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Hey, I’m going to invite you to Acts chapter seven is where we’re going to be together today. Acts chapter seven and chapter seven says to us, when you get to the end of the chapter, you have now completed 25% of the book of Acts. So well done if you’ve been here as we’ve gone through this story together, and one of the things that we’re focusing on specifically today is, is a man by the name of Stephen. We were introduced to him in Acts chapter six. He’s going to be martyred by the end of Acts chapter seven. So he’s got two chapters for us in the book of Acts where his life is is discussed. But one of the reasons I find that this particular chapter is so important, this is a very significant chapter in the life of the early church, but really historically for all of Christianity. In fact, when you read Acts chapter six into chapter seven and then I would say again chapter 12 and chapter 13, what you discover, let me back up and say it’s actually Acts chapter seven, Acts chapter eight, and Acts chapter 12 and Acts chapter 13. What you discover is these two chapters are highly pivotal in in how the gospel goes forward in this world. And I think one of the primary reasons we might be able to look at look back historically when we’re in eternity, to say this, this was a reason I came to know Jesus.
And we may not even realize it right now, but a lot of it had to do with the events that took place in Acts chapter seven leading into chapter eight. Steven’s life was very instrumental in how God would move throughout the early church, which would, would, would help with the spread of the gospel. Now, when you look at the individual known as Steven, Steven is what we refer to as one of the first deacons in the early church. And we read about this last week where in Acts chapter six, the church had grown by thousands upon thousands. And and with that came some some tension and how they were ministering and caring for one another. And so in Acts chapter six, while they want the Word of God to be central to what they’re about as they’re looking at different people joining that community. They’re trying to figure out how can we best serve and care for one another. And one of the things they came up with was, let’s let’s appoint faithful individuals in the Lord who love the Lord, who are going to live for him and bless others. And so they they look for individuals that showed that consistently within their life. And they appointed seven people to lead them in better care for their community. And one of those individuals was a man by the name of Stephen, and they referred to him as a servant, which in Greek is Diakonos, where we get the word, we get the word for deacon.
Now, sometimes in different contexts, our idea of what a deacon is versus what the Bible says might be a little bit different, right? So if any of you understand what I’m saying there, but if you if you turn to, for example, first Timothy chapter three, and you read the first 15 verses of first Timothy, chapter three, what you describe, what you find described is that Paul is writing to Timothy and saying, as you find yourself in the church community, you’re going to need to appoint some leaders in some different ways. And this is the quality of the character, the individual you want to look for. And the first part of those, those verses, first seven verses, he describes the idea of an elder or a pastor, and then verse 8 to 15, he talks about the idea of deacon or deaconess, and this is what it looks like. And what you’re, you’re you’re seeking after to appoint someone to help care for the body of Christ. And so these are older individuals who have walked faithful in the Lord. And you’re seeing this modeled in the life of Stephen. And so Stephen becomes that first deacon. And as he begins to serve, you get the idea from the way chapter six and chapter seven unfolds that he’s not in this position very long before all of a sudden people become angry at him and they bring him before the the leadership in Jerusalem and start to accuse him.
And in fact, in verse 11 of chapter six, it describes it like this. It says, then they secretly instigated men who said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him, and brought him before the council the leaders of Jerusalem. And they set up false witnesses who said this. This man never ceases to speak words against the holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, talking about the temple, and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us. And so the accusation against Stephen is he’s being blasphemous against Moses, he’s being blasphemous against the traditions of the Jewish people. He’s being blasphemous against the law, and he’s being blasphemous against the temple. And so they’re they’re coming against him making these accusations and basically what it means to be a Jewish person. The way they would identify this is most significant to us. They’re saying, and Stephen is coming against all of that. And so they’re putting Stephen on trial. And in Acts chapter seven is is Stephen’s response. In fact, this is better seen as as Stephen’s sermon. And more specifically, we could say this is Stephen’s last sermon before he’s going to be martyred. And as far as we know, this is the only message or sermon Stephen’s ever preached.
