This morning we're looking again
at Acts chapter 7 and I'm taking
the title from the words found in verse 52. Stephen declared
unto them which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted
and they have slain them which showed before the coming of the
just one of whom you have been Betrayers, rebels, murderers. You murdered the Son of God.
So I'm calling this message, and the title of this message,
The Coming of the Just One. The Coming of the Just One. All the Old Testament scriptures
declare unto us the coming of the just one. The coming of the
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. WE'RE GOING TO READ IN ACTS CHAPTER
10, LATER ON WHEN WE GET OVER THERE, IN VERSE 43, TO HIM GIVE
ALL THE PROPHETS WITNESS. THEY ALL SPEAK OF THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST. OUR LORD SAID TO THOSE PHARISEES,
YOU ARE THEY WHICH SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES, BUT THEY ARE THEY
WHICH TESTIFY OF ME, TALKING ABOUT ALL OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. GIVE US A CLEAR INDICATION AND
DESCRIPTION OF THE MESSIAH, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. We read this
in Romans 15, for whatsoever things were written aforetime
were written for our learning, that we through patience and
comfort of the scriptures might have hope. And we have a good
hope, don't we? Christ in you is a hope of glory. Stephen. the faithful servant
of the Lord, Stephen, a chosen deacon of the early church. Stephen,
the faithful servant of the Lord, preached this gospel sermon,
starting with Abraham, how God sovereignly called him out, how
God blessed Isaac and Jacob, and how God raised up Moses to
deliver his people, and how God also raised up a king by the
name of David, and then he goes all the way down to Joseph, and
all the way down to Solomon. All the scriptures tell us the
history of the Lord Jesus Christ. They tell his story. That's what history is, his story.
of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, of His
love, He loved us with an everlasting love, of His mercy and grace
given us in Christ before the foundation of the world, of His
salvation. They tell us of the Son that's
given, the Child that is born, whose name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace, and the Government upon His shoulders. Thank God
it is. GOVERNMENT IN A MESS. HIS GOVERNMENT'S
IN CONTROL OF ALL THINGS. AREN'T YOU GLAD? I AM. SOLOMON
INDEED, VERSE 48, VERSE 47, SOLOMON INDEED BUILT THE HOUSE ACCORDING
TO GOD'S INSTRUCTION, AND WHAT A GLORIOUS TEMPLE HE CONSTRUCTED,
WE STUDIED ALL THROUGH THAT IN SECOND KINGS. SOLOMON INDEED
WAS BLESSED TO BUILD THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD THAT THEY MIGHT WORSHIP
THE LORD. BUT THE LORD JEHOVAH THE LORD
OF GLORY WAS NOT CONFINED OR RESTRICTED TO A TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM
NOR THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS. LOOK WHAT HE SAYS THERE, HOW
BE IT THE MOST HIGH DWELLETH NOT, VERSE 48. in temples made
with hands, as saith the prophets, heaven is my throne, earth is
my footstool, where is the house that you'll build me, saith the
Lord? What is the place of my rest, had not my hand made all
these things? The Lord Jehovah, the Lord of
glory, was not confined to a certain place. God is everywhere, everywhere. HOLD YOUR PLACE THERE AND TURN
TO ACTS 17. GOD IS EVERYWHERE. WE CALL THAT
HIS OMNIPRESENCE. HE'S EVER EVERYWHERE PRESENT
IN ACTS CHAPTER 17. THIS IS THE APOSTLE PAUL PREACHING
IN MARS HILL. HE SAYS IN VERSE 23, FOR I PASSED
BY AND BEHELD YOUR DEVOTION. I FOUND AN ALTAR WITH THIS INSCRIPTION,
VERSE 23, ACTS 17, WHOM THEREFORE YOU IGNORANTLY WORSHIP. HIM I
DECLARE UNTO YOU. Him declare I unto you, God that
made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord
of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hand. You cannot confine God to a building
or a place or a box. Neither is he worshiped with
any man's hand, as though he needed anything, seeing he give
us life and breath to all things. In him we live and move and have
our being without the Lord giving us breath I couldn't take my
next breath. And that's true of every creature
upon this earth. God is everywhere present. One old writer said that God
is the center. His center is nowhere. His circumference
is everywhere. Figure that one out. His center
is nowhere. His circumference is everywhere.
