The Acts of the Apostles 32

Subtitle: The Stoning of Stephen II

Acts 7:57-60.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 22, 2023.

Last week, we looked at Stephen's conclusion to his defense before the Sanhedrin, the highest council of Israel.  He tells them that they are resisting the Holy Spirit just like their forefathers did.  He tells them that they have betrayed and murdered the Righteous One, which had to be a hard hit to them.  Lastly, he tells them that they have not obeyed the law.

Each of these hits on an area that they would have thought they were performing well.  They prided themselves in having received the law and meticulously obeying it and teaching it to others.  They would have prided themselves in waiting for the Messiah and teaching others to wait for him in righteousness.  They would have thought that they of all people were not resisting the Holy Spirit, but instead, were doing what God had told them to do through Moses.

However, this isn't the first time that they have heard this.  Jesus took them to task on this.  Peter and John had also said similar things when they were before the Sanhedrin. 

Regardless, if Stephen's charges aren't enough to precipitate his stoning, his description of a vision of God's throne in the heavens pushes them over the edge.  This time Gamaliel doesn't step in.  Is he enraged too?  Or, has he decided that he has pressed his honor far enough, and won't take the risk with this angry group?

There is a powerful spiritual dynamic at work here.  God deals with us as individuals, but at the same time, we are often part of groups.  It is impossible to avoid the group dynamics that can catch us up in a wave of emotional response.

We might even take a moment to ask the question if Stephen should have toned it down a little.  Was Stephen being too judgmental?  Judge not lest you be judged?  In truth, that verse gets quoted a lot by people who use it as a moral cloak.  It is simply a warning to make sure your judgments are righteous because, when you stand before God, He will take the manner of your judgments into consideration.  You were harsh?  Then, He will be harsh.  You were merciful?  Then, He will be merciful.

There are times when God speaks strongly to us.  He does this because He loves us.  Stephen spoke some hard words, but they were from the heart of God who wanted these men to hear the truth.  He loved them enough to tell them the truth.

On the other hand, these men have to be careful how they judge, which looks like they merely judged by emotions.  This is the problem with the accusation that someone is being judgmental.  Even that accusation is itself a judgment.  If you are using it simply to stiff-arm dealing with your stuff, then you are not doing yourself any favors.  Ultimately, we will all stand before God, so it doesn't matter what the other person says.  It only matters what God says.  If God can speak through a donkey, then he can even speak through a sinner who isn't completely right.  Don't shield yourself with platitudes.  Instead, turn to God in prayer and seek the truth.

Let's look at our passage.

The reaction of the Sanhedrin (vs. 57-60)

The council had been listening to a man filled with the Spirit and exposing their sin.  What would their reaction be?  Would it be to fall on their face and cry out to God for repentance?  No, like a pot coming to a boil, the Holy Spirit has been convicting them of sin, and they do not like it.

Verse 54 tells us that the council members were cut to the heart, and they "gnashed at him with their teeth."  This may sound bad, but at least there was a reaction.  It was proof that the Holy Spirit was breaking through to them.  Of course, we don't want to try and make people mad on purpose, but when people do explode in anger, just know that the Spirit of God has touched a nerve.

Hebrews 4:12 says, "the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  God's word through Stephen pierced their heart, and when that happens we can become quite uncomfortable.

Paul tells us in Romans 1:16 that he wasn't ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus because it is the power of salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and then to the Gentiles.  We have all had the Holy Spirit convict us of sin.  How we respond is the critical thing.

Like parents dealing with a stubborn and resistant child, God deals with the reality that we need truth inserted into our life, but outward conformity isn't good enough.  Is my highest goal for my child that they not embarrass me in public; that they protect my "brand?"  No, the real issue is always the internal for God and for any parent who truly loves their child.

When the truth finally cuts through to the heart of a child or an adult, you will always get a big reaction, whether for good or bad.  It may seem harsh sometimes when a person is angry or crying, but God wants our hearts, and without the conviction of the Holy Spirit no true work can be done.  Praise God that this is exactly what He does (see John 16:8).  When God convicts a person, it is not about pushing that person down.  Rather, it is Him pleading with them.  "Why will you die?  Take my hand!"

Sadly, instead of falling on their faces in repentance, they covered their ears, cast him out of the city and stoned him.

Perhaps they are crying out, "Blasphemy!" as they did with Jesus in Matthew 26.  They may also be trying to shout him down, since they categorically reject that he is actually seeing the throne of God.

Also, they cover their ears, somewhat to keep from hearing more, and somewhat as a symbolic showing that they reject what he is saying.  Then, they rush at him.

All of these descriptions fall short of godly judgment of godly men.  However, the worst description to me is the phrase "in one accord."  It was if they were a single organism working with one purpose and one passion.  Unity is important precisely because the thing that unifies us can be bad or good.  I don't like one word mottoes like: Unity!  Love!  Equality!  They beg too many questions.  Unity around what?  Love of what, and how is this love defined?  What do you mean by equality? 

These men were just as unified as the 120 disciples were in the upper room of Acts 1-2.  However, a different spirit was animating and unifying them.  It reminds of that scene in Fyodor Dostoevsky's book The Possessed.  It is set in Tsarist Russia before the Bolshevik revolution.  A fire is set in a rundown section of town and everyone is scrambling to put out the fire.  A man who was demonstrably crazy throughout the book is running around yelling, "You can't put out the fire.  It's in the minds of men!"  Of course, no one is listening to him.  He's a crazy man, but it is the most salient point in the book.  The communist revolutionaries were seized upon by a fiery idea that would unify them to horrible things.

Groups, crowds, and protests can be powerful for good, but they can also be powerful for evil.  What spirit is animating the group?  More importantly, what spirit is animating me?  If the Spirit of God is animating me, then I will know if I run into a group that is not.  Of course, the Pharisees believe that they are led by God's Spirit too.  So now, we can have an event where one side says they have the Spirit and the other side says, no, we have the Spirit, a spiritual stand-off.