And it’s possible in history he might have shared another message at some point, but we we we have no documentation of that. The only thing we really have on record is there was this one message that Stephen got to share before the end of his life, and he most likely knew by the contention of the crowd that this could lead to his death. In fact, when you go back and you consider the book of Acts thus far, we saw in Acts chapter three persecution break out Acts chapter five, the persecution heightened against the church. And now in Acts chapter seven, it’s come to a head. And Stephen most likely knows this might be the only message I ever get to share. Let me just ask you if it were the end of your life. And you knew you had one final moment to share with this world, what would you say? What would you share with those around you? What would you make your life about? I mean, people are going to measure you on that statement. For Stephen, what it came down to was a message about God’s redemptive story. More than anything, he wanted the people to understand what God’s heart was for them. But at the same time, in the midst of this message, he also reminds them that the tradition of his own people was to constantly reject that message. And his concern because of their attitude towards him in this moment was that they were going to reject him.
Now, when you when you read through this chapter, one of the things that I find comical, that I should probably take a little more serious, is that when it describes these, these individuals and the nature that they carry against Stephen is it uses some interesting words. And I’m like sometimes the phrases they’re picking, I’m like, man, I don’t know if it’s we’ve had thousands of years longer to come up with better insults than this. But the Bible sometimes has a has a unique way of describing how people are, the demeanor people are carrying in their frustration. For example, one of the things that gets me to chuckle is that in verse 54 some of the translation says that when the people come against Stephen, they gnash their teeth at him. And I’m just I’ll look at that and think, how is this intimidating? Right? Like, you know, today’s Football Sunday and you’ve got different teams that have different mascots. And when you think about some of these mascots, like there are some that’s like, oh, that’s it’s an impressive mascot like the Titans or the Giants, you know. But but could you imagine in the Giants are going against the the teeth. Gnashers, right. Like who cares? That’s not a that’s not very ferocious. And maybe, maybe I just think that way because I’m from West Virginia and we just don’t have those.
Right. Like teeth I’m talking about like, that’s just that’s not a that’s just that’s just not a very intimidating thing when you’re from where I’m from. So the tooth gnashers, you know, this is that’s not good. But but nonetheless they come against Stephen and they, they bring accusations against him. And and the way he tells the story is incredible because, you know, sometimes if you’re new to the Christian faith, especially when you look at the size of the Bible, sometimes it might be a little intimidating. I think, you know, there’s 66 books or manuscripts that make up the Bible. Where do you begin and how do you read that? And how do you understand the story? Right. And Stephen and his sermon, he’s really taking these this 30,000 foot view of painting a picture of what Scripture is about. And so if you want to really get an idea of of some events that are important in the Bible, painting a grander picture. Stephen’s sermon is a is a good sermon to look, look at. Right. And let me just give you another example. So like looking at Stephen’s sermon could be good to give you kind of a tertiary reading of the Bible or one thing that I have found helpful. And I’m not trying to embarrass us or make us feel weird to say this, but but if you go back and just read a children’s Bible, like one of the Bibles that we have here at the church is a children’s storybook Bible, we love giving those out.
And and I think sometimes we have them here in this little book nook that you can pick up for ten bucks. I think you buy them online. They’re like 20 bucks. But the Jesus Storybook Bible really goes through and paints a picture of not only pinnacle stories within Scripture, but then it helps us tie all of those stories together to realize there’s a grander narrative that’s being told in the Bible. Because sometimes when we read the Bible, we just we sort of come to a story like it’s a one off story, and we treat it as an individual’s story in and of itself. But we fail to recognize that these stories in the Bible aren’t just random stories told. It’s not like whoever’s writing a particular manuscript of the Bible. They’re not sitting down and thinking, you know, I’m getting older in years. I’m probably going to forget this. I should probably write some of this down, and they just start recalling the best that they can think of and start writing some stories down. That’s not how your Bible is put together. These these stories are telling us an overarching, grander narrative of all that God has done for our lives and pursuing us for him. So when we think about what is the story of the Bible, I mean, it’s important to realize that when God made you for relationship in him and that our response to God from the beginning has been to reject him.
