I'm in Acts chapter 7, but I
want to remind you that as we are at what we can call the trial
of Stephen, or Stephan more accurately put, the trial of Stephan. Your previous outline underscored
his driving auditory, his discourse in chapter 7 verses 1 through
51. where he reminded his Jewish
brethren of the history of Israel, the call of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, the deliverance of the children of Israel through the
wilderness under the leadership of Moses, their establishment
in the promised land of Canaan, their history and struggle throughout
Canaan and the difficulties they had that arose from time to time
not to infrequently as well, he laid out a full defense of
his gospel for which he was under trial. And for those of you who
are beginning to follow us in the basics of Greek grammar,
you would know that the word apologia or apologia is the term
for defense of the gospel, to stand in defense of the gospel. apologetic in the sense that
we apologize, but we answer, we give an answer. We would break
the word apologia down in its phonetics. Apple would be a prefix
away from logia, which means to reason out, or reason away,
or reason through our position, our stance, our gospel. And that's what Stephan is doing
in the book of Acts. And we looked at the remarkable
accuracy with which he gave a rendition of the history of Israel. And
in your outline, we dealt with the evangelical power of the
Spirit in his life. He was granted the ability to
heal, to do miracles and wonders. And we all would love to have
those same kind of influential powers. And then he was called
upon to stand in defense of the gospel. And we call that apologetic
power of the Spirit. I think I'll remind you, if you
don't know it, that to be able to stand in defense of the gospel
requires the grace of God. Again, as we are having a good
time in our basics Greek class, which we will have our second
class tomorrow, if you want to join us in a crash course, it's
going to kind of challenge your brain, but I think it would be
worth it if you could spend the month with us, or three weeks
now. Our next class will be tomorrow. at 10 to 12. And for those of
you who have started, being told the same things over won't be
too bad for you. In any event, to the degree that
you and I learn doctrine and acquire biblical knowledge, that's
not an end in itself. It's just a tool. When you and
I learn the Word of God, we simply have a tool. That tool then is
to be used to bring to pass or to affect an outcome. Words and
doctrine are like spades and shovels with which now we can
go into the garden and cultivate the hearts of men with that truth,
coupled with the rain from heaven, which is the showering of the
spirit of God upon the soil and the nurturing of the seed. So
knowledge in itself is not the end game. Knowledge is a tool,
but it's a necessary tool. And it is what we would call
a non negotiable tool. So you can tell by Steppen's
articulation, he knew the Bible, didn't he? He was very knowledgeable
of the Old Testament and very capable of defending its truth
claims. He's coming up against now some
accusations that I want to remind you of as we set the preface
for the last six verses. In Acts chapter six, verse 11,
it says, then at that time, as a consequence of Steppen's strong
argument unassailable argument according to verse 10 of chapter
6 when Steppen stood to declare the gospel in all of these different
synagogues they were not able to resist the wisdom and the
spirit by which he spake and then they suborned men what that
means is they hired them as They colluded the men, they told them
to make these statements, whether these persons heard Stephen speak
in terms of the topics we're here about to consider or not,
they were basically false witnesses in the same way in which they
suborn false witnesses against our Lord Jesus. So Stephen is
actually following in the shadows of Christ. This is the remarkable
thing of which we're going to really peer into that a little
bit tonight. That Stephan, while he is the
first martyr of the New Testament, he's the first martyr of the
New Testament, and that has its own significance. He really is
simply following in the footsteps of his master, is he not? Christ
said, if they've done these things to me, they will do them to you.
Stephan is going to serve as a model of Jesus Christ. And
then he's going to serve as a foreshadow of what it ultimately means to
pay the final and ultimate price of being a martyr. That should
be an A, a martyr. What does it mean to be a martyr?
It means to be a witness. It means to bear witness to the
truth, even if it costs you your life. They suborn witnesses against
him. And this is what they said. We
have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against
God. We could argue that these Jews,
these synagogues that are identified as five different categories
of synagogues are equating Moses with God. And that would be a
fair debate that we would be able to argue and suggest that
that itself borderlines on blasphemy wouldn't we Moses is nowhere
near equal to God even though God used Moses and they stirred
up the people it's another tactic when zealots want to garner support
for their cause and the elders and the scribes and they came
upon him and caught him and brought him to the council now verse
12 is an interesting insight here is the the zeal, here is
the fervor, here is the persecutory spirit of these religious leaders
who could not handle Stephan on their own. Now when he was
in their synagogues, expounding the word of God, plainly setting
forth Christ in him crucified, they could not refute him logically
and biblically, so they gathered zealots to do what the text said,
They stirred up the people. They created a controversy. They
charged him with things that were really not proven and didn't
notice what it says. And they came upon him and they
caught him as if he was some type of criminal and brought
him to the council. I thought that was worth at least
you and I calling attention to what happens when the winds change
and shift. And now all of a sudden you are
in the cross hairs of the adversary. Stephan is going about his business
preaching the gospel, verse 8, doing wonders and miracles among
all the people. Now he's exercising apologetic
defense for the gospel in these synagogues. And now all of a
sudden the beast rises up. You guys know what I mean by
the beast, right? I've shared with you that Revelation chapter
11 is a framework and a model for the religious beast rising
up out of the earth to oppose God's two witnesses. And Stephan
is a model of that. And this beast is going to have
his way with Stephan this time. And notice what it says over
in verse 13. And they set up false witnesses.
See it? Which said, this man ceases not
to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law."
So their real contention would step in was twofold. One is the
law of God, and then the other one was what? The temple. The
temple. One is the law of God, and the
other one was the temple. Why? Because both of these were
for the Jews their identity. If in fact, if in fact the law
of Moses in terms of it being a covenant was done away with
in Christ, so that it no longer had effect upon the people of
God because it was terminated or brought to full in the person
of Jesus Christ, then that law system is no longer authoritative
in the life of the people of God. Is that true? I think Stephan's
argument that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes ought to have been good news to these
people. But for them, it was a threat because they were not
ready to trust in God. They were still trusting in the
works of the law. So what we have here in front
of us is a gospel preacher in Stephan, a gospel preacher, and
he's preaching grace through Jesus Christ. over against the
what? The legalist. And you might think
that this is a small thing, but the legalist mindset is a very
dangerous mindset. I had it written in my notes
a while back. I think I have it for Sunday
as well, because you're going to see a theme running through this.
This is something that the scriptures unavoidably set forth. On the
one hand, national Israel is a great type the church of the
Living God worldwide. They were elected out of all
the other nations of the world and they would ultimately culminate
in the body of Christ, men and women from every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue on the one hand. So they represent the church
and in fact Stephen called them the church in the wilderness. Do you remember that? The church
in the wilderness. Look at verse 38 of chapter 7.
as he's arguing for the ministry of God, the movement of God,
the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea.
