Unstoppable
Notes
Transcript
Unstoppable
Unstoppable
Intro
Stephen Shows us what living a Christlike life will look like.
And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.
Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen.
But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.
Full of Grace, Power, and Wisdom
We are reintroduced to this man Stephen. He is one of the seven that originally was called to serve the Hellenistic Jewish widows.
We see that the scriptures describe him as being full of grace and of power.
Earlier in v. 5 we see that he is full of faith and the HS.
So what we can tell about Stephen from these first few descriptors is that he believed and in that belief he was empowered to live a life like Jesus.
He is the only person outside of Jesus and the Apostles that was given the power to great wonders and signs.
He was blessed by God to help heal and provide miracles.
As we have seen in this book the importance of this is that these signs and wonders always point to something greater than themselves.
Stephen wasn’t making much of himself he was making much of Christ.
He was making Christ known and God was using these signs and wonders to aid in that reality.
As a follower of Christ we also see that He was full of the wisdom that comes from God.
This is a key characteristic of those that follow Christ closely they are wise.
Wisdom comes from God and he gives it freely to those who ask an seek his face.
Wisdom is something that we should be asking for consistently and constantly.
If we want to live a life that glorifies Christ, and we should want that, we should be asking for and seeking God’s Wisdom.
This wisdom empowered Stephen to speak the truth to those who accused him of wrong.
Wisdom is truth in action. Stephe held knew the truth, held onto the truth, and spoke the truth and those who brought forth lies could not stand against him.
They could not dispute the truth.
These disputes happened in the synagogue of the Freedmen.
This was a synagogue full of people who either used to be slaves or were the children of slaves.
These were the Hellenistic Jews that we talked about last week.
Men and Women who came from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia.
And because they couldn’t stand against his God given wisdom, they chose to become a lying opposition.
Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”
And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council,
and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law,
for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”
And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Standing Firm Against Lying Opposition
These men in the synagogue hated the truth so much that they thought that lying would be the solution.
They were okay with violating the law of God to win an argument.
They wanted to “sin to win” and this wasn’t just any sin. This was a complete violation of one of the big 10
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
So they brought up false statements from false witnesses against Stephen.
Their essential argument is Stephen is standing against Moses and God.
He is attacking their idea of what the law means and where God resides. Where his presence is located (this place=temple)
Stephen is confronting and challenging all the things that they believe about God and the law (much like Jesus did) and it is infuriating those present.
However, during these accusations we see something astounding.
v.15 his face was like the face of an angel.
He looked as one who was standing in the presence of God Almighty.
We see this happen one other time in Scripture.
It occurs in Exodus 34:29-35. Where Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai with the 10 Commandments.
This is a picture of Stephen being in the absolute presence of God. That it radiated from his face to those around him.
Transition
3. Acts 7:1-53
Confronting Sinful Ignorance
Stephen is asked if these accuasations are true.
Stephen is going to use the History and Stories of the OT to prove to the those present that
God is Not tied down to a single location (the temple)
There is a pattern of rebellion and rejection of the deliverers that God has provided for his people.
His initial response is to show these men some respect. He callse them Brothers and Fathers.
He is making an appeal out of love. He wants them to know that he isn’t hostile toward them as they are towards him.
He first argues for that fact that God is not a Tribal God. He is not locked down to one location.
The temple isn’t a house to contain God but a place where worship occurs.
He does this by appealing to these men and the Scriptures they believe.
He is going to argue that the people of God are to be pilgrims in this world.
God’s people are a pilgrim people b/c this earth is not our home. We have a citizenship in the dwelling place of God.
We are sojourners in a foreign land waiting to enter into the land that is our true home.
First, he brings up Abraham. v. 2-8
And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’
Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.
Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child.
And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years.
‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’
And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
Confronting Sinful Ignorance
Abraham is after all the Father of the Israelites if he didn’t exist there would have been no Israel. No History. No Worship of this One true God.
We have to remember, as Stephen reminds these men, that Abraham was chosen out of a pagan world.
His family and him most likely worshipped a false God before his calling.
God choosing Abraham didn’t happen in a sacred land. It didn’t happen in or around Jerusalem it happened in Mesopatamia.
God appeared to him in a foreign land. God appeared to him in a land full of pagans.
God never allowed Abraham to settle in the land that he was promised.
“not even a foot’s length”
This land that was promised to Father Abraham was not dwelt in by him...
And Yet he was loved by, provided for, and rightoues in the sight of God.
He wasn’t holy b/c he worshipped God in a specific land. He was made holy b/c of his faith in God.
He marked his covenant not with a land but with the fulfilment of a promise in the form of offspring and through circumcision.