But even in our sin and rejecting God, I mean, we do this daily as people. God doesn’t give up on you. He pursues you. He gives his life for you so that you can find freedom in him. It’s not about you availing yourself to God. It’s about God availing himself for you and what he ultimately accomplished for you on the cross. I mean, all of it. This grand redemptive story comes to this pinnacle moment where God finally becomes flesh and he gives his life for your sin, that you can find freedom in him. And Jesus’s resurrection is proclaiming to us as he overcame the grave, so the promises to you that you’ll overcome it too, because the power rests in him and he’s promised this to you. It’s this beautiful redemption story being told, and Stephen is laying this out for us. Now, when you look at this story, I want you to know that in the book of Acts, there are several different sermons that are given. We’ve looked at a few by Peter, for example, so far, but the longest sermon in the book of Acts, 60 verses this chapter I see Stephen gives us the longest sermon in in the book of Acts, and it happens to be the third longest sermon in the Bible. The longest, if you’re interested, is the book of Hebrews. The entire book is a sermon.
And then the second longest is Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in in Matthew chapter 5 to 7. Third longest sermon in the New Testament is is Stephen’s sermon right here. Now, I want you to know a little bit of relief. I’m not going to preach a long sermon about a long sermon. Okay. But I but I do I do want us to see knowing this is 60 verses. I want us to have these these pictures painted of of the message of of what Stephen is sharing with us, because ultimately this leads to his death. But Stephen’s death becomes incredibly pivotal in the history of Christianity, and no doubt plays an impact on even why you and I are here today. I mean, you think about the early church, this, this persecution, this martyrdom of Stephen. Up until this point, the church could feel the growing pressure that was taking place. I mean, they they experienced it. They witnessed it, right? First, they’re told to stop saying things about the Lord. Stop teaching about the resurrection. Acts chapter three. Then in Acts chapter five, that same thing is repeated by the leaders in Jerusalem. But this time, rather than just let them go, they’re beaten because they wouldn’t stop sharing about Jesus. And now it’s all coming to a head where the first martyrdom takes place. Stephen loses his life, and in his martyrdom, it tells us that the early church begins to respond by scattering.
I just think in this one moment they’re proclaiming, Jesus church is growing. They’re just celebrating. And all of a sudden they just gather their belongings and they take off. And no doubt in this moment they would have been incredibly concerned. Where are we going? I don’t even know. Maybe your cousin down the road. We just got to get out of here. We don’t even know how we’re going to handle or take care of ourselves tomorrow, but we know we just can’t stay here. And in that moment, you could imagine the worry upon the church where they thought, you know, we had all this momentum, all these wonderful things were happening. But this feels like a setback. And maybe, maybe this could go get, go so poorly, so wrong, that maybe this is even the ending and all this worry happened. Happening in the church and the the immediate response to Stephen’s death as they start to scatter outside of Jerusalem. But here’s what’s incredible. This becomes the very catalyst for the rapid spread of Christianity throughout the known world. You know, we have this tendency of looking at adversity in our own life and thinking, God, how can you use this? But it becomes the the very foundation that God uses to stretch us and to cause us to look beyond circumstances, to to not not put our hope in the temporal of things, but it becomes the catalyst of opportunity, of what God can do.
I mean, it’s the reason why we’re talking about Stephen today. You think throughout the centuries the faithfulness of this God, this guy who was bold in the Lord and in an important way and through the the boldness of his faith. There is this transformation that takes place throughout the world. His faith has had a ripple effect upon generations. The fruit of Stephen made known even today as we talk about him and you know, up until reading this chapter and seeing how Christianity spreads because of the death of Stephen, we may not even have been really that much aware about how this helped Christianity move beyond Jerusalem to the to the ends of the earth, but this is what ultimately led to the gospel that’s gone forth to to us being in a place to be able to receive it today. And so we not necessarily attaching that thought to directly to Stephen, can I just say in your own life, there is that opportunity with your life that here in these moments, as you walk faithfully with Jesus, there can be fruit in that, but also in your faithfulness in Christ today, the way you choose to follow Jesus can leave a ripple effect for generations in a powerful way. And so I’ll look at the life of Stephen and and that’s what I asked him. How can I have that kind of faith where I learn to live, that Stephen kind of life, where God can use me not only to make a difference in this moment, but but a kind of life that even if people don’t know my name, the the opportunity I have to help set up the next generation for the glory of God to, to, to the benefit of themselves as they find freedom in Jesus too.
