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Bibles to the Book of Acts, we 
are in Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7, Stephen's defense 
before the Sanhedrin, or the council. The Sanhedrin, or the 
religious council, religious and political council, was made 
up of 71 members. It was led by the high priest, 
and here, after the charges are formally brought to them concerning 
Stephen's offense, The high priest questions him in verse 1, and 
then Stephen gives his defense. It's a very lengthy defense. It's the longest speech recorded 
in the book of Acts. And for that reason, I thought 
it would be helpful to sort of do an overview of it. If we just 
jumped right into verses 1 to 8 concerning the call of Abram, 
we might miss sort of the significance of the speech as a whole. So 
I wanna look at the significance of the speech as a whole this 
morning, and then in subsequent weeks, look at the particular 
parts and remind us how those parts contribute to the whole. 
But I'll actually read beginning back in chapter six at verse 
eight, and we'll read the chapter seven, verse eight. So Acts chapter 
six, beginning in verse eight. And Stephen, full of faith and 
power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then 
there arose some from what is called the synagogue of the freedmen, 
Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia, 
disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist 
the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Then they secretly 
induced men to say, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against 
Moses and God. And they stirred up the people, 
the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him, seized him, 
and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses 
who said, this man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against 
this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that 
this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs 
which Moses delivered to us. And all who sat in the council, 
looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel. 
Then the high priest said, are these things so? And he said, 
brethren and fathers, listen, the God of glory appeared to 
our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt 
in Haran, and said to him, get out of your country and from 
your relatives and come to a land that I will show you. Then he 
came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from 
there, when his father was dead, he moved him to this land in 
which you now dwell. And God gave him no inheritance 
in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham 
had no child, he promised to give it to him for a possession 
and to his descendants after him. But God spoke in this way, 
that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land and that they 
would bring them into bondage and oppress them 400 years. And 
the nation to whom they will be in bondage, I will judge, 
said God. And after that, they shall come 
out and serve me in this place. Then he gave him the covenant 
of circumcision. And so Abraham begot Isaac and 
circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac begot Jacob, and 
Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs." Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank You for the written Word. We thank You for 
this defense of Stephen. And we would pray now that Your 
Spirit would help us to understand how this functions in the book 
of Acts as a whole, how it functions in terms of His defense before 
this religious council. We ask again that You would forgive 
us for our sins and unrighteousness. We pray for the illuminating 
power of the Holy Spirit, that we would be led into truth, that 
we would appreciate that truth, and that that truth would affect 
us, and it would further conform us unto the image of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. and that it would be the means 
by which you call sinners out of their darkness today into 
the marvelous light of the Christian gospel. And we ask this in the 
name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, 
as I said, this is a very long speech that Stephen gives. It 
starts here in verse two and goes all the way to verse 53. And it sort of focuses on key 
men throughout Israel's history. And there are similarities between 
this speech and things you see from Moses in the book of Deuteronomy. 
Certain Psalms function in a similar way. I think Jesus does this 
in a parabolic way in Matthew's gospel when he traces the history 
of Israel to show how they treated as a whole, the prophets that 
were sent to them. Also, the Apostle Paul, later 
in Acts chapter 13, in a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, will do 
a similar thing. It's a tracing of redemptive 
history, the history of Israel and the key persons involved, 
sort of, or rather, so that he can answer the charges that had 
been laid against him. So I want to look first at the 
question of the high priest in verse 1, and then secondly, the 
defense offered by Stephen. The defense offered by Stephen, 
and again, the overview. We'll get into the specific parts 
in the coming weeks, but notice, first of all, the question. It 
says in verse 1, then the high priest said, are these things 
so? This is Caiaphas, the high priest. This is the same one 
instrumental in the trial of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is 
the same one that has presided over the Sanhedrin when the apostles 
have bumped into them, or when the apostles, rather, were arrested 
by them. Back in Acts 4, and again in 
Acts chapter 5, it's Caiaphas, the high priest, that is presiding 
over these particular things. And when he says to him, are 
these things so? He means the charges that have 
been brought. Remember, there was first this 
informal allegation brought against Stephen, and then they arrest 
him, they seize him, and they bring him to the council. They 
bring him to the Sanhedrin, and there, by false witness, according 
to verse 13, they formalize the charges against Stephen. So with 
reference to the informal, notice in verse 11 in chapter 6. Stephen 
is preaching. He's full of faith. He's full 
of power. He is doing great wonders and signs among the people He 
then is confronted by these various men in a synagogue and notice 
how they respond in verse 11 It says they secretly induced 
men to say we have heard him speak blasphemous words against 
Moses and God now They're not suggesting that Moses is more 
important than God when he says or when they say he spoke blasphemous 
words against Moses that's blasphemy against God God used As we proceed 
in the narrative, we learn the specific charges involve speaking 
ill of Moses and the law and speaking ill of the temple of 
God. And that's how it's formally 
brought to the council according to verse 13. Notice, they also 
set up false witnesses who said, this man does not cease to speak 
blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. So that's 
their issue. So to speak ill of Moses means 
to speak ill of Moses and the law. To speak ill of the holy 
place means to speak ill of the temple of God. So these are the 
two primary charges. And they offer up as proof verse 
14. They say in the hearing of the 
council of the Sanhedrin, they say in verse 14, for we have 
heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this 
place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us. 
Now, as we saw in our studies in the Gospel of Matthew, the 
opposers of Christ misquote Christ. Christ never said, I will destroy 
this temple, but rather he says, destroy this temple, and in three 
days I will raise it up. So he is misquoted, and Stephen 
is as well. Plus, they misinterpret. John 
in John 2 tells us that he was speaking about the temple of 
his body. He wasn't talking about Herod's temple. He wasn't talking 
about the second temple. He was talking about the temple 
of his body being raised up on the third day. So they misquote 
both Jesus and Stephen, and they misinterpret both Jesus and Stephen. And remember that Luke has already 
told us that these are false charges. As we enter into Acts 
chapter 7, we have divine commentary that Stephen is innocent. It's 
the council that's wrong. It's the council that's in error. 