Some people become frustrated with such things and just walk away, even from church altogether.  How can you know who has the Spirit?  You make sure that you are in connection with God's Spirit, and if you aren't sure, then get out of the group, go home, get on your knees, and pray until you find God.  Time always proves what side has the Spirit of God.  In fact, sometimes neither side has the Spirit of God.  Yes, it is hard and difficult to go through such things, but it is the call of God to grow up in Christ.  Make sure for yourself that you are being led by the Holy Spirit, and leave the rest up to God.

As the group begins to stone Stephen, Luke brings our attention to young Saul of Tarsus.  Chapter eight will begin to describe an outbreak of persecution upon the Christians, and Saul was a zealous tip of the spear in it.  There it says that Saul was "consenting to his death." 

In this passage, it says that they laid their outer cloaks at his feet.  He would be the guarding them as they focus on stoning Stephen.  Someone could steal them.  Similar to playing sports at the park, it is hard to watch your stuff while you are playing.  Typically, you get a friend to watch it.

Saul didn't throw any stones, but he was an accessory to the murder of Stephen.  Of course, he was probably glad to be part of cleansing Israel for God.  However, later he would look back on this moment and see himself as the chief of sinners.

Have you ever done that, looked back at your life and saw just how blind you really were?  Often, it is not just blindness, but wickedness too.  Saul would go by Paul after his salvation.  He realized that he had been the worst of the worst, and yet, God loved him.

What do you do when you know how wicked you have been, how resistant and rebellious, and yet God calls you, and tells you that He loves you?  We can protest that God doesn't know how bad we really are, but the truth is that He knows that we are even worse than we believe we are.  Yet, He still loves you.  Why?  How?  There is no real answer to that.  Try to tell your spouse, or kids why you love them.  You will end up with a list that seems trite.  Even if you say that you love them because they are so lovable, it dredges up the inevitable question.  What if you find out who I really am, an unlovable person?  You don't have to have a why when your kid is born.  You love them.  You don't know what their life will be like, but you love them.  However, God knows everything about us, past, present and future.  Yet, He still loves us.  He died on a cross for you, just as He died on the cross for Saul of Tarsus, and even Caiaphas.  God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should have eternal life.

In Stephen, God was goading and pleading with those men that day to accept the Truth about who Jesus was, and still could be in their lives.  We should be thankful to God that we are not stuck in the truth of what we were, or even what we are today, any more than Saul was stuck being a blind persecutor of God's people.

Let's finish by looking at the last words of Stephen.  The scene is a loud and angry one, and yet, Stephen is serene in the face of it.  Surrounded by hatred and people throwing stones at him, he demonstrates the love of Christ through his actions and words.

This is easier said than done.  There is a spirit of rage moving in the crowd that can be infectious to both sides.  It doesn't matter if you are right.  You can be caught up in a spirit of fighting and arguing that is not of God.  Now, you both are wrong.  However, Stephen does not rail against them.  He simply cries out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"  He is not calling down fire from heaven upon them.  He knows that he is about to go home to his lord.

Jesus had told the Pharisees within the hearing of the disciples that he would send prophets and wise men to them and that they would kill some of them.  So, these men knew that they had signed up for something that could cost them their life.

Stephen had come to the end of his race, and now the only thing left was to run through the tape into the arms of an awaiting Jesus!  It is interesting to me that it was a Hellenized Jew who was the first to die for Christ.  I don't think this was to slight Peter, nor was it to protect him.  Peter would give his life around 30 years later.

Regardless, for the believer in Jesus, to die is to be present with Jesus at the throne room of God the Father.  Stephen has lived a life that was a witness to the Truth of Jesus, and now he will give the ultimate witness by dying for Christ.  Jesus is worth dying for and he is worth living for.  In fact, it is only a person who has lived for Christ who can die for him.  They both go hand in hand, like two sides of the same coin.

Lastly, Stephen stays true to form by giving words of mercy to those who are killing him.  "Lord do not hold this sin against them."  It is clear that he is thinking about the death of Jesus.  Jesus committed his spirit unto the Father, and asked the Father to forgive those killing him because they didn't know what they were actually doing.  He perfectly images the Father in this moment because He is perfectly imaging Jesus, who perfectly imaged the Father.  I hope you followed that.

How could he do that?  He is unjustly being put to death by wicked men.  Clearly, the death and resurrection of Jesus had changed his mind about what his job in this life was.  His job wasn't to get justice, or rail against wickedness.  His job was to be a witness to the lost of the love of God that is calling to them even as they murder a man.  Stephen refused to become bitter, hateful, and angry.

Of course, this doesn't mean God will not judge.  In fact, it is precisely because God will judge that we can show mercy.  As long as they are alive, they can repent, turn from their sins, and put their faith in Jesus Christ.

Do I really believe that God is not willing that any should perish, even those throwing stones at me right now?  Do I really believe that He wants to hold out His hands offering peace through me, even those who are mistreating me?  How can a person have this kind of attitude?

We can only have this attitude by dying to our desires and plans, and asking God to fill us with His desires and plans by His Holy Spirit.  Only the Spirit of God can enable a person to love their murderer and pray for their forgiveness.  "Oh God, do in me what I cannot do in myself!"  Everyday people are slipping into eternity lost, and it breaks the heart of God.  Can it break mine too?  It can if I will seek to be filled with the Spirit of God, and His love.

Stoning II audio

The Acts of the Apostles 31

Subtitle: The Stoning of Stephen I

Acts 7:51-56.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 15, 2023.

As Stephen's defense comes to a close, we come to a bitter sweet event.  In some ways, this is an awesome story.  Stephen is standing up for Christ like a mighty warrior.  He is a good image of Jesus.  This here is some good imaging of our Lord.  At the same time, Stephen is winning the martyr's crown.

Yet, this story is also sad.  It is sad because he will be executed for believing in Jesus Christ as the Anointed Savior for Israel and for the whole world.  It is sad because the grace of God was rejected that day.

It is sweet because Stephen dies, and death holds no terrors for the believer.  O, yes, it does hold terror for our flesh.  We may all want to go to heaven to be with Jesus, but it is the dying part that makes us squeamish.  Not all deaths are equal.  Some pull their feet up into bed at night, go to sleep, and never wake up.  That's almost cheating!  However, others come to death through great torture and pain.