And so that’s what we’re going to talk about today. Four truths to cultivate a faith like Stephen’s. Let me give you point number one. And and we’ll move through this together. But number one is this God’s story is bigger than a place. God’s story is bigger than a place. I mean, how important that would be for the early church, because in some ways, as they’re leaving Jerusalem, they’re leaving what what’s familiar to them, and they’re probably lamenting over some things that were left behind. I wish right, I wish I could go back to the good old days. 80s were the best, right? I wish I could go back. And sometimes we lament about a place. But we fail in lamenting about that place that we may not be able to go to. We fail to see how God can use us in the here and now. And God is bigger than a place God is. He’s bigger than than a circumstance. He’s he’s bigger than than a position. God’s purpose has has always moved forward. Get this not by a place, but by his promise, the the promises of God and His faithfulness to fulfill it.
That is, that is what carries the early church. And so as Stephen shares this sermon, that’s where he begins. He wants us to understand the foundation of the faith and the beginning of really what what Judaism became came through a man named Abraham. And he and he just starts to paint that picture of, of this is what brought gospel movement in this world, and this is what it means to be a kind of person, to make a difference not only in this generation, but in generations to come, and how God can use you. And so in Acts chapter two, picking up the second half of verse two, he says it like this the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia. And this is important for Steve. Remember the accusation? Basically, he hates Judaism. He hates the law. He hates the temple. And so he’s beginning by showing his appreciation for what God’s given him. And so he says this about Abraham. He appeared to our father Abraham when he’s in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran and and said to him, go out from, from your land and from your kindred, and go into the land that I will show you. And then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.
Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot length, but promised promise to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. And you think about how incredible this is. Here’s Stephen in saying, this is what my life really is going to be about, this example of Abraham, because this is what his life was about and the way that God carried him. And when you consider when you consider the life of Abraham, he would have been incredibly trusting in the promises of who God was. And the reason we say that is man. When Abraham was called from ur of the Chaldeans, if you remember about his life, he was 75 years old, 75 years old, where he he goes all in, in the Lord and saying, I’m trusting in you. And God promises a land that’s going to bless generations to come. And Abraham, based on that promise, he goes out. And what makes it more incredible is that Abraham is doing this at a day and time where you didn’t leave the area in which you were born, because your people were your protection. There were no police. And to go out as a, as a, as a foreigner in a foreign land, and especially at 75 years old, when you’re supposed to be retiring and kind of kicking up your feet a little bit and, and imparting your wisdom for the next generation to carry the torch.
I mean, not to say you can’t do things when you’re 75, but there’s just a different pace of going about things. Abraham’s like, Now I’m going to live like I’m in my 20s. I’m picking up the plow and we’re digging in and he leaves. At a time like this, at 75 years old and a place when, when and a time in history when people did not do this. I mean, there’s incredible trust in the promises of God. And what makes it more incredible is when he gets to the land in which God has promised him. The Bible tells us he never owns any of it. He lives like a nomad until his wife dies and the only thing he purchased ever in that land was a place to bury his bride. I think how much Abraham’s life had to be rooted in the promises of God, where he structured his life in such a way that really, he’s laying no hope in anything this earth has to offer. It’s all in the promises of God. Maybe you think about your own life. What’s going to be said about you? What kind of difference can God make in your life for the benefit of future generations? And how much are you willing to lean into his promises with all that you are, so that God can continue to to transform your heart for the glory of both people now? Or excuse me, the glory of God, for the benefit of people now and forever.
That’s what Stephen’s doing, and that’s what Stephen’s done. This is why we’re talking about him now. His life had an impact on my life without even really recognizing and how as he literally laid his life down and it transformed the way that the church went forward with the gospel, because it’s one of the things when we look at a verse like this this morning that I, I get excited about when I think about, you know, building our building in just a few months, we hope to break ground here maybe in the spring we’re targeting is that time to break ground. And and we’re talking about building something collectively as a community that’s going to outlive us, to make a difference for the sake of future generations. And I want to use my life that way. And it’s it’s rooted in in resting in the promises of God. And this is why Steven has picked Abraham as that representative, not only because it’s the beginning of Judaism, but because of what he represents. In fact, when Paul talks about Abraham and in Galatians chapter three, it says it like this. Verse 28, he says, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. And here’s what Paul’s saying is like, yeah, from from Abraham.