He's everywhere present. God, the high and lofty one,
he inhabits eternity. WHEN SOLOMON PRAYED THIS PRAYER
IN I KINGS 8, 27, AT THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE, HERE'S WHAT HE
SAID, BUT GOD, BUT WILL GOD INDEED DWELL ON THE EARTH? BEHOLD, THE
HEAVEN OF HEAVENS CANNOT CONTAIN THEE, HOW MUCH LESS THIS HOUSE
THAT I HAVE BUILT IT. YOU CANNOT CONFINE GOD, HE'S
EVERYWHERE. GOD'S SPIRIT IS EVERYWHERE FROM
EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING. HE IS SPIRIT. Our great and infinite
God is great and infinite in power, glory, and scope. And it says there, heaven is
my throne. God sits on a throne of absolute
dominion and sovereignty. And this thing we call the earth,
it's just his footstool. It's his footstool. OUR LORD
SAID IN PSALM 110 THAT THE SUN SET AT MY RIGHT HAND, TELL I,
MAKE YOUR ENEMIES TO BOW AT YOUR FOOTSTOOL UPON THIS EARTH. OUR
GREAT INFINITE GOD IS GREAT IN POWER, GLORY, AND SOVEREIGNTY,
FOR HE SITS UPON THE ABSOLUTE, INDISPUTABLE THRONE OF UNIVERSAL
DOMINION. YOU REMEMBER IN PSALM 115, THE
HEATHEN CAME TO DAVID AND SAID, DAVID, WHERE IS YOUR GOD? THEY
KNEW WHERE THEIR GOD WAS. DAGON AND THE OTHERS OVER HERE,
MOLOCH AND THE OTHERS, THEY HAD FASHIONED THESE GODS WITH THEIR
OWN HANDS, AND THEY PUT THEM IN A BUILDING. WHEN THEY ASKED
DAVID THAT QUESTION, DO YOU REMEMBER THE ANSWER? OUR GOD IS IN THE
HEAVENS, AND HE HAS DONE WHATSOEVER HE HATH PLEASED. OUR GOD IS IN
THE HEAVENS. THE HEAVENS OF THE HEAVENS CANNOT
CONTAIN HIM. GOD IS EVERYWHERE FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING,
THOU ART GOD. Psalm 90 says this, before the
mountains were brought forth, wherever that has formed the
earth, the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, I'm God, and
he doesn't change. We change all the time, people
do. God never changes. He said, I'm the Lord, I change
not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob, you are not consumed. The God-man mediates where the
Lord Jesus Christ sits on this throne. Stephen declares that
in verse 55 and verse 56. The Lord Jesus was standing at
the right hand of God, on the throne of god behold i see the
heavens open and the son of man sitting at the right hand of
god that's the throne of god the dominion of god the sovereignty
of god how high is god how strong is god how big is god i can't
tell you THE HEAVENS ITSELF CANNOT CONTAIN HIM. HE'S ABOVE ALL THINGS. AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, OUR
SOVEREIGN SAVIOR, SITS ON THAT THRONE. WHEN HE BY HIMSELF PURGED
OUR SIN, HE SAT DOWN ON THE RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF GOD. LOOK
AT VERSE 50, ACTS 7, VERSE 50. HATH NOT MY HAND MADE ALL THESE
THINGS? God is the sovereign creator
of all things, and He created all things by the Lord Jesus
Christ. IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD,
AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD, AND WITHOUT
HIM WAS NOT ANYTHING MADE THAT WAS MADE. HE CREATED ALL THINGS
BY AND THROUGH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. STEPHEN PLAINLY DECLARED
THE DEITY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST, DECLARED HIM TO BE THE CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.