I have been reading about the Scottish Covenanters in the AD 1600s.  They were tortured greatly before being put to death, simply for not yielding to a king's demand that they worship Jesus in a particular way.  Yet, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord where there is no pain and suffering.  To be die is to be free from the battles against sin and wickedness.

Yet, we must be careful.  Yes, I long to be with Jesus, but the battle for saving souls is important.  It was important enough for Jesus to come down and fight it with us.  In fact, he fought for us when we were without strength.  There is something good in the battle.  It helps us to be more like him.  Our day of vindication will come from the Lord in due time.

It is sad because in this one moment they will prove the words of Stephen, and in this one act, they will make his case for him.  They could have repented, but instead, they did to him what they had done to Jesus before him.

Let's look at our passage.

The conclusion of Stephen's defense (vs 51-56)

Stephen comes to the end of his defense with a very hard conclusion.  He tells them that they are resisting the Holy Spirit like their ancestors before them.  On top of this, he declares that they are uncircumcised in heart and ears.

These men would be shocked by such a statement.  Circumcision was an outward sign that they were a part of the covenant of Moses, a son of the law.  Not to be circumcised would be to have no inheritance in Israel.  Neither was this just a male thing.  Women were part of the inheritance through only marrying circumcised men.   

Yet, in Deuteronomy, Moses made it clear that this pointed to a spiritual thing.  God wanted them to circumcise their hearts.  Stephen adds the idea of circumcised ears here.  What does it mean?  It is a part of my nature that keeps me from hearing and being touched by what God is saying and doing.  It needs to be cut away so that we can be sensitive to God.  If I want to be able to hear God, then I must remove from myself that flesh which keeps me from hearing God.  We could use any of the senses, such as eyesight.  If I want to see God, feel God, then I need to take up the sword of the spirit and do my own spiritual circumcision.

When Stephen mentions that they are resisting the Holy Spirit just like their ancestors, it reminds me of times when one parent will say to the other, "Do you know what YOUR child did?"  These are Stephen's ancestors too.  Also, we can note that not all of their ancestors resisted the Holy Spirit.

It might be good to go back through Stephen's defense and not all the people who resisted the Holy Spirit and all those who were obedient to the Holy Spirit.  In fact, you could say that Israel came about as a nation because Nimrod led a rebellion against the Spirit of God.

Stephen's argument starts with Abraham.  God cast away the nations because of their rebellion, but then turns around and says to him, "Abram, come follow me!"  Abram believed God and receives the promise that will lead to the nation Israel, and the promise to bless the nations.

What about the patriarchs?  God raised up Joseph and gives him some special dreams.  The Spirit of God was on this boy!  But, what happens?  His brothers don't like it.  They persecute him, and no doubt, in their minds they are only persecuting a spoiled brat kid who thinks he is better than them.  However, they are resisting the Holy Spirit.  They could have said, "Hallelujah, God is really working through our little brother!  Maybe, I should get to a place where God can use me too."  Or, they could have said, "God is with our brother.  Let's help him and we will participate in the great thing that God is doing through him."  Instead, they hated "Little Joe," and wanted to kill him.

Do you remember Moses?  The people resisted Moses from the beginning even unto the end.  This same thing happens throughout their history.  God shows up and calls prophets, priests, and kings, and the nation resists.  This pattern of small groups touched by God and faithful to him, a repentant remnant, countered by a large group who are resistant and rebellious.

By the way, we should pay attention to the parable of Ishmael and Isaac.  The whole point is that it is not enough to be genetically descended from Abram.  The blessing would be upon those who were born of a miracle of God.  This child of the flesh contrasted to the child that is a miracle from God is meant for us to understand what God is doing.  What Abraham could not produce in his flesh, God produced by His Spirit.  We are all born of the will of a man and woman, of the flesh, an Ishmael.  But, the good news is that we can choose to be born again by putting our faith in God, in Jesus.  The physical birth cannot save us, only the spiritual birth can. 

Stephen is making the same spiritual point that Jesus made in John 8:37-47.  Go ahead and read it.  I will wait for you.....

Essentially Jesus tells them that they claim to be from Abraham, but they don't do the things that Abraham did.  Nothing went wrong in their genetics.  They are biologically descended from Abraham, but Jesus doesn't even bother with that part of the point.  He jumps right to the problem.  You are imaging your true father the devil.

This is not a physical thing that you are stuck in.  Some people try to make a big deal about the serpent-seed and people literally being children of the devil.  Or, some through theology make it out like you have no choice.  You were either born a child of the devil or of God.  You can't do anything about it.  That is not what I see in the Bible.  If you give the Bible to a farmer, or a shepherd, and they read the Bible, they will come to the conclusion that we have a real choice.  These guys had the Law of God and the witness of the prophets, but they refused to come into a spiritual relationship with the God of Abraham.  They remained children of the flesh instead of children born of a spiritual act of God.

I don't think any of the men on the Sanhedrin that day were purposefully choosing to image the devil, although it is possible some were mere posers.  Most likely they had fallen into it because they refused to have that relationship with God where they believed Him with all their heart.  They had been born into a system and a way of doing things that they didn't build.  I am sure that God was poking and prodding their hearts along the way.  Yet, they continued on without finding out what God was trying to say.  If you don't image God, you will automatically fall into imaging the devil.  You may start out trying to image your "true inner self."  However, the devil will manipulate you all day long.  He is the father of all rebellion.

This same dynamic exists in the Church.  It is not enough to be physically born into a church, or physically go to a church.  It is not enough to say with our lips that we love Jesus.  We must embrace Him in our heart and learn from him by taking his yoke upon us.  "Yes, Lord.  I will quit pulling my way, and will start pulling your way."  A young ox who is not used to using a yoke will be yoked in with an older experienced ox.  I wonder who the older experienced ox is with whom we are yoked?  It's Jesus!  And, believe me; he does the heavy lifting!

You may not like choosing sides, but sometimes God forces the issue through moral dilemmas that come our way.  Don't wait until you get into the moral dilemma.  Start today drawing near to God in prayer and seeking His readiness for the trials that lie ahead of us.