We are specifically told by Luke that they brought these charges 
up via these false witnesses. It's the same sort of scene that 
you have in Matthew's Gospel in chapter 26. The Sanhedrin 
desperately sought out testimony that would be able to indict 
the Lord Jesus Christ. So they drum up false witnesses 
to testify in that way. And the same sort of thing is 
happening here with Stephen. The same sort of thing will happen 
throughout the history of the church. In fact, some commented 
after we looked at these charges brought against Stephen in Acts 
chapter 6, that it sounded like I was describing a particular 
political party. Well, brethren, things haven't 
changed. There is nothing new under the 
sun. The particular tactics employed here at the end of chapter 6 
are the same sorts of things we see being done today. It starts 
by a secret inducement. It starts by a bit of instigation. This guy's a troublemaker. This 
guy's got problems. This guy's got issues. And then 
it starts to spread beyond that secret inducement or instigation 
to crowds of people. And we're able to gin them up 
and get them to ultimately cry, away with him, away with him, 
crucify him. And then it ends before the council 
and the false witnesses are actually being treated as if they're speaking 
the truth. Luke tells us the problem in 
Acts 7 is not Stephen. The issue in Acts 7 is the Sanhedrin. There is this transfer of power 
happening right before our eyes. It's no longer the Sanhedrin 
that exercise religious power in Israel. It is the apostles 
of our Lord Jesus Christ under his headship, under his lead, 
under his direction that are the overseers of the Israel of 
God. the church of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Now, let's see how Stephen answers these particular charges. In the first place, notice in 
verse 2, he says, brethren and fathers. Isn't that wonderful? He's going to end the sermon 
by calling them stiff-necked and uncircumcised of heart, telling 
them, you always resist the Holy Spirit. The way your fathers 
did, so do you. But initially he starts out very 
respectful. Brethren and fathers. Brethren 
in terms that we're all Israelites. Fathers in deference to these 
council members. And notice he calls God the God 
of our father Abraham. In other words, Stephen and these 
men share a history together. But Stephen and these men took 
completely different forks in the road at the coming of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. These men rejected Christ, and 
Stephen embraced Christ. So that history is in fact shared, 
and as Stephen will so ably demonstrate, that history culminates, that 
history is realized, that history is fulfilled by Jesus Christ. So remember, the two particular 
charges that Stephen is facing here. In the first place, he 
gives a defense concerning Moses and the law. And secondly, he 
gives a defense concerning the temple of God. So let's see how 
Stephen does that with reference to Moses and the law. Notice. As I said, the history is woven 
together by various persons in Israel's history. Now Moses is 
a significant player in Israel's history. In fact, that's the 
particular charge. He has blasphemed Moses. You 
can't do that. You see that in the life and 
ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. They tried to pit him against 
Moses, and always Jesus says, I don't have a problem with Moses, 
you have the problem with Moses. Moses wrote about me. If you 
would believe Moses, then you would believe me. Well, keep 
that in your head. That's John 5, and that's precisely 
one of the tactics that Stephen employs here in his defense. 
But notice the rejection of Moses by Israel in particular. Look at Acts 7 at verse 25. The section concerning Moses 
runs from verses 17 to 44. But notice the rejection of Moses 
in verse 25. For he supposed that his brethren 
would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, 
but they did not understand. There was this misunderstanding 
on the part of Israel concerning Moses, their deliverer, concerning 
Moses, their judge. Notice in verse 27. But he who 
did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, who made you 
a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you 
did the Egyptian yesterday? And again, we're going to get 
into the particulars, these subunits, or these subsets, and get into 
the nuts and bolts here. But suffice it to say, God made 
him a deliverer. God made him the mediator of 
the old covenant. God made him Israel's head and 
leader. And then notice again in verse 
35, in terms of their rejection of Moses. Verse 35, "...this 
Moses, whom they rejected, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge, 
is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of 
the angel who appeared to him in the bush." One man, Thompson, 
says a recurring theme in the speech is the rejection of God's 
messengers. This is particularly emphasized 
in regard to Moses, as the rejection of Moses is highlighted three 
times. It's not only with Moses. What 
happens with Joseph according to verse 9? His brothers hate 
him. His brothers despise him. His brothers sell him into slavery. 
What's Stephen's point? They got it wrong in the past. 
Maybe you've got it wrong in the present. They got it wrong 
with reference to Moses. Perhaps you've gotten it wrong 
with reference to the one that Moses wrote about. You see, Stephen 
is defending himself. Stephen is defending Christianity. Stephen is presenting a cogent 
argument in terms of the two specific charges that have been 
laid against him. Notice as well that Stephen highlights 
something that Peter does before him in Acts chapter 3. Moses 
wrote about Jesus. Look at verse 37. This is the 
Moses who said to the children of Israel, the Lord your God 
will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear. Turn back 
to Deuteronomy chapter 18. That is a quote from Deuteronomy 
chapter 18. It is a quote concerning the 
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Deuteronomy 18 is an announcement, 
a messianic promise that Jesus Christ is going to come. And 
so Stephen says that this Moses, this one you're claiming that 
I opposed, is actually the one who announced the very Christ 
that I worship. He is the one that wrote of Him. 
I think Stephen is saying, I'm not the one who missed the Old 
Testament, you're the ones who missed the Old Testament. I'm 
not the one who missed the transition or trajectory in redemptive history, 
but rather it's the religious council. You wretched, unbelieving 
Jews. You Christ-rejecting Jews. You're 
the ones who have missed everything by a long shot. Now, Deuteronomy 
18 is most instructive. In the first place, you need 
to understand the context. With reference to Deuteronomy 
18, verses 1 to 8, the provision for priests and Levites is spelled 
out. In other words, Israel is going 
to be a nation that has a priesthood. Israel is going to be a nation 
that, in terms of its religious observance unto God, is going 
to have a priesthood. And those priests have to eat. 
Those priests have to wear shoes. Those priests have to have warmth. 
Those priests cannot live on love and fresh air, so verses 
1 to 8 specifies that you feed the priests. You clothe the priests. 