Stephen then moves on to speaking about the Israelite history in Egypt first with Joseph and with Moses.
God hadn’t abandoned his people when they were in Egypt. He heard their cries. He saw their pain. He was still their God.
“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him
and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.
Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food.
But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit.
And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh.
And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all.
And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers,
and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
Confronting Sinful Ignorance
Joseph was the first deliverer that was rejected by the Israelite people.
They were Jealous of him. They hated him b/c God had favor on Him.
So what did they do they sold him into slavery and allowed him to be exiled from them
They cut him off from the family. He was exiled to Egypt to endure hard times, false accuasations, and ultimatly b/c of the grace of God become powerful and influencial in the foreign nation.
God was still with Him. God was still blessing him. Though he was rejected by man and in a land not tied to the “Worship of God” he was still found favorable in God’s sight.
But God used the man they rejected to provide salvation for them.
There was a drought and famine in the land and b/c of God’s Providence and Omniscience he prompted Joseph to save stockpiles of food for sustanence in Egypt.
After a time all of these founding fathers died, and even their bodies aren’t buried in the percieved holy land.
They are not tied to the Holy Land and yet they are still revered, respected, and exalted by the Jewish People.
Finally, Stephen moves on to talk about Moses. vs. 19-43
He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive.
At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house,
and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.
And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.
“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.
He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.
And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’
But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.
When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord:
‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look.
Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.
This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’
This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us.
Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt,
saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.
But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: “ ‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
Confronting Sinful Ignorance
Moses is a big one for these men. He was the bringer of the Law.
He had direct access to God. He was the one on whom they had built their religion and convictions.
If you spoke wrong of Moses, You were speaking wrong of God.
That is why it is important to notice that the charges against Stephen include speaking against Moses.
Moses resume wasn’t that great either.
He was raised by pagans and grew in wisdom under their teaching.
Wisdom again is a gift of God and Moses recieved this wisdom while being instructed by those who stood against God and his people.
He was also Mighty in his words and deeds.
At Forty he came to visit the “children of Israel.”
He saw their pain and suffering. He saw the cruelty thrust upon them by the Egyptian Slave Drivers.
He wanted to save them. He wanted to free them.
During this first visit, Moses defended one of his Brothers and ended up killing an Egyptian in the process.
When came to reconcile two brothers in an argument they asked if he was going to kill them like he did the Egyptian.
He was rejected by those he came to save. They didn’t recognize him as their savior and deliverer so he
Moses then fled into the land of Midian away from God’s people for another 40 years. Tending sheep and living a life separated from his biological family.
He had his own Family in this foreign land with a Forgein Wife and Lived a Foreign life.
After another 40 years God Showed up to Moses in that Foreign land.
This is powerful. God showed up to Moses in the form of a burning Bush.
God revealed himself to Moses. God revealed his Name to Moses. God Revealed his plan to Moses.
All in a Foreign land.
God Told Moses to Remove his sandles b/c where he stood was holy ground.
The ground in the desert was holy b/c God was there.
God’s presence is what makes something holy not it’s location. Not it’s function. Not anything except the presence of God.
This building isn’t holy. It’s a building. God’s presenece is holy. He lives in each of his followers. That is why we can be called holy. B/c he lives in us.
Holy ground is anywhere the Lord is present. B/c He is holy.
Moses with the calling and power of God saved the Israelites out of Slavery to the Egyptians and performed wonders and signs that pointed to Salvation Coming from the Lord.
For 40 more years, Moses leadership was tested. His competance was put on trial.
The Israelites rejected God’s Law and worshipped a golden calf. They rejected Moses.
They groaned and complained about the mighty provision of God.
They traded the truth for a lie and God turned them over to their sinful desires.
Their worship of idols led to their ultimate isolation and rejection of God. They didn’t want the God of truth they desired false Gods.
Finally, Stephen reminds those present that their place of worship was originally built to be moved.
“Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen.
Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David,
who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
But it was Solomon who built a house for him.
Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,
“ ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?
Did not my hand make all these things?’
Confronting Sinful Ignorance
The first place of worship built by the Israelites was tent that could be constructed and deconstructed to move around at will.
God was not confined to this tent.
He did not cease to exist when the tent was rolled up and on the move.
God is not the God of a tent, a building, or a place. He is the God of the universe.
He is not bound to things the way that people are. He is outside of time, space, and material.
He does not live where we put him (though often times we wished he did) He goes where he pleases. He does as he pleases b/c he is God-holy, transcendent, and worthy of all creations worship.
Transition
Reversed Charges
“You stiff-necked people, 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 announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,
you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
Reversed Charges
Steven then reveals what he has meant to say up to this point.