In verse 52, Stephen points out the unsavory truth.  Those ancestors persecuted the prophets and killed those who prophesied the coming of the Righteous One, the Messiah.  This was a common occurrence.  Later they would gather the writings of the prophet and decorate their grave like a shrine.  They might even have a holiday to remember old Saint Elijah et. al.  One might make the argument that none of these prophets were perfect.  How could God blame them for persecuting them.  Of course, we will embrace the Righteous One when he comes.  This bluff came to an end with Jesus.  He was the ultimate litmus test.  They had practiced so well with all of the prophets.  How could they not persecute and kill the Righteous One?

Had these guys learned the lesson?  Of course not.  They are now doing the same to the disciples of Jesus, and Stephen here.

Then we have the charge again.  You have betrayed and murdered Messiah (vs 52).  It is one thing to persecute or kill a servant of Messiah, but quite another to kill the Messiah.  It is not like God has a six-pack of Messiahs that He can send if we fail to recognize the first, second, third, etc.  They had been drawing near to God with their lips while their hearts remained far from Him.  Yet, the Lord is faithful in every generation.

How can you process the reality that you just killed the only Hope that God sent to fix everything wrong with this earth?  Sometimes we think that we are boxed in, that we can never yield and confess just how wrong and sinful we have been.  We might develop a kind of cognitive dissonance that fights against us accepting the impossible truth.  However, this is the very path of salvation.  God is so loving that He simply wants us to quit posing long enough to be truly converted.  Converted simply means to turn around.  It begins with the revelation of the Truth that I have not been in right relationship with God.  What will I do with that?  What should I do with that?  I should have a change of mind where I agree with God's Word, with God's Spirit, and I should confess with my mouth that His way is righteous and the only way for me.  I should turn around and follow Jesus by doing those actions of repentance to which he leads me.

Then in verse 53, he accuses them of not obeying the law that they pretended to be upholding and teaching others to obey.  In essence, they were frauds.  No one likes being called a fraud in public, and those who have power don't like it even more.  If someone were to stand up within the State of the Union speech in the House of Representatives and declare that everyone in that building were frauds, that they were not obeying the Constitution of these united States of America, it would not be received well.  That person would be bagged and tagged within seconds and the long knives would come out in every facet of our society.

The reality is that people like this have come to believe their own press.  They would say...  "The Constitution is what we say it is," just as these men would say, "The Law is what we say it is!  Who do you think you are?"

Yes, being exposed is never easy, but it is the only path back to life, to repentance, to Jesus.  Only the Truth can set you free!

At this point the leaders are gnashing their teeth at Stephen.  It is not going well.  If you were a preacher,  you would be praying, "Lord, what can I say to turn this around?"  It is at this point that God does a strange thing.  He gives Stephen a vision of the throne of God in heaven.  He see the Glory of God on the throne and Jesus standing at His right hand.  Stephen is so caught up in the surprise of it that he blurts out what he sees.  Like young Joseph who was excited to share his dream, but didn't understand completely the implications of sharing it, so Stephen goes from life to death.  God knew the hearts of the patriarchs and if they really knew God then they would have gladly bowed down to their little brother.  Why?  We would do so because we would know beyond the shadow of a doubt that whatever God has for me to do will make me more like Him.  It will increase my resemblance to Him and give me communion with He who is Life itself!  This Sanhedrin could not accept what Stephen said he saw.  If he wasn't already a dead man, this would seal the deal.

Why would God do that?  Jesus had warned the leaders of Israel in Matthew 23:34 that he would send them prophets and wise men, and that they would kill some of them.  If they thought Jesus was a one and done thing, and that they wouldn't have to make such a hard choice again, they were wrong.  God in His mercy will keep bringing us back around to repentance.  We may not like it, but He loves us too much not to try!  No one will be able to say on that day, "God, You didn't try hard enough!"  No, God puts us in a tighter and tighter place, forcing us to make a decision.  Which side am I on?

It doesn't matter who God uses to deliver.  What matters is that our God is great and can give us victory through anything.  He can use the guy who isn't even in the army.  He's just a young man bringing lunch for his older brothers.  Then he hears the big giant bellow while all of Israel is shaking in their tents in fear.  Perhaps they are all saying, "When is Saul going to go out and fight him?"  Yet, Saul is no doubt saying, "There is no way I can go out there and fight him!"  Saul who was head and shoulders above the men of Israel did not have enough of God to stand up that day.  Yet, the Spirit of God rises up in the young man David.  "Who is this uncircumcised (pause and think about that for a minute) Philistine to slander our God?"  Was there not 1 circumcised male in Israel who could have stood up to Goliath that day?  Why did God have to bring forth a young boy with lunch for his brothers?  Isn't the story greater because God uses an untrained fighter to take out a giant?  Doesn't it make the God of Israel even more awesome?  The truth is that it is kind of fun when God uses the least of us to spoil the enemy.  It shows His power instead of ours.  It puts fear in the hearts of our enemies in a way that defeat at the hands of Saul could have never done.

In our flesh, we become stuck on things like this.  Perhaps, it is because we just aren't quite converted yet; we haven't been bold enough to circumcise our heart yet.  Praise God that He is always working to bring us back to Him.

You might feel like God isn't doing you any favors, or only making it worse.  "Why did You let that happen, Lord.  Why did You do that?"  However, at the same time, it is the greatest grace of God to us.  Stephen was a blessed angel of Truth to this Sanhedrin.  The blazing, white-hot Truth about how they could participate in the Kingdom of God!  If we could only surrender to Him, we will later look back and see His great love drawing us in the perfect direction.  How blind am I?  Saul didn't know how blind he had been until Jesus knocked him off of his high horse, and blinded his eyes.

Maybe, I am fighting the very thing that is God's grace in my life.  Perhaps, this is the wisdom behind the verse, "In everything give thanks!"

Let's be honest.  Everyone of us has resisted and rebelled against the Holy Spirit at one time or another in our life.  Yet, the love of God didn't quit on you, and He doesn't quit on others.  It is His mercy.  He is not easily offended.  In truth, He cannot be offended.  He can only be rejected and lost forever to us, He who is the greatest good, the very definition of good!  Let us turn to God with a whole heart today and not resist the Holy Spirit!

Stoning I audio

The Acts of the Apostles 30

Subtitle: Stephen's Defense VI

Acts 7:44-50.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 8, 2023.

