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[Music] welcome to everyone it's good to be in the house of our God on this Lord's Day we have just a few announcements before we begin first of all there's hospital ministry today if anybody's interested in attending that's at 2:30 at the Heritage Village try to get there about 2:20 if you're able to attend and then the Lord's Supper tonight in our 5 p.m. service and then just a reminder that Andy and Priscilla have applied for church membership if you do not know them please get to know them sooner rather than later and then finally this month April 27th at 1:00 p.m. here at our church building is the wedding of Joo young Kim and Hannah Porter and they have cordially invited everyone from our church to attend that so that's 1 p.m. on Saturday April 27th well for our call to worship now you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 61 Psalm 61 well begin reading in verse 1 to the chief musician on a stringed instrument a psalm of David hear my cry O God attend to my prayer from the end of the earth I will cry to you when my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the rock that is higher than I for you have been a shelter for me a strong tower from the enemy I will abide in your tabernacle forever I will trust in the shelter of your wings Sayla for you O God have heard my vows you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name you will you will prolong the King's life his years as many generations he shall abide before God forever Oh prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him so I will sing praise to your name forever that I'm a daily perform my vows amen will please take your Trinity Psalter the Red Trinity Salter and turn to Psalm 96 Psalm 96 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] Oh pray O God Most High it's a great joy and a privilege to gather in your presence on this Sabbath day we confess that you alone are holy that you are from everlasting to everlasting that you are the God who made the world the God who governs the world and the one who has redeemed as a lacked out of the world we acknowledge that your Father Son and Holy Spirit Blessed Trinity a God who is most glorious most wondrous and most worthy to be praised and we would ask even now that she would send forth your Holy Spirit that he would guide us that he would lead us that he would aid us as we approach the father through the son and that in all things here God would be glorified exalted and praised but we know this is the Lord's Day it is a time certainly where we can enjoy the company of one another two times certainly where we get to be refreshed we come in the first place to worship our great God to come before you to remember and recall and reflect upon the fact that you are a consuming fire as well to remember that you have redeemed us through the blood of your son the Lord Jesus Christ so there ought to be fear and trembling but it ought to be mingled with great joy so we consider the reality that you've blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ that you have forgiven our sins that you have given us a righteousness that avails with God certainly these things ought to draw from our hearts worship and praise and adoration to the true and living God we pray that you would be exalted and enthroned upon our praises as we sing these Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs she would be enthroned upon our prayers we call upon you and acknowledge your glory and God we pray that you'd come in the preaching of your word for the edification of the saints of Christ and for the salvation of those who are still dead in their trespasses and sins we know that your word is powerful we know that the Holy Spirit is over able to overcome dead sinners he is able to make willing in the day of his power and so we appeal to you our sovereign God to do that which is impossible with man but that which is possible with you that redounds to the praise and the glory of our great God we ask that you would forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions as we consider your holiness and your majesty we consider what scripture says concerning you we see our own waywardness we see our transgression or lack of conformity to that blessed law and we can only cry out to you have mercy upon us and God we thank you that your word does promise mercy that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness so we pray that that would be the case even now she would purify our hearts through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that she would cleanse our consciences and that you would cause us to sing to pray to hear Holy Scripture focusing upon the God of heaven and earth we pray for those who've come here this morning that are still dead in their trespasses and sins we long to see them saved by your grace and for your glory we especially Lord God those who are saved no it's not because of what we've done it's not because of our good works it's not because of our law keeping but it's solely and alone the sovereign grace of a good God and we know father that if you're able to save us you're certainly able to save others and we pray that you would exercise that power today through the preaching of your gospel we pray for other churches here in our community thanking you for them asking that you had bless them and caused them to progress and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray for other churches here in this community that all of us would be proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of sinners for we know that our community stands in great need not ultimately of more money or more politics but of the grace of our God and Father we also pray for churches throughout this nation we do praise was prayed in the last hour that you would revive your people and that you would awaken those dead in their trespasses and sins we live in a day and age where men call good evil and evil good we see the the murder of unborn babies we see the murder of sick and older people we see sexual perversion all over the place and God we cry to you that in your wrath you would remember mercy that you would bless the Word of God as it goes forth may it want run swiftly and be glorified and may it accomplish the purpose for which you sent it and our Father we pray that you would look with favor upon the very real needs of brethren in our church many are suffering physically many are going through great affliction and trial and and hardship and we do commit them to you and to the word of your grace we pray for our brother dawn that you'd uphold him that you would strengthen him and just continue to watch over him Lord God we also pray for Shane that he would be able to be released from the hospital soon and that father this brother would know a season of good physical health and that his soul would continue to flourish we also pray for mrs. Boult we pray for Bev