Okay, we're going to look today
at the book of Acts again, and chapter 7. I'm taking the title
for the message from what is asked here by the high priest.
The high priest said to this faithful servant of the Lord,
Are these things so? Are they so? Yes, they are. These things are so not because
I say they're so, Not because Stephen even says they're so,
because God says it is true. This is the way it is. This is
the way it is. Are these things so? Now remember,
Stephen was arrested and accused of speaking blasphemy, which
means he was accused of speaking evil. And they said that he was
speaking evil about Moses. They accused him of speaking
evil against God, God's purpose, God's will, God's counsel. They
accused him of speaking evil about the law of God and about
the temple of God. Stephen did not speak evil of
any of those things. What he did preach to them was
showing how the Lord Jesus Christ was a fulfillment of all those
things pictured and of all those things that had been mentioned
by Moses and about the Lord our God. Stephen dared to preach
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, as he mentions over here
in verse 52. WHICH OF THE PROPHETS HAVE NOT
YOUR FATHERS PERSECUTED, THEY HAVE SLAIN THEM WHICH SHOWED
BEFORE OF THE COMING OF THE JUST ONE." Now, who is this just one? Look back at chapter three, Acts
chapter three, when Peter preached the gospel here, verse 13, the
God of Abraham, and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our
fathers, hath glorified his son, whom you delivered up and denied
in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him
go, but you denied the Holy One and the just, and desired a murderer
to be granted unto you. Give us Barabbas, they said.
You killed the Prince of life, whom God raised up from the dead
world. We are witnesses, the just one,
No doubt is the Lord Jesus Christ. Stephen preached to them the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, showing and telling them that
the Lord Jesus Christ is the only just God and Savior who
fulfilled all things that were written by Moses. You remember our Lord said that
in John 5, it's recorded. He said to those same people,
For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, because
Moses wrote about the Lord Jesus Christ. To him give all the prophets
witness. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness. To everyone that believes, Stephen
was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for he knew that these
men needed to hear about the coming of the just one who accomplished
salvation for them. He knew that the Lord Jesus Christ
himself and him crucified is the power of God unto salvation. He was so glad and blessed to
preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says there in
the last verse of chapter 6, and all that's said in the council,
verse 15, looking steadfastly on him, saw his faith as it had
been, the faith of an angel. Now, I tried to write something
in the bulletin on the back page about that, and I said in that
article, Stephen's face was not flushed with embarrassment nor
was it red with anger, nor was it pale with fright, but bold
as a lion, he stands there and preached the gospel, and he's
so happy to do so that his face lights up with joy. His face
lights up like an angel, whatever that is. He was not ashamed. It's like
the Apostle Paul when he writes from his prison cell telling
young Timothy not to be ashamed, he said, do not be ashamed for
I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able
to keep that which is committed unto him against that day. We've committed all of our salvation. all the keeping of our soul,
all the doing of righteousness unto the Lord Jesus Christ. I find great comfort in knowing
Christ is all my salvation before God. That was Stephen's hope,
Abraham's hope, Isaac's hope, Jacob's hope, all these men that
we'll look at in just a minute. When the Lord opened the door
for Stephen to declare the gospel, he was blessed to do so. God
filled his mind, his heart, his soul with all the Word of God. And isn't it amazing how familiar
and how much he knew about Old Testament history, Old Testament
scripture? And it was because God filled
his heart, his mind, and soul. We have his great sermon given
in this chapter. And I'm sure there was more that
he said than what is recorded here. We see some amazing things
the Lord gave him, and it's all about the history of redemption
about the Lord Jesus Christ. All the Old Testament scriptures
tell us someone is coming, someone is coming, and that someone is
the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember our Lord said, you
search the scriptures, and in them you think you have eternal
life, but they are they which testify of me. And he said to
them, you've missed me. You will not come to me that
you might have life. Notice something else about Stephen.