This is the sixth part of Stephen's defense before the Sanhedrin, Israel's high court at the time.  Stephen has reminded them of Abram's call, the Patriarchs, the first attempt of Moses to deliver Israel, God' sending of Moses back to deliver them, the events and prophecy of Moses in the wilderness, and now today, the tabernacle of witness.  The tabernacle is with them in the wilderness, but Stephen's point is significant enough to be broken out as its own point.  He is calling them to remember the Tabernacle of Witness.

Our church buildings are not simply houses of worship.  We sometimes use words without thinking through the full import of what they put across.  However, sometimes words and phrases are used to diffuse the truth of what God is doing in His Church.  We have seen in this Republic the tendency over the years to lump churches into the same boat as synagogues, mosques, scientology centers, wards, etc., with the phrase houses of worship.  Our laws are written equating all of these things, but they are not equal.  There is an intended spiritual sleight of speech that is being used to pigeon-hole Christians.

It would be more correct to call our church a house of the Lord, a house of Jesus, of Yeshua, of Yahweh.  It is a place that belongs to the God who created the universe, and to His Son, the Lord Jesus, God's Anointed Savior.

However, even this misses the greater point that we will talk about today, which is the point of the New Covenant, the New Testament.  It is not about the building, but about the people who gather there.  Everyone who has truly put their faith in Jesus has become a house of Yahweh, the place where His Spirit rests.  More than this, we are being built together into a greater house of Yahweh as a corporate tabernacle.

Think about how this would impact the Israelites of the first century A.D.  This place that was geographically located, and was restricted with laws that gave only the high priest access to the place of God's presence, would now be located within the hearts of believers, of me!  That which I had always been taught to treat as holy and sacred is now me.  I have become a special place where God wants to rest and commune.  Furthermore, the body of true believers are pictured by the apostle Peter as individual, living stones being mortared together by the Holy Spirit in order to create a group of people within whom the Spirit of God dwells.  There is something special, holy, sacred, and incredible about God's Church and their gatherings that the world cannot copy.  There is something special, holy sacred, and incredible about you when you put your faith in Jesus.

In fact, just as Leah and Rachel "built up the house of Israel," so the Church of Yahweh is built up as we walk in spiritual intimacy with God and birth new lives into the Kingdom of God.

No, we are not merely a house those worshiping the works of our hands and the desires of our hearts.  We belong to the King of kings and the Lord of lords over everything in the heavens and on the earth!

Let's look at our passage.

Remember the tabernacle of witness (vs. 44-50)

Stephen calls them to remember the tabernacle that was built in the wilderness.  The tabernacle was a portable tent structure that served as the place of sacrifice and meeting with God. 

The Bible uses several terms of the tabernacle. The first word, mishkan, simply means a dwelling place and is a reference to God dwelling within it.  The other word, ohel, also means dwelling, but at its root is the concept of skins, as in animal skins.  It most often is better translated as tent, even though it came to be used of even permanent structures as Israel transitioned from being a camping society (forty years in the wilderness) to a more established people.  The tabernacle was a tent-like structure with several layers of animal skins sheltering the Holy place, and the Holies of Holies.

Stephen uses the phrase Tabernacle of Witness, which in the Old Testament would actually be the Tent of Witness.  Incidentally, another phrase that is used is the Tabernacle of Meeting.  The word translated as meeting is hard to translate.  It refers to special appointed times, and was used of the feasts of the Lord, both as calendar dates to observe and as prophecies about special appointed times that they symbolized.  However, Stephen emphasizes the word "witness."  The tabernacle was not just the dwelling place of the God of Israel, but also represented His witness, His testimony to Israel and the world.  This word is used of the stone tablets that Moses brought down from the mountain.  He was told to place the Testimony, the Witness, into the ark of the covenant.  The ark was also referred to as the Ark of the Testimony, which was placed within the Tabernacle of Testimony.

The interesting thing about a witness, or testimony, is that it can have a warning aspect to it.  God's law and words to Israel were both a witness of the good that they should do and how God would respond, and a witness of the evil that would come upon them if they did not follow God.  Moses tells them, testifies on God's behalf, that they would be unfaithful to God and that God would kick them out of the land.  Yet, He would later restore them back to the land.  The testimony is a double-edged sword.

So, we should recognize that the testimony is that testimony that God has given of Himself, and it is connected to the place where He dwells.

Stephen points out that God appointed them to build the tabernacle, instructed Moses in how it was to be constructed, and lastly, accompanied those instructions with a visual.  Moses was God's mediator and would relay all of these instruction to them.

Stephen emphasizes in verse 44 that the Tabernacle was built "according to the pattern that he [Moses] had seen."  This comes from Exodus 25:40 where God reminds Moses to follow exactly the pattern that God had "shown him" on Mt. Sinai.

We get this picture in the Bible, and here, of God as a Master Builder.  I know that groups like the Freemasons make a big deal out of God as an Architect, but they are merely ripping off God's true nature for their own fleshly gain.  God is the builder of all creation, and He did not use random mutations to create it all.  When Chuckie Darwin introduced his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (Yes, that is the full title), he believed that the cell would be confirmed as simply a box, like a Lego® brick.  He also mentioned that this theory required all things to be reducible.  You should be able to show how complex things like the eyeball could "evolve" from less complex things that originally had other purposes.  There would be a clear path of reducing an organism from a high level back to a single-celled level and even further.  Of course, over time science discovered that the cell is more complex than a modern city.  In fact, one protein is so complex that the odds of even the smallest of them being created through random mutations are astronomical, and that is just one aspect.  Another problem is that most mechanisms within different species are so complex that we find irreducible complexity.  Several things are useless in and of themselves, but work together to accomplish a particular function.

Though I have taken some time to show the weakness of the Theory of Evolution, it is weak particularly because of the master building, master engineering, that God has done in the creation.  Like any builder, God considered all that He would make in its design, but also in whether it would be worth it or not.  In eternity past, God determined it was worth it.  Remember, the next time you feel that life isn't worth it, that God has said it is worth it, has said that your life is worth it!  Can you trust Him?  He's got this!