and God we do pray for our dear sister Linda that you would continue with them and just strengthen each one by the word of your power and for your glory and for your praise we also pray for our dear sister Jenny as she gets close to having a baby we just commit her to you and to the word of your grace praying that all things would go well with this little one and that ultimately one day this little one would call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ God that is our genuine desire for each of the young people and the children here we do commit them to you we ask that you'd open their hearts she'd cause them to remember their Creator in their youth that they would call upon the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their souls that father this would bring you great glory and honor and praise we ask thee blessed the persecuted church we prayed for so many people in the last hour that are suffering so severely and God we take for granted the Liberty that you have given to us and Lord forgive us for doing that help us to reflect upon your goodness revealed to us even in this way that we are able to worship now without threat without intervention without jail or punishment that God so many of our brothers and sisters don't have this and we do pray for them and we ask that you would look with favor upon in nations that are steeped in oppression we pray specifically for China and the increasing persecution of the people of God in that nation Lord watch over your Saints there and may you indeed grant them the grace to continue to shine as lights in that crooked and perverse generation and may they hold forth the word of truth and our Father bless our time together now continue with us we all come here with not maybe physical suffering and affliction but we all come here battle weary at times and our hearts are heavy and their burden and we just cry to you that you would encourage us that you would bless us that as we gather together in the presence of our great God you would just cause us to to soar and cause us to reflect upon our Savior and cause us to know the nearness of God as our good and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well please turn with me again or in your Trinity hymnals to him number 268 hymn number 268 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] [Music] well you can turn in your Bibles to the Gospel according to John we're in John chapter 11 John 11 will pick up reading in verse 28 and when she had said these things she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister saying the teacher has come and is calling for you as soon as she heard that she arose quickly and came to him now Jesus had not yet come into the town but was in the place where Martha met him then the Jews who were with her in the house and comforting her when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out followed her saying she is going to the tomb to weep there then when Mary came where Jesus was and saw him she fell down at his feet saying to him Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died therefore when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping he groaned in the spirit and was troubled and he said where have you laid him they said to him Lord come and see jesus wept then the Jews said see how he loved him and some of them said could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying then Jesus again groaning in himself came to the tomb it was a cave and a stone lay against it jesus said take away the stone Martha the sister of him who was dead said to him Lord by this time there is a stench for he has been dead for days jesus said to her did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said father I thank you that you have heard me and I know that you always hear me but because of the people who are standing by I said this that they may believe that you sent me and when he had said these things he cried with a loud voice come forth and he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was wrapped with a cloth jesus said to them loose him and let him go than many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did believed in him but some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said what shall we do for this man works many signs if we let him alone like this everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation and one of them Caiaphas being high priest that year said to them you know you know nothing at all nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should perish now this he did not say on his own authority but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for that nation only but also that he would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad then from that day on they plotted to put him to death therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews but went from there into the country near the wilderness to a city called 'iframe and there remained with his disciples and the Passover of the Jews was near and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves then they saw Jesus and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple what do you think that he will not come to the feast now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command that if anyone knew where he was he should report it that they might cease him amen well we see the awesome and glorious power of our Lord Jesus Christ obviously displayed here in the death of Lazarus and it was as it were all that all the cards were stacked against the Lord Jesus notice when he says for her to have the stone rolled away Martha says according to verse 39 Lord by this time there is a D'Oench for he has been dead for days this was not he may be possibly dead he may be mostly dead but he was certainly dead and so the Lord Jesus in light of that command they they roll away the stone from the tomb and the Lord Jesus tells him to come forth and this is a beautiful at least parallel or illustration of what happens in the gospel or in the preaching of the gospel we appeal to men to come unto the Lord Jesus Christ knowing very well that it's God's power ultimately that makes men compliant it's God's power he has the ability to raise the debt in this instance physically this Lazarus who had been dead for four days to the point where there would be a stench and nevertheless Christ issues this word of command that carries along with it the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to bring this man forth from dead to see the glory and the majesty of Christ and so as we call upon sinners to believe the gospel to repent from their sins we trust ultimately not in sinners but in the power of God Almighty who according to Psalm 110 is able to make men willing in the day of his power and then another very intriguing thing about this particular passage the the religious leaders are feeling keenly the threat of Jesus Jesus popularity is growing Jesus's is