He says in verse 38, this is he, that is Moses, that was in
the what? Church, in the what? With the
angels, we spoke unto him from Mount Sinai with our fathers
who received the lively oracle. So what did he call Israel in
the wilderness? A what? A church. Now again,
this is an aside, but this is gonna build my argument. Stephan
knows exactly where he's going. In fact, every preacher of the
gospel knows this. The national Israel was a conduit
by which Christ would come into the world in terms of his incarnation. That the nation of Israel was
not an end in itself. It was a vehicle to bring something
about which would actually impact the whole world. So they were
a church in the wilderness as the New Testament church is in
the wilderness right now. You guys see the parallels? So
you have an Old Testament church and you have a New Testament
church. Old Testament church primarily and largely operated
on a physical level to bring a physical seed to full fruition
until Jesus would come. The New Testament church is operating
primarily on a spiritual level to bring in a spiritual seed
of which every believer is part of that Abrahamic covenant. You
guys see the parallels? Very important. So in Stephan's
argument, he's strategically setting his Jewish brethren who
are hostile to him to understand what I have stated in our outline
as biblical theology. What is biblical theology, ladies
and gentlemen? History according to whom? That's
right. Now, no Jewish person holding
to the Tanakh or the Old Testament or the law would ever submit
to that proposition. No Jewish person would submit
to the proposition that Jesus Christ is the end of the law.
that he's the fulfillment of all of the passages in the Old
Testament. No Jewish person would adhere to the reality that Christ
was the Messiah of whom all the scriptures spoke. But the New
Testament church is, we have our existence and our reality
in that very proposition for which Stephan tonight is going
to die. And I'm just tying the lines
with you. He taught biblical theology, historical theology,
covenant theology. It all culminated in the person
of Christ and the two entities of which the legalist system
is arguing for is the law of God. And the other thing is the
temple, the temple. This is what they said in Acts
chapter six. Listen to it. This man, verse
13, ceases not to speak blasphemous words against this Holy place. You got that? What is he talking
about? The temple. This holy place.
Verse 14 and 15. Again, for we have heard him
say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall what? Destroy this place. This is a nuance of words, particularly
as Luke is uttering things for which he was not there. Did Jesus
say that he would destroy that place? Yes. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. Inherent in his
theology was the necessary destruction of the temple. Inherent in his
theology was the necessary destruction of the temple. Who else would
be in sovereign charge of one stone not lying upon another
when it all ends? Christian, under the lordship
of Jesus Christ, who sits on his throne in glory, governing
all the affairs of humanity, was not it the Lord Jesus Christ
who dictated and directed the heart of Nero, Vaspasian, and
Titus to destroy Israel in AD 70? Was that not the Lord Jesus
Christ? Does he not govern the hearts
of all men? Does he not turn the hearts of
the Kings with or so ever he wills as the rivers of water?
Does he not rule over all men? Is he not King of Kings and Lord
of Lords? So your theology demands you
to understand that that remarkable event that took place in AD 70,
which would take place about 30 years. Hence from Stephen,
30 years from Stephen is an event that was prophesied in Matthew
24. Luke chapter 19 through 21, Mark 13. Look upon these stone
buildings. Not one stone will be left that
will not come down. That was a remarkable prophecy
of which the disciples could not actually get their minds
around because for them, their whole identity was wrapped up
in both the law and the temple, was it not? The whole of Judaism
was wrapped up in law, temple. Talmud, Tanah, Torah, Temple. The Temple was a critical revelation
for them. And so what we're dealing with
now in Stephan's defense or Apologia, he is dealing with the Temple
motif. And that's a biblical concept
that we have to reckon with. The motif, imagery, significance,
relevance of the Temple. The Bible closes out with the
Temple, doesn't it? A new Jerusalem and Jesus Christ
himself being the temple of the living God. It closes out with
temple terminology. It closes out with the people
of God being together with God for all eternity in a new Jerusalem
context, right? That's Revelation 22. And new
Jerusalem, our Jerusalem is where the temple is, right? Now, what
is the temple in terms of its practical significance? It is
the habitation of God through the spirit. What is the temple? It is the place where God dwells. It's the place where God rules.
It's His footstool. It's His throne. It's the place
where He manifests His glory. It's His habitation. It's where
He communes with and meets with His people. It's where He instructs
them and encourages them. and purges them and builds them
up. That's the temple. The temple
of the living God is the place where God lives and where God's
people live. You guys got that? Very important
to know that concept. But as we describe the temple,
are we talking a physical temple or a spiritual temple? Are you
persuaded of that? Well, see, part of maintaining
a consistent theology is understanding The typology of the Old Testament
must give way to the reality of the new. That if you don't
have a clear understanding between types in the old and realities
in the new, you're going to have a hard time interpreting your
Bible. And this is one of the battles
that the early church fought, particularly the apostles. Here,
Stephan is fighting that battle right now, is he not? He's fighting
the battle to try to help the Jewish people understand, listen,
your focus on the law of Moses and your focus on this physical
temple is a miss, completely a miss. Here you are, you wanna
gang me up, bring me before the council and even kill me over
a temple. Let me see if I can help advance
that thought so that we can deal with our last six verses. Go
with me to Acts chapter seven now, and let's start back again
at verse 44 and go through verse 48 and really settle this issue
of the temple, okay? The tabernacle. Because we have
that problem in our day too, whether you know it or not. People
get enamored by and all excited about buildings. That's right. You've got your Morbin Tabernacle
buildings. We got them right up on here.
They were so strategic in their building their temple up there
in the hills in Oakland and lighting it up and affirming in their
own twisted and distorted thinking that they are a city on a hill,
which cannot be hid. whose light emanates everywhere.
Can you not see that temple? That's not the temple God was
talking about. And there's no real light emanating from that
temple. If that were the temple that God was talking about, God
is a little bitty nothing. Are you hearing me? Because the
light of God's temple is God himself, as we shall see. But as Stephen is arguing to
his brethren about their misinterpretation of scripture and their misguided
trust in the law of God and their misguided confidence in a temple
that would soon be knocked down. As we learned in the book of
Hebrews, it's coming down. It's waxing old and fading away
because the old covenant was done with. No covenant, no temple. And so he says in verse 44, our
fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the what? So he's
saying this is where the first tabernacle pattern was built
and that's true, right? Israel was given this model of
the temple for the first time in 1487 BC under the instruction
of God given to Moses And Moses went up into the mount and received
the image, the blueprints to build a tabernacle, right? Remember
what God says, you make sure that you build it exactly as
I have shown it to you. Because that tabernacle was pointing
to a greater reality. And so Stephan is arguing, we
got this tabernacle, we received this tabernacle of witness in
the wilderness. And then he goes on to say, verse
45, which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus,
our home, Joshua, into the possession of the Gentiles. In other words,
the tabernacle came into Canaan during the days of Joshua and
the judges. It was in Shiloh, remember that?