He didn't defend himself. He didn't say, well, I'm not
guilty. He did not defend himself, but rather present the purpose
of God in the salvation of sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ. But
why did these Jews, these children of Abraham, get so enraged that
they ran upon him like a pack of wild dogs and gnashed upon
him with their teeth? When Stephen plainly declared
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ standing at the very throne of
God, they took him by force, drug him out of the city, tied
him to a post, and picked up stones and dashed out his brains. Why did they get so angry? Stephen
preached to them salvation only in Christ and that meant these
Jews were lost dead Hiding in a refuge of lies. It meant that
they were guilty before God as it says down there in verse 51
you stiff neck Uncircumcised in heart and ears you do always
rebel Against God just like your daddy. I Like father, like son. That's just the way it is. He
exposed their refuge of lies, and they were ready to kill anybody
who did not agree with them. Same thing they did to Peter
when Peter said, neither is there salvation in any other, for there's
no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. You remember what they did to Peter and John? THEY BEAT
THEM AND SAID DON'T MENTION THAT NAME ANYMORE AND THEY PUT THEM
IN PRISON. LOCKED THEM UP. THEY SAID DON'T
PREACH ANYMORE. WELL GOD OPENED THE DOOR AND
SENT THEM OUT AND SAID GO STAND IN THE TEMPLE AND YOU PREACH
THIS GOSPEL. NOW WITH THAT INTRODUCTION Let's
look at these men that are mentioned here. They're given unto us here
in this Acts chapter 7, names of eight sinners who were justified
by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And these men all
died in faith. It says that in Hebrews 11, these
all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar off, were persuaded of them, embraced them, and they
confessed that they were pilgrims and strangers on this earth,
looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. Now, the first
one is mentioned. He's called the father of the
faithful is Abraham. We read about him in Genesis
chapter 12, there his name was Abram. And God found this man,
and he's an idolatry. Abraham lived in a house of idolatry. The scripture said that his father
was an idolater, and he was too. He adopted the religion of his
father, just like we do. One day, when he was 75 years
old, God spoke to him and said, Abraham, leave your home, leave
your family, THE GOD OF GLORY, VERSE 2, APPEARED UNTO OUR FATHER
ABRAHAM WHEN HE WAS IN MESOPOTAMIA BEFORE HE DWELLED IN CARAN. AND
HE SAID TO HIM, GET THEE OUT OF THY COUNTRY FROM THY KINDRED,
AND COME INTO A LAND WHICH I WILL SHOW THEE. AND WE READ THE RECORD
IN GENESIS 12, AND ABRAHAM WENT OUT. WHY DID HE GO OUT? He believed
God. Remember we read that in Genesis
15 verse six, Abraham believed in God and it was puted unto
him for righteousness. Abraham was chosen by the grace
of God, called out of idolatry by the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, how do you know that Abraham's
hope was the Lord Jesus Christ? Abraham was justified before
the covenant of circumcision was given. Abraham was justified
before the law was ever given. 430 years before the law was
given, God said Abraham was justified. How do we know that Abraham was
justified? God said he was. You remember our Lord said in
John 8, 56, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and
he was glad. How'd he see it? By faith. He believed God. Now hold your
place there. I want you to see this in Romans
chapter four. Romans chapter four. What shall we say then that Abraham,
verse one, What shall we say then that Abraham, our father,
as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? Well, here's what we see. For if Abraham was justified
by works, he hath whereof the glory, but not before God. For
what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted to him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is reward,
not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh
not, BUT BELIEVETH ON HIM THAT JUSTIFIES THE UNGODLY, HIS FATE
IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS." ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD. HE'S A
PATTERN OF HOW GOD SAVES SINNERS. TURN OVER TO, LET'S READ A LITTLE
BIT MORE ABOUT ABRAHAM. THESE MEN ARE MENTIONED IN HEBREWS,
CHAPTER 11. TURN OVER THERE. HEBREWS, CHAPTER
11. Verse 8, Hebrews 11 verse 8,
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
which he should after receive for an inheritance, he obeyed. Why did he obey? He believed
God. And he went out, not knowing
where he went. By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac his son, Jacob his grandson, the heirs with him
of the same promise, for he looked for a city which hath foundation,
whose builder and maker is God." Abraham's hope was not in a physical
land, but in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So, what does Stephen
say of Abraham? They revered Abraham. Remember
they said one time, we are Abraham's son. Our Lord said, if you would
have believed Abraham, you would have believed me. He wrote about,
the Lord said, he wrote about me. Abraham's hope of all of
his salvation was totally vested 100% in the Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham was saved by the grace
of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we know that
is a gift of God. Now, the second person that is
mentioned here in Stephen's sermon is found down in verse eight.