being received by the multitudes Jesus is doing these sorts of miracles and raising dead men and it's causing the religious establishment to get a little bit scared and to start to wonder how they're gonna deal with this well obviously they they plot his death they they make that canoe or pact really that they are going to kill him but one of the things that's very intriguing is found in verse 49 it says one of them Caiaphas being high priest that year said to them you know nothing at all nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should perish now he didn't think he was preaching the gospel he didn't think he was preaching substitutionary atonement he didn't think he was actually preaching the mission of the of the Savior but that is precisely the mission of the Savior isn't it we know that's why he came to save his people from their sins and the means by which he does that is through his own death in fact John the Apostle comments in verse 51 now this he did not say on his own authority it's almost as if John is saying he got this right he's actually stumbled on the truth but he didn't do it because of himself he didn't do it in his own strength but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for that nation only but also that he would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad always loved that the gospel narratives when Matthew Mark Luke and John show us that the religious leaders who were in opposition to our Lord Jesus Christ unwittingly preach the gospel like when they'd say things like this man receives sinners and eats with them they meant it as a as a pejorative they meant it as a as a diss on him well we as the people of God know that's the glory of the Savior he receives sinners and he eats with that we know that's the glory of the Savior with reference to what Caiaphas says here he does die for the people he does give his life a ransom for many and not only from the Jewish people but also from all over the world Gentiles so that he might gather together in one those who've been scattered abroad see the psalmist says even the wrath of man shall praise God and we see it fleshed out in Caiaphas's declaration concerning the mission of the Savior and again I gotta almost laugh cuz he doesn't know what he's saying he doesn't know the import of what he's saying but you and I do you and I understand it was that very reason that he died in order to save us from our sins well let us pray our God and Father we thank you for that power displayed in the resurrection of Lazarus in this passage we thank you for the power displayed in the resurrection of dead sinners through the preaching of the gospel we give you praise that you've saved us we give you praise that you've given us everything necessary for life and salvation and as well Lord God we praise you for the mission of the Son of man who gave His life a ransom for many not only from the Jewish nation but from the Gentiles as well and we know that he is gathering together in him in himself one glorious body from every tribe tongue people and nation that will one day be in the presence of the triune God worshiping forever and ever we bless you and we praise you that you've included us in this lot and we look forward to that day when the church militant becomes the church triumphant and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well you can turn for our final him before the preaching to 227 227 we'll use a familiar tune and we'll stand together two to seven [Music] well you could turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 7 Acts chapter 7 as we conclude Stephens speech before the Sanhedrin our passages 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 the chapter 8 verse 1 you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears you always resist the Holy Spirit as your father's did so do you which of the prophets did your father's 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 cut 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 in 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 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 asked Lord God that he would have free reign over our hearts and in our minds that she would send 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 6 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 a bet 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 in functioning as a prosecuting attorney he now brings a particular charge to bear against them and ultimately Christ as presiding over this particular situation so I want to look first at the charge against the counsel in verses 51 and 52 a and then secondly the evidence provided in support of the charge so Steven 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 counsel 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 Steven 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 Steven brings across to these people has their foundation in the Old Testament though it's just not the case that Steven has stopped in his presentation of the Old Testament put it down now come to call them names know 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-necked people and I think that word is very appropriate not only because it means ultimately stubborn you have a small animal in its scabbard 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 are told in psalm 115 verse 8 those who make idols are 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 are dancing around the calf in Exodus chapter 32 notice in Exodus 33 at verse 5 Exodus 33 at verse will go verse 4 and when the people heard this bad news they mourned and no one put on his ornaments for the Lord 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 net you see in connection with idolatry turn over to Exodus chapter 34 at verse 9 verse 8 we read so Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worship 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 up take us as your inheritance now this may be the first time you've seen the connection between acts 751 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 that 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 father's 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 chapter 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're righteous for your 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 gracious Ness notice again in Deuteronomy 9 13 Deuteronomy 9 13 furthermore the Lord spoke to me saying I have seen these people and indeed they are a stiff-necked people and then over in verse 27 stiff necks 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 stiff necked 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 751 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 is or has already just 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 the Commonwealth of Israel 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 that ayah verse 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 sin