You put shoes on the priest's kids. You give them the sorts 
of things they need in order to function as normal human beings. And then as well, there is a 
prohibition against following the abominations of the nations 
in verses 9 to 14, especially occultism. Especially occultism. Sometimes people ask the question, 
why does God have a problem with the occult? Because it's an abomination. And sometimes people think, well, 
it's just useless, it's worthless, it doesn't work. I don't believe 
God commands us to stay away from it because it doesn't work. 
He commands us to stay away from it because it's an abomination. 
You see that scene in 1 Samuel chapter 28, that witch of Endor 
called up something Again, it's not the case that it didn't work, 
it's that it's wicked and violent evil. Israel was not supposed 
to join the nations around them seeking out those occultic means 
of instruction. Rather, Israel was to be a people 
not only with priests, but a people with prophets. And the prophets 
spoke the word of the living God. The prophets spoke the mind 
and will of God. Stay away from the Ouija boards. 
Stay away from the witches. Stay away from the tea leaves. 
Stay away from the lines on the palms. Stay away from the fortune 
tellers. But rather, go to the prophet 
of God, who speaks the truth of God. Those things are not 
condemned because they don't work. Those things are condemned 
because they're a vile transgression against the God of heaven and 
earth. That's why scripture says, suffer not a witch to live. Again, 
we freak out at that reality and we say, horror of horrors, 
how could that ever be? Well brethren, it is an affront 
to the God who speaks. Notice as well, there is this 
promise concerning the prophet in Israel. So there's this prohibition 
against occultism, and then there's this promise concerning the prophetic 
ministry in verses 15 to 19. Notice, verse 15, the Lord your 
God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from 
your brethren, him you shall hear. Isn't that what Stephen 
quotes there in Acts 7 at verse 37? To show that Moses promised 
the coming of a particular prophet in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 
chapter 18, 15. Now notice, he goes on. Verse 17, And the LORD said to 
me, What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them 
a prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put 
my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that 
I command him. And then there's a warning that 
if you do not heed him, you will be cut off. Verse 19, it shall 
be that whoever will not hear my words, which he speaks in 
my name, I will require it of him. And then there's a warning 
against false prophecy in verses 20 to 22. And you say, well, 
how do they know that that had to do with Jesus Christ? Well, 
there's a whole lot of reasons we know that it had to do with 
Jesus Christ. One of them is Matthew 17. Remember on the Mount 
of Transfiguration when Peter, James, and John saw the glory 
of Jesus Christ? They saw him shining and beautiful 
and transfigured before their eyes? God the Father says, this 
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him. Just like Moses says here, hear 
him. Peter interprets it the same way in Acts chapter 3. In 
fact, in our reading in John chapter 7, what's one of the 
questions the people were asking? Could this be the prophet? Well, what prophet are they asking 
about? the prophet of Deuteronomy 18, 
the prophet promised by Moses, the prophet that as redemptive 
history moves forward is identified as Messiah or Christ, the one 
who would be born in Bethlehem, Ephrathah, the one who would 
be glorious and wondrous and most high and excellent. You 
see, Stephen is telling the Sanhedrin that it's not Stephen that has 
a problem with Moses, but it's the Sanhedrin that has a problem 
with Moses. The modern Jew today has a problem 
with Moses. Now here's where people say, 
well, you can't attack other religions. I'm not attacking 
them in terms of ethnicity. I'm attacking them in terms of 
theology. They're wrong. They've missed 
Moses' main point. Just like Jesus says in John 
5, you say that you believe Moses. But if you believe Moses, you'd 
believe me, because Moses wrote about me. That's the point. And this is what Stephen is communicating 
in this particular instance. Now notice, back in Acts chapter 
7, the indictment, in terms of this particular charge, I think 
the indictment of verses 51 and 52 seals the deal. Notice he 
rebukes them in verse 51. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised 
in heart and ears. I think in terms of homiletics, 
there's something to appreciate here. A sermon that can start 
off with, brethren and fathers, can end up with, you stiff-necked 
and uncircumcised in heart. It's the reality that when a 
people fail to bow the knee to the King of Kings and the Lord 
of Lords, at that point, they're no longer brethren and fathers, 
they're stiff-necked, they're uncircumcised. They have demonstrated 
their consistency with the opposers of Moses. And this is Stephen's 
point with reference to his sermon. Notice in verse 51, you stiff-necked 
and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy 
Spirit as your fathers did. So do you. See what I'm saying? When we overview the sermon, 
we ask the question, does Stephen defend himself? He most certainly 
does. He is not anti-Moses because 
the council is anti-Moses. He is not against the law of 
God because the council is against the law of God. These are passages, 
or rather, there are a whole host of passages that sound just 
like this in the Old Testament. You stiff neck, you see that 
in the book of Exodus. You see it in the book of Nehemiah. And why stiff-necked? Why is 
that? It's an interesting sort of convention, 
isn't it? We use that once in a while. 
I don't know how often. He's stubborn, or he's hard-hearted, 
or he's a stubborn-minded person. That's what stiff-necked means. 
It means to be stubborn. It means to be recalcitrant. 
It means to dig in your heels and say, no way. It's very intriguing. Again, I think I mentioned the 
book by G.K. Beale on idolatry. We become what we worship. It's 
a biblical theology of idolatry. And one of the things he points 
out is that Israel becomes like the gods it worships. And this 
stiff-neckedness reflects that. What do we do with an animal? 
We put a yoke on it. Why? Because it's stubborn. We 
have to put the yoke on it so that we can guide it, move it, 
and direct it to do the particular task that we want. What was one 
of the things that Israel worshipped? They worshipped calves. In fact, 
this particular passage alludes to that or deals with that. When 
Moses is up on Horeb dealing and communing with God, what 
do the people say to Aaron? Make us gods that we can worship. 
And what does Aaron produce? He produces calves. Psalm 115 
tells us that the idolater becomes like that which he worships. 
So Israel collectively or collectively had taken on the characteristics 
of these animals that were stubborn, these animals that were unbroken, 
these animals that would dig in their feet and not be moved 
and not be directed. The very gods that they worship, 
they had taken on those very characteristics. That's why the 
prophet Isaiah upbraids them. You have eyes, but you don't 
see. You have ears, but you don't hear. How are the prophets, or 
how does the psalmist mock the idols in Psalm 115? He says they 
have eyes, but they don't see. They have ears, but they don't 
hear. They have noses, but they don't smell. They have mouths, 
but they don't speak. What happened? All those who 
worship them will become like them. So this accusation or rather 
indictment of them being stiff-necked is not new in Israel's history. 