AND WHEN THESE MEN HEARD THAT TRUTH, THEY WENT WILD. THEIR
TRUE NATURE OF THEIR DEPRAVED FLESH SHOWED OUT ITS true character. They stopped their ears, they
ran upon him, they picked up stones and dashed out his brains.
They would not hear the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation. Man is no different today. You're
just exactly like this crowd, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
who hate by God, by nature, who hate God and will not receive
the things of the Spirit of God. That's right. Stephen laid out
the gospel for them as plainly as he could before these wicked
men, just exactly as Peter did on the day of Pentecost. Peter
declared this same Jesus whom you crucified as both Lord and
Christ. Stephen declared this same message
that Jesus whom you crucified as both Lord and Christ. In the
case of Peter's preaching, 3,000 souls were converted. In the
case of Stephen's preaching, however many he preached to,
these men with one accord ran upon him, picked up rocks, and
dashed out his brains. What was the difference between
that crowd that repented and that crowd that continued in
rebellion? What was the difference? Was
Peter just a better preacher? It wasn't the instrument, it
was the sovereign grace of God that made the difference. He
granted repentance to 3,000 people on that day. At this particular
day, at this particular time, he didn't grant repentance to
anybody. He left them in the reprobation of their depraved,
wicked will, which is to hate God, love darkness, and hate
light. Wow. To some, the gospel is foolishness. To others, it's the power of
God and salvation. To some, the gospel is the savor
of life unto life. To others, it's the savor of
death unto death. The same message to the elect
that is life-giving is the same message that brings condemnation
to the reprobate. He that believeth on the Son
has life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but uh-oh, uh-oh, the wrath of God abides
on him. I've got some kind of electrical
device. I don't know whether it's my
phone, my iPad, my computer or something, but when I mess up
it goes uh-oh. Uh-oh! Wow. Now here's the problem. The wrath of God. Uh-oh. Oh,
no. Now, here's our problem, spelled
out here in verse 51. Stephen makes application to
their heart. He said to these people, this
council of these self-righteous Pharisees, these Jews, he said,
you're stiff-necked. That is, you will not bow to
the sovereign claims of Christ. Not only are you stiff-necked,
but you're uncircumcised in heart. God done operated on your heart,
God done nothing for you in your heart, and your ears, they are
not opened up to hear the word of the Lord, and you're nothing
but rebels. You do always resist, always
resist, always resist God. just like your fathers did. That is a very fit description
of our human race, of you and of me. Stiff neck, uncircumcised
in heart, we will not bow to the claims of the sovereign Lord
unless he bows us, unless he breaks us, unless he grants us
repentance to bow to his sovereign rule, his sovereign reign. The
carnal mind is enmity against God. Our heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. They had a real heart problem,
didn't they? They also had a hearing problem. They needed, like I
do and Freddie and others, hearing aids to hear. He said, your ears
will not hear the word of God. It says over in verse 57, they
cried out with a loud voice and they stomped their ears. They
plugged them up somehow. I kind of think they just stuck
their fingers in their ears. Our Lord said to his disciples,
blessed are your eyes for they see and blessed are your ears
for they hear. Oh, to hear a word from God.