God is the builder of David's dynasty, and Jesus is the builder of the Church and the New Jerusalem, its dwelling place for all eternity.  Hebrews 8:5 explains to us that the tabernacle was a copy, a shadow, of the heavenly dwelling of God.  So, God had shown Moses a pattern.  I don't think He showed him blueprints, but most likely gave him a glimpse of the heavenly tabernacle.    We will deal with this point more in a bit, but humans were also built, or fit, to be a dwelling place for God as a replica of the heavenly tabernacle. 

God is the builder of history.  He is the One who tears down and builds up.  No nation rises up or falls, but at God's command.  We will all serve Him.  We will either serve him in righteousness, worthy of reward, or serve His purposes through our wickedness, worthy of destruction.

Stephen then reminds them in verse 45 that the tabernacle was brought into the Promised Land and used up through the days of David, whom God used to conquer all the land that God was giving them.

This tabernacle was more than just a symbol, or a metaphor, for God's presence.  God's presence was actually localized there.  The cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night would actually come down upon the tabernacle and could be seen by the people.  This visible presence seems to move to inside of the temple at some point.  Eventually, the prophets would speak of the Spirit of God leaving the temple and it becoming ichabod, without [God's] glory.

This is in contrast to the temples of the nations surrounding Israel and those in Canaan that they had come to dispossess.  Those temples were ornate and probably made the tent structure that Israel had seem unimpressive.  However, they were mere fictions and wishful thinking that had been taught to them by fallen spiritual beings.  God did not inhabit their temples, and if anything was there, it was a worthless fallen entity that was powerless to help them against the One True God.

It is as if God sees what the nations are trying to do and decides to authorize Israel to make a true tabernacle for Him.  I am not saying that God is reactive because He would have seen this coming and already planned to work it into His purposes.  In fact, we should note the God who created the whole universe, seen and unseen, humbled Himself to be localized in some way in a tent structure in the wilderness with the people of Israel.  This building of dead skins represents when we die to our fleshly nature and become a dwelling place of His Holy Spirit.  It is not the thing that God is wanting, but is only a stepping stone, a prototype that helps us to see.

It was perhaps looking at the temples of the surrounding nations that led David to want to build a permanent structure for God, a temple.  Or, it could have simply been recognizing that he was dwelling in a palace that he had built for himself.  Why don't I build a better place for God?  David then tells the prophet Nathan what is in his heart.  Nathan knows that God is blessing David, so he tells David to go ahead with it without asking the Lord.  Before Nathan even leaves the palace, God pulls him up short and tells him to go back and tell David that it wasn't his job to build God a house.  However, his son Solomon would do it.

In 1 Chronicles 22:8, David explains that he had too much blood on his hands from taking the land.  God did not want the violence of force associated with His dwelling place.  This does not mean that David shouldn't have done what he did.  David fought the battles of the Lord.  Yet, there is more to this than just David's bloody hands.

In 2 Samuel 7, God actually responds to David with the question, "Will you build a house for Me to dwell in?"  Think of it.  A man building a house for the One who built the Galaxies, and the atomic nucleus, whose wisdom and being is truly beyond our comprehension.  God reminds David that He has dwelt in a tent from Egypt to David's day (400+ years).  Hmm, I wonder where God dwelled before the tabernacle?  The tabernacle was not built because God was homeless.  It was built to point to a greater Truth.

Instead, God promises to build David a house (a dynasty) and his son will build him a temple.  This first temple would be built by Solomon.  Yet, Solomon fell away from the Lord towards the end of his life.  Also, the first temple itself, which was supposed to be God's "permanent house," was destroyed in 586 B.C. by the Babylonians (really by God) because Israel continued its idolatry in the face of God.  When they came back into the land later, a second temple would be built, which was in existence during the days of Jesus.  This permanent temple was destroyed in A.D. 70.  God's permanent houses are doing so well.

Solomon and the first temple were a fulfillment of God's promise to David, but they were a falling-short fulfillment that served as a shadow of the true Son of David who would build the true temple of God.  The destruction of the former two temples points to a better permanent home for God.  Jesus is the perfect Son of David who comes forth to build the perfect temple to God.  In fact, Jesus laid the foundation for the third temple while the second temple still stood (for only 40 more years).  The third temple is the True Church of Jesus Christ.  It is a physical temple in that humans have bodies, but it is spiritual in that God dwells in our hearts and minds.  Even this follows the previous template.  Our mortal bodies cannot be the permanent home of God's presence, but He humbles himself as He did in the wilderness and takes up residence within us.  The permanent Temple will also be "built" by Jesus as he resurrects the saints with glorified bodies that are incorruptible.

This brings us to our last point.  God is too great to be limited to a mere building on earth.  Stephen quotes from Isaiah 66 to drive this point home.  This greatness of God is a developing theme throughout the Old Testament.  At first the ark is spoken of as a throne of Yahweh.  The mercy seat had cherubim wings to serve as a kind of backrest.  Yahweh is spoken of as dwelling between the wings and above the mercy seat, sitting upon an earthly throne.  Later, the ark is referred to as God's footstool (Psalm 132:7-8).  Notice that God is getting bigger.  In Truth, God is not getting bigger, but He is incrementally expanding their understanding of just how great He truly is.  The Isaiah 66 passage expands this to the point where the whole earth is God's footstool and the heavens are His throne.  In fact, even the heavens fall short of the full glory of God.  All creation is truly His footstool.

Do you not see that God is not in need of us to build Him a house.  He is already building a permanent house out of us.  We do need to lean into this process and cooperate with God.  Instead of focusing on how nice our building is, we should focus on what kind of dwelling place we are for God.  Am I a shabby, dilapidated temple?  Am I a temple that has been devoid of the word of God like it was in the days of Josiah (2 Kings 22)?  God's time with Israel was a humbling of Himself and yet it was a real thing.  Through unbelief, they missed out on the fullness of what it could have been and ended up losing it altogether (as a nation). 

We too are in danger of hearing this truth and falling short.  In 2 Corinthians 3:16, Paul says, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"  Perhaps, you find yourself saying, "Well, I don't feel like God's dwelling in me."  Really?  Where in the Bible does it say it is only true if you "feel it."  That would be like a husband not following through in the actions of faithfulness because he just isn't feeling it.  "I know God said we would become one, but I'm just not feeling it.  I want a divorce."  We judge ourselves by our own words.  Jesus didn't go to the cross because he was "feeling it."  While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly!  Love has feelings, but it must never let feelings drive its actions.  It is not even duty that drives love.  It truly is love itself that becomes the driving force behind the actions of love; God is love.