Whom God drove out before the face of our fathers unto the
days of David. So from Joshua to David, the
temple, the tabernacle existed, which was originally built in
the wilderness, verse 46. who found favor before God. Who
was it that found favor before God? David. He's the antecedent
to who here? David found favor before God
and watched his desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. Do you remember when David was
sitting in his palace and all was well with his soul? All of
Israel was united, united under David and David was thinking
about and reflecting upon the goodness of God in his life.
And he thought about how big and palatious and wonderful his
home was. And then he looked way over by
Shiloh, or way over by Zion, where the tabernacle was kind
of flimsily standing in the wind. It's old now. It hasn't been
around for hundreds of years. I'm sure they did some Remodeling
of it. I mean goat skin badger skin
and ram skin it it gets old after a while So as David is looking
out at the tabernacle, he sees his very flimsy representation
of the house of God and he's he's jazzed about beefing up
God's house Because I want to make a tabernacle for you God,
you know, sometimes we we may have a really good motive for
And our thoughts about it may be very infantile. And I'm sure
that's the way God saw it with David. And you remember what
God told David, you're not going to build it, but your son will
build it. Remember that now you're not
going to build it because I didn't intend on you building it because
you're not a model of the kind of foundation essential to building
the temple. You are a man of war. So David
pictured Jesus Christ in his work at Calvary. Solomon pictures
Jesus Christ in his post resurrected work of peace obtained by the
crown rights of Jesus Christ given to sinners to be brought
in. Solomon now becomes a model of the king of peace. Jerusalem
now being a type of the city of peace and the city of righteousness.
So Solomon will build the temple. And now we have the father son
paradigm in the building of the temple. As you guys see, here's
what he says in verse 48. This is leading us to our Discourse
in verses 51 and following he says how be it. I want you to
mark this children of God Because this is important under the motif
of the temple I want you guys to get this right now in the
21st century where you and I are because you will still hear Christians
say Let's go to the house of the Lord That's a transient concept
that depicts a limitation on the spatial identity of God It's
a transient concept that asserts or assumes that God is to be
found in a specific place. And so long as I am thinking
that, I am actually begging certain questions about the nature and
character of God. Is that true? If I am asserting
that I have to go somewhere to meet God, I am suggesting that
God is not ontologically omnipresent. If I have to go somewhere to
meet God, I am asserting that God is limited in his spatial
existence and in his influence that I have to go meet him. Our
Old Testament terminology use these kind of anthropomorphical,
anthropopathical terms when the people of Israel said, I'm going
to meet God. They meant they were going to the temple where
God manifested himself, where they would talk with God through
the priesthood, the Urim and the Thummim and the providence
of God. Like when you come to church,
as we use the term, we come to hear the word of God, but we're
not coming to meet God as if God isn't everywhere present.
We know better than that, don't we? We know that God is everywhere
present. And this is what Steppen's argument
is about to be, to defend his proposition that his gospel is
valid and that the threat of the demolishing of that physical
temple that Herod had built, um, 50, 60 years before Jesus
Christ is not contradictory to the promises of the word of God
that were set forth in the old Testament. Listen to it. He says,
but Solomon built him a house. How bid, The most high, what
a powerful term. The most high God. Will you hear this? Does not
dwell in temples. What a radical proposition for
the people of God who were identified all their life with a temple.
He said point blank, emphatically, God does not dwell dwell in temples."
That was the Holy Ghost who said that. The Spirit of God had said
that at this time to bolster Stephan's argument against the
misguided notion that the temple becomes the most important thing
in the life of the people of God. But Christ has spoke about
that in Matthew chapter 23. He says, you guys are all wrapped
up in a temple, but I tell you, a greater than the temple has
come. Who was he talking about? Himself. They could even begin to reference
what he was stating. Can begin. But because Stephan
has the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Christ is asserting
the same truth right here. Here it is. Now watch this. He
says, the Most High God does not dwell in temples made with
what? As saith the prophets. as saith the prophet, absolutely
amazing. Did the prophets in the old Testament
not continually tell Israel, do not trust in temples, do not
trust in Shiloh, do not trust in the temple. Jeremiah said
it again, warned to you that say the temple of the Lord, the
temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these. We have
been delivered to do all these abominations because we have
the temple, see. They had a really superficial
and misguided notion that because the temple stood, they had the
favor of God. But it was more than that, because
if you go back to 2 Chronicles now, chapter 6, verse 18, mark
what Solomon said in his own prayer. And I want to make sure
this gets driven home for you and for me on a very deep and
profound devotional level as well as on a much more practical
level. 2 Chronicles 6. Notice what Solomon says as he's
speaking in the context of a dedication of the temple that he had finished
building. Are we there? 2 Chronicles 6. Notice what he says. I'm gonna
start at verse 17. Here's Solomon. Listen to what
he says. Now then, O Lord God of Israel,
let thy word be verified which thou hast spoken unto thy servant
David. Here he is dedicating the temple.
Mark what he says in verse 18. But will God in very deed dwell
with men on the earth? Do you see that? Watch this. Behold, heaven and the heavens
of heavens cannot contain thee. Do you see his rich, deep, Penetrating
understanding of the character rather the nature of God Notice
what Solomon said under inspiration of the Holy Ghost the heaven
of heavens Cannot contain thee now sayings if I wanted to play
on that term you and I know that there are three dimensions to
heaven There is the heavens in which you and I are functioning
right now. This is the physical atmosphere in which we live and
breathe and it goes all the way up into the ionosphere all the
way out into the far regions of space. That's a dimension.
It's the physical heavens. Then there is the spiritual dimension
of the heavens where in the devil operates and is at war with the
angels of God as the angels of God are superintendents for the
salvation of God's elect. Are you hearing me? That's a
spiritual dimension called the heavens according to Ephesians
chapter 6. We wrestle not with flesh and
blood but principalities and powers in that heavenly dimension. That heavenly dimension is the
second dimension. It is that spiritual realm wherein
the angels occupy regional control and authority for the people
of God to marshal us into our heavenly destination. That dimension
is real. The devil is there too. His angels
are there too. There's a constant war going
on for the souls of men in that dimension of which we cannot
see with the physical eye unless God decides to pull the veil
back. Now, you know He can. If God wanted to pull the veil
back, He could, as we're gonna see tonight. But that's not what
we call the third heavens. According to 2 Corinthians 12,
there is a third heavens. And the third heavens is that
dimension where God himself dwells, all three glorious persons, every
true believer. You know what it's called? Paradise. 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. Keep
your hand here. I want to read more here. Go
to 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. I want you to see that for yourself
just in case you don't know. Because 2nd Corinthians 12 now
has a pointer passage in the Old Testament under Solomon's
statement. The heavens of heavens cannot
contain thee. Listen to what the Apostle said
in 1st Verse 1 of 2 Corinthians 12. Is it not expedient? It is
not expedient for me doubtless to glory or boast. That word
can be translated boast. I will come to visions and revelations
of the Lord. He's saying these are the things
that are happening to him. I knew a man in Christ above
14 years ago. Watch this. Whether in the body
I cannot tell or whether out of the body. Of whom was he speaking?