I want you to listen to me, but I want you to hear God. Oh, He that is of God, we read this
in John 8, he that is of God heareth God's word. Our Lord said to those Jews,
you hear them not because you are not of God. Like the fathers of all men and
all mankind by nature were born rebels against God. And Adam
all died and Adam all sinned. We will not have this man reign
over us. Sinners stand in direct opposition
to the will of God. THEY'VE GOT MURDER IN THEIR HEART,
AS HE SAYS THERE, YOU DO ALWAYS RESIST, OPPOSE, AND REBEL AGAINST
GOD JUST LIKE YOUR DADDY DID. OUR LORD SAID TO WHICH OF THE
PROPHETS HAVE NOT YOUR FATHER SLAIN AND KILLED? THEY KILLED
ALL OF THEM. NOW, CAUTION HERE. VERSE 51,
YOU DO ALWAYS RESIST THE HOLY GHOST. WE PREACH WHAT WE CALL
THE DOCTRINE OF GRACE. TOTAL DEPRAVITY, UNCONDITIONAL
ELECTION, LIMITED ATONEMENT, IRRESISTIBLE GRACE, AND PERSEVERANCE
OF THE SAINT. AND SOME WISE ACHER WILL SAY,
I READ IN THE WORD OF GOD WHERE IT SAYS THEY RESISTED GOD. So
when you say that God's irresistible in his gospel call, it says there
that they resisted. What he's pointing out here is
that they're rebels against God. That general call of the gospel,
or that general call of God, call of what we call the call
of nature, or the call of conscience, is always resisted by the rebel
nature that we have. But that sovereign gospel call
of God that comes through the preaching of the gospel and the
power of God the Holy Spirit, it is irresistible. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of His power. That gospel call always
gets the job done. God's not standing at your heart
door knocking, saying, won't you let me in? If you're His
and He wants to conquer you, He'll bust the door down. He'll
conquer your heart. He'll operate on you and your
heart and make you a new creature in Christ. You see, the gospel cannot be
successfully resisted. The gospel call, the call of
God. You see, the gospel call is not a mere invitation, is
it? I know most churches, they'll
have a preaching service or a singing service and the preacher will
stand down front afterward and they'll have that invitation.
We don't do that here. You know why we don't do that
here? One, I don't read of that going on in the Word of God.
And number two, the Gospel of God and the call of God is not
an invitation. It's a command. The king doesn't
invite people to come to him. He commands them to come. And
they shall be willing to come in the day of his power. God
commands men to repent. He doesn't invite them to believe.
Now, I might invite you to dinner at my house, and you may be at
liberty to come or not. But when the king commands a
sinner to come, he'll come, because he'll be brought by the power
of God. The last part of verse 52 said, your fathers, they've
persecuted, they've slain, Your fathers, which of the prophets
have not your fathers killed? These people have murder in their
heart. And that's all of us by nature. Murder in our heart.
Doesn't it amaze you? Every night I sit down and watch
the nightly news. What do you see on there? Murder
after murder after murder. It's in Charleston, it's in Huntington,
it's in Lexington, it's here, it's everywhere. People are murdering
one another, just like they murdered Stephen, just like they murdered
Abel, just like they murdered the Apostle Paul. Why? We've got murder in our heart.
That's how wicked we are. Don't tell me men are not totally
depraved. They're so totally depraved they
hate God. And when Pilate delivered them,
delivered the Lord Jesus, it says, over to their will, what
did they do? They crucified him and nailed
him to a tree. The prophets that were slain
told out one message. They showed before the coming
of the just one. I love that. The just one. He said, I'm the only just God
and Savior. Jesus Christ crucified is the
only way God can be just and holy and show mercy and honor
his own character. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Where? At
the cross. That's where God is reconciled through Christ and
Him crucified. Stephen charges them with murder,
not only of the prophets, but murder of the prophet, the coming
of a just one, whom you have been betrayers and murderers. Same thing Peter said over here.
Remember Acts chapter three? Acts chapter three. Verse 14,
when Pilate was determined to let him go, you denied the Holy
One and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto
you. Verse 15, and you killed the
Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead, where we are witnesses. Don't tell me men are not depraved.
I know they are, and you know why I know they are? This old
bird right here. I look no further than my own
wicked heart. That's right, guilty before God. Guilty before God, stop your
mouth. That's what the law of God said,
let every mouth be stopped and all the world become guilty,
guilty, guilty before God. You'll never know anything of
grace and experience anything of grace until you've experienced
guilt. Guilt before God, sin against
God. You see, salvation for sinners.
