circumcision, so Abraham begot Isaac, circumcised him the eighth
day, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the 12 patriarchs.
God made a covenant with Abraham. Circumcision of the flesh was
the outward signs of that covenant. And after God had told Abraham
about his seed going into Egyptian bondage, he made a covenant with
him. And Abraham begot Isaac. and
circumcised him the eighth day. And Isaac, he begot Jacob. And
Jacob begot the 12 patriarchs. And then the Lord changed Jacob's
name to Israel. And the 12 boys became known
as the 12 sons of Israel. And the nation of Israel typified
spiritual Israel. We who are the born-again, blood-washed
church of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what Egypt typified?
It typified this sin-cursed world. We were in bondage. We were in
Egyptian bondage, the world. The world had us, didn't it?
Before we were saved, we were in Egyptian bondage. Egypt typified
this sin-cursed world we're living. And Egyptian bondage typified
the spiritual bondage we were in. We were in spiritual bondage
when God found us. Right? Dead in trespasses and
in spiritual bondage, just like Abraham, worshiping idols. That's where God finds us. He finds all his chosen blood-bought
saints dead in trespasses and sins. And then we're born again. And that wicked Pharaoh, he typified
Satan, our cruel taskmaster. who would never release his hold
on any member of spiritual Israel until he was commanded to do
so. He has no power. You listen to
some religious folks, he's got more power than God. No, he doesn't.
Our God is sovereign and Satan is just a created being. Now,
I'm no match for him and you're no match for him, but our great king already conquered
him, already crushed him at Calvary's
tree. He bruised the Lord's heel, which
is his humanity, but the Lord crushed his head, took his power
away. And the only power he had that
was given to him by God anyways, right? Oh my, oh my. And Moses, who delivered the
Israelites out of Egyptian bondage, typified the Lord Jesus Christ,
our great deliverer, who is the one who commanded Satan to release
us and to let us go. So let we who are the redeemed
rejoice. Our Lord Jesus Christ has delivered us from the prison
house of sin, the prison house of unbelief. And the Lord Jesus
Christ brought us under the preaching of the gospel, his gospel, and
then commanded his light to shine, commanded his light to shine
in our hearts, giving us the knowledge of the glory of him. When we're born again, now we
have a knowledge of who Christ is. who he really is and what
we are.