Himself. I cannot tell. God knows. Now
watch this, such a one caught up to the what heavens? And I
knew such a man whether in the body or not, I cannot tell God
knows how that he was caught up into what? There it is, paradise
here is a synonym for the third heavens. It's the dimension where
all of God's elect are, all of God's saints are, it's where
the angels are. In Hebrews chapter 13, it's called
the new Jerusalem, the city of the living God. where the spirits
of just men are made perfect, where the sprinkling of blood
is, where our great mediator Jesus Christ is, and a host of
heavenly angels. Everybody that's doing right
by this glorious God is there. Don't you want to be there? Everyone
that's doing right by this glorious God is there. That's where we're
going if we believe the gospel. That's where we're headed. That's
our citizenship. That's where we are now in Christ.
You do know that, right? We are there. The apostle had
an opportunity to visit his home, whether in the body or out of
the body, it doesn't matter because this is all about revelation.
So you and I understand that there are three dimensions to
heaven, the physical realm in which we are in, the physical
heavens in the earth, the spiritual dimension in which the celestial
battle is taking place, and then the third heavens where God's
people are safely ushered in like Lazarus was upon death,
where we enter into that state of peace. Felicity and joy in
the presence of God go back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 Less
second Chronicles 6 and listen to what Solomon says I'm actually
trying to build into your thinking a proper theology of the temple
concept So that you don't default in your theology and in your
biblical studies to a carnal interpretation Like the Jews
did this will get you in trouble This will militate against the
continuity and coherence of biblical truth as you go through the scripture.
Second Chronicles chapter six, again, listen to what he says
in verse 18 and following. But will God dwell with men on
earth? Behold, heaven and the heavens
of heavens cannot contain thee. How much less this house which
I have built. Do you see that? You know, when
he finished building the temple, what he said to God was, there
is no way for a man to rightly think about God and assume that
you can dwell in this little matchbox that we just made. Compared
to God is a matchbox. So Solomon says, listen, we know
we're going through an outward form. We know that this is only
a typical pattern. We know that it's simply an expression
of heaven. And yet we're asking that you
honor it because we have a proper understanding that this is not
our safeguard. This is safeguard. This is not
our home. This temple here can come and
go. You are too big for that temple.
Is he too big for that temple? So there are a couple, two or
three verses that I want to share with you. The first is Jeremiah chapter
23 verse 24. I want you to learn these if
you don't already know them. I want you to learn these because
what I have learned is that there's nothing new under the sun and
that even in our present generation, Professing Christians who don't
have a sound biblical theology will limit God in his nature
and his work. Did you guys hear that? Even
Christians will limit God in his nature and in his work They
will act like God has boundaries to his essence and his being
So that there are places where God is not Jeremiah chapter 23
verse 24 says this Listen to what it says. Are you
there? Can anyone hide himself in secret places? Do you see
that? You know what the implication
of that particular inquiry is? Is there any place where God
does not know where you are? This would assert God's omniscience,
right? Can any hide himself in secret
places that I should not see him? See what God is saying?
The darkness and the light are the same with God, according
to Psalm 139. There's no place where the workers of iniquity
can hide themselves. A proper theology of God is this, that
God sees everything. There's no place in his created
universe that God has not already peered into and know perfectly. This is exactly what God meant
when he said to Jeremiah in another place, Jeremiah, is there anything
too hard for me? Do you remember that statement? Now, most of the time when we
think about things being too hard for God, we're thinking
in terms of his power, his omnipotence, his ability. That's not what
the word hard there means. The word hard there means too
complex, too difficult to comprehend. A problem that is unsolvable,
a conundrum that's too difficult. What God was saying to Jeremiah
is there is no situation which is too difficult for me to unravel
and fix. Not only am I omniscient, that
is, I know everything, I'm also omnipotent. So if I know everything
and I'm all powerful, there can never ever be a situation that
emerges that's too complex for God. Is that right? It's a beautiful
truth as we contemplate the character of God. But here's the statement
that I want you to remember. Memorize this, saints. Here it
is, because the Lord is speaking. The Lord says, is there any place
where a person can hide from me, saith the Lord? Here it is. Do not I what? Woo. Look at my God boasting
in himself. Do not I feel, feel, feel, feel. Do you see it? Do not I feel
heaven and earth, said the Lord. Huge. Shoot, how many heavens? It doesn't matter. God fills
them all. Now we are speaking to the infinitude
of our God. You guys understand infinitude,
right? Infinite in nature, unending in the potential for God to be
everywhere. There's no place where God is not in his power,
in his presence, in his knowledge, in his will. in his providence,
in his purpose. Do not I feel heaven and earth.
God feels heaven and earth. You guys got that? He feels it.
Here's another verse I want you to contemplate too. Go with me
in your Bible to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah 40, verse 22. Isaiah 40, 22. Isaiah speaks
to this as well. This is another verse worthy
of marking and memorizing with regards to the nature of God
ontologically. He feels Heaven and earth. If you're wondering what that
word feels mean, that word feel, it means feel. Did you get that? Like the Greek term we talked
about with regards to stepping, pleruo, which is the term we
get a derivative or a cognate for the term plenary or pleroma. What Paul likes to use the term
of being full to fullness of the spirit of God, that God would
fill us up with the fullness of Christ. God says, I feel. heaven and earth. I fill it up. There's no place that exists
where I am not. You know what that also means
as we look at Isaiah chapter 40 verse 22? God exists in hell. Did you get that? God exists
in hell. Were not God there, hell would
have no sustaining existence. So we read in Revelation chapter
14 and 15 that those who received the mark of the beast were cast
into hell where the smoke of their torment ascended up forever
and ever in the presence of the Lord. So when we talk about hell
as that ultimate expression of God's abhorrence of human beings,
what we are not saying is men and women are cast out of God's
actual presence. That would be oxymoronic if God
is infinitude, right? We're talking about being cast
out of his favorable presence, out of God's loving presence,
to be objects of his wrath for all eternity, to be on the other
side of God's nature, which is darkness. God is light, but God
is darkness also. This is what the Bible depicts.