Mercy is for the miserable. Grace is for the guilty. The
Lord Jesus Christ died for the ungodly. Verse 53 in our text, Stephen goes on and says, you
were blessed with the word of God. You received the word of
the Lord by a whole institution of angels. But he said, you didn't
keep it. You didn't keep the word. You
stopped your ears back in those days, too, when God spoke from
heaven and gave the law of God. The Lord our God graciously gave
them the holy law as a schoolmaster to teach them and to drive them
to Christ. The law of God was given to reveal
sin, never to remove sin, but rather it was given to show the
way of substitution and satisfaction through a blood sacrifice and
all that is typical of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the blood
of Christ that takes away our sin. The apostle writes this,
wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that
we might be justified by faith in him. Now, verse 54, Acts 7,
54. When they heard these things, boy, Stephen was pretty rough
with them, wasn't he? You're murderers, you're guilty, you're
depraved, you're sinful, you murdered the son of God, you
haven't heard the word of God, you haven't kept the word of
God, you haven't obeyed the word of God. When they heard these
things, they were cut to the heart. They weren't brokenhearted,
they were fighting mad. And they gnashed on him with
their teeth. Now these are refined people.
These are the religious somebody in that day, in Jerusalem. The
Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Scribes, I mean, these were
all, man, they were moral, upright, straight as a gun barrel and
clean as a ham tooth, but they didn't know God. And when they
heard these things, they got so angry that they ran with one
accord, verse 57, They ran with one accord upon him. First they
gnashed on him with their teeth. I can't even imagine such a thing.
You say, well, boy, if I'd been there, I'd have stopped them.
I couldn't stoop so low as to gnash upon someone being so angry
that you'd want to bite their fingers off, bite their nose
off. bite their ears off. You'd never
do that, would you? Yeah, yeah. That's us. That's us. That's us. Every one of us. Man left to
himself is worse than a wild beast. Man left to himself is
a monster. That's right. But notice, what I want you to
notice here now is the contrast between their rage and anger
and Stephen's attitude about he being full of the Holy Ghost. Verse 55, you see that? They
were full of rage and full of anger. What was he full of? He
was full of the Holy Spirit. It says, remember in Acts chapter
six, he was full of faith, full of power, full of wisdom. These
people were full of rage, anger, malice, unbelief. Who made the
difference? It's God who has made us to differ. That's right. But he being full
of the Holy Ghost, he looked steadfastly into heaven and saw
the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Now
where is the glory of God revealed? 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse
6 God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has
shined in our hearts to cause us to see the glory of God in
the face of the Lord Jesus Christ when he's saying here that he
sees the glory of God he sees the glory of God shining in the
face and revealed in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ he said
verse 56 behold I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing on
the right hand of God. You reckon he really actually
saw the heavens open? You remember when the Lord Jesus
Christ was baptized, the heavens opened and the Spirit of God
descended on him. Somehow, God, in a marvelous
miracle, parted back everything. You know, I think, I kind of
almost think that heavens a whole lot closer than we think it is.
I think there's a dimension that we don't know anything about.
But Stephen here, I believe he literally actually sees and looks
right into the throne of God. And you know what he sees? The
glory of God revealed in the God-man mediator, the glory of
his love, the glory of his mercy, the glory of his salvation, all
revealed in Christ. What a glorious sight. Oh my
God, rend the heavens right now, and rend our heart right now,
and give us faith that we might see the Lord Jesus Christ by
faith. Being full of faith, he looked
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what saving faith
looks. Verse 57, they cried out with a loud voice, they stopped
their ears, they ran upon him, They cast him out of the city.