bollock 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 upgraded for having rejected the God of Israel and thus branding themselves as uncircumcised again in Stephens defense listen to what he's doing you're stiff necked like those idolaters who were dancing around the calf you're 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 on circumcision was a bad thing as far as Israel is concerned in the language of J 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 an entire segregation from all other races the thought most readily suggested by the epithet uncircumcised is not that a 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 he replied is heathenish 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-necked and uncircumcised in 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 resistant at the level of personal conversion that's not Stevens point he is not suggesting that our minion isms right and that a person can resist the Spirit when the spirit goes to work on that person sorry 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 to profits whether it comes to apostles or it comes through Steven remember in acts 6 Steven is described as a man full of the Holy Spirit if Steven is a man full of the Holy Spirit and Steven 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 under 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 bail they'd rather Astra they'd rather molap 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 has 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 neck 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 neck 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 1 2 1 15 8 it brings it home even more so they became like what they worshiped they became like calves they became like animals not in a beast eale 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 in 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 that 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 upgrade the children of Israel for having eyes but not seeing for having ears but not hearing because they became like that which they were 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 Stephens conclusion here is most excellent your stiff necked you 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 hosts 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 so 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 professed saving faith in Jesus Christ you are worshipping at the altar of Planned Parenthood because Moloch was the death God for babies well unfortunately we've actually got to that point we're 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 II 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 that the nations around Israel weren't worshipping Jehovah the nations around Israel were worshipping Moloch they were worshipping BHEL they were worshipping astra so when Stephen says your 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 your job rejecting the one true and living God who is from everlasting to everlasting Stephen couldn't more clearly and concisely told man you're a guilt you're guilty of the crime of idolatry you're stiff necked you're uncircumcised of hardened ears and you are those who resist the very Spirit of God himself then he shows their solidarity with the father's remember that's what he's done in his defense up to this point he is 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 father's 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 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 father's he says they're your father's and then notice what else he says the way that you resist the Holy Spirit so did your father's what does that tell you I mean zeal 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 and Isaiah 63 Isaiah 63 so he says to them as your father's 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 holy spirit originated to Paul in Ephesians 4 well it didn't remember Paul is an apostle of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus is the second person of 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 the old of Canada but brethren Jesus the second person of the triune God is the one who gave us the old test 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 commandment in the Old Testament no Jesus loved the word Jesus loved the law Jesus found his joy in it and 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 send 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 father's 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 verse 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 spooks speaks rashly with his lips God prohibits Moses from entering in to the promised land based on you know 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 the point on verse 34 they did not destroy the people's concerning whom the Lord had commanded that 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 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 know they were wicked guilty vile sinners that deserve the just punishment of God the primary emphasis though is so that Israel wouldn't become idolaters well he says in Deuteronomy 7 or he gives the prescription for a holy war he tells them not to have any social interaction with that the Lord's 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 gonna 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 so we have this idea we're going to go into Canaan and we're gonna get everybody saved God knows that ain't going to happen you're going to go into Canaan and before long you're gonna be singing praise bail 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 people's 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 sacrifice 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 Steven 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 hardened ears tells them that they always resist the Holy Spirit and connects them with their fathers who engaged in that sort of context or conduct these men understood how do you explain their outrage how do you explain when they cover their ears Nash shoot 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 Stephens argument brethren and Stephens argument with finger in their faces is you are idolaters you're guilty now notice he talks about the father's look at the Solidarity verses 51 and 52 which are the proper verse 52 which of the prophets did your father's not persecute which of the fathers did your father's not person or which of the prophets rather did they not persecute and then he goes on to say and they they killed those of who and they killed those who foretold the coming of the just one he might say well this is hyperbolic I mean come on Steven did every one of the prophets meet their end at the vicious hands of the religious leadership in Israel yeah it wasn't Hittites and Hittites and Gebbie sites taking out the true prophets it wasn't me then around Israel and was it the pagans it wasn't a peg and it