And so Isaiah chapter 40 gives us this other picture in Isaiah
40 verse 22. Are you there? Here it is. Let me start at verse
21. Have you not known? Have you
not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have
you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sits
on the circuit of the earth. Now, you know, God is big if
he sits on the circuits of the earth. He's big. Again, that's
anthropomorphic terminology that speaks to God's absolute largeness
over the universe. We've used this verse many, many
times over the years of apologetics to argue that Christians have
never, ever bought into a flat earth theory. That's just ignorant
folks who bought into that theory. The Bible is very clear that
the earth has always been spherical in nature and the idea of him
sitting upon the circles of the earth and the inhabitants thereof
are grasshoppers that he stretches out the heavens as a curtain
and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in. It gives the idea
that God dwells and controls heaven and earth as if it's a
house in which he has his habitation. These, again, are all anthropomorphisms
speaking to the largeness of God. Well, what a God that large. Could he dwell in anybody's temple
in reality? The answer is no. Go with me
one more verse. Isaiah 57 15 if you don't get
anything out of this study tonight Take this home, but the God of
the Bible is big Isaiah 57 verse 15 we quote this one all the
time, but this one is worth memorizing as well and again I think is
very healthy for us to to be able to think in terms of God's
pure nature as being infinite, as being omnipresent, as being
omnipotent, as being immutable, as being unchangeable, because
these are attributes that are exclusive to God alone. For instance,
everything that's made is limited. It has boundaries and parameters.
That way we can identify it for what it is, right? Everything
has a particular identity because it's limited. I don't care how
big it is. It's limited. It has boundaries. It has a scale
and it stops This is not so with God because he's different from
that which he makes God is different He is different and he's never
to be viewed as limited in any capacity whatsoever limit in
his sphere of existence limited in his power to act limited in
his purpose to act never view God as being limited there's
nothing that God cannot do within the framework of who he is here
it is Isaiah 57 15 here's another one for us to memorize are you
ready for thus said the high and the lofty one who inhabits eternity do you
see that He inhabits eternity. Now, if you and I are the habitation
of God through the Spirit, that means God dwells in His people,
and He does. And the statement describes or
depicts God as inhabiting eternity. You know what it's speaking to?
Him being from eternity past to eternity future. Pastor, how
can we measure that? You can't. Eternity past goes
on and on and on into the past infinitely. Eternity future goes
on and on and on into the future infinitely This is what we call
eternality. This is the God that we know
he is eternal in either direction God is That's huge. I know that blows our mind, but
but this gives me peace at night when I lay my head on my pillow
I have a huge God to deal with the knucklehead that want to
come in and steal my $10. I Can sleep on a God like that, and you should
be able to do. Anyhow, go back with me to our text. Now let's
deal with the seriousness of this vision that Stephan had
of God, of which you and I have to have, especially when you
come into trouble, child of God. I got 30 minutes with you. So,
I think that you can afford to contemplate God under false notions
or misguided notions Um, in your naivete or in your ignorance,
when you're in a safe place, uh, when you're working through
speculative theories about God, you're just trying to get a handle
on the person of God. I think it's okay. If you miss
the point about who God is in his nature and in his work, when
you are in a situation where your life is not threatened or
there's no mortal danger, or you're not on the brink of leaving
this life going to the next. But my brothers and sisters,
if you are on the brink of going into eternity, you don't want
to get God wrong. You don't want to have a wrong
idea of your God when you are laying on your deathbed. You
don't want to get a wrong notion of God when you are suffering
a fatal disease and you are drawing near Jordan's shores. A wrong
idea of God will not serve to comfort your soul. If you in
the leisure of a healthy life and in the let's say just the
natural propinquity of our fallen nature to just play games with
God. All, you know how we do, right? We live under the presumption
that I'm healthy today. I'm going to be healthy for another
50 years. That's a presumption. And so I'm going to play with
God. I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to make, I'm going
to fancy thoughts like, you know what? I don't even know if God
exists. People do that. Don't listen. Now people do that.
And you know this idea of God being infinite? Let's take the
hyper intellectual individual who loves to argue the tedious
nature of terms like infinitude. How can God actually exist ontologically
in an infinitudinal state? They would argue the real detailed
issues of definitions like that. Let me tell you something. You
better get God right when your number is called. You and I better
get God right when we have to face persecution that might lead
to death. My sister that's sitting in the
prison in Sudan right now and might be hanged for being a Christian,
her comfort is getting God right. Is that right? Her comfort is
knowing the true and the living God. Her comfort is not holding
to a false idol God that does not correspond with biblical
truth. What if she had a God that was limited in his capacity
to act, that he had to take his time to get somewhere, that it
took time for God to move on a transient temporal level like
you and I do to get from A to B. If God were not omnipresent
and had to say, well, I got to get there. He might just be late. Am I making some sense? And so
to have a God who is clearly depicted in scripture as omnipresent
is to have the presence of all of his attributes and characteristics
available right now. This is why the psalmist says
he is a very present help in time of trouble. God is always
present. And this is why the Hebrew writer
tells us in Hebrew chapter 11 verse six, He that is coming
to God must believe that he is This destroys any kind of temporal
notion of God having to catch up with us If God always is then
God is always present Is that true? The eternally present God
the I am that I am that is the tetragrammaton of God Exodus
chapter 3 around verse 14. It's critical that the people
of God know that at the very point in which you are thinking
about God, he's already there. At the very point in which you
begin to utter prayers unto God, he's already heard them. At the
very point that you cry out to God in supplication, God is already
deep inside your supplication, even the voice of your supplication
because of the eternality of his presence. I think that's
good. Especially when you are in your plight, especially see
if you can think of God, right? If you can think of God properly,
if you can comprehend God, knowing your thoughts are far off, as
David said, then you can actually think about God taking care of
you before you even ask. Is that true? In other words,
when we're talking about computer whizzes working with algorithms
to determine how much money they're going to make in the stock market
in picoseconds, our God operates infinitely faster than that when
he actually responds to our needs. He is that present with us. See
what I'm getting at? No real delay with God. He's
ever-present. I think that's good help, don't
you? I'm gonna see if I can make this good in our account. So
over in chapter 7, listen to what the text says as we begin
to wind this down. So Stephan has waxed eloquent
in arguing for the Hebrew people to have a proper view of the
true and the living God and that the physical temple was only
a picture, only a motif, only an image of God's desire to coexist
and dwell with his human creatures that he made in his own image.