And then in terms of uncircumcised of heart and ears, the prophet 
Jeremiah uses that convention as he upbraids the people of 
Judah in his time. and this resisting of the Holy 
Spirit. That's not only in Ephesians 5, do not be drunk with wine 
in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. 
Or back in Ephesians 4, and grieve not the Holy Spirit by whom you've 
been sealed for the day of redemption. It's in Isaiah 63. They grieved 
the Holy Spirit in the wilderness. So Stephen is pulling from their 
own history, not only the record of their abuse in terms of Moses, 
but the same sorts of characteristics displayed by Israel then are 
still being displayed by Israel now. In rejecting Jesus, they 
had rejected Moses. In rejecting Jesus, they had 
thrown away the Old Testament. In rejecting Jesus, they had 
missed everything. And that's Stephen's point, very 
specifically. Notice in verse 52, which of 
the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed 
those who foretold the coming of the just one. You see what 
he says there? They killed the very prophets 
that were talking about Jesus. They killed the very prophets 
that had written under inspiration of the Holy Spirit and had preached 
to the people of Israel and Judah that this Jesus Christ was coming, 
that he was going to save his people from their sins, that 
he would be the champion. And now notice what Stephen says 
with reference to his hearers. They killed those who foretold 
the coming of the just one of whom you now have become the 
betrayers and murderers. You see, he's turned the tables, 
hasn't he? In fact, brethren, when we see 
Jesus standing at the right hand of God in the next section, I 
think the emphasis is upon the fact that there is a trial, but 
it's not Stephen who's in the dock. There is a trial, but it's 
not Stephen who's defending. It's them. They're guilty. They are wretched. They are lawless. They have no regard whatsoever 
for the law of Moses or the very temple of God. That's Stephen's 
point. Now, let's look secondly at that 
part of his defense in terms of the temple of God. The first 
thing that Stephen does is shows that God's presence is not confined 
to an earthly temple. See, what happened in Israel 
was this. God said, build this temple. 
David wanted to, but David wasn't allowed to. David was a man of 
war. He had blood on his hands. That's 
not to be interpreted as if David was a bad man. He had blood on 
his hands because God the Lord commanded him to. God the Lord 
said, David, you're the man that's going to institute the boundaries 
in Israel. You're the man that's going to 
extend this empire. You're the man that is going 
to defeat the enemies surrounding Israel. So that was his task. He was a man of war. But after 
David's reign, there was a season of peace. So his son called Solomon, 
which means peace, was the house builder or the temple builder 
for God. Again, when they built that temple, and that's what's 
intriguing, Solomon himself recognized that the temple couldn't contain 
the very God of heaven, but when they built that, initially it 
was good. God manifested His glory. God 
showed His approbation of this particular place. It wasn't that 
it contained God, but it represented the presence of God, and God 
showed that by what was called the Shekinah glory. Nevertheless, 
what happened? The people turned the temple 
into an idol. It's an amazing thing with us 
as creatures. God can give us good things, good things lawfully 
good, and we'll still make idols of them. It's an amazing thing, 
isn't it? Money, it's not a bad thing. 
The people say, well, the love of money is the root of all evil. 
It's the love of money, not money. Money doesn't hop into a car. 
Money doesn't go out and engage in drive-by shootings. Money 
doesn't abort babies. Money doesn't commit euthanasia. 
Money is neutral. It's what the sinner with it 
does. Does that make sense? So you 
see, we take something good, marriage, relationships, children, 
parents, Good things, and we make idols of them. Well, this 
is what happened in Israel's history. They concluded that 
insofar as the temple stood, God's pleased with us. Now, let's 
see how Stephen addresses this issue. In the first place, he 
indicates that the temple, or rather the God of heaven and 
earth, is not confined in temples. The first reference is found 
in verse two. Notice, and he said, brethren 
and fathers, listen, the God of glory, He's not a blasphemer. He speaks of God as the God of 
glory. But notice what he says in verse 
two. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he 
was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran. You see, if the 
Jews' argument was the temple is the location of God or the 
temple is the dwelling place of God, you have to consider 
with this fact that our father Abraham saw God in Mesopotamia. I mean, not even temple. Now 
I realize it wasn't built yet, but that's his point. God doesn't 
need a temple to appear to his people. God doesn't need a box 
to reveal himself. The temple was there for a time. 
It functioned in a particular capacity. And once again, the 
Sanhedrin and unbelieving Israel missed the point completely. 
But God appears not just apart from temple, but even in Mesopotamia, 
in foreign soil. He's not even in Judah in this 
particular instance. Notice the promise of God's meeting 
with Israel in Sinai. Verse 7, "'The nation to whom 
they will be in bondage I will judge,' said God, "'and after 
that they shall come out and serve me.'" Where? In this place, 
Sinai. Again, not Judah. Jerusalem. Not temple, but God is able to 
meet with his people in the wilderness. Notice the presence of God with 
Moses in the flames of the burning bush in the wilderness of Sinai. 
Notice in verse 30. Verse 30, and when 40 years had 
passed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of 
fire and a bush in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. When Moses saw 
it, he marveled at the sight, and as he drew near to observe, 
the voice of the Lord came to him saying, I am the God of your 
fathers. the God of Abraham, the God of 
Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses trembled and dare not 
look. Then the Lord said to him, take your sandals off your feet 
for the place where you stand is holy ground. I have surely 
seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard 
their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now 
come, I will send you to Egypt. You see this, what he's doing? 
God doesn't need an earthly temple. He doesn't need the temple made 
with hands. He's not dependent upon that. 
You become like Baalists. You become like Dagonists. You 
become like those who have this temple, and you believe that 
God resides there. And therefore, you have made 
that very temple an idol. You've missed the point. God 
is the God of glory, power, majesty, and he does reveal himself in 
the temple, but he is not restricted to the revelation of himself 
in the temple. Notice the tabernacle of witness 
in the wilderness. Verse 44, our fathers had the 
tabernacle of witness in the wilderness as he appointed, instructing 
Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen. 
Now, for those who don't read the Old Testament, you know what 
I'm gonna say next, right? You should read the Old Testament. But for those who don't, or perhaps 
you missed this spot, the tabernacle is simply a place that means 
dwelling. And the tabernacle was given 
by God to Israel before they were established in the promised 
land. It was a portable tent, and within that tent, there was 
a room called the Holy Place, and then another room called 
the Holy of Holies. That's where Israel went through 
the sacrificial rituals. That's where they would bring 
the animals, they'd cut the animals' throats, they'd give the animals 
to the priests, the priest would then divvy up the animals, he'd 
burn some of it, there would be all these rules for sacrifice. Well, the tabernacle was a portable 
sort of a thing. Now, once they get stationed 
in the land, as I've said, David wanted to build a house for God. 
He didn't like the fact that he was living in a palace, David 
was, and God was still living in a tent. In 2 Samuel 7, David 
says this very thing, I want to build a house for God. And 
that's when God says, no, I'm going to build a house for you, 
a dynasty, a dynasty of kings. And there's going to be one son 
that comes from you that's going to have eternal reign, an eternal 
kingdom. That refers to Jesus Christ. 
But under Solomon in the promised land, in the city of Jerusalem, 
they build the temple. This is a permanent structure. 
And again, the concept or the idea is that God dwells or meets 
with his people there. That's the place where they sacrifice. 
That's the place where they worship. That's the place where they praised. 
So that's what Stephen is referring to when he speaks about this 
tabernacle in the wilderness. In other words, while Israel's 
in the wilderness, God meets with them. It's a beautiful and 
a wonderful thing. It doesn't have to be the temple, 
the stabilized temple in Jerusalem. Notice, as well, this reference 
to the tabernacle brought into the promised land in verse 45, 
which our fathers having received it in turn also brought with 
Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove 
out before the face of our fathers until the days of David. And 
here's David's request, verse 46, who found favor before God 
and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. And then 
we see the construction of the temple under Solomon in verse 
47. So you see, while Stephen is 
giving a history of Israel, there's a point, there's a method There's 
a reality, there's an emphasis. Again, his argument is not, I 
have a problem with the temple of God. His argument is, you 
have a problem with the temple of God. Because the very purpose 
for which there was a temple has come. And that purpose you 
betrayed and you murdered. In other words, the temple should 
have never become an idol because the temple was simply a signpost 
pointing forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. And now that the 
Lord Jesus Christ has come to continue to be attached to this 
temple has become idolatry for you. It has become an abomination 
for you. That which God gave you for good, 
you have twisted it and perverted it and misused it and abused 
it. That's Stephen's point. Notice 
the limitation of temples with hands. Verse 48, however, the 
Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet 
says. Again, this shouldn't have been 
new information for the council. They shouldn't have said, wow, 
we never knew what Isaiah 66 1 and 2 meant. But that's precisely 
what Stephen says to them now. Notice his quote from Isaiah 
in verse 49. Heaven is my throne and earth 
is my footstool. What house will you build for 
me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Has my 
hand not made all these things? Again, Solomon himself, at the 
dedication of the temple, which God willing we'll look at tonight, 
he says, but will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven 
and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you. How much less this 
temple which I have built. So what's Stephen saying? Your 
attachment to the temple and your rejection of Jesus Christ 
has put you in concert with the same persons that rejected Moses, 
the same persons that killed the prophets. Your problem with 
Jesus reflects your problem with the temple and your problem with 
Moses. Thompson, again, in his most 
helpful book, it's a biblical theology of the book of Acts. 
It's called the Acts of the Risen Lord Jesus. He says one of the 
points Stephen makes in his response to the charge that he is against 
the temple is that God's presence has never been limited to the 
temple or even to the land of Israel. Stephen gives a kind 
of theological geography lesson from Israel's history to his 
audience. And G.K. Beal mentions this. He says, 
the reference to Isaiah indicates that Stephen did not believe 
that Solomon's building of the temple was a sufficient fulfillment 
of the divine promise that a son of David would build God a temple. 
Now, if that was very confusing, here's what Beal said. In 2 Samuel 
7, God promised that a son of David would build a house for 
God. The fact that Isaiah writes what Isaiah writes indicates 
that the people of God at Isaiah's time knew that the promised son 
of 2 Samuel 7 was not Solomon. It wasn't him. Solomon himself 
recognized that when he confessed that this house, this temple 
cannot contain the God of heaven and earth. So in other words, 
if David understood that, if Solomon understood this, if Isaiah 
understood this, How come the council, the religious leaders, 
the religious elite in Israel's history at this particular time 
missed the point? Stephen is showing affinity with 
David and Solomon and Isaiah. And Stephen is showing that it's 
the council that has a problem with David and Solomon and Isaiah. It's not Stephen that's missed 
the mark in his reception of Jesus Christ. It's them who have 
missed the mark in their rejection of Jesus Christ. That makes them 
haters of Moses and haters of the temple of God. It really 
is an ingenious argument that Stephen weaves together. But 
let's just see a little bit more in terms of this temple theme. 
Notice the idolatry of Israel at the time of Moses. Verse 38. 
Notice in verse 38, this is he who was in the church, literally, 
in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai. 
And with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles 
to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. 
And in their hearts, they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, 
make us gods to go before us. As for this Moses who brought 
us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become 
of him. And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices 
to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 
Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, 
as it is written in the book of the prophets. Did you offer 
me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during 40 years in the wilderness, 
O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle 
of Moloch and the star of your God, Ramphan, images which you 
made to worship, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon." Now, 
for those of you who weren't here two weeks ago with reference 
to the sermon on abortion, Molech was Planned Parenthood back in 
those days. Molech was the god who had arms 
outstretched, standing in the fiery flames, who the worshipers 
would throw their children into its arms, and of course, they'd 
bounce out into the fire and be consumed. You say, well, you 
can't say that. That's a horrific image, and 
that's a bad thing. Well, that's exactly what it was. You see 
what Israel had become in those days? They had become idolaters. 
Rejecting Moses, they turned to the gods of the heathen around 
them. What's Stephen's point? Rejecting 
Jesus, the one that Moses wrote of, has reduced you to idolatry. In other words, this attachment 
to the temple, this craven desire for the temple, This external, 
formalistic, rote approach to who you say is your God has actually 
become an exercise in idolatry. Again, one fellow makes this 
observation, I think, very well. He says, as Moses was rejected 
and the people's worship became blasphemous thereby, so with 
Christ rejected, the temple worship becomes a blasphemy. So you have 
to understand that if you're gonna ever understand the book 
of Hebrews. What's happening in Hebrews? 
Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians prior to the destruction 
of the temple in AD 70. Those Jewish Christians are being 
tempted to turn back from Jesus Christ to go to the temple. Well, 
what's the author in the book of Hebrews saying? He's not saying 
tabernacle bad, temple bad. He said those things were types 
and shadows until the time of Reformation came. Now that Jesus 
is here, to go to the temple is to go backward in redemptive 
history. The illustration I always use 
when I'm with my grandkids. I don't want to look at pictures 
on an iPhone. I've got the kid! I can hold 
them, I can squeeze them, I can smell them, I can kiss them, 
I can do all of that. I'll look at the iPhone picture 
when I'm sitting here on Thursday morning. This is what the book 
of Hebrews is saying. You have Christ. You have the 
substance. You have everything in Him. Why 
would you go back to the picture? Why would you abandon the very 
substance for the types in the shadows? There's a lot of consistency 
between Paul, who I think wrote Hebrews, and Stephen in terms 
of his redemptive history in Acts chapter 7. The ones who 
had a problem with the temple in first century Israel were 
not the apostles. because they understood that 
the temple functioned for a time, and that the temple was fully 
realized and fulfilled in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
It really is beautiful. But let's just follow his argument 
one step further, and then we'll close. I know this might have 
been a bit of a different sermon for most of you, but I think 
to get this sort of overview will help us to make heads or 
tails of the parts as we move our way through it. And you might 
say, well, doesn't this overview just do Acts 7? No, no, no, no, 
no. You're not getting off the hook 
that easy. If we got time to actually look at the Old Testament 
through the lens of Acts 7, we're going to look at the Old Testament 
through the lens of Acts 7. But notice now how Stephen ups 
the ante. He increases the pressure. There's 
no mistaking what he's doing in this part of his sermon. Notice 
specifically in verse 55. Well, verse 54, it says, when 
they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and they 
gnashed at him with their teeth. It says the same thing in Acts 
2 on the day of Pentecost. They were cut to the heart. They 
didn't gnash at Peter with their teeth. They said, men and brethren, 
what must we do? And there they are directed to 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, be baptized in His name for the 
remission of sins. That's not the case here. They're 
caught to the heart, but now they're gnashing their teeth 
at Stephen. They are taking unto themselves the authority to execute 
a criminal that they don't possess. This is probably just a couple 
of years after the crucifixion of Jesus. We're not talking about 
a generation later. The book of Acts, we might be 
around AD 36 right now, where Stephen is actually martyred. 
So three years prior, they, well, even probably less than that, 
Prior, they didn't have the lawful authority in the Roman Empire 
to execute Jesus. That's why they had to use Pilate. That's why Pilate had to be applied 
to, and why they had to present their case before Pilate, because 
they didn't possess the lawful authority. That doesn't even 
concern them now. They understand Stephen's sermon 
even up to this point, but he's only going to make it that much 
worse for them in his dying words. But at this point, they are so 
angry, they are so frustrated, they gnash at him with their 
teeth, they drive him outside of the city, and they execute 
him with stones. Again, here's the lawful execution, 
a lawful punishment for blasphemy. But that is not what happened 
in the case of Stephen. They're the blasphemers. But 
now notice what Stephen does. Verse 55, he being full of the 
Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and 
Jesus standing at the right hand of God. In other words, Stephen 
looked up and saw the temple. Stephen looked up and saw the 
temple. He's filled with the Spirit. He sees the glory of 
God and Jesus standing at his right hand. Wasn't that one of 
the reasons for temple and tabernacle was the revelation of the glory 
of God? Exodus chapter 40, that glory 
cloud descends upon the tabernacle such that nobody could even enter 
in until the sacrificial system is given in Leviticus 1 to 9. 
That glory of God descends. It's referred to as the Shekinah 
glory, not in Scripture. It's a loan word. It applies 
1 Kings 8. The glory of God comes down upon 
the temple. Stephen now, filled with the 
Spirit, sees the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right 
hand. Jesus standing there is another 
affront to these religious leaders. Again, Thompson makes the observation. In pointing to Jesus, therefore, 
Stephen points away from the temple, not just because God 
is bigger than the temple, but because in the kingdom of God, 
which Jesus inaugurated, Jesus is the one who fulfills the goals 
of the temple. Got to keep that in mind. In 
fact, when we get to the New Jerusalem, what do we learn in 
Revelation 21, 22? This is a beautiful thing that 
is consistent with what we see here. John says, I saw no temple 
in it, the New Jerusalem, for the Lord God Almighty and the 
Lamb are its temple. See why the dispensational desire 
for a rebuilt temple is going backwards in redemptive history? 
It has more affinity with the Sanhedrin than it does with the 
Christian church. I'm not saying they're God-hating 
rebels that are going to hell, but I am saying they have misunderstood 
the purpose of temple. Temple points us to, temple directs 
us to, temple shows us Jesus. Now that Jesus is here, we don't 
go back to temple. We have churches that people 
come to, and we worship God the Father through the Son by the 
power of the Holy Spirit. Doesn't Jesus teach the Samaritan 
woman the very same thing in John chapter 4? After he says, 
go and call your husband, she says, I don't have a husband. 
He says, you're right. You don't have a husband. You've had several, 
and the one that you have is not your husband. She says, let's 
talk about worship. Jesus says, OK, let's talk about 
worship. Our fathers say we're supposed to worship here, and 
you Jews say you're supposed to worship in Jerusalem. What's 
the truth? He says the time is coming when 
the worshipers of God will worship in spirit and truth. It won't 
be connected to the temple in Jerusalem. It'll be wherever 
the blood-bought people of God are gathered together, approaching 
the Father through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
See, what we find in this particular passage of Acts 7 is Stephen's 
response completely consistent with everything that's gone before 
it. Now he steps it up even more so. What does Stephen do with 
reference to Jesus? He prays to Him. Again, I don't 
think we're thinking the way the Sanhedrin would, so I'm going 
to try to tell you you should. What's the temple? The temple 
is the place of sacrifice, but it's also a house of prayer for 
all the nations. That Stephen is calling upon 
Jesus shows that the locus has changed. It's not the temple 
where one goes to pray, but it's to Jesus Christ that one goes 
to pray. And then notice as well what 
Stephen does, sounding very similar to his master, when he says to 
Christ, do not charge them with this sin. Again, if you thought 
temple, you would think forgiveness of sins. That was the place where 
Israel would go. They'd take the animal out of 
their flock, they'd cut its throat, they'd present it to the priest, 
and there would be a pronouncement of the forgiveness of sins. That 
great day of atonement that happens once a year, according to Leviticus 
chapter 16, the high priest takes his hands, he puts them on the 
head of the scapegoat, and he confesses the sins of Israel, 
and then he drives that goat out into the wilderness. That 
was a beautiful illustration of what we sing today. My sin, 
oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, 
but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. 
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. And yet now, Stephen is bypassing 
the earthly temple and going right to Christ, who is the fulfillment 
of temple, and asking him to extend the forgiveness of sins 
to these very wretches that are about to put him to death. That's 
Stephen's defense. He deals with the charge that 
he's anti-Moses. He deals with the charge that 
he's anti-Temple. Well, in conclusion, we have 
to appreciate the gravity of the charges and the shrewdness 
of the Sanhedrin. Now, I suggested earlier that 
they misinterpreted the Old Testament, but they certainly haven't misinterpreted 
politics. They certainly haven't misinterpreted 
power politics and power religion. If we can create the understanding 
that Stephen, and therefore Christianity, is anti-Moses and anti-temple, 
well, it'll be very easy to dispatch Christianity. You see that, right? They weren't fools. They weren't 
dummies when it came to try to consolidate their power. They 
understand what's happening. Again, not in terms of theological 
reflection upon the text of Scripture and the promises of God in the 
Old Testament, but they saw that Jesus was a threat to their leadership 
during his earthly ministry. They are rightly concluding and 
perceiving that the apostles are a threat to their leadership 
through their ministry of preaching and teaching. And now here's 
this Stephen. He's not even one of the apostles. 
He's one of the brothers that the church selected to serve 
meals to the Hellenistic widows. This man has just bested us in 
theological argument. So we have to show society just 
what a menace he and his ilk are. We have to show that they're 
blasphemers. We have to show they're renegades. 
We have to show they're rebels. And therefore, that's why they 
do what they do. Brethren, there's nothing new 
under the sun. I mean, we read this morning that a Buddhist, 
again, I don't know, I must've missed the memo. I always thought 
Buddhists were a peace-loving people. You know, the biggest 
thing a Buddhist would do is bang his tambourine and wear 
his orange robe. I mean, in terms of a political 
threat or even a religious threat, no, there's just not, in my radar, 
of people to be afraid of. They turn in a Christian woman 
in a city in India because she had a prayer meeting in her home. 
What kind of a threat is that? And where was it? One of the 
states or one of the nations that we read was at Sri Lanka, 
where they violated the Chinese version of feng shui. Some believers 
built a church, and it didn't fit the environment. So they 
get rid of the church. I mean, a little bit of a cold 
morning here, brethren. Is it really suffering for Jesus 
when you read some of these things with reference to Voice of the 
Martyrs? I mean, the Philippines, a bomb blast. 20 people dead. This is normal routine. And you 
ask the question, why are nice guys like Christians put to death? 
Because they preach another king, even Jesus. And men, opposed 
to Jesus, despise him. They loathe him. They hate him. And because they can't get at 
him, they kill his people. Why is Stephen? I mean, the fact 
that he was even arrested. He's in the synagogue of the 
free men, and he bests them with his argumentation. What about, 
didn't your mother teach you to not be a sore loser? You lost 
the argument. Don't go secretly induce or instigate 
men to drum up charges. Don't arrest him and bring him 
to the council with these false charges. Don't be a sore loser. That's just not how the opponents 
of Christ operate. Again, we don't see it perhaps 
as they do in other countries, but we may be seeing it increasingly 
more as the days progress. Christianity is an affront to 
carnal man. And they don't just say, well, 
it's okay, you worship God and do your thing, and we'll just 
leave you out. They don't. They harass, they destroy, they 
imprison, they torture. They do a whole host of horrible 
things. Like Stephen. I mean, he best them in a theological 
argument. You'd like to think that doesn't mean getting drummed 
out of the city and stoned to death with stones. But that's 
what it meant for Stephen. As well, we need to understand 
the consistency of Stephen. He understood the biblical theology 
of the temple. It's amazing, the commentators 
say, well, he's defending a form of Hellenistic Christianity versus 
a Hebraic Christianity, and so his anti-temple sentiment. He's 
not anti-temple! Any more than Jesus was anti-temple. Any more than the prophet Jeremiah 
was anti-temple. Or the prophet Micah was anti-temple. All of whom spoke about the destruction 
of the temple. It's not anti-temple-ism, but 
rather it is this anti-God-ism that is reflected in their attachment 
to the temple. It's not Stephen that's got the 
problem, it's them. He's consistent with the prophets, 
or the prophetic testimony of Moses, consistent with the Old 
Testament prophets. Again, Micah and Jeremiah prophesied 
concerning the destruction of the first temple. He was consistent 
with the Lord Jesus. He prophesied concerning the 
destruction of the second temple. And he's consistent with the 
apostles. Peter shows that Israel's redemptive history ultimately 
and inevitably leads to Jesus. As well, in terms of the book 
of Acts, this is brilliant placement. Again, Luke doesn't need me to 
tell him he's a brilliant writer, but think about the book. What's 
the purpose of the book of Acts? I think it's specified clearly 
in Acts 1.8. Jesus says, you'll be witnesses to me, first in 
Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts 
of the earth. Up until this point, what's happened? The church has 
been confined to Jerusalem. After Stephen is stoned, what 
happens? This persecution is used by God 
to scatter the people of God out of Jerusalem into Samaria. That's the next chapter, Acts 
chapter 8. They go to Samaria, they preach the gospel there. 