He isn’t the problem. The disciples aren’t the Problem. Jesus isn’t the Problem
The problem is their unbelief.
The Problem is that they are no different from their Fathers who killed the prophets.
And now they are breaking the Law they are claiming to hold on to.
They are repeating the pattern of their Fathers. Rejecting the one that has come to deliver them.
Not just Rejecting him, but murdering him.
They are stiff necked and unable to see what is staring them in the Face Salvation by and through the Son of God.
They are rejecting him just like their fathers rejected Joseph, Moses, and the prophets.
Now they are no better than the unbelieveing Israel. They are Law breakers and God rejecters.
These accusations anger those present and they decide to add one more murder to their list.
Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.
But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him.
Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Sacrificial Martyrdom
There is a raging anger inside the accusers hearts. They are grinding their teeth.
One transaltion says gnashing their teeth…we have heard that before.
They are angry at the truth before them.
They are angry b/c they cannot combat what Stephen is saying.
They are angry b/c they lost the argument.
So they make a choice to murder Stephen b/c of his beliefs.
But Stephen sees something amazing before his accusers murder him that actually enrages them even more.
He proclaims that he sees Jesus Standing at God’s Right Hand.
This is interesting b/c we normally hear about Jesus Sitting at God’s right hand.
So what does this mean?
We aren’t really sure, but many people believe (along with myself) that Jesus is about to welcome Stephen home.
That b/c he didn’t deny Jesus before men that Jesus is demonstrating his approval of Stephen and isn’t going to deny him before the Father.
This enrages the accusers all the more and they rush him and throw him outside to commence the stoning.
Let’s not ignore the reality of this stoning.
They were not throwing pebbles at Stephen.
They were trying to kill him. They were throwing rocks as big as they could handle.
Crushing his bones. Lacerating his skin.
Damaging his internal Organs.
This is not a pleasant way to die.
Stephen called out to Jesus to recieve his spirit.
He was ready to go home. He was ready to enter into the loving embrace of his savior.
He was ready to leave this life and move on to the next one.
But he didn’t stop there. Much like Jesus, he asked that these men be forgiven for what they are doing. He asks that Jesus would forgive them and accept them into his family.
And after he cried for their forgiveness…he fell asleep.
This is obviously a euphmism for death, but it is profound.
This phrase used often in the early church had at its core the hope of the resurrection.
Much like we fall asleep every night hoping to wake up the next morining. The early church had hope in the resurrection b/c they saw Jesus after his death.
This is the hope of the believer that at the end of this life we will be with Jesus until we get our new bodies, on the renewed earth and get to spend eternity with God.
Stephen showed us what a Christlike life should look like.
He was empowered by the HS
He stood firm on the Word of God and defended his convictions about the Scriptures and Jesus.
He suffered like Jesus. A death so horrible.
He also asked for forgiveness for his accusers and murderers.
This story of Stephen’s death my sound horrible. It may sound harsh. It may be unpalatable to our sensibilities.
But I want you to remember what we talked about way back at the beginning of this series.
These things are happening in the Church so that God’s Mission can move forward.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
This event is the catalyst for the gospel leaving Jerusalem and spreading to the ends of the earth.
And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.
But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Scattered
After Stephen’s death, persecution in the church ramps up.
People are taken from their homes, thrown in prison. Beaten, murdered, and probably worse b/c of their faith.
So people start to flee this center of the church in Jerusalem.
Luke uses this word “scattered” to represent what was happening.
This word is an interesting choice b/c it is normally used when someone is planting seed.
They are scattering the seed for the specific reason of growth.
This is what is happening people are gathered in Jerusalem to be Scattered to other parts of the world so that the Gospel will Grow.
We see an important character show up during this narrative. A young Saul.
He is present at Stephen’s Murder. He watched him get stoned.
He Agrees with the murder of Stephen. And then he begins to ravage and destroy the homes of believers.
This is important b/c this young man Saul later becomes Paul.
The apostle. The one who becomes a witness for Jesus to the gentiles.
The one who wrote most of the NT.
Stephen’s prayer for forgiveness is answered. His prayer is heard.
Saul is forgiven for what he did.
I want you to know that you are never too far from the grace of God.
You cannot out sin God’s grace.
There is far more grace in God then sin in us.
You don’t have to clean yourself up. You don’t have to make yourself right.
In fact, no matter how hard you try you can never accomplish it.
But God can and he will if you submit your life to him.
Whether you are a Christian, you’re confused, or you are curious God loves you.
He wants to be in a relationship with you.
He wants you to rest in his grace.
He wants you to rest in his love.
He wants you to be like him.
Give up yourself and follow in his footsteps.
Let’s Pray.