slapped my tía 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 earned a well it was a pagan who fetched and out it wasn't a pagan who sawed the Isaiah in - 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 hard but 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 vine dressers well how do these vine dressers deal with the servants that the the vineyard owner sends they beat them they murder them the vine owner or the vine your 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 gonna 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 year 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 that they're upset with Stephen they drive him out of the city and they stone him to death with stones what with what authority by what authority so Jesus telling them what's going to happen and then he says and some of them you will scourge in your 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 they say able to zechariah that's a a-to-z it isn't a tizzy it reflects the Hebrew Canon the book of Genesis and the book of 2nd 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 that you have hurt them and he says in verse 36 as shortly I say to you all these things will come upon this generation and then verse 37 o 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 go back and 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 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 sake and in the scriptures if you're a fool there's an ethical sense and dimension to that when Solomon and he 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 stout demons and perform cures today and tomorrow in 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 father's 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 she Stephens 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 father's 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 father's 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 our humanity with all the essential properties in 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 gonna 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 Peters before the count of 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 other words the just or the righteous one is the one sent by God to save his people from their sins so it exacerbates the guilt of the counsel God sends the one in accordance with the prophets the one that is the just one a 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 brother are not brothers these the way 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 now this is his name by which he will be called the Lord our righteousness and 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 and 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 the charge against the counsel let's look at his evidence provided in support of the qiat in charge verses 52 B and 53 verse 52 which of the fathers did your for which of the prophets rather did your father's 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 saw it Isaiah into 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 Prophet sent by God the just one the righteous one and you did it this way you betrayed him 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 murdered the Lord of glory 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 are 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 one it may not be as crystal clear as it is in the New Testament but the the triune God is there and a Jewish rejection of Jesus Christ they have thrown off Yahweh of Israel that's Stephens point with these men they betrayed and murdered Christ you see it in the Gospel of Matthew we spent a lot of time in the passion narrative they hated him they despised him it's the same counsel brethren Stephens 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 they agree to pay him money and and have him hand it over but not in the pomp and show of the feasts because we don't want a cause of 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 takes them or he brings them into that guard and 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 father's 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 wicked at them you had all that information you had all those promises you had all those prophecies you had eyes it you had Micah you had the wise men from the east telling you and you rejected him out wholesale Stephens made his point brethren III think John Calvin here is terrible I'm sorry John Calvin actually says this he says for as much as Stephen does not expressly answer the points of the accusation this is the ninth sermon on Stephens 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 Kelvin for as much as Stephen does 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 so Calvin is saying Calvin and others suggested at this point the council's already raging the council's already upset the council is already screaming the council is already putting their finger back in his face and 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 their conscience see here's a fundamental difference between a Bible study and preaching Bible studies in form and instruct preachings 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 is that 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 or can't offend anybody but we don't care about the fact that everybody's offended God on a on a regular basis I often cite the prophet Ezekiel and God says to the Prophet that 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 we're supposed to Pat them on the head or we're supposed to say look you're you're resisting Holy Spirit you're stiff neck you're stubborn you're uncircumcised of hardened ears you need to get right brethren I gotta tie it much rather my doctors say it's bad news and here's what it is then 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 will offend them Stephen would be gay be thrown out what do you mean calling them stiff-necked and uncircumcised of hearts we didn't go to the point where doesn't matter if it's true or not it doesn't matter if it's true or I will it's really true that they're stiff neck and answer 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 realized 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 seventeen 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 perhaps 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 banned from Facebook banned 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 Blake Stevens is absolutely appropriate when you're living in Sodom and Gomorrah oh you're just stepping over the line thank speed of God that's not happen here maybe you think it but thankfully you don't email me oh you stepped over all right this happened I couldn't imagine being a pastor in a church where I felt afraid to actually condemn sin 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 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 in 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 it says in