You cannot make yourself a temple of God, but you can cooperate and lean into the work that God is doing, even if you don't feel it.  Walk by faith and trust God to do the dwelling.  Jesus laid the foundation for your spiritual life and the Church as a whole.  He leads us like a master builder in our personal life and in the experience of your local church up to the Church as a whole.  God knows what He is doing so we simply need to trust Him!

You are His desired place of rest for eternity.  Yes, much of life calls for trust and faith in Jesus.  Like a marriage, we come to Christ and embrace his love by faith.  We don't know what all we will face in this life, but we will face it with him for better or worse.  Of course, he promises to work all of the "worse" stuff to our good.  What a deal; what a Lord; what a Savior!  His desire to dwell in you, and within us all, should lead us to turn to Him with all of our hearts.  We are His home, and He is ours!

Defense VI

The Acts of the Apostles 29

Subtitle: Stephen's Defense V

Acts 7:37-43.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 1, 2023.

Today, we are going to talk about stubborn resistance to the Holy Spirit, being stiff-necked.  These are terms that are used in the Bible to describe those who continually kick back against God's decisions and commands of love.  Of course, Israel had problems with this, but we should recognize that we have this problem too.

"Am I that?"  This is a question that we should all ask ourselves.  We can wall off areas of our walk with God in which we have convinced ourselves that we are okay, when, in truth, we are  not wanting to learn or follow God's Word and His Holy Spirit.

Stubbornness without repentance can only lead to discipline and eventual destruction through judgment.  Of course, God in His grace stretches it out, working to draw us back to Him.  Yet, Paul warns the believer in Galatians 6:7-8. 

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." (NKJV)

The good news is that God doesn't want you to be destroyed by your sins.  His Spirit continually brings about conviction of our sin in order for us to be able to repent.  At the end of the day, I need to yield to His conviction. 

Let's look at the next point in Stephen's defense.

Remember the wilderness

Stephen's defense has spent a lot of time on Moses because he is a critical part of Israel becoming a nation.  No prophet before, or after, had such a great impact upon the offspring of Abraham.  Of course, it is not really Moses, but God working through Moses.  Moses is simply a willing (most of the time) mediator, a go-between.  Jesus is the point in contention with this council.

In verses 37 through 43, Stephen brings up several things from Israel's time in the wilderness.  The wilderness was not supposed to take 40 years to cross.  Although they camped at Mt. Sinai for just over eleven months, they were at the edge of Canaan about a year and three months after they had left Egypt.  There were two spies, Joshua and Caleb, who counseled to take the land, and there were ten spies who said it would be foolish to attack these giant clans.

Though Stephen doesn't make a point of this, let me just say that there are times when we are believing God and following Him with a whole heart, and yet, most of the people around us are resisting Him.  No matter how much Joshua and Caleb believed God, their fortunes were partially tied to their people, their nation.  It is easy to develop an attitude that is quick to cut-off those who are "holding us back," perhaps a spouse, kids, siblings, church, etc.  Yet, that is not how God does it, and it is not how Jesus did things.

Adam and Eve chose to take the path of receiving the knowledge of good and evil.  God could have cast them off at that time, but instead, God went down that path with them.  Similarly, Israel was choosing a rebellious path of not going into the Promised Land by faith.  Joshua and Caleb could have become angry and "quit" being Israelites.  However, they spent 40 tough years in the wilderness that wouldn't have had to do, if the others had simply believed God. 

I said that their fortunes were partially tied to their nation because the others perished in the wilderness, but not Joshua and Caleb.  It seems that even discipline will cause some to perish, but others will be blessed through it.  Caleb was 80 when he made it back to the Promised Land; and this time, he was just as ready to fight as he had been when he was a much younger man.  The blessing of God was upon him because he trusted God all along the way.

Remember, God is not just saving individuals.  He also wants to save families, towns, and nations.  Yes, we can't save everybody, but it should not be for lack of trying.  There will come a day when the path of those who refuse to believe and those who do believe will go their separate ways, but it is our duty to image God by being faithful to our relationships with others, until He, or the other party, bring about a separation.

The point at hand by Stephen is that Moses prophesied of a coming prophet like him that the nation of Israel should hear.  This prophecy can be found in Deuteronomy 18:15-19.  In fact, we looked at this during Peter's sermon at the end of Acts chapter three (August 7, 2022 on the website). 

This prophecy emphasizes that God would raise up another prophet that would be like Moses.  That last part is key.  In the passage, God gives a reasoning for sending this second Moses-like prophet.  It was because Israel had feared to have God speak directly to them.  Instead, they begged Moses to speak to God on their behalf.  God stated that this was good because it set up this second prophet that He would send.  Of course, we should note that between Moses and Israel, it was Israel who was most in jeopardy of dying due to unbelief.  Thus, there is an irony to their decisions.

Let's note that Israel had many prophets after Moses.  However, they all pointed back to Moses, back to The Law, and called the people back to faithfulness to God.  They also began to speak about the coming Anointed One, Messiah.  Jesus does do some of this, but there is a significant difference in his prophetic ministry to Israel.

It was Jeremiah who spoke of a New Covenant that God would write on their hearts, rather than on stone (Jeremiah 31:31f).  Moses had created the Old Covenant at Sinai, the covenant of the Law.  He also established the House of Israel on the order of a servant helping a master.  Think about Eliezer of Damascus, Abraham's servant, who goes to Mesopotamia in order to get a bride (i.e., build a house) for Isaac.  Israel does not belong to Moses, but to God.  Moses is simply a servant. 

Jesus mediated the New Covenant and built up a new house.  Yes, he is a servant, but he is building a house in the likeness of a marriage covenant, a house for him and his bride.