There, there came literally the Jewish people, right? The Hebrew people. But there is something even bigger that came out of Abraham, and that’s the people of faith. As Abraham followed the Lord, and through Abraham came the Messiah. Through the Messiah came all of God’s people. And so while you belong to Jesus, you also belong to to Abraham, because Abraham left us that legacy of faith for which all of us were able to put our hope in the Messiah who would come through Abraham. That becomes incredible when you think about the legacy of what you belong to, because of faithful men and women who have gone before you, and sometimes we’re aware of them, sometimes we’re not. But even if you don’t know their name. The ripple effect of their life impacting our life. It should not be forgotten. And here you are. God’s got you in a place in this world. In order that your legacy can make a difference in the way that you live your life. And so it begins for us by recognizing God’s story is bigger than a place, but rather what we’re resting in is in the promises of God. And here, let me give you point number two. This is one of those reasons why it’s important to rest in God’s promises. And it’s this God’s deliverers are often rejected. God’s deliverers are often rejected. When we go out and live for the Lord, we shouldn’t accept, then people are going to be like, well, you know, let’s just receive everything you’ve got to tell me, right? And it’s not saying just because you follow Jesus now, what you’ve picked is the easy road.
In fact, following after Jesus can make things in this world complicated, though, you have a hope that transcends it all. And so this is what Stephen is beginning to outline like this is what God did. But I want you to see this pattern. And throughout this, this sermon, he then starts to share stories of this repeated cycle in supposedly God’s people, the ones that supposedly follow after the Lord. And so he begins to use these stories, and he and he and he picks individuals throughout Scripture that, that found this happening to them. And, and these particular verses on the screen, the first ones of Joseph and the next two are examples from Moses. But here’s what he says. He says in verse nine. And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt, but God was with him. So if you go read Stephen’s sermon, you see him talking about Joseph for a little bit. But he, he, he, he culminates it all in this idea that as Joseph was resting in the promises of God, people didn’t always receive him and even his own brothers. If you remember the story of Joseph, his brothers were jealous of him, sold him as a slave into Egypt, and God worked a miraculous ways to use Joseph, even as a slave in Egypt, to bring him into a position of authority and to rescue his own family that was trapped in a famine.
Years later, what determined who Joseph was wasn’t what other people thought about him, but what the Lord accomplished for him and promised to him. Joseph chose to walk in that it’s all sorts of sorts of things in this world you could choose to live for, but most of the things that we could live for won’t matter beyond the day. And trying to live your life to please people, it’s not going to satisfy them, and it will never satisfy you because you were made for a greater purpose. And Joseph chose to walk in that purpose rather than what people said. He uses the example of Moses in verse 25. Moses supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. If you remember the story of Moses when he was 40 years old in Egypt, he was. He grew up in Pharaoh’s household, though he was a Hebrew. And one day his his Hebrew people were being attacked by a soldier one. One particular individual was being attacked by an Egyptian soldier. Moses stepped in and killed the soldier and moved on, and he thought his people would really appreciate that. But the next time he showed back up, he saw two Hebrews arguing, and he tried to intervene in the middle of that.
And they looked at him and said, what are you? What are you here for, Moses? Are you going to treat us like you treat treated the Egyptian soldier? And all of a sudden Moses realized that that that what he did that was becoming public in his life was at risk. And Pharaoh might do something to him. So Moses had to run and hide. He spent the next 40 years of his life hiding, and it wasn’t until he was 80 years old that God called him from the burning bush. And he goes back to Egypt and tells Pharaoh, let my people go. But even when the people left Egypt, they still didn’t truly follow Moses. In fact, it tells you in verse 35, this Moses whom they rejected, saying, who made you a ruler and a judge? This man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. It’s reminding us that even as you follow after the Lord, it doesn’t mean that that people necessarily want to accept. You want to even listen to you, but that’s not why you do what you do. We follow the Lord regardless of what people might bring, regardless of position or place. We we follow the Lord. Get this because it’s true. We we follow the Lord because we’ve been found in him and blessed in him, and loved in him, and have position in him and get to respond in him.