And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, which is a type
and picture of regeneration. Romans chapter two says, you're
not a Jew, which is one outwardly circumcised, but that circumcision
of the heart. And so Abraham beget Isaac and
circumcised him the eighth day. And Isaac beget Jacob. And Jacob beget those 12 sons,
the 12 sons of Jacob. Now, Isaac. Isaac was that special
promised son given and chosen to bring the Messiah through
his body. A body thou hast prepared me,
the Lord said, and it came through that promised son, Isaac. Turn back to Acts chapter three.
Acts chapter 3, I read that a moment ago. Verse 13, the God of Abraham
is a God of Isaac. You see that verse 13? And he's
a God of Jacob. The God of our fathers has glorified
his son, whom you delivered up and you denied the Holy One.
The God of Jacob and the God of Isaac and the God of Abraham,
their hope of salvation was in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Now, turn to Romans, the book
of Romans, chapter nine. Remember God told Abraham that
we have that special son, and that he would bless a multitude
of people through that one son, Isaac, and we know he's talking
about the greater Isaac, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we see
this in Romans chapter 9, verse 5, whose are the fathers, and
of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all,
God bless forever, not as though the word of god had taken non-effect
for they are not all israel which are israel either because neither
because they are the seed of abraham are they all children
but in isaac shall thy seed be called now he's talking about
our hope of salvation in christ verse 8 that is they which are
the children of the flesh these are not the children of god but
the children of the promise are counted for the seed for this
is the word of promise at this time i will come and sarah shall
have a son now abraham was 100 years old Sarah was 90 years
old, and God gave this special son, Isaac. And then God says
in Isaac, that is in Christ, shall all the elect of God be
blessed with the salvation that's of the Lord. I want you to turn
to another scripture on this. Turn to Galatians chapter three.
Galatians chapter three, verse six. We're going to school today,
aren't we? Going to school today. Galatians
chapter 3 verse 6. Even as Abraham believed God
and it was counted to him for righteousness. There that chapter
mentioned again. Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith THE SAME WERE THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM, AND THE
SCRIPTURE FORESEEING THAT GOD WOULD JUSTIFY THE HEATHEN THROUGH
FAITH PREACHED BEFORE THE GOSPEL UNTO ABRAHAM, SAYING, IN THEE
SHALL ALL NATIONS BE BLESSED, SO THEN THEY WHICH BE OF FAITH
ARE BLESSED WITH FAITHFUL ABRAHAM. Isaac is a picture of Christ.
God blesses all his elect in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now stay
here in the book of Galatians chapter 3 verse 16. Now to Abraham
and to his seed, singular, where the promise is made, he saith
not and to seed as of many but as of one and to thy seed which
is the Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians chapter 3 verse 26
For you're all children of God by faith in Christ For as many
of you has been baptized into Christ have put on Christ There
is neither Jew nor Greek bond nor free male nor female. You're all one in Christ and
if you be Christ Then are you Abraham seed and heirs? according to the promise Who
was Abraham's hope? The Lord Jesus Christ. Who was
Isaac's hope? The Lord Jesus Christ. Now, stay
in the book of Romans right there because we're gonna come back
to Romans chapter nine. The next name that is mentioned
in verse eight of Acts chapter seven is Isaac. Abraham beget
Isaac and Isaac beget Jacob rather. Now turn to Romans nine. Romans
9 verse 11, or verse 10, we begin there. Jacob, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, for the children being not yet born. Verse 10, let's
begin there. And not only this, but when Rebekah,
also this Rebekah is Isaac's wife, had conceived by one, even
by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil that purpose of God's
according to election might stand not of works but of him that
calleth remember she had twin boys it was said to her the elder
shall serve the younger as it is written verse 13 Jacob have
I loved Esau have I hated what shall we say then is there unrighteousness
with God God forbid For he sayeth to Moses, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, it's of God that shows mercy. Jacob believed God. just as Isaac and Abraham believed
God because he was chosen in that eternal covenant of grace
and given faith to believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jacob was sovereignly loved and
chosen. While Esau, his brother, was
justly passed by, it says there, Esau have I hated. I thought
God loved everybody. You thought wrong. God loves
sovereignly. He'll love whom he will. Jacob
have I loved. How long has God loved Jacob?