Moses clearly states that Israel needs to listen to this prophet when he comes.  If they didn't, they would be held accountable to God.  Of course, the New Covenant is not completely divorced from the Old.  God did not make a mistake with the Law, or make bad Laws that need to be updated.  Modern people love to critique the laws of God.  Some of their critique is willfull disregarding of the times and reasons for the Laws, and some of it is complete ignorance of what God is trying to teach Israel, and us, through those laws.  The Law of God through Moses was completely righteous, but it couldn't save anyone.  Like a mirror, it could only point out fault.  It was through Jesus that Grace and Truth came to Israel and then to the nations.

So, Israel had been looking for this prophet and referred to him as "The Prophet."  This is referenced in John 1:19-21; 6:14; and 7:40.  There were differences of opinion on whether The Prophet and The Messiah, The Christ, were the same or not.

Back in Acts 7, Stephen reminds them that this prophecy of The Prophet who would be like Moses came through the one that they wouldn't obey.  In short, if Jesus is to be "like Moses," then it stands to reason that he would suffer rejection and the disobedience.  This very same Moses had spoken face to face with the Angel of the Lord and received the "living oracles" of God.  In other words, how could they doubt the man who went up on the burning mountain and spoke to God for them?  Also, notice that the Word of God is full of life, living, and powerful.  The Word of God is the Word of life!

Stephen also reminds them that their forefathers rebelled at Mt. Sinai by making a golden calf and worshiping it, all this while Moses was on the mountain talking to God for them because they were afraid for God to keep speaking to them.  This event symbolizes Israel's resistance to God all in one event. 

What excuse did they have?  Moses had been up on the mountain for 40 days.  Apparently, he was taking too long, or actually, God was taking too long.  Can we not see the tragic unbelief that happens in the hearts of people?  They pressure Aaron in to making a golden calf for them.  Then they participate in a twisted worship of this calf by eating a meal before it, and rising up "to play."  This is most likely a reference to singing and dancing.  All this declaring that this was their God that had brought them up out of Egypt.

Before we laugh at their silly idolatry, let us recognize that we have bull idols in this Republic on Wall Street and many other financial centers.  Instead of having a relationship with Truth, they attempt to create a religion for themselves.  The worship the work of their own hands (Acts 7:41) and turned back to Egypt in their hearts.  All this while God was giving to Moses the law and governance that they would need to be a nation.  Who taught them this?  Where did they learn this?  It wasn't from Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob.  It wasn't from Moses.  No, they learned it from Egypt.  It is amazing how easily we can deceive ourselves when we want to be deceived, when our flesh lusts for deception.

When Moses came down the mountain and caught them in the act of idolatry, God was going to destroy them and make a new nation out of Moses.  However, Moses "talked God down."  I know that some people think this passage makes Moses look more righteous than God, but they are not paying attention to the whole of Scripture.  God states what would be holy and proper.  They should die for such idolatry.  However, at the same time, Moses gives voice to the reasoning behind the grace of God.  In this situation, it is Moses who talks God down, but who talks God down when His Son is crucified to the cross due to the idolatry of the religious leaders of Israel?  It was Jesus Himself.  "Father, forgive them.  They don't know what they do!"

This doesn't mean there are no consequences.  However, God's judgments are filled with grace.  God had lots of Grace for Israel during its wilderness wanderings, and He had great mercy for Israel in the first century before they went into The Great Wandering called the Diaspora (the dispersion).  God will once again have great mercy for Israel at the Second Coming of Jesus, just as He has had great mercy for the nations for the last 2,000 years.

Stephen then reminds them of the prophet Amos, especially chapter 5:25-27 of his prophecy.  Amos was a shepherd from Tekoa, which was about 10 miles south of Jerusalem (5 miles south of Bethlehem).  One day God said to him something like this.  "Amos, I have a job for you.  I have some wayward sheep that I need you to warn."  Amos prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BC, overlapping Isaiah's ministry.  They were within 30 years of being destroyed by the Assyrians and exiled to the nations, but God wanted them to be warned.

In chiding Israel for its idolatry, God is reminding them through Amos that they offered sacrifices to Yahweh while they were in the wilderness.  Of course, they had been taught and led to do this by Moses.  Yet, at the same time, many of them had carried small shrine idols with them through the wilderness.  These "household gods" could be spread out in the privacy of a tent and worshiped out of the eyes of Moses and other faithful Israelites.  Now we begin to see the true secret to their continued stumbling and sinning against God.  Most of them had never really trusted Yahweh with all their heart.

Listen, you cannot worship God and have false gods, idolatry, at the same time.  You cannot follow the Spirit of God and the spirit of this world, of this age.  It won't work!  If you cling to things that are empty, worthless, and powerless to save, then you will walk in emptiness, worthlessness, and not be saved.  Even while God was powerfully doing what it takes to save them, they continued to hold on to the gods and lusts of this world.  Tell me this isn't the modern world too!  Tell me this isn't the United States of America, and every other nation under the sun!

Through Amos, God tells Israel that their idolatry will have them thrown out of the land "beyond Damascus."  Their idolatry would separate them from the God's good purpose, at least until they repent.

What is idolatry?  Idolatry is that thing to which you give the time, devotion, and worship (faith) that you should give to God alone.  He alone is your Creator and your Savior.  He alone deserves these things.

I mentioned the Bull on Wall Street.  There is probably no one prostrating themselves before that bull and worshiping it as an idol.  But, let me tell you just how many ways people are prostrating and prostituting themselves in this culture, especially on Wall Street and the financial sector.  They are willing to sacrifice anything in order to gain money, power, prestige, and material things for the lusts of their flesh.  They worship the god of wealth and it is every bit an idol in their life.

The problem with idolatry, spiritual adultery against the One True God, isn't that I have a job and money, or that I work harder to pay off my car so the loan doesn't hang over our family, or I work harder to send my kid to a better school.  It is when those things get in the way of God and trusting Him, living for Him, worshiping HIm.  We tell ourselves that we want something, and yet, God isn't making it happen.  So, we go out and try to make it happen on our own, stubborn resistance to what God is doing.

Spiritual unfaithfulness is at the root of all the problems in our society.  How many kids have been raised in homes that the parents or grandparents once new about God, but then turned their backs on Him?  O friend, we must stop persisting down this path of destruction.  Instead, we must embrace Jesus and live!

Defense V audio