And and what we have through him will endure and outlast anything else this world has to offer. And because of that, we we begin to learn that what matters to the Lord, even in the difficulty of of the day, is that people matter to God because Jesus made him, made them in his image, and he desires to recreate them at the cross and no matter how they choose to respond to me, they still need him. And just as I’ve been liberated through the Lord, other people can have that opportunity too. And Stephen is willing to even make himself a servant of those that despise him, because he knows what God desires to offer them. And he’s saying, you’re responding to me the exact same way you’ve responded throughout history, and you need to recognize what God desires for you. Guys, can I say it’s the same for all of us this morning? I hope, I hope we recognize the preciousness of God becoming flesh and giving his life on the cross so that we can be liberated, forgiven, and find new life in him. Not just so your past can be taken away. That is certainly important to be forgiven of our past, the guilt and the shame. But we can also step into a new identity and hope in Christ that God’s called you to so much more. I mean, we have this this tendency as, as people to want to war against God in that.
And even if you are a believer, we have this tendency as believers to to say to God, well, God, I give you some of my life, but I don’t really want to trust in your promises for all of my life. I mean, what might you be holding back on when you consider God wants to use your life in such a way that not only it makes a difference now, but it will ripple throughout history and how the fruit of your life is made known in other lives, even if they don’t know your name. And so so so Stephen is reminding them of this story. And and then number three is this God’s presence is always with his people. God’s presence is is always with his people. And Steven reminds him of this at the end of the story in a in a powerful way. He first begins to describe Moses in the wilderness. He says in verse 44, our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern that he had he had seen. And so he was beginning to do is speak to this religious community who has identified themselves in their religious performance through the law, Moses and Temple. And he’s and he’s really helping them understand. Guys, those things aren’t the point. Sometimes you can get lost in the idea of religious performance and fail to recognize.
And what God wants more than anything is relationship. What God wants this morning is your heart. And they got so fixated on these things that they failed to see the overarching message of God’s redemptive story. And he does this by pointing out the tabernacle for Israel. If they want to meet with God, they thought to themselves, we had to go to the temple because the temple was this fixed place where God’s presence dwelled. But he said, hey, don’t you guys remember before the physical temple that the first place God met us in really was this tent, and that tent wandered around and God’s presence was with us, and we could go with God’s presence. But it was in this wandering tent that the Tabernacle honestly wasn’t wasn’t really a part of Israel’s history for most of Israel. And I think when Abraham was called up into the time of Solomon, there was no there was no temple. There was from Moses to Solomon Tabernacle, but there was no temple. And then when Solomon comes along, he builds the temple. So for the next thousand years, Israel has a physical structure of the temple. Unless the temple was destroyed and sometimes they didn’t have a temple. But for about a thousand years they had a temple structure. But then after 70 AD, the temple was destroyed. And Israel hasn’t had a temple for 2000 years.
Again, do you really think the point of this is the temple that God has made you for so much more? In fact, he goes on in verse 48 and says this. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? Says the Lord. What is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all things? And he does something interesting in this these two verses or three, three verses, he actually goes back and he quotes Isaiah 66, verse one and two. Isaiah 66 is, is this passage in Isaiah where Isaiah is criticizing the people for thinking about their religious performance, but not primarily about relationship with the Lord. They were literally thinking, well, I can live like what however I want as long as I just do these religious performances, because if I do these performances, I’m going to obligate God to have to owe me. So I’ll do these things to make God happy, and then I’ll leave the rest of my life to live for myself. And Isaiah is saying, do you think that’s really what it’s about? Just show up on Sunday, and then you think you make God happy by being here. That’s God. God is not obligated by you in anything that you do. There’s nothing that God needs from you. God is completely sufficient within himself.