He loved him with an everlasting love. It's easy to understand
how God could hate Esau. or hate any fallen, guilty sinner. What the miracle of grace is,
is how he could love Jacob. That's the miracle of God's mercy. How could he love Jacob? The
Lord said, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob,
you're not consumed. How could he love a Jacob? In
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where the love of God
is revealed. Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated, Now, look back to the text again. Acts chapter 7, and we come all
the way down to verse 9. Jacob had 12 sons, remember? One of those 12 sons' name was
Joseph. Jacob just loved Joseph, and
the other brethren They were envious. They hated him. You remember they put him in
a pit and they took that coat, his coat, and put some blood
on it and said to his daddy, he dead. They lied. They put him in a pit and sold
him in Egypt. The patriarch moved with envy
and sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him. God sent Joseph all the way down
into Egypt to preserve corn to feed Jacob and the rest of the
people. You remember in the last chapter
of the book of Genesis, he says to those brethren, you thought
evil against me. but God meant it for good to
bring to pass as it is this day to preserve much life. Joseph, we know, is a type and
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord, it says in Genesis
39 through about chapter, well, to the end of the book, really,
Joseph is a very, very good type, personal type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But I love what the Lord says
of him. THE LORD MADE ALL THAT HE DID TO PROSPER. YOU SEE, JOSEPH IS THE TYPE OF
CHRIST. EVERYTHING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,
ALL THAT WAS GIVEN UNTO HIS HAND, IT PROSPERED IN THE HAND OF THE
LORD. DO YOU REMEMBER ISAIAH 53? THE
PLEASURE OF THE LORD SHALL PROSPER IN HIS HAND. Joseph was raised
up, put in charge in Egypt, especially in the storehouses of grain,
when that famine came on the land for seven years, seven years
of plenty, seven years of famine, and they stored up grain, and
if any needed food or bread, and went to the king, I need
bread, I need food, you remember what the king said? You go see
Joseph. Joseph's in charge of the bread. That is a type and
picture of the gospel entirely. How the Lord Jesus Christ was
despised of his brethren. He came into his own, his own
received him not. They said, away with him, crucify
him. We have no king but Caesar. And the Lord Jesus Christ came
and laid down his life to preserve salvation for us. He is the storehouse
of mercy. He is the storehouse of grace. You need mercy? Look to the Lord
Jesus Christ. God's vested all of salvation
in him. It's in his hand. The father
love of the son had given all things into his hand. The next man that is mentioned
that Stephen brings forth and presents to them is Moses. And he says a lot about Moses
beginning at verse 20. In the time which Moses was born,
He was exceeding fair and nourished up in his father's house. You
see verse 21. And when he was cast out, they
took that baby and made a basket and put him in a river to try
to preserve him from the infants being slaughtered in that day.