And thus he says, it's way too small a facility for him. Verse 50, hath not my hands made
all these things? Is that what he says? And then
Stephen goes into his final argument. And I think we touched on this
last week, it's fascinating. Cause I don't know how long Stephan
preached to go from verse one to verse 50. But by the time
he got to verse 50, he was white hot. By the time Stephan gets to verse
50, he is overflowing with the spirit of God of which we were
already told in chapter seven, verse one, he was full up. And
by the time he gets to verse 50, his mind is so crystal clear
on the situation in front of him that there is no more calculation
for Stephan. No more weighing out, are there
options out? No more considering whether or
not he is going to be able to overcome their unreasonableness. He now is so vividly clear of
the moment. And you know what the moment
is? It's the moment where he knows it won't be anything he
can say to these bloodthirsty beast that will stop them from
what they want to do. The Spirit of God has made it
known to Stephan that they are planning on killing him. And
the Spirit of God takes Stephan to the next level of biblical
utterance. And that's where in our outline
I speak to the idea of the prophetic power of the Spirit of God. The prophetic power of the Spirit
of God. Can you imagine with me, ladies and gentlemen, as
Stephan is preaching to them from verses 1 through verses
50, that Stephan is regaining once again a clarity on the glory
of God? Doesn't that happen when you
share the word of God with people? Don't you begin to get clarity on the
glory of God? Doesn't God actually clean the
lenses of your mental eyes as you're sharing the gospel with
people? Doesn't he bring you close to
him? As he draws close to you, doesn't God love to be found
in the midst of the praises and proclamation of his people? Isn't
the incense going up at that time? Aren't the lights cutting
on at that time? Yes. And that's what's happening
here with Stephan, with the whole Sanhedrin council there, the
glory of God is appearing in Stephan internally, bringing
him to a level of absolute total commitment to what he's about
to say. He may have even had a revelation of knowledge that
is his time to go. As he's preaching, the spirit
of God could have given to him, Stephen, it's time to cross over. So now I'm going to let you occupy
the office of the Old Testament prophets. And you're going to
say something that they have said over and over and over again,
and they've suffered for it. What did they say? Israel was
always resisting the Holy Ghost. Always. Now listen to what he
says. After he spoke about the temple
not even being able to come close to actually even occupying one
of God's toes, let alone his whole being, Stephan said, you
stiff necked. and uncircumcised in heart and
ears. What a probing, stinging analysis
of their spiritual condition. Uncircumcised, that means that
they are not born again. So you and I are circumcised
with the circumcision of regeneration, being baptized with Christ and
circumcised with Christ, Colossians chapter two, verse nine through
11. We are the circumcision. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit. We have no confidence in the
flesh and we rejoice in Christ Jesus. Circumcision is when God
cuts away that old nature, quickens the new, where you rejoice in
your union with Christ and you love talking about God. You've
been born again. Anybody know what I'm talking
about? You've been born again. You've been born again. You need
to know something about that. That's the circumcision that
only God does. Only God can make a lost sinner
love God and enjoy God and talk about God, especially to the
point of persecution. There is a level of boldness
here that identifies a union between Stephan and Christ, of
which Christ always has promised, I'm with you. Anytime you tell
people about me, I am with you. You stiff neck and uncircumcised
in heart and ears. Your heart's not right with God
and you can't hear a gospel truth. And here's the last part. You
do always resist the Holy Ghost. So there's something on the inside
of Stephan's thinking that gives him Another insight to what they
were doing while he was preaching There's any imperfect verbal
they are resisting yet and steel In fact the form is this that
they are actually pressing against step in the way The word is used
is that they are pressing in their mind. They're pressing
against his work. They're falling over against
his work They're saying no in their spirit. No, no, nothing
that he's saying is true. No, nothing that he's saying
is true now Have you ever had situations where you were talking
to people and you just knew they did not like what you were saying?
They did not agree with what you were saying. They did everything
they could to hold their composure. Now just imagine stepping, looking
in the face of all these rulers and watching them turn red and
turn purple and the face getting distorted and the horn starting
to come out and the smoke rising up out of their head and the
clothes getting set on fire. He could see it. He can see it. It's amazing. Listen, you do
always resist the Holy Ghost. Again, this teaches us a doctrine
about the Holy Spirit. How does the Spirit of God work?
Through his word. That's how he works. The Spirit
of God works not exclusively, but primarily through the instrumentality
of preaching. He works in the instrumentality
of preaching to save and to damn. He works in the instrumentality
of preaching to soften the hearts of men and to harden. To harden. He's hardening hearts here. Stephen
knows it. Stephen knows it. Now watch this.
This is what he says. You do always resist the Holy Ghost.
As your fathers, so do you. This is a precedent with you,
Stephen says. Stephen says, I can see you killing me. Because you
killed every prophet before me. Listen to what he goes on to
say. Which of the prophets have not your father's what? There
it is. They've slain them which show before of the coming of
that just one of whom you have been now the betrayer and murder. He sealed his doom, didn't he?
He sealed his doom. You are the betrayers and you
are the murderers of the only just human being in the world.
Watch this now. who have received the law by
the dispensation of angels and have not kept it. Now, here we
go. These are the last six verses we're going to work through briefly
and mark this because this is their response to the indictment
of God's New Testament lawyers against Israel. So whenever you
hold the role of prophet, you hold the role of lawyer. You
stand as God's lawyer over against humanity, where God is telling
humanity, you're not right with me. And you get to, as God's
lawyer, lay out all of the grievances of God against humanity. You
violated this law, that law, this law, that law, this law,
that law, this law. God's not emotionally bent out
of shape. God's not just kind of pathetically
and whimsically upset with humanity. God has a whole list of indictments
against us. And here comes the lawyer saying,
this is God's argument against you. This is your problem. You're
adulterers, fornicators, whoremongers, idolaters, and on and on and
on. The list goes. We're all guilty. Every one of
us. There's not a person in this
room who is not guilty of God's law. The only reason you are
comfortable is either you are deluded or you're safe in the
arms of Christ. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
The only reason you're comfortable is you are diluted or you're
safe in the arms of Christ. If you are safe in the arms of
Christ, then you agree with the lawyer that you are a hell bound
center by nature. And if it wasn't for the mercy
of God, I don't know why God would let me live one more day.
Right? That's the truth. That's the
truth. We're sinners. All have sin and
continue coming short of the glory of God. There's not a just
man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. There's
not one just person upon the earth that does good and sins
not. Do you guys understand that? And so you and I are just as
guilty as these people, guilty at sin, if it wasn't for the
refuge of Jesus Christ. I can see, now I'll let the language
explain it to us here. I can just see it. Now, when
they heard these things, do you see that? When they heard these
things, They were what? Cut. Cut. Now, ladies and gentlemen, don't
ever intentionally want to cut nobody. Let me, let me just help
you right now. Unless you're ready to die on
the spot. Don't intensely want to cut anybody. Just in case
you didn't get this as an ethic. Our job is to not simply make
people mad. Do you understand that? Don't intensely want to cut anyone. Now, the language is constructed
in this way as to take away the culpability of Stephen because
it was not Stephen that cut them. It was the Lord that cut them.
It was the spirit of God that cut them. Are you guys hearing
what I'm saying? The spirit of God. The same spirit
that's upon Stephen was upon Peter in Acts chapter 2 in verse
37 when it says, And when they heard these things, they were
pricked in their hearts. Are you guys hearing me? And
they cried out, Men and brethren, what must we do to be saved?
Now, at that time, the side of the sword of the Word of God
that the Holy Ghost used was designed to prick, prick, prick
unto life. Those men who were listening
to Peter, the word prick is different than the word cut. Cut is a whole
different word. Prick means to pierce with the
objective of moving you. You know how you're in the wrong
place and somebody prick you, you move. That's called repentance. Prick you until you get in the
right place. Stick you. Cutting is a whole different
thing acts chapter 5 verse 33. I believe is the way this word
is used as well Let me see if it's that text acts chapter 5
and we have the same outcome. We'll come back here and talk
about this in a moment Yes, listen, this is Peter preaching and we
read in verse 32 and we are witnesses of these things and so also is
the Holy Ghost whom God has given to them that obey him and And
when they, that is the Sanhedrin, heard that they were what? Cut to the heart. That's italicized, it's not in
the original. And took counsel to do what? So that's our word
in our text in chapter seven, they were cut. Now the word in
chapter two for piercing is to poke and to pierce, to move. In Acts five and in Acts seven,
it means to saw to the bone. Did you get that? The Holy Ghost
was sawing with the Word all the way down to the bone. That hurts. You got that? The Spirit of God was grinding
away, cutting through the facade, cutting through the resistance,
cutting through the argument, getting to the bone, cutting
into the marrow, breaking them to the point of rage. That's
where we are. They were cut to the heart. What was the outward manifestation?
And they gnashed upon him with their teeth. Do you see that?
See, the gnashing indicates the pain, the excruciating pain of
the cut that the spirit of God had wrought in them, cutting
them to the bone, brought them to a place of gnashing. These
gnashing of teeth indicates the destiny to which these men were
headed. Because remember what Jesus says?
Hell is a place of gnashing of teeth where the soul is cut to
the bone under guilt and grief of rebellion against God. And
so the spirit of God is certainly, certainly condemning these men,
condemning these men as guilty and does not give them the grace
to repent. See in John chapter eight, Remember
that woman who was caught in adultery, whom the Pharisees
brought to our Lord Jesus Christ. And our Lord Jesus Christ defended
her as the mediator that he is for sinners. And he began to
write on the ground. And as they looked on the ground
to see what he wrote, one by one from the greatest to the
least of them, they all started walking away. Do you know why?
Because they were grieved and pricked in their conscience.
That's what the word of God said. God gave them grace to walk away. He gave them grace to live another
day. He gave them grace. It takes
grace to walk away from a stupid plan. See, the plan to kill God's
servant was stupid. It was moronic. It was ignorant
for them. It was fatal. And they couldn't
walk away from it. Is God sovereign in that, too?
They couldn't walk away. See, as I told you last week,
God delivered Peter and John from this same mob of beasts
when he allowed Gamaliel to stand as a mediator between them. Now
you get it, don't you? Now you see how Gamaliel looked
in their faces? And Gamaliel said, these clowns
are ready to do something stupid to these men. Let me stand in
the gap. In God's providence, Peter gets
to live another day. It was not God's providence that
Stephan would live. There is no mediator here to
give him another day. He is facing the beasts. Paul
called them lions. Isn't that right? We'll look
at it here in a moment. Watch what the text goes on to
say. It's amazing. Verse 55, here it is. But he
being what? Full of the Holy Ghost. in the midst of opposition, when
the beast, the ravening, salivating beast are committed to completely
devour him, he's so full of the Holy Spirit. What is he doing? Looking up steadfastly into heaven. That's amazing. Do you see the
picture? He has preached to them with
his eyes on them about their guilt and condemnation and the
precedent of it. And he's telling them for all
intents and purposes, I know what you're getting ready to
do to me. And the spirit of God gets a hold of him and causes
him to look up while they're coming upon him. He's looking
up. See, they're getting ready to
take him out somewhere. What is he doing while they're
handling him? He's looking up. What's up? God is up. What's
up? Christ is up. What's up? His mediator is up. And what
this gives us insight into is the capacity for God to keep
his people fixed on him even when they are facing opposition. Do you see the text? But he being
full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly, I mean, steadfastly
into heaven. Now watch what's taking place.
I told you a moment ago that Peter and John received a human
mediator in the person of Gamaliel. Gamaliel gave them a little reprieve
for a few more years. And I told you that Stephen had
no human mediator, no human go-between. But I didn't say he didn't actually
have a go-between because he has one in heaven now. And the
one in heaven has just interceded to give Stephen a revelation
Essential for him to go through what he's about to go through
and this is a critical insight for you and me too Because if
I should have to face the ultimate penalty for preaching the gospel,
I Would want Christ to do this for me. I Want I would want my
master to give me a revelation of his glory To offset the fierce
continence of everything that's opposing me because I'm human
And I'm weak and I'm fallible and I'm not so sure I can look
into the throat of the beast and not see through the beast
to my glorious savior. I think I would want my savior
to fill me with the spirit on such a level that he would raise
my eyes above my circumstances and give me something to see. Give me something to see. Fix
my mind on something other than the death that I'm about to be
swallowed up in And do you notice what the text says? He looked
steadfastly into heaven He looked steadfastly into heaven And when
he looked guess what he saw jesus Not sitting standing See, now he sits as our mediator.
He rules on his throne as our mediator daily. But when our
master stands, it means now he has actually taken your place
as your defense lawyer. Are you hearing it? He then stood
up now as the mediator and advocate of his servant Stephen. And what's
so glorious about this is that he's let Stephen know, I'm here
for you. I'm standing for you as your
mediator in this hour of darkness. Even as my father stood for me,
I'm standing for you. How comforting is it to have
the heavens open and not only see the son of man, but to see
him standing. That is a marked and significant
position. Because you see, whenever God's
people are viewed in scripture as coming under trial, facing
the enemy, It's Satan standing at their right hand to accuse
them. But the Lord is standing on our
right hand to defend us. Do you see that? And in this
context, God is pleased to pull the curtains back. See, you and
I are called to walk by faith. Ain't no doubt about that. And
I'm sure the spirit of God would keep us if he didn't give us
one vision of him. I'm sure he would, but I want
what Stephen had. I pull the curtains back. Are you hearing me? Listen to
what the text says. And he saw the glory of God. Now you and I who are crystal
centric, Bible based, gospel centered people, we are under
no illusions as to what the glory of God is. For us, the glory
of God is a person. His name is Jesus. In him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He possesses the full
attributes of the divine nature. He is the effulgence of God's
glory. He is the outshining of everything
that God is in his invisibility. Christ is that. That's what we
believe. That's what we live on. That's
what gets us going every day. The sun only reminds me of the
sun. The light only reminds me of
the true light. The day only reminds me of the
real day. The air only reminds me of the
real air. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? See, the people of God live in light of his glory. And Stephan has the splendid
opportunity of having his master defend him at the point of death. The standing is not only an act
and posture of defense, It's salutary. It's salutary. Look at what it says. And he
saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on his right hand. Do
you see that? See, he has a clear, vivid picture of the truth of
what they have been preaching all along. God has highly exalted
him and given him a name above every name. Now, this same Jesus
whom you have crucified, God has made him both Lord and Christ.