And so to think that you could impress God with your performance is proud and arrogant, and it neglects to see the greatness of who God is. We don’t do things because God needs us and we obligate us to him, or we obligate him to us, but rather we do things out of joy because in the midst of our sin, God doesn’t give up on me. And he has pursued me with his life that I could find freedom in him. It’s not even about me. It’s about him and what he’s done for me. And so Stephen’s beginning to share this with the people, begin to introduce this, and he’s doing this through the idea of temple. And temple becomes one way of looking at this. I’ll talk about this in just a moment. But when you take a step back and you look at the whole worship system of the Jewish people, what you realize in this worship system is that this entire system of worship that God established for them, was intended to point them to one thing and really one person. You look at the Jewish Old Testament, the, the, the law, the temple, even the, the celebrations, the feast days that they had or the idea of, of the lamb that was sacrificed. And you look at the New Testament in light of the of the Old Testament, you realize Jesus is the fulfillment of all those things. Jesus in John chapter one, John says of Jesus, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
That while they would sacrifice the lamb, and especially on Passover, that it was all foreshadowing the ultimate lamb who was Jesus. And Jesus himself gave his life. Get this on the Passover to help us recognize on that religious day that they would celebrate that it was all pointing to the true Messiah who would give his life as the lamb for us, that that when they would gather and they had the law. Jesus gets this, get this in. Matthew five tells us that he he didn’t come to abolish the law, but fulfill it. He is the fulfillment of the old covenant that when Jesus hung on the cross in Matthew chapter 27 and verse 51, it tells you that the veil was torn from top to bottom, symbolizing that the presence of God no longer dwells in the temple, but rather would now dwell within his people. And that’s what it tells us in one Corinthians 316 and 619. This is why, if you claim to be a follower of Jesus, you should never build a temple. Because to build a temple is to say that what Jesus did for you on the cross is not enough. It’s an affront to the accomplishing work of Christ and the way that he’s redeemed us. But when we look back as believers to the true practice of the Old Testament, we recognize Jesus is the fulfillment of all those things.
And rather than put my hope in any religious performance, my hope is in the performance of Christ on the cross for me, because of what he’s done, and he’s recognizing this to the people. He’s saying, do you really think that religion is going to be what saves you. Do you really think that you can add anything to what Christ has done for you on the cross? Or do you not recognize the freedom that only Jesus can bring? He’s helping us understand God’s presence is always with his people because of what Christ has accomplished for you and for me, so that wherever we go, we can go boldly, knowing that no matter what the threats are, even those gnashing teeth, it can’t hold anything over me because of who I am. In Jesus, there is no greater value that can be placed on my life than Christ. So let’s point number four and I need to get to the end. Here, wrap this up. God’s Redeemer is worth dying for. God’s Redeemer is worth dying for. And Stephen, no doubt probably knows at the end of this that it’s about to take place for him. He’s going to become a martyr because he throws they throw out these big insults here. You stiff necked people, right? Man uncircumcised in heart and ears. Don’t you dare. You always resist the Holy Spirit. And that that should be cutting. Where is your heart? In the Lord right now? What are you using to determine the steps of your life? What matters most? As your fathers did, so do you.
Stephen saying, look, I just shared with you a history where God would send a messenger and you would reject him, and you’re doing it right now. Stephen saying you’re doing it right now. God’s got so much more for your life. And then he goes on and says in verse 56 and he said, behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he said this, he fell asleep. And one of the greatest marks of your walk in the Lord is your willingness to forgive. And he’s modeling Jesus beautifully here. But one of the things he says is he sees. He sees Jesus, the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of God. And this is an incredible moment because he’s saying what he’s saying is, as he’s sitting in a courtroom where people are bringing testimony against him and ultimately going to lead to his death, he looks to heaven, and he sees heaven as if it’s painted as a heavenly courtroom and as this earthly courtroom is going to condemn him. When he looks to heaven, he realizes the heavenly courtroom receives him.
One of the interesting things to recognize about Jesus when you read in the New Testament after his death, burial, and resurrection. If you read, for example, of Jesus in in the book of Revelation, one of the things you want to note is the posture of Jesus. Is he sitting? Is he standing? How is he described? Because if he’s sitting, what is often telling us is what Jesus has done has been accomplished. It’s finished. But when he’s standing, it’s saying he’s doing something actively now. And what is he doing in this moment? He’s receiving Stephen. But Jesus standing at the right hand of the father. It’s saying that Jesus sacrifice was sufficient. It was received. And at the same time, because of that, Stephen is being welcomed and he belongs. So while the world may try to war against him, Stephen is saying, and I have a greater hope that no matter what takes place for me, everything’s going to be okay, because the one who matters most is receiving me in his kingdom. Now some people look at this and ask, well, how is Stephen? How is how is Jesus at the right hand of the father? Does that mean God the Father has a physical body? And can I just tell you, this is an idiom of saying the hand of favor that Jesus has been received and what he’s done for you and for me. Because when you look in verses the Bible, let me give you several.