And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished
him for her own son. Moses lived three months, it
says there, in his father's house. What was his mother's name? Jochebed,
I think. And you know, that had to be
a real trial of faith for her to put that little baby in that
basket. Can you imagine doing that? Putting that little baby
in a basket and floating it down the creek here, knowing God would
preserve him? That's faith, is it not? And
we know the rest of the story of Moses, how he was retrieved
by Pharaoh's own daughter and brought up in her house. He was
schooled in all the wisdom and learning of Moses. And then when
it came into his heart, when he was full 40 years old now,
he's a grown man, verse 23, it came into his heart to visit
his brethren. The Lord revealed to him that
he was a true son of Abraham. The Lord gave him faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Stephen didn't preach against
Moses, did he? He preached Moses, wrote about
the blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. When our Lord came
and preached the gospel, You remember to his, the risen Lord,
don't turn on me, I'll read this to you. When he came and preached
the gospel to those disciples, you remember he said, not Christ
to have suffered these sayings and to enter into his glory and
beginning of Moses, beginning of Moses, he expounded
in all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures
the thing concerning himself. Everything that Moses wrote about.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, those five books, book of numbers,
all those preach the gospel of Christ unto us. Again in Luke
24, the Lord said, these are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets
and in the psalm concerning me, then he opened their understanding
that they might see in the book revealed, see what? The glory
of Christ. What was Moses' hope? Was it
the law of God? Was it the blood sacrificed on
those altars? No, it was Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ. That was his hope. Moses said
that God will raise up a prophet, verse 37, And you better hear
that prophet. And that prophet that he's writing
about is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that gets
us down all the way to Joshua, verse 45. Joshua. We studied all the way
through the book of Joshua. I think there's 24 chapters in
the book of Joshua. All those messages are posted
on Sermon Audio if you want to go and bring those messages up
and read them. Joshua was an understudy of Moses. verse 45 says which also our
father that came after brought in with Joshua that's the word
into the possession of the Gentile whom God drove out before the
face of our fathers unto the days of David now Moses being
120 years old, and Moses, representing the law, could not lead the children
of Israel into the promised land, so God raised up a Joshua. Joshua's
name, his name means what? Savior. Joshua is another fit
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. CALL HIS NAME JESUS, JOSHUA. HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM
THEIR SIN. JOSHUA'S HOPE OF SALVATION. HE'S
ANOTHER SINNER SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD. LISTEN TO HIS DYING WORDS. JOSHUA 23, 14. NOT ONE THING
HATH FAILED OF ALL THE GOOD THINGS WHICH THE LORD YOUR GOD SPAKE
CONCERNING YOU. ALL ARE COME TO PASS UNTO YOU.
NOT ONE THING HATH FAILED. Thereof, the Lord Jesus Christ
has not failed to accomplish all the salvation of God's covenant
people. Now, two more, I'll let you go,
and I'll, I'm gonna use five more minutes,
okay? David, unto our fathers, David,
who found favor, verse 46, who found favor before God, and desired
to build a temple to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob, the God
of Jacob. But Solomon built him a house. David, we could spend months
talking about David. David, we know, was the anointed
king of Israel. God says of him, a man after
God's own heart. David penned many of the Psalms
we know. He said, the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. He said, the Lord is my light
and my salvation. Of whom shall I fear? Turn back
to the book of Romans. What was David's hope of salvation?
That he was a king? Romans four again. Let's read
what God says about David. I love what Stephen does. He
takes him to these men and he lifts up Christ, because these
men, their hope of salvation was in Christ. Romans 4, verse
6, even as David also described it, the blessedness of the man
unto whom God imputed righteousness without works. That's Psalm 32.
Saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven. Blessed
are they whose sins are covered. How can iniquities, transgressions,
and sin be forgiven and put away? Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. What was David's hope? The Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want. That's the believer's hope. All
of salvation, just like David, resting in Christ. The last man
that is mentioned in our text is Solomon. But Solomon built
him a house. Solomon was David's son. He was
anointed king of Israel. He was full of wisdom. Scripture
says of him, there was no one wiser than Solomon. God gave him the abundance of
wisdom. He wrote the book of Proverbs,
the book of Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. all by inspiration
of God. God used this man to be a writer
of scripture, but he is also a personal type of the Lord Jesus
Christ, as the wise king who has all power. Remember what
the Lord says of Solomon, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The Lord Jesus Christ is a greater
David. The Lord Jesus Christ is a greater
Solomon. Solomon writes of the Lord Jesus
Christ, In Proverbs chapter 8, when he describes the Lord, the
Son, God the Son, and God the Father, I was by Him as one brought
up with Him. God the Father said that He would
daily, the Lord Jesus Christ, His delight, rejoicing always
before Him. And in the Song of Solomon, He
writes, my beloved is mine, and I am His, and He is altogether
lovely. And in the Book of Ecclesiastes,
He writes, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. nothing
can be taken from it, nothing can be put to it. God doeth it
that men should fear before him. Well, Stephen preached a great
message, a great message. All these men that he mentioned
believed and trusted and hoped for all their salvation in the
Lord Jesus Christ alone. I'm gonna read this to you, I'll
let you go. Now, therefore, you're no more
strangers, Ephesians 2, 19, and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints in the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone.