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Well, you could turn with me 
in your Bibles to Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7, as we conclude 
Stephen's speech before the Sanhedrin. Our passage is verses 51 to 53. He basically brings his sermon 
to an end, his defense against the false charges to an end, 
and he does so in a manner where he is calling them ultimately 
to faith and repentance. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 
and repentance unto life. But I'll begin reading in Acts 
7 at verse 51. We'll read to chapter 8, verse 
1. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always 
resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 
Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they 
killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom 
you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received 
the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it. When they 
heard these things, they were caught to the heart, and they 
gnashed at Him with their teeth. But 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, and said, Look, I see the 
heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of 
God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, 
and ran at him with one accord. And they cast him out of the 
city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their 
clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned 
Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive 
my spirit. Then he knelt down and cried 
out with a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with this 
sin. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Now Saul was 
consenting to his death. At that time, a great persecution 
arose against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were 
all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, 
except the apostles. Amen. Let us pray. Father in 
heaven, we thank you for this sermon that Stephen preaches 
to the council. We pray, Father, that you would 
help us to understand what he's doing in this section as he brings 
it to a close, as he applies what he has said. And Lord God, 
we pray that it would not be the case that any here would 
resist the Holy Spirit. We ask Lord God that he would 
have free reign over our hearts and in our minds, and that you 
would send him in a powerful manner. And again, forgive us 
for all of our sins and our transgressions. Cleanse us afresh in the blood 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his name that we 
pray. Amen. Well, we have seen in chapter six that Stephen was 
charged falsely with being anti-temple and anti-Moses, the law and the 
temple of God. We've seen his defense as he 
traces basically a redemptive history through Israel. He cites 
their own scriptures to prove that he is not the one that is 
blaspheming against the law of Moses or the temple of God. He 
is turning the tables now and functioning as a prosecuting 
attorney. He now brings a particular charge 
to bear against them, and ultimately Christ is presiding over this 
particular situation. So I want to look first at the 
charge against the council in verses 51 and 52a, and then secondly, 
the evidence provided in support of the charge. So Stephen makes 
a particular charge, and I'll tell you what that is in a few 
moments, and then he provides the corroborating evidence. He 
doesn't say, you're guilty of this, but then affords them no 
evidence. To the contrary, he gives them 
the evidence, he shows them that they're wrong, and obviously 
they do not receive it, and they murder him. He's the Christ martyr. But let's look first at the charge 
against the council. Notice in verse 51, he describes 
their characteristics. And I think it's very important 
for us, maybe especially for you children, to understand that 
Stephen is not engaged in name-calling here. When he says, you stiff-necked 
and uncircumcised of heart and ears, you always resist the Holy 
Spirit. He's not just calling them names. 
Each of the characteristics that Stephen brings across to these 
people has their foundation in the Old Testament. In other words, 
it's not the case that Stephen has stopped in his presentation 
of the Old Testament, put it down, and now come to call them 
names. No, each of these terms reflects 
something going on in Old Covenant history, and I think that Stephen 
wants to get his point across again with their scripture, to 
show their solidarity with those before them that had rejected 
the law of Moses and that had rejected the very temple of God. 
Notice, in the first place, he says, they were stiff-necked. He says, you stiff-necked. Let's 
go back to Exodus chapter 32. Exodus chapter 32. I said that 
each of these terms has its taproots in the Old Testament. I want 
you to see that so that you can appreciate that he's not simply 
calling them names, but he is telling them something in terms 
of their guilt before God Almighty. Notice in Exodus 32 at verse 
9. This is the golden calf incident. 
God tells Moses, verse 8, they have turned aside quickly out 
of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves 
a molded calf and worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, 
this is your God, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of 
Egypt. And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people. And 
indeed, it is a stiff neck people. And I think that word is very 
appropriate, not only because it means ultimately stubborn, 
you have a small animal and it's stubborn, so it's stiff neck, 
and you need to put a yoke on its neck so that you can guide 
it and direct it where you want it to go. But this is something 
that comes up later in the Psalter. We're told in Psalm 115 verse 
8, those who make idols or those who worship idols become like 
them. And I think that Israel has taken 
on the characteristic of the very calves that they worship. 
Just like those calves are stubborn, just like those calves are stiff-necked, 
so Israel has become stiff-necked. They are stubborn before a holy 
God. Stephen is saying that the council, 
the Sanhedrin, the highest political and religious court in Israel 
at the time, bears the same characteristics as those people who were dancing 
around the calf in Exodus chapter 32. Notice in Exodus 33 at verse 
5. Exodus 33, we'll go verse four. And when the people heard this 
bad news, they mourned and no one put on his ornaments. For 
the Lord had said to Moses, say to the children of Israel, you 
are a stiff necked people. I could come up into your midst 
in one moment and consume you. Now, therefore, take off your 
ornaments that I may know what to do to you. Stiff neck, you 
see, in connection with idolatry. Turn over to Exodus chapter 34 
at verse nine. Verse 8, we read, So Moses made haste and bowed 
his head toward the earth and worshiped. Then he said, If now 
I have found grace in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, 
go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people, and pardon 
our iniquity and our sin, and take us as your inheritance. Now, this may be the first time 
you've seen the connection between Acts 7.51 and these particular 
passages in the book of Exodus. But the Sanhedrin knew what he 
was saying. They understood all too well 
what he was declaring against them. They weren't like, wow, 
that's kind of an interesting choice of terminology. That's 
what he used with reference. So that's what God used with 
reference to the fathers in the old covenant. Stephen is doing 
this with a specific purpose to illustrate that they are guilty 
of the crime of idolatry. That's the charge that Stephen 
is leveling at these particular people, that they are idolaters. Notice in the book of Deuteronomy, 
you can go to Deuteronomy chapter 9. Deuteronomy chapter 9. Again, 
this Sermon of Stephen in Acts 7 is a great window by which 
you can learn the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 9, verse 6, God is 
essentially telling them why they are where they're at, and 
that it's not because of their goodness, it's not because of 
their numbers, it's not because of their might, but rather it's 
because of the goodness of God. Notice in 9.6, Therefore understand 
that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to 
possess, because you are righteous, for you are a stiff-necked people. 
Talking about grace, the land gift given to Israel wasn't because 
of their righteousness, but rather it was because of God's graciousness. 
Notice again in Deuteronomy 9.13. Furthermore, the Lord spoke to 
me, saying, I have seen this people, and indeed they are a 
stiff-necked people. And then over in verse 27. Stiff 
neck is not used, but that concept of stubbornness is highlighted. 
Verse 27, "'Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do 
not look on the stubbornness of this people or on their wickedness 
or their sin.'" So he says to them that they were stiffened. 
And this, in the minds of the council, would have taken them 
back to these indictments by Yahweh through Moses. Stephen 
is telling them that they are guilty of the sin, the crime 
of idolatry. Notice the second term that Stephen 
uses. He calls them uncircumcised in 
heart and ears. Again, you may not have seen 
or appreciated the connection between Acts 7.51 and what precedes 
it in the Old Testament, but the council did. To call a Jewish 
man uncircumcised in heart and ears? If Stephen is not accurate, 
he is highly insulting these particular men at this particular 
time. But Stephen is accurate, and 
Stephen is going to display, and Stephen has already declared 
to them how it's not him that's anti-Moses and anti-law or anti-temple, 
but rather it is them. They were uncircumcised in heart 
and ears. Go to Leviticus chapter 26. Leviticus 
chapter 26, just to see the usage of this concept of being uncircumcised. Remember that circumcision was 
the badge of identity among the Commonwealth of Israel. It's 
commanded by God in Genesis chapter 17 that Abraham would circumcise 
all those descending from him, even household servants. And 
in Leviticus chapter 26, notice in verse 41, God says in verse 
40, "...but if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of 
their fathers with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful 
to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that 
I also have walked contrary to them, and have brought them into 
the land of their enemies." If their uncircumcised hearts are 
humbled and they accept their guilt, then I will remember my 
covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with 
Abraham. I will remember. I will remember 
the land. So circumcision was a physical 
right done on the boys in Israel at the day of the eighth day. But it had a symbolic reference. And that physical circumcision 
was supposed to point to a spiritual circumcision. And yet Israel, 
more often than not, lived as uncircumcised people. You see 
that again in the book of Deuteronomy. You see it in the prophet Jeremiah, 
where they are upbraided for having rejected the God of Israel 
and thus branding themselves as uncircumcised. Again, in Stephen's 
defense, listen to what he's doing. You're stiff-necked like 
those idolaters who were dancing around the calf. You are uncircumcised 
of heart and ears like the heathen around Israel. that didn't worship 
the true and living God, but rather had a whole pantheon of 
gods. Uncircumcised is a way to describe 
heathens in the Old Testament. You know that. When David speaks 
about a Goliath, he calls him this uncircumcised Philistine. When Samson asks for a wife from 
the Philistines, his father says, why would you want a wife from 
these uncircumcised Philistines? Uncircumcision was a bad thing 
as far as Israel is concerned. In the language of J.A. Alexander, 
he says, whatever circumcision may have symbolized or naturally 
represented of a moral nature, it was chiefly regarded by the 
Jews as a distinctive sign of their relation to Jehovah as 
his people and entire segregation from all other races. The thought 
most readily suggested by the epithet uncircumcised is not 
that of personal uncleanness, whether physical or moral. but 
that of national and ecclesiastical exclusion from the favor of Jehovah 
and the privileges of his people, its nearest equivalent, as here 
applied, is heathen-ish. Again, Stephen doesn't have to 
tell them, you are all hereby guilty of the sin of idolatry. 
By the use of his language, they know where he's going. And by 
the use of his language, they understand what he is saying. 
And by the use of his language, in their rejection thereof, they 
end up murdering him rather than believing the gospel and repenting 
of their sins. And then he highlights that they 
always resist the Holy Spirit. Go back to Acts chapter 7. So 
their characteristics use stiff neck and uncircumcised and heart 
and ears. He says, you always resist the 
Holy Spirit. Now this is not a text to confirm 
Arminianism. This is not a text that confirms 
the idea that the Holy Spirit can be resisted at the level 
of personal conversion. That's not Stephen's point. He 
is not suggesting that Arminianism is right and that a person can 
resist the Spirit when the Spirit goes to work on that person's 
heart. That's not what he means. He means in the external ministry 
of the Word. He means in the preaching of 
God's Holy Word, whether it comes through prophets, whether it 
comes through apostles, or it comes through Stephen. Remember 
in Acts 6, Stephen is described as a man full of the Holy Spirit. If Stephen is a man full of the 
Holy Spirit and Stephen is accurately speaking in Acts chapter 7, the 
only legitimate reply by these persons would be to humble themselves 
under the mighty hand of God and to realize that he would 
lift them up in due time. In other words, faith in Christ 
and repentance unto life. The resistance here is external. The resistance here is to the 
ministry of the word. The resistance here is the kind 
of resistance that probably goes on every Sunday in this church, 
every Sunday in every church where the gospel is preached. 
The external ministry of the word comes. Pastors, preachers, 
evangelists tell you you're a sinner, not so that they can feel good 
about themselves. If you think that any preacher 
likes to tell people that they're sinners so that they somehow 
get a rush from that, that's not it. Preachers function like 
doctors. They try to tell you what your 
problem is. They try to tell you what your illness is. They 
try to tell you what your malady is, so that they can produce 
for you the solution, the remedy, the gospel of our Lord and Savior 
Jesus Christ. But what happens where this goes 
on each and every Sunday? What happens where this goes 
on in faithful churches that proclaim the gospel? There are 
persons that are stiff-necked. There are persons that are stubborn. 
There are persons that say, I don't need Jesus. I don't want religion. I don't want my life altered. 
I don't want to have to change anything about the way that I 
do things. They're uncircumcised in heart and ears. They want 
no truck with the living and true God. They'd rather Baal. 
They'd rather Asherah. They'd rather Molech. They'd 
rather whatever God it is so that it's not the true and living 
God. And they are those who resist the Holy Spirit. The Word of 
God is preached. Preachers plead with sinners 
to be reconciled unto God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
And what happens? You resist it. You say, well, 
I don't want that, or I don't want to respond to that, or I 
don't want or need that. Or perhaps you say, well, I'll 
think about that when I'm older. I'll think about that when I 
have gray hair. I'll think about that when I'm getting toward 
the end of my life. That's resisting the Holy Spirit, 
and that's precisely what Stephen is saying to the Sanhedrin. He 
says, you men are stiff-necked, you men are uncircumcised in 
heart and ears, and you men always resist the Holy Spirit. Now, 
in terms of idolatry, think how this makes his case. In the first 
place, the identification of Israel as stiff-necked is connected 
to idolatry. You saw it there in Exodus 32, 
you see it there in Exodus 33, you see it there in Exodus 34. 
If you take that description in Psalm 115a, it brings it home 
even more so. They became like what they worshipped. They became like calves. They 
became like animals. Not in a bestial sense where 
they were engaged in moral perversion, but in a stubborn sense. How 
do you get that ox? How do you get that calf to go 
out into your field to do what it's supposed to do? You put 
a yoke on it. You beat it with a whip and you 
drive it to the place where it's supposed to go. Why? Because 
it's stubborn. It's stiff-necked. It doesn't 
respond to your call. It doesn't do what you tell it 
to do. Israel had become like that which they worshipped. This 
is why through the prophets, the prophets would upbraid the 
children of Israel for having eyes but not seeing, for having 
ears but not hearing, because they became like that which they 
worshipped. Psalm 115 tells us the idols 
have eyes, but they don't see. They have ears, but they don't 
hear. They have mouths, but they don't speak. They have noses, 
but they don't smell. But that's what happened with 
Israel. The more that they had issue 
or rather truck with these idols, they became like that which they 
worship. So Stephen's conclusion here 
is most excellent. You're stiff necked. You're like 
the idolaters dancing around that golden calf in Exodus 32. And if this charge surprises 
you, Butler, where'd you get this? He's already pointed it 
out. He's already highlighted the 
idolatry of the former generations. in verses 40 to 43. This was 
intrinsic to his argument. Verse 40, 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 
or house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle 
of Moloch. You know what that would be akin 
to saying? It would be akin to saying to 
a people that profess saving faith in Jesus Christ, you are 
worshiping at the altar of Planned Parenthood because Moloch was 
the death God for babies. Well, unfortunately, we've actually 
got to that point where so-called professing Christians are defending 
the right of choice to murder babies. I mean, people have always 
murdered babies, and it's despicable, and it's vile, and it's wretched. 
We know it's connected to the devil, who's a murderer and a 
liar from the beginning. But then we have people who profess 
the true religion, advocating for a woman's right to choose. 
What's happened to us? What has become of us and why 
is it this murderous rage targeting the most defenseless among us? 
It really is a sign of what Christ says in Proverbs chapter 8, all 
those who hate me love death. That's our society. All those 
who hate me love death. Christ says that, speaking his 
wisdom, in Proverbs chapter 8. That's how you make heads or 
tails out of the murderous rage against the little ones among 
us, but then these professing Christians, in the name of God's 
Word, defending the right of abortion. Shame on them. May 
God Almighty deal with that. Pray the Psalms of David over 
them, break their teeth, make their wives widows, cause their 
children to be orphans. Say, oh, you can't do that, Butler. 
That's precisely what David did with the murderous rabble in 
his own day. Maybe nothing's changed because we don't pray 
the imprecatory Psalms. Notice, he says, they are uncircumcised 
in heart and ears. What is that? Heathenism. Heathenism 
is idolatrous, isn't it? The nations around Israel weren't 
worshipping Jehovah. The nations around Israel were 
worshipping Moloch. They were worshipping Baal. They 
were worshipping Asherah. So when Stephen says you're uncircumcised 
of heart and ears, he says you're just like the heathens, you're 
idolaters to the core. And then this concept of resisting 
the Holy Spirit. What happens if you resist the 
Holy Spirit? You throw off the true and living 
God. If you say no to the Holy Spirit, 
you are rejecting the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. You 
are rejecting the one true and living God, who is from everlasting 
to everlasting. Stephen couldn't more clearly 
and concisely told them, you're guilty of the crime of idolatry. You're stiff-necked, you're uncircumcised 
of heart and ears, and you are those who resist the very Spirit 
of God himself. That he shows their solidarity 
with the fathers. Remember, that's what he's done 
in his defense up to this point. He has traced Israel's history. 
Again, not to instruct these men because they knew Israel's 
history, but rather to challenge these men and to show these men 
their own sin and their own wickedness and their own solidarity with 
those before them that were engaged in idolatry. Notice what Stephen 
goes on to say after giving them the characteristics. He says, 
as your fathers did, so do you. Notice as well this shift. Verse 51, you stiff-necked and 
uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit 
as, look at what he says here, your fathers did. What's Stephen 
done up to this point three times? Our fathers, our fathers, our 
fathers. Stephen has said we have a shared 
history together. But now that he brings it to 
conclusion and to application, Stephen in receiving Jesus Christ 
is no longer connected to those fathers. He says they're your 
fathers. And then notice what else he 
says. The way that you resist the Holy Spirit, so did your 
fathers. What does that tell you? That 
means the Holy Spirit's in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit 
is present in the Old Testament, and the resistance is evidence 
against Him. Notice in Isaiah the prophet, 
in Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63. So he says to them, 
as your fathers did, so do you. In other words, this tracing 
through their history to show the guiltiness, the culpability 
of Israel, he now connects them specifically to it. Notice in 
Isaiah 63. We're going to move through a 
couple of texts here. I would really encourage you 
to follow along in your own Bibles, because I want you to see a couple 
of connections here. Notice in 63.10. But they rebelled 
and grieved his Holy Spirit, so he turned himself against 
them as an enemy, and he fought against them. You see, we think 
that concept of grieving the Holy Spirit originated with Paul 
in Ephesians 4. No, it didn't. Remember, Paul 
is an apostle of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Lord 
Jesus, as the second person in the Trinity, gave us the Old 
Testament. Somebody recently said to me, you know, it's hard 
to sort of pin Jesus down in terms of his political stance. 
You know, people try and do that, don't they? They typically paint 
him as a Marxist because it serves their sort of wretched ways. 
Now, I'm not saying Jesus wore a sign that said, you know, vote 
GOP, vote Conservative Party of Canada. But brethren, Jesus, 
the second person of the triune God is the one who gave us the 
Old Testament. He doesn't come as one unidentified 
whatsoever. There are certain specifics that 
we learn concerning civil polity in the Old Testament that we 
can predicate concerning Jesus. It's not the case that Jesus 
would be horrified at some of the particular commandments in 
the Old Testament. No, Jesus loved the Word. Jesus 
loved the Law. Jesus found His joy in it. It's just a bit of an aside. 
Go back to 6310. They rebelled and grieved his 
Holy Spirit, so he turned himself against them as an enemy, and 
he fought against them. Now turn back to the Psalter, 
specifically Psalm 78. I just want to show you this, 
and then we'll move to Psalm 106. But notice Psalm 78. I mentioned the Holy Spirit is 
present in the Old Testament. We see that in Isaiah 63, 10. 
But we also see the Holy Spirit's identification with God Almighty. 
Notice in Psalm 78, verse 17, but they sinned even more against 
Him by rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. 
See, Isaiah tells us they rebelled against the Holy Spirit in the 
wilderness. The psalmist here is telling us that that Spirit 
is the Most High. The point is, is that the way 
the fathers did this, so does the council or the Sanhedrin. 
By the rejection of Jesus Christ, they are resisting the Holy Spirit 
of God Almighty. Now turn to Psalm 106. Psalm 
106, just to see again this comparison. Verse 34. Well, I'm sorry, verse 
32, they angered him also at the waters of strife. Again, 
this is all wilderness. Out in the wilderness, this is 
the way that Israel treated the true and living God. They rejected 
or resisted the Holy Spirit, that one who is most high. Verse 
32, they angered him also at the waters of strife, so that 
it went ill with Moses on account of them, because they rebelled 
against his spirit, so that he spoke rashly with his lips. Remember, 
Moses does that. He speaks rashly with his lips. 
God prohibits Moses from entering into the promised land. Based 
on what's going on in terms of the people, he engages in this 
rashness of speech, which keeps him ultimately out of the promised 
land. But notice the trajectory of Israel from this point on. 
Verse 34, they did not destroy the peoples concerning whom the 
Lord had commanded them. They went in to the land of promise, 
and instead of doing what God commanded and wiping them all 
out, they didn't do that. And that led to their demise. 
You see, people read that and they go, wow, God's pretty vicious 
and unkind to have Israel go in and destroy all the Canaanites. 
Just an innocent, you know, earth-loving people. No, they were wicked, 
guilty, vile sinners that deserved the just punishment of God. The 
primary emphasis, though, is so that Israel wouldn't become 
idolaters. When he says in Deuteronomy 7, or he gives the prescription 
for holy war, he tells them not to have any social interaction 
with that. In other words, don't marry with 
the pagans. He tells them not to have any 
political interaction with that. Don't let them govern Israel. 
Don't let you govern that. And he tells them, obviously, 
have no religious truck with them. Break down their idols, 
break down their temples, break down their altars. Why? Because 
God knows that the moment that Israel allows for the paganism 
to subsist, they're going to fall into it. See, God knows 
us better than we know ourselves. The language of our dear brother 
James, pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God and the Father 
is this, to visit widows and orphans in their distress and 
what? To keep oneself unspotted from the world. See, we have 
this idea, we're going to go into Canaan and we're going to 
get everybody saved. God knows that ain't going to 
happen. You're going to go into Canaan and before long, you're 
going to be singing praise Baal from whom all blessings flow. 
That's the mandate. Destroy them so that you don't 
end up engaged in idolatry. Well, they didn't destroy them 
and they ended up engaged in idolatry. Verse 34, they did 
not destroy the peoples concerning whom the Lord had commanded them, 
but they mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works. They 
served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed 
their sons and their daughters to demons and shed innocent blood, 
the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols 
of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled 
by their own works and played the harlot by their own deeds. See, I don't think Stephen, in 
this context, needs to say, you guys are guilty of idolatry, 
and here's 15 reasons why. That he calls them stiff-necked, 
uncircumcised of heart and ears, tells them that they always resist 
the Holy Spirit, and connects them with their fathers who engaged 
in that sort of conduct. These men understood. How do 
you explain their outrage? How do you explain when they 
cover their ears, gnash at him with their teeth, drive him out 
of the city, and stone him to death? How do you explain that? 
If it's not what I'm suggesting to you, it might just be a Bible 
study that they disagree with. You don't kill people over Bible 
studies that you disagree with. You kill people who've accused 
you of being idolaters. You kill people that you think 
are actually blasphemers, and they're now accusing you of idolatry. 
They understand Stephen's argument, brethren, and Stephen's argument 
with finger in their faces is, you are idolaters, you're guilty. 
Now notice, he talks about the fathers. Look at the solidarity 
in verses 51 and 52. Which of the prophets did your 
fathers not persecute? Which of the prophets rather 
did they not persecute? And then he goes on to say, and 
they killed those who foretold the coming of the just one. You 
might say, well, this is hyperbolic. I mean, come on, Stephen, did 
every one of the prophets meet their end at the vicious hands 
of the religious leadership in Israel? Yeah. It wasn't Hivites 
and Hittites and Jebusites taking out the true prophets. It wasn't 
the heathen around Israel. It wasn't the pagans. It wasn't 
a pagan that slapped Micaiah on the face and sent him off 
to prison with only a piece of bread and water each day. It 
wasn't the pagans that lowered Jeremiah into a cave or into 
a well. It was a pagan who fetched him 
out. It wasn't a pagan who sawed the prophet Isaiah in two. It wasn't pagans that did that. 
It was the leadership in old covenant Israel. So that when 
Stephen says what Stephen says here, again, he's not being hyperbolic. 
If we argue that Stephen is being hyperbolic, then we must, by 
implication, argue that Jesus was hyperbolic. Notice in Matthew's 
gospel, Matthew chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21. When we see 
Stephen die, we will see some particular similarities with 
our Lord Jesus Christ. But we'll also see similarities 
with our Lord Jesus Christ in the way that they teach, in the 
way that they press their particular charges. And essentially in Matthew 
21, verses 33 to 44, you have the history of Israel. It's the parable of the wicked 
vinedressers. Well, how do these vinedressers 
deal with the servants that the vineyard owner sends? They beat 
them, they murder them. The vineyard owner says, I'll 
send my son, they'll receive him. No, they murder him. That's Jesus Christ. Now notice 
what Jesus does in Matthew chapter 23. Matthew 23, verse 31. Therefore you are witnesses against 
yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 
Fill up then the measure of your father's guilt. Serpents, brood 
of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore... 
Now notice verse 34. Indeed I send you prophets, wise 
men, and scribes. This is Jesus saying that after 
he's done, after he dies, after he's resurrected from the dead, 
after he's enthroned at the right hand of the Father, what's Jesus 
going to do? He's going to send these men to Israel to call them 
to repentance and faith. Verse 34, therefore, indeed, 
I send you prophets, wise men, scribes, some of them you will 
kill and crucify, like Stephen. Stephen is a man filled with 
the Holy Spirit, sent by the Lord Jesus Christ, preaching 
the gospel of salvation to this religious council. And what do 
they do? They kill him. They murder him in a most wretched 
sort of a way, with authority that wasn't theirs. We'll see 
that when we get to the actual martyrdom. We're not talking 
a hundred years later after the death of the Lord Jesus. We're 
talking a couple years later after the death of the Lord Jesus. 
They didn't have authority to execute Jesus. They had to go 
to Pilate to get the kill order. Now all bets are off. They're 
upset with Stephen. They drive him out of the city 
and they stone him to death with stones. With what authority? 
By what authority? So Jesus is telling them what's 
going to happen. And then he says, and some of them you will 
scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 
that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, 
from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son 
of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 
Now, some see that and they say, Abel and Zechariah, that's A 
to Z. It is an A to Z. It reflects the Hebrew canon, 
the book of Genesis and the book of 2 Chronicles. Jesus is saying 
in totality, with reference to the Hebrew old covenant, the 
Hebrew canon, you have murdered all those who were sent to you 
by God. You have mistreated them. You have persecuted them. You've 
hurt them. And he says in verse 36, Assuredly, 
I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 
And then verse 37, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills 
the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. Stephen 
sounds a lot like his master, doesn't he? Stephen sounds a 
lot like the Lord Jesus. Turn to Luke's gospel, Luke 13. 
If you're interested in this theme in any more detail, you 
can go back in Sermon Audio and get the stuff on the Olivet Discourse. 
We have developed this in more detail and show its connection 
with reference to the Old Testament. But notice in Luke 13 at verse 
32, and he said to them, go tell that fox, that fox happens to 
be Herod. That fox happens to be Herod. 
Again, Jesus isn't engaged in name-calling for name-calling's 
sake. In the Scriptures, if you're 
a fool, there's an ethical sense and dimension to that. When Solomon 
in the book of Proverbs calls you a fool, he's not just having 
fun at your expense. He's telling you something about 
your ethics. He's telling something about your morals. He's telling 
you something about your lack of pleasing God. So when Jesus 
refers to Herod as fox, that's not untoward, it's not sinful, 
it's not wrong. But he says, go tell that fox, 
behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, 
and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless, I must 
journey today, tomorrow, and the day following, for it cannot 
be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. So go back 
to Acts chapter 7. He says in verse 52, which of 
the prophets did your fathers not persecute? Again, he's not 
asking for their class participation. He's not saying, really, tell 
me, which one actually made it without having, no, it's rhetorical 
to highlight their guilt. Again, Stephen's point is the 
way they treated Isaiah, the way they treated Jeremiah, the 
way they treated Moses three times in the Moses section, he 
says they rejected him. That's what they did to Jesus. There's the connection. The way 
your fathers dealt with the God-sanctioned prophets is the way that you 
are dealing with the God-sanctioned prophet. And notice what he says 
concerning the prophets of the Old Testament. Verse 52, which 
of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed 
those who foretold the coming of the just one. They foretold 
the coming of the Just One. I think the coming there is not 
the second coming in our future, but the first advent of our Lord 
Jesus, when He took on our humanity. When He took on our humanity 
with all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof, 
yet without sin. The prophets in the Old Testament 
foretold that coming, didn't they? The prophet Jeremiah does. The prophet Isaiah does. The 
prophet Daniel does. All throughout the Psalter, David 
does. They tell of this prophet. Deuteronomy 
chapter 18, Moses tells that God's going to raise a prophet 
just like Moses up from among the brethren. And interestingly, 
he highlights that Jesus is the just one, or the righteous one. Jesus is identified that way 
in Acts 3, when Peter's before the council, and he'll be identified 
again in Acts 22 as the just one. What does that mean? I think 
we ought to understand it as a messianic identifier. In other 
words, the just one, or the righteous one, is the one sent by God to 
save his people from their sins. So it exacerbates the guilt of 
the council. God sends the one in accordance 
with the prophets, the one that is the just one and righteous 
one. He sent him to you, and instead of you receiving him, 
instead of you believing in him, instead of you bowing and worshiping 
him, you crucified the Lord of glory. Stephen is bringing it 
to these men, brethren. And again, they understand. They 
know. We may miss his point. We may 
not be as well saturated in the Old Testament. It may just go 
right over our heads. But the way that these men respond 
to this man shows us that they understood. They knew what he 
was saying. And it's intriguing because Jesus is identified in 
a messianic promise in the prophet Jeremiah this way. Again, they 
would know these things. They would understand these things. 
They would be saying if they had softened hearts, If they were being accurately 
convicted and they were being worked on by the Holy Spirit, 
they would have been saying, man, we are guilty. Man, we are 
wretched. The way the fathers went, so 
the way we've gone. That's not what they do. And 
then notice, so that's the charge against the council. Let's look 
at his evidence provided in support of the charge. Verses 52b and 
53. Verse 52, which of the prophets 
did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold 
the coming of the just one, of whom you now have become the 
betrayers and murderers. He couldn't get clearer, could 
he? Here's the connection. The way they rejected Moses, 
the way they sawed Isaiah in two, the way they lowered Jeremiah 
into that pit, that's the connection. The way those prophets of old 
were treated is the way that you have treated the prophets 
sent by God, the just one, the righteous one, and you did it 
this way. You betrayed him and you murdered him. Your idolatry 
is seen in the rejection of the Righteous One of God, who came 
to save His people from their sins. That's the pinnacle of 
their idolatrous expression, is when they murder the Lord 
of Glory. You see, it isn't the case, brethren, 
that Jews are okay because they're monotheistic. They reject the 
Messiah. I love Ben Shapiro just like 
the next guy, but in terms of theologically, we are at diametrical 
ends, diametrically opposed. Gets away with Muslims and Christians 
and Jews, they're all monotheistic, so that's cool. No, the monotheism 
that the Bible mandates is Father, Son, and Spirit. You see the 
Spirit in the Old Testament. You see the Son in the Old Testament. 
I would argue and have argued that you see all three persons 
in Genesis chapter 1. It may not be as crystal clear 
as it is in the New Testament, but the triune God is there. and a Jewish rejection of Jesus 
Christ, they have thrown off Yahweh of Israel. That's Stephen's 
point with these men. They betrayed and murdered Christ. 
You see it in the Gospel of Matthew. We spend a lot of time in the 
Passion narrative. They hated him. They despised 
him. It's the same counsel, brethren. Stephen's saying the same thing 
that Jesus says because he's talking to the same men who have 
blood guilt all over their hands. They go and they find Judas and 
they agree to pay him money and have him handed over, but not 
in the pomp and show of the feast because we don't want to cause 
a city uproar. So what happens? Judas leads 
them into Gethsemane, that place where Jesus and his disciples 
go to pray and to commune with the Father. And he brings them 
into that garden, these ungodly men armed with weaponry, to arrest 
our Lord Jesus Christ. He was betrayed and he was murdered. And I would suggest that what 
Stephen says here exacerbates the guilt of the council. In 
essence, he's saying, your fathers killed those who foretold the 
coming of Christ. You've actually killed Christ. You've upped it. You've gone 
even beyond. You've out-wickeded them. You 
had all that information. You had all those promises. You 
had all those prophecies. You had Isaac. You had Micah. 
You had the wise men from the East telling you, and you rejected 
him out wholesale. Stephen's made his point, brethren. 
I think John Calvin here is terrible. I'm sorry. John Calvin actually 
says this. He says, for as much as Stephen 
doth not expressly answer the points of the accusation. This 
is the ninth sermon on Stephen's speech. And I hope you'll say, 
yeah, I think you've shown us where he's answered the points 
of accusation. He shows them how he's not anti-Temple and 
how he's not anti-Moses. And he is now showing them how 
they're anti-Temple and they're anti-Moses. So back to Calvin, 
for as much as Stephen doth not expressly answer the points of 
the accusation, I am of their mind who think that he would 
have said more if his oration had not been broken off with 
some uproar. See what Calvin is saying? Calvin and others 
suggest that at this point, the council's already raging. The 
council's already upset. The council's already screaming. 
The council's already putting their finger back in his face. 
And therefore, Stephen broke off his speech and he couldn't 
complete it. Now, I don't have a problem suggesting that if 
they hadn't have murdered him, he might have a few more things 
to say. But as far as I'm concerned, he finished his sermon. The uproar 
starts when he presses the conscience. See, here's a fundamental difference 
between a Bible study and preaching. Bible studies inform and instruct. 
Preaching informs and instructs and calls sinners to faith and 
repentance. He doesn't just leave this as 
data out there. Now, I want you to just consider 
that you stiff-necked and uncircumcised of heart and ears, you always 
resist the Holy Spirit. He's not playing games with sinners. 
He doesn't care about the tone police. Oh, you can't call people 
those names because it might make them feel bad. So what? Maybe men need to be a little 
bad feeling before they'll come to call on Jesus Christ. We've 
gutted the pulpit with this wimpy, Feministic approach to preaching. Oh, you can't offend anybody. 
But we don't care about the fact that everybody's offended God 
on a regular basis. I often cite the prophet Ezekiel 
when God says to the prophet, the children, the sons of your 
people say the way of Yahweh is not fair. God says, but it's 
their way that's not fair. We're supposed to coddle sinners? We're supposed to pat them on 
the head? Or we're supposed to say, look, 
you're resisting the Holy Spirit? You're stiff-necked. You're stubborn. 
You're uncircumcised of heart and ears. You need to get right. 
Brethren, I've got to tell you, I'd much rather my doctor say, 
hey, it's bad news, and here's what it is, than dancing around 
the subject not wanting to offend me. I'm sorry, a disastrous disease 
is offensive. Give it to me. Well, sinners 
have a disastrous disease that far out disasters anything in 
the physical realm. And yet we're told, can't say 
that, because it'll offend them. Stephen would be thrown out. 
What do you mean, calling them stiff-necked and uncircumcised 
of heart? We didn't even got to the point where it doesn't 
matter if it's true or not. It doesn't even matter if it's true 
or not. Well, it's really true that they're stiff-necked and 
uncertain. Doesn't matter that it's true. You can't say that. 
That's where we're at, brethren. 21st century North America, that's 
where we're at. You realize there was a movie 
that just came out called Unplanned? It's about planned parenthood. 
If you're a girl in America at a particular age, under 17, you 
can have an abortion, but you can't go see that movie. What's 
happened? Does that make any sense? You're 
old enough to have an abortion without parental consent, but 
you can't go see a movie without a parent so that you can see 
how bad Planned Parenthood is. Don't think this is neutral, 
that it just happened. They are actively campaigning 
to promote this sin and this madness and this wickedness. 
But dare us speak out against it? Ban from Facebook. Ban from 
Twitter. Dare not touch the Lord's anointed 
with reference to the civil state. And Christians need to wake up. A little bit of language like 
Stephen's is absolutely appropriate when you're living in Sodom and 
Gomorrah. Oh, Butler, you're just stepping 
over the line. Be to God. That's not happened 
here. Maybe you think it, but thankfully you don't email me. 
Oh, you stepped over. That has happened. I couldn't 
imagine being a pastor in a church where I felt afraid to actually 
condemn sin, where I felt afraid that they might fire me if I 
was a John the Baptist and pointed my finger at Herod and said, 
it's not lawful for you to have your brother's wife That was 
a sermon that cost that preacher his head. Why? Don't touch my 
sin. Stephen didn't care about their 
delicate sensitivities. He didn't care about triggers. He didn't care about safe space. He was standing before 71 idolaters 
who had crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, and he said, thou art 
the man. That's exactly what Stephen does. 
And then notice, he brings it all to a conclusion here. Again, 
he's not cut off. He's not grasping. He's not wanting 
to say one more thing. In their rejection of Jesus, 
what have they done? They've become idolaters. But 
with reference to the law of Moses, it's not Stephen that's 
got the problem. It's them. I've said that every 
sermon. I'm sure I've said it every sermon. 
To reject the law of Moses or to reject, or rather to reject 
Jesus is to reject the law of Moses and to reject the temple 
of God. Stephen brings that to bear upon 
them in verse 53. Notice what he says, who have 
received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it. You have received the law by 
the direction of angels and have not kept it. Now some people, 
you know, right here go, wait a minute, what's this about the 
angels? Well, according to Deuteronomy 33, God attended or God was attended 
at Sinai with angels. Paul says it in Galatians 3, 
he says it in Hebrews 2, Stephen says it here in Acts 7. When 
the law is considered as that blessed deposit given to Israel, 
Paul does that in Romans 3. He says, well, what advantage 
is there then for the Jew? Every advantage. They've been 
given the living oracles of God. Romans 9 talks about the blessed 
benefit they had in receiving the covenants, receiving the 
Word of God. Stephen says, you have been those men that received 
the sacred deposit from God Most High at Sinai, attended by the 
angels. He has given you this law and 
you've rejected it, you've broken it. Again, Stephen is saying 
the end of the law is Jesus. The purpose of the temple is 
Jesus. I'm going to argue that one of 
the points of Stephen's preaching in this defense is that it's 
Christological. You'll say, but there's no name 
Jesus in there. Jesus is everywhere in here. 
Just like the suggestion that when we preach or sing the Psalms, 
we're not singing about Jesus. Jesus is all over the Psalms. Jesus is all over His sermon. 
The end of the law, again, not go out and commit adultery, end 
of the law, but the purpose, the talos, the scope and focus 
of the law was to drive men to the Savior. It's a reason for 
the temple. The reason for the temple was 
to preach the Savior. And in their rejection of these 
things, having received the law by the direction of the angels, 
they broke it. He says to them, you're the antinomians. Just imagine for a moment this 
group of men. Oh, yeah, we're the religious elite in Israel. 
We have the law. We have Torah. We have the prophets. We have all that stuff. Yeah, 
but you've rejected the one that the law and the prophets point 
to. You say you adhere to that and yet you reject what they're 
saying? That's Jesus' argument in John chapter five. If you 
believe Moses, you'd believe me. Why? Because Moses wrote 
about me. With reference to the temple, 
in terms of their rejection of the temple, I skipped a quote 
that I think is imperative. G.K. Beal says, after the coming 
of Christ, to think that one was worshiping God at Israel's 
temple was to worship nothing, since God's presence was no longer 
in the temple. Not to worship Christ was to 
refuse true worship of the true God in the new age. Butler fell 
into this. It is really what Stephen is 
doing. He says, I'm not anti-temple, I'm not anti-law. The way he 
does that is point to their scriptures, point to their history. Now he 
is saying to them that you're anti-temple and you're anti-law. In your rejection of the Messiah, 
in your rejection of the just one, in your rejection of that 
prophet or that man in Jeremiah 23.6, the Lord our righteousness, 
you are the ones who have broken the very law of God Almighty. 
Alexander says this, he says, the obvious meaning of the verse 
is that the Jews as a nation had betrayed the highest trust 
and proved themselves unworthy of the greatest honor ever granted 
to a people. He gives them the Old Testament 
and that Old Testament everywhere points to Jesus. Jesus comes 
in the fullness of the time, born of a woman, born under the 
law, all in accordance with what was written in that law. And 
they did not receive him. They plot. They gather together 
and they argue like we see there in John chapter 11. They devise 
a way to betray and murder him. It's them that have neglected 
that sacred trust in terms of scripture. Matthew Poole, I think, 
says it even more pointedly. He says, they transgressed the 
law, though so gloriously delivered by angels. And therefore, it 
was no wonder if they despised the gospel that was published 
by so mean and contemptible ministers. You see what he says there? That 
Stephen is ultimately murdered shocks us, and it produces horror, 
and it causes, hopefully, some remorse on our part. But that 
they do it, yeah, it makes sense. Look what they did to Isaiah. Look what they did to Micaiah. 
Look what they did to Jeremiah. Look what they did to the prophets 
of old. Should we expect any other behavior from the persons 
that despise the very law that God had given them? If they're 
going to despise that that came at the direction of angels, we're 
going to expect that they're going to despise it when it comes 
connected to these mean and contemptible ministers. Mean doesn't mean 
mean like that, kids. It means, you know, not polished, 
not perfect, not the sort of guy that's angel-like. Mean doesn't 
mean they're mean. It means they're mean, if you 
get the drift there. All right. So that's the sermon. That's the conclusion. I want 
to conclude with a couple of thoughts. First, the defense 
of Stephen. The defense of Stephen. We've 
seen how they are anti-Moses, how they are anti-temple. And 
essentially what he says is that in rejecting Jesus, you've rejected 
the purpose for which Moses wrote, and you've rejected the purpose 
for which the temple stood. It's not Stephen that's got the 
problem. And let me just tell you, Stephen is not picking on 
the physical structure. Stephen knows that the physical 
structure in terms of temple was commanded by God. Stephen's 
picking on the attitudes of those connected to the physical structure 
that saw the physical structure as the end and not a means for 
the presence of God. In fact, I think even before 
his conclusion, Stephen's already indicted them for idolatry. Notice 
what he says in verses 41 and 44. Verse 41, they made a calf 
in those days, offered sacrifices to the idols and rejoiced in 
the works. Look at the language of their 
own hands. Verse 48, however, I'm sorry, 
48, 41 and 48. However, the Most High does not 
dwell in temples made with hands. There's this contrast, the Old 
Testament. Typically, this making something 
with hands is connected to idolatry. Stephen's already implicitly 
given them that dose of the particular charge. You're engaged in that 
which is associated, that is made with hands. He's not got 
a problem with the temple. He's got a problem with their 
attitudes. He's got a problem with persons that think the temple 
and don't think of the God of the temple. He has a problem 
with the types of people that we see in 1 Samuel chapter 4, 
when Israel's bested on the field of battle with the Philistines. 
They say, well, let's grab the Ark of the Covenant of God, and 
we'll trot it out into the battlefield, and its presence will give us 
victory over our enemies. No, that's not how it happens. It's not a holy horseshoe. It's 
not a lucky charm. It's not a four-leaf clover. 
God would rather have His covenant, the Ark of the Covenant, be captured 
by those filthy Philistines than to indulge the idea that He is 
somehow contained in the box. Stephen's problem is not with 
temple. Stephen's problem is not with law. Stephen's problem 
is with the council. Secondly, the preaching of Stephen. We've looked at his defense, 
but in terms of his preaching, I think it serves as a great 
specimen for what preachers ought to engage in. In the first place, 
it's biblical. Notice that Stephen doesn't put 
his hand in his pocket and sip his latte and say, you know, 
I want to tell you some stories about my life. I want to tell you about 
my experience. I want to share my heart. He 
doesn't do that. The last thing you want from 
a preacher, brethren, is somebody who shares his heart. You don't 
want me to share my heart. Sorry, you just don't. You want biblical preaching. Secondly, his preaching was theological. Biblical, but as I said, it's 
not the kind of Bible study where he outlines the history of Israel 
for the absorption or the consumption of his people. They know the 
history. He is theologically preaching so that they will see 
the implications he wants them to. It's theological preaching. 
He doesn't have to say everything because Stephen is a theologian 
and he is making connections. Thirdly, as I mentioned before, 
it's Christological. Don't think for a moment that 
these guys didn't understand Stephen's uppermost commitment. In fact, go back to chapter 6 
for just a moment. When he is formally charged, 
look at what the liars say in verses 13 and 14. 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. 
It's not that Stephen is standing before them as some guy that 
they have no clue about. Well, what's your particular 
stripe of religious heresy? What's your particular flavor 
of the mind? They know he's a disciple of Christ. They know he's a preacher 
of the gospel. They know he's a worshiper of 
the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. 
In fact, when he's about to be stoned, he alerts them to the 
three persons of the Godhead. He saw the glory of God, Jesus 
standing at the right hand, having been filled with the Holy Spirit. 
Stephen is a worshiper and a servant and a disciple and an evangelist 
for the Lord Jesus. His sermon is Christological. His sermon leads to Jesus. That's 
where the law of Moses and that's where the temple of God inevitably 
go. It's to Christ. As well, Stephen 
was apologetical. Now apologizing in this context 
does not mean to say, I'm sorry, as I think you'll agree. You 
cannot interpret verse 51 as him saying, I'm sorry. Apologetics 
is about the defense of the faith, and Stephen is an apologist here 
defending the faith. Stephen is saying, in essence, 
I'm not the one who misread Moses, and I'm not the one who got the 
temple wrong. You are. Which leads us to the next consideration. His preaching is polemic. See, 
apologetics is when we defend the faith. Polemics is when we 
attack the faith of others. Again, can't do this in modern 
America and Canada because it's mean. It's intolerant. It's bigoted. It's prejudicial. It's unkind. 
Unless, of course, you're them attacking Christianity. That's 
fine. Doesn't that bug you? The rank hypocrisy? The absolute 
rank hypocrisy of Congresswoman in America last week said, oh, 
the Democrats and the Republicans. And I'm not advocating. Well, 
it's to the point. The Democratic Party is a party 
of infanticide. I just don't know how anybody 
could identify with that. professing person of God, but this particular 
congresswoman said, well, the big difference between the Democrats 
and the Republicans is that we don't engage in name-calling 
like those xenophobic racists in the Republican Party. You 
just called names, didn't you? And this just goes over everybody's 
head. If you say anything, you're the odd man out. You see, his 
preaching was polemic. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised 
of heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit. 
You're wrong, and I'm going to tell you. It's just not good 
to let people be wrong. It's not. Especially when it 
leads them to hell. And that's what Stephen is about. And I would suggest that Stephen 
is courageous. He had the Holy Spirit, didn't 
he? How does a man stand before 71 enemies? Now, enemies here 
becomes a physical reality for him, but spiritually, theologically, 
he's not at home. These aren't 71 men that love 
to worship God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son in the power 
and the presence of the Holy Spirit. These are men that have 
rejected Jesus. These are the men that heard 
Jesus on trial, found him guilty, sent him over to Pilate, and 
had him executed as a common criminal. Not even common criminal, 
but as one of the worst sorts of criminals in the body politic 
at the time. See, crucifixion was only used 
for the really bad people. You didn't crucify your typical 
garden variety criminal. You crucified enemies of the 
state. As far as they were concerned, Jesus was an enemy of the state. 
And so they had him crucified. So for Stephen to stand up in 
the midst of this and preach the way he does, and then say, 
you stiff-necked and uncircumcised of heart and ears, you always 
resist the Holy Spirit. That took courage, brethren. 
I hope that you pray that God raises up men for gospel ministry. 
I really do. I hope I don't even have to keep 
reminding us. Verna needs a pastor. Other churches 
need pastors. I mean, we could have 10, 20, 
30 more elders here. Remember when Joshua says, oh, 
they're prophesying, as if to alert Moses of a problem. And 
Moses says, what did God that all of his people would prophesy? 
I need the help. I need the aid. I need the assistance. But when you pray for men, don't 
pray for the chatty pastor with his hands in his pocket and his 
latte at his lips. Pray for men that are biblical, 
theological, Christological, apologetical, polemic, and brave. We are doing, hopefully, hard 
work in our day to challenge the shibboleths, not only in 
terms of the world, the Planned Parenthoods, the congressmen 
and women or the MPs that can't think themselves out of a paper 
bag, but are in charge of big things. It's not just that. This has infected the church. I've often thought about that 
concept of worldliness. It's hard to nail down, you know, 
with absolute accuracy, what's worldly? You know, dancing, drinking, 
you know, there's a whole idea, a lot of ideas about what worldliness 
is. You know what is indicative of 
worldliness too? It's when the people of God and 
the church of God think like the world in terms of politics, 
in terms of ethics, and in terms of theology. You may not dance, 
you may not drink, you may not chew, and you may not run with 
girls who do, but you may be a worldling in the way that you 
think. Paul says, do not be conformed 
to this world, but rather be transformed by the renewing of 
your mind. If you are not thinking God's 
thoughts after Him in every area of life, you're a worldling, 
a worldling. It's in the church. It's in the 
kind of uncomfort that goes with, he can't say that. Stephen shouldn't 
say that. He's attacking them. Yeah, he's 
attacking them. They needed to be attacked. Too 
bad they didn't break. Too bad they didn't humble themselves. 
Too bad they didn't flee to the Savior that Stephen was preaching 
to them. That's the hope, that's the prayer, that's the desire. 
When you pray for men, pray that God will raise up Stephen-like 
men. And if you're not a believer 
here this morning, the way of salvation is through the Christ 
that Stephen preached. The law of God points us to Christ. The temple of God points us to 
Christ. The whole concept of temple is 
most glorious and excellent. It means God dwelling with people. Well, where does God dwell with 
people? He does it through and in the person and the work of 
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way that God will be 
your God and the only way that you'll be His person is through 
faith in the Savior. It's through faith in the Lord 
Jesus. It's through looking to Him alone. Well, let us close 
in a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for your 
word. We thank you for this speech and this defense of Stephen, 
this sermon in Acts chapter 7. I pray that we would understand 
what he's doing, how he vindicates his own place in these charges, 
and how he turns the tables on his hearers. And God in heaven, 
I pray there'd be no stiff-necked here. There'd be no uncircumcised 
of heart and ears. There'd be none resisting the 
Holy Spirit. But I pray by your grace and by your power and for 
your glory, sinners today would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Isaiah, or rather Jeremiah, calls him the Lord our righteousness. 
He is our righteousness. He is the one in whom we are 
clothed. He is the one in whom we stand. 
We don't go to heaven because of our righteousness, we go to 
heaven because of the Lord, our righteousness. May sinners hear 
this, may they believe it, and may they find that joy of dwelling 
in the presence of God Almighty. Go with us now, bless our time 
at the hospital today. I pray that as the people there 
gather together, the Holy Spirit would be at work, and that the 
gospel would be made plain and clear to them. And we ask in 
Jesus' name, amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation and then be dismissed.