First Timothy chapter six, verse six, first John, chapter four, verse 12. The book of John, chapter one, verse 18. Colossians one, chapter one, verse 15. All of those verses say, get this God the Father is invisible. No one has seen him or can see him. If you want to know what God’s like, look at Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus receives Stephen as you look at these final moments of Stephen’s life, it’s incredible the fruit that God bears through a life that’s surrendered to him. But here’s one last question I want to ask you. How do we know what Stephen even shared in his sermon? I mean, if you remember who wrote the book of the book of Acts, it’s it’s Luke. Luke writes Acts, and you discover as you read the book of Acts. Luke doesn’t enter this story into real time until chapter 16, because Luke’s from a Gentile world. And so it’s not until chapter 16 that Luke joins in in the actual story of the book of Acts. So if Luke wasn’t here, how in the world did Luke know what took place? And the answer is, because there was someone else there. And the individual that was there was a young man by the name of Paul. At the end of Acts, chapter seven, verse, verse 58, it says, and they cast him out of the city. Talking about Stephen and stoned him.
And the witness laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. Acts chapter eight. And Saul approved of his execution. Now, it took a little bit of time for this to penetrate the heart of Saul, but this made a ripple effect in the life of Saul. And Saul goes on to make a difference in this world, or Paul as we call him today. Paul is his Greek name. Saul was his Hebrew name. Guys, can I tell you in the way that you live your life for the Lord? There are some people, even around you, that may have hard hearts and you think, man, I’m never going to reach him. But you don’t know. You don’t know the fruit of faithfulness in the way that God can use it. And even for the Apostle Paul and sharing this with Luke, that it would be recorded in the book of Acts, shows how the ripple effect of a life given over to the Lord makes a difference. If I use it like this, Jesus said it like this. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. And you juxtapose that from Lamentations our fathers sinned and no more, and are no more, and we bear their iniquities. Here’s what it’s saying is your life is going to be used to make a difference, right? Both verses your life is going to be used to make a difference, just a matter of what difference it’s going to make.
In Lamentations, they’re saying we had a generation before us that impacted us, and it’s had some negative consequences on us. But then Jesus is saying, but then there’s this generation that when you lay down your life, the ripple effect for that brings transformation in the hearts of people in a way that you could not even imagine. But Jesus is saying that life has got to be surrendered. If I used just two last pictures of this one, one that comes to mind are two young ladies that passed away in 1999. If you remember the Columbine High School, one of the first shootings that we would remember that took place in schools or these these Cassie and Rachel. Scott is on the left and Cassie is on the right. But both of these young ladies had said that they were asked, were they followers of the Lord? And they said yes. And they were shot and killed. But one particular young lady, Rachel Scott, on the left, she had journaled about her own life and the Lord and and her journal was put in a book and used to inspire young people in their faith. Even as we sit here this morning, some of us may not even know who this couple is. But can I tell you the reason you’re sitting here this morning is because of this couple and 2003.
I came to Utah to visit for the first time, and it wasn’t because I was interested in anything spiritual in Utah. I just wanted to see the Rocky Mountains. I didn’t really know anything about Utah. That trip blew my mind, but I didn’t know anything about Utah at that time. And I met this couple who had just come to know Jesus, and they were on fire for the Lord, and they were in their 60s coming to know the Lord and now giving their life for him. Whatever days they had they wanted to serve him, and they met me and they knew that I was studying in Bible college. And they said to me, if you ever were to come back to Utah and plant a church, we want to be a part of it. And as a young man seeing the need here, there was a growing, growing desire in my heart to be here, but trying to figure out how that could happen. One of the most important people to catalyze that were patent Larry Thomas. I don’t know that I would have come back if it were not for patent, Larry, but because of them, it opened a door of opportunity for others to come to know Jesus to. You never know how your life has been impacted by by people in the Lord. But if your life would be given over to the Lord, it produces an incredible fruit.