We don't want to kill him in Jerusalem. This is a holy city. Let's drag him outside the city,
outside the gates. They tied him up to a post, stoned
him to death, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a
young man's feet whose name was Saul. First time we read about
Saul of Tarsus, who gave his full consent, as it says in Acts
8, verse 1, Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time,
there was a great persecution against the church of God. Old Saul of Tarsus, he said,
let me hold your coat, fellas. Pick up another big rock and
hit him one more time. Let's make sure he's dead. Later
on, this same man, Saul of Tarsus, who watched them murder Stephen,
himself was tied to a post and stoned and drug out of the city
as a dead man, and God raised him back from the dead. Stephen gave his life for the
gospel, just like the first Martyr Abel gave his life for the gospel,
and as the Apostle Paul dies in a Roman prison, having his
head chopped off for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
gospel's worth fighting for. The gospel's worth preaching.
The gospel's worth dying for, if need be. Stephen, with his
last breath, verse 59, and they stoned Stephen, calling upon
God. What was he doing? Worshipping
God. Worshipping God. And he said,
saying, notice how many times he mentions the Lord Jesus. He
sees the Lord Jesus standing on the throne of God. He sees
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. And they stone Stephen
as Stephen's dying with his last dying breath, calling out upon
the Lord, Jesus, receive me. Receive me to yourself and he
kneeled down and cried out with a loud voice Lord lay not this
into their charge and when he had said this He fell asleep
what a glorious story Stephen with his last breath called upon
his God and Savior Lord Jesus received my spirit to be absent
from this body is to be present with the Lord and AND THEN LIKE
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, IN HIS DYING BREATH, HE SAID, LORD,
LAY NOT THIS SIN TO THEIR CHARGE. THE LORD SAID THAT SAME THING
AT CALVARY, DIDN'T HE? SOME PEOPLE THINK WHEN THE LORD
SAID, LAY NOT THIS SIN TO THEIR CHARGE AT CALVARY, THAT THOSE
3,000 PEOPLE THAT WERE CONVERTED AT PENTECOST, THAT HE WAS PRAYING
FOR THOSE 3,000. COULD BE, VERY WELL. I KNOW HE EVER LIVED TO
INTERCEDE FOR US. But Stephen here is praying for
the salvation of God's people. Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge. Yep, pray was answered in the conversion of Saul of
Tarsus. He laid down his life for the
gospel. He fell asleep in the Savior's arm. Death to the believer is like
a sweet, peaceful rest. because the Lord Jesus has changed
the character of death for us. I heard a story just the other
day about a preacher that was walking along and he met someone
in the neighborhood, this is years ago, back when they used
horses and mules to plant, and the preacher was telling this
man, who was a farmer, had animals, Said, you ought to be concerned
about meeting the Lord in judgment. And the old farmer man said,
well, I'm not afraid to die. And as they were walking along,
the old preacher said, you see that mule over there? You about
risen about as high as that mule because he's not afraid to die
either. It's appointed the man wants
to die after this, the judgment. The Lord Jesus Christ had changed
the character of death for us. There is no need to fear, not
if you believe the gospel. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. I told my wife the other night,
maybe I shouldn't get so personal, but, I told my wife the other
night, I said, if I have a heart attack or a stroke, don't revive
me. Don't call 9-1-1. Just let me
die. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. I look forward to that as I get
older, as I grow in faith and the knowledge of Christ. Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of this saint. Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord. Paul said, According to my earnest
expectation, my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, that
with all boldness, as always, now also, Christ shall be magnified
in my body, whether it be by life or by death, for me to live
is Christ, to die is gain. May God give each one of us,
like Stephen, full of faith, full of wisdom, to die in the
Lord Jesus Christ. die in faith, to trust the Lord
Jesus Christ for all of our salvation, all the time, to live in faith,
to walk in faith, to die in faith, to say, As Paul did right before they
chopped off his head, he said, I know, he said, I'm ready to
be offered. The time of my departure is at
hand. I fought a good fight. I finished
my course. I've kept the faith. Ready to
depart and to be with the Lord.