Hebrews 2 Stephen says it here in acts 7 when the law is considered as that 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 the blessed benefit they had 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 gonna 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 to tell us that 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 antinomian 'he's just imagine for a moment this group of men oh oh yeah what war then we're the religious elite in israel we have the law we have torah we have the prophets we have all that stuff yet but you've rejected the one that the law and the prophets point to you say you you adhere to that and yet you reject what they're saying that's Jesus argument in John chapter 5 if you believed Moses you 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 GK Beale says after the coming of Christ to think that one was worshipping God in Israel's temple was to worship nothing since God's presence was no longer in the temple not to worship Christ was to refer refused true worship of the true God in the new age see this isn't Butler fell into this it is really what Steven is doing says I'm not anti temple I'm not anti law well he does that his point to their scriptures point to their history now he is saying to them that your anti temple and your anti law in your rejection of the Messiah and your rejection of the just one and your rejection of that prophet or that that man in Jeremiah 23 six 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 in 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 they gather together and they they argue like we see there in John chapter 11 they did they devised a way to betray and murder him it's then that that have neglected that sacred trust in terms of Scripture matthew pool i think see 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 they sued he says there it not really that debt stephen is ultimately murdered shocks us and it produces horror and it causes hopefully some remorse on our part but but that they do it yeah makes sense but they did Isaiah what they did in my care look what they did to Jeremiah 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 gonna despise that that came at the direction of angels we're going to expect that they're gonna 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 defence 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 and 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 Stephens 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 Stephens 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 that I'm sorry 48 41 and 48 however the most high does not dwell in temples made with hands as this contrasts the Old Testament typically this making something with hands is connected to idolatry Stephens already implicitly given them that that dose of the particular charge you're engaged in that which is associated that is 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 that st. the temple and don't think of the God of the temple he has problem with the types of people that we see in First Samuel Chapter four 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 will trot it out into the battlefield and its presence will give us victory over our enemies no that's not 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 Stephens problem is not with Temple Stevens problem is not with law Stephens 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 what Stephen doesn't put his hand in his pocket and sip his lat a and say you know I want to tell you some stories about my life I want to talk 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 it's 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 its 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 Stephens uppermost commitment 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 in 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 MA they know he's a disciple of Christ they know he's a preacher of the gospel they know he's a worshipper of the father through the son in the power of the Holy Spirit fact when he 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 worshipper 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 to Christ as well Stephen was apologetic 'el 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 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 its bigoted it's prejudicial it's unkind unless of course you're damned attacking Christian that's fine that bug you the rank hypocrisy the absolute rank hypocrisy at the congresswoman in America last week said oh the Democrats and the Republicans and I'm not you know advocating well it's to the point the Democratic Party is a part of the party of infanticide I don't know 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 well we don't engage in name-calling like those xenophobic racists in the Republican Party you just called means that didn't you and this just goes over everybody's head and if you say anything you're the you're the odd man out you see his preaching was polemic you stiff-necked and uncircumcised of hardened ears you always resist the Holy Spirit you're wrong and I'm gonna 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 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 gen 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 said you stiff-necked and uncircumcised of hardened ears you always resist the Holy that took courage brethren I hope that you pray that God raises up men for gospel ministry I really do I hope that's I hope I don't even have to keep reminding us Verna needs a pastor other churches need pastors I mean we could have you know ten twenty thirty four more elders here remember when Joshua says oh they're prophesying as if to alert Moses of a problem notice it 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 apologetically 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 Parenthood's the the Congress men and women or the MPs that that can't think themselves out of a paper bag but are in charge of big things it's not just that this is 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 that you know there's all idea a lot of ideas about what worldliness is you know what is indicative of what worldliness too is when the people of God in 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 world link a world wing it's in the church it's in the kind of uncomfort what 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 that and humble themselves too bad they didn't flee to the savior that Stephen was preaching to that 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 it in the person in 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 steep speech and this defense of Stephen the 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 the Lord our righteousness me sinners here 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 gathered 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 close with a brief time of meditate and then be dismissed