God has exalted him to his right hand and made him a prince over
everyone. Isn't that what they were preaching
all along? You know, sometimes it's funny. I'll be done here
in a few moments. Sometimes we are preaching the word of God
out of faith because we believe it, right? But, but, but we're
simply believing what we don't see and we're believing what
we hope in. That's the nature of faith down
there. The substance of things, what hope for the evidence of
things, what see, God has allowed Stephen to see his faith. You see that? Do you know what
that means? Stephen's out of here. See, the only way you can
live down here is by faith. Do you know what that means?
The curtains are closed. If God opens the curtains, you
know what that means? You're out of here. That's good,
isn't it? So you're walking down the street
and you're doing good and the Lord opened the curtains. No,
you getting ready to get hit by a car. Boom. There goes our brother. He had a smile on his face. We
don't know what that was about. The Lord opened the curtains.
See, because heaven is where there's no need for faith anymore. But just look at the loving mediatorial
word. of God. And see, you and I are
not facing persecution. I'm done here almost. You and
I are not facing persecution on a level in which we have to
die. But I've thought this, I've thought this, and I've read accounts
many, many times of the extra measure of grace that God pours
upon his martyred saints. I've thought it. I've thought
God, God would, it seems to me God would have to do that because
we're so frail. We're so weak by nature. It would
seem to me that God would have to give us an extra measure of
faith just to say yes to the trial. Am I telling the truth?
See, because I know little children who are suffering for Christ's
sake. When all they have to do is recant and deny Christ, they
won't. How is it that they won't? Because he gives an extra measure
of faith in the moment. He doesn't need to give us faith
in a situation where the trial doesn't merit it. I need more
faith where the trial merits it. Am I making some sense? I don't need a whole lot of faith
in a situation where everything is amenable and consistent with
who I am and what I'm doing. I need it in the time of trouble. I need him to pour in an extra
measure of grace when I need it. And I am certain that's what
God does with our brothers and sisters who are severely persecuted
and put to death. Listen to it. I'm done here.
Listen to this. and being full of the Holy Ghost, he looked
up steadfastly into heaven, saw the glory of God and Jesus standing
on the right hand of God and said, here it is and watch it.
He said, behold, look, look, can you see him? Look, they're
carrying him to the outside of the city. He said, look, do you
see what I see? It's amazing. So we got two events
going on here at the same time. In their darkness, they're leading
him to death. In his life, he's trying to show
them the glory of God. They can't see it. He's still
trying to point them to Christ. They can't see it. The glory
of Christ is so magnificent. He's still preaching to them.
Look, isn't that our message to sinners? Look, look, look
unto me, saith the Lord. I will save you. Besides me,
there's no other savior. And so here he is saying, look
and behold, I see the heavens open and the son of man standing
on the right hand of God. Now, what did he say that for?
Then they cried out with a loud voice. They stopped their ears,
ladies and gentlemen, like a child. They would not hear. Do you see
that? Isn't that demonic? Isn't that
demonic? Listen to what the text says.
Then they cried out with a loud voice. You know what they were
doing? They were silencing his words. They would not hear that
Jesus is Lord. They would not hear that Jesus
is the son of God. They would not hear that he's
at the right hand of God, because that would mean that everything
that Christ had said was true. They wouldn't even look up. I
am extrapolating right here. I'm drawing an inference from
this that may not be true. Had they looked up, they would
have saw him. You got that? Had they looked,
they would have saw him. Are you hearing me, my brother?
You see how good God is? You see how important preaching
is? You see how singular the act that saves the soul is? How singular is it, preacher?
Look! Look, look unto me all ye ends
of the earth and be ye saved. For I am God and there is no
savior beside me. Isn't salvation just a look? But isn't it a sovereign act
of God to move the head just a few degrees that it might be
saved? Because so long as we are not
looking, we cannot be saved. Do you see it? They are locked
in their mad rage down here, stuck in what we call the horizontal
dilemma. People are stuck in the horizontal
dilemma, aren't they? They don't look up. Ain't nothing
up there for them. But if a man or a woman would
ever look when God says, look, I guarantee you'll see something.
It was not their hour to see. So they did not look and they
ran upon him with one accord and they cast him out of the
city. And they stoned our brother. And the witnesses laid down their
clothes at the young man's feet, whose name is Saul. We'll see
Saul in two chapters. And they stoned Stephen. This
is what we call the imperfect verb form. They were stoning
Stephen. They were stoning him. You know how they do right now
when we watch the Middle Eastern news? Same rocks, same people,
stoning him. While they are stoning him, he's
calling on God. That's huge. Lord, give me the
grace. Give me the grace, right? Give me the grace to call on
you when people are stoning me. Give me the grace to look to
you when people are stoning me. Cause I want to be able to die
the death of the righteous. I want to die like Christ, like
Stefan. I want to be able to die in the
honor of the cause of the gospel. Don't you? Here it is. Here it is. Now I want you to
see it, saints. I know I'm drawing this out, but I want you to see
this. As they're gnashing upon him with his teeth, the Spirit
of God takes Stephen up, turns his eyes to heaven, shows him
the glory of God. They're carrying him out of the
city. He's still got his eyes fixed on Christ. They're stoning
him to death. Watch this. And the text says,
as they were stoning him, Stephen said, Lord Jesus, Receive my
spirit Isn't that good? There is something about the
enraptured nature of this communion between Stephan and Christ worthy
of our attention Because there was there was an insulation around
his soul That protected him from the penetration of the assault
where he could maintain his fellowship with God, right? I And he, listen,
they've carried him, they're stoning him. And he's looking
to God and he's calling on his mediator. And notice what he
said, receive my spirit. Powerful, powerful. Here it is, now watch this. And
he kneeled down. Again, the intimation of the
text is simple. Stephan has already resigned himself to be a martyr.
God has already met Stephen in the revelation of his glory as
his mediator in heaven. Stephen has already called upon
God, receive my spirit. They're stoning him while he's
talking like this. And while they're stoning him,
guess what he's doing? He's getting on his knees while he's being
stoned. What is he doing? He's crying out to God for these
knucklehead people. God laid this not to their charge
while he's being stoned to death. Do you see that? And you know
what the text says? Look at it And when he has said that he
fell asleep Powerful powerful powerful Powerful, let's pray
father. Thank you for this time. Thank
you for your word. Thank you for your servant Stefan We're not
Stefan we are not first century martyrs we are living in the
21st century We do have brothers and sisters who are going through
these kind of horrific oppositions by the beast. We pray that you
would give them a measure of this grace, that you would give
us a measure of this grace as well should we come upon it.
In the meanwhile, prepare our hearts, Lord, by gracing us to
sanctify the Lord Jesus Christ in our heart. Make him everything
so that we can give an answer to every man that asks us of
the hope of the calling which is within us with meekness and
reverence towards you. Help us to be all that you have
called us to be. It can only be done by your grace. We pray
in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you.