And then with the conversion of Salatarsus, the very man that 
guards the garments of those who are stoning Stephen, he is 
converted. And then in Acts 13, the latter 
part of Acts 1.8 is fulfilled. You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, 
then Judea, Samaria, and then what? To the uttermost parts 
of the earth. Where does the book of Acts end? 
It ends in Rome. See, Jesus accomplishes his purpose. Jesus accomplishes his task. And we might not like the way 
he does it sometimes, or at least at some level, we might struggle 
with it. I mean, this is a horrible thing. 
And as an innocent man, Stephen, judicially innocent, is stoned 
to death. A man who knew the Bible better than they knew it, 
nevertheless, he's taken outside the city and he's stoned to death. 
But what happens? The Lord Christ uses even that 
crooked thing to bring to pass something straight. That's our 
God. This persecution is the means 
by which the people of God leave Jerusalem and they start going 
into other areas to fulfill the Great Commission. It's a pivotal 
place in the book of Acts. Stephen probably should get a 
whole lot more credit than we ever give to him because he was 
an awesome, wonderful individual. And finally, and we ought not 
to avoid or escape this, the wickedness of man is certainly 
highlighted in Acts 7. I mean, to reject Moses, you've 
got big problems, right? Think about those Old Testament 
people. Think about it. God gives them the law. Moses 
is still up there with God on the mount, and they're down on 
the ground with Aaron, and they say, you know, we don't have 
any patience. We don't want to wait. We want you to make us a god. 
And then you've got Aaron. What's Aaron say later on? Well, 
the people prevailed upon me, and I took the gold, and I threw 
it in, and out came this calf. Really? Out came this calf? There 
was no shaping? There was no tool? There was 
no making? There was no manufacture? Out came this calf? Are you kidding 
me? Throw all the gold into any fire 
you ever want. It's not going to just pop out 
as a calf. This just doesn't happen. So you see their incorrigibility. They want a God, they want a 
calf, they want to worship. You trace through Israel's history, 
that's what you find. They're always craving something. 
They don't want God, they want creature. They don't want the 
Creator, they want stuff. They get affixed to, and ingrained 
with, and attached to the various idols of the nations and the 
peoples around them. And then we come to the New Testament 
era. Jesus comes to his own, and his own receive him not. 
Jesus was a man who went about doing good. Jesus healed people. Jesus fed people. Jesus raised 
people from the dead. And what did they do to Jesus? 
They crucified him. You see, the sinfulness of man 
is clearly revealed in Acts chapter 7. And Stephen puts his finger 
on it. Stephen shows that. Now, as they 
respond, that cutting to the heart is a good thing. Perhaps 
in your own life, you've been cut to the heart. Understand 
there are two different ways of proceeding after you've been 
cut to the heart. In other words, a pastor says, or a preacher 
says, or your neighbor says, or your friend says, or your 
wife says, or your husband says, or your parents say, look, this 
is what God's law says, and you have violated it every step of 
the way. You don't just make a surface 
violation, but you actually go out of your way to outdo the 
sinners before you. It's kind of like that bit about 
Ahab in 1 Kings 16. As if it was too small a thing 
to follow in the footsteps of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he 
actually builds an altar to Baal right there in Samaria. So someone 
might have done that. Some faithful person in your 
life might have said to you, you're wicked. You're wretched. 
You're lawless. You're vile. You need grace. You need help. You need salvation. 
There's that cut to the heart. I always pray that happens. I 
shouldn't say always. I'm a fallible man. Hopefully, 
a lot of the time, I pray that people get convicted by the power 
of the Holy Spirit, and that when they go home, they think 
through the things that they have heard. And if sins were 
pointed out, sins were identified, I hope you get cut to the heart. 
But don't get cut to the heart like these people, who then gnash 
at the preacher with the teeth, or who then gnash at the parents 
with the teeth, or who then gnash at their spouses with the teeth. 
Isn't that our sort of default response? That happens, doesn't 
it? Somebody comes to you in faithfulness and says, you've 
done such and such. Well, what about you? OK, we'll talk about 
me later. But right now, let's talk about 
you. We're just so defensive, and we're so proud, and we're 
so arrogant. It's pathetic when you stop and 
think about it. And it's so obvious when it's 
the US government or it's Justin Trudeau. But we don't see it 
when it's us, right? But that's the way we are. We 
get cut to the heart. And instead of taking the message 
and saying the way they did in Acts 2 and the Day of Pentecost, 
what shall we do? We get upset, we get whiny, we 
get complaining, and we grumble, and we don't want to be around 
that person anymore, because they don't tell us the sorts 
of things we want to hear, just like Ahab, that wretched man 
that despised the true prophet of God. If you're cut to the 
heart because of your sin, listen to the language of Jesus in John 
7. If any man thirsts, let him come to me, and I will give him 
drink. If any man is weary and heavy 
laden, come to me and I will give you rest. I hope and pray 
that you're caught to the heart, and I hope and pray that you 
run to Jesus, not run against the preacher, not run against 
the one who tells you the truth, not run against the person that 
actually says you're a wretch and you stand in need of Jesus. 
How about running to the Jesus you stand in need of? That's 
the hope, that's the prayer, that's the desire. Well, let 
us close in a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for your 
word, we thank you for Stephen's defense here, and we do pray 
that you'd help us to appreciate his argument, help us to appreciate 
the entirety of the Old Testament and how it leads inevitably to 
the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul says, 
he is the end of the law, the purpose of the law, the telos 
of the law for all those who believe. And we rejoice in that, 
and we praise you for that. And we look forward to that day 
we enter into the new Jerusalem where there's no temple, because 
God and the Lamb are the temple. And we ask that you would be 
with us now, grant us safety as we travel now, and grant us 
grace to sanctify the day and to glorify you. And we pray through 
Jesus Christ the Lord, amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation and then be dismissed.