 So here we are in chapter 7. Let me share with you how we're going to begin this study. I'm I'm going to actually take you into verses that are in the previous chapter delay the foundation as I normally do. I'll remind you of several of the things that we've already seen as we've traveled through the book of Acts. I will be looking at chapter 7 in its entirety and I was a little bit nervous if you will. I don't know if that's a proper way to put it because chapter 7 has 60 verses and I usually will take just a handful of verses and so I'm going to be doing something in chapter 7 that I've been doing up to this point which is summarizing and just pointing to some some of the main points and thoughts and so be prepared for that you see because I on Sunday mornings over all these years have only taught through a few Old Testament books. I normally teach Old Testament on Wednesday night and so and also when we were having Sunday night services I would teach through an Old Testament book on Sunday night as well as Wednesday but very seldom have I taught through an Old Testament book on a Sunday morning. Well what we're going to be doing is we're going to be reading through in a few minutes we're going to be reading through chapter 7 and I'm going to read the verses to you because it's good that we get those verses and what I'll do is summarize and just basically look at some of the main thoughts of those verses and I'll take us to the end of the chapter and so we were able to do it first service and I'm certain we'll be able to do it at least I pray this service too. So let's begin by looking at chapter 6 I'll read verses 8 through 15 and then get into our study doing some introductory comments and all of that and then we'll move into chapter 7. So in chapter 6 beginning at verse 8, Stephen full of faith and power did great wonders and signs among the people. And there arose some from what is called the synagogue of the freed men, Syrenians, Alexandrians, those from Silesia and Asia, disputing with Stephen and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Then they secretly induced men to say we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God and they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes and they came upon him, seized him and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses who said this man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place 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 and all who sat in the council looking steadfastly at him saw his face as the face of an angel. So as we've been going through the book of Acts we've seen that the church has been growing and is having great impact on Pentecost. Peter had preached and about 3,000 people had been saved so the church had been birthed by the Holy Spirit. God was moving amongst the people. God was so evident among them that they even had found favor with unbelievers. So teaching and fellowship breaking of bread and prayers became the norm. Community and generosity towards those in need became the earmarks of the church. In Acts 2.46 and 47 it says continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. So miracles and spirit filled preaching filled the early days of the church. There had been a man who had been born crippled and he had been healed to the amazement of the people. The result was according to Acts 5.15 and 16 that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits and they were all healed. So the presence of the Holy Spirit was so evident that the people could not deny it and they were stricken by the way that God was moving. They dared not join the church in a casual way. Ananias and Sapphira had been judged. Great fear was the result. So the evidence of the movement of the Holy Spirit in the early church was undeniable. There's a writer that I enjoy reading. His name is AW Tozer and Tozer once said this. He said if the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95% of what they did would stop and everybody would know the difference. And so God was moving in a powerful way. Even unbelievers were seeing that something was taking place and they dared not join themselves. They didn't want to casually get involved with these Christians because something of God was taking place. Well, as God was moving, the enemy tried to block his work. We've seen how the religious leaders began to oppose the Apostles. They had commanded them to stop preaching and to stop ministering in the name of Jesus Christ and twice they took them into custody trying to stop them. But instead of stopping, they were provoked to preach even more powerfully. When before the High Priest Peter said they would not cease preaching. In Acts 5.29 it reads Peter and the other Apostles answered and said we ought to obey God rather than men. Well, that infuriated the council. They wanted to kill the Apostles. So this had led to them being severely beaten and then they had been released. Well, they had. They had obeyed God rather than men and the church continued to grow. They continued preaching. They continued teaching and people continued being saved. Now that had brought us to chapter 6 and when we looked at chapter 6 last time we saw the first major problem within the church. There was a complaint that certain people were getting preferential treatment and so to deal with the problem the Apostles pointed the people to the solution and they said select qualified men and we will appoint them to handle this business. You see they knew the responsibility was prayer in the Word of God and they wouldn't deviate from that. So the people handled that problem. The Apostles maintained their priority. So the leaders were chosen. They were set before the Apostles for prayer and the result according to verse 7 was the Word of God spread and once again people were being saved. If they would have ceased preaching people would not have been saved and even a great many of the priests who were enemies had been saved. And so as this is taking place in verse 8 Stephen full of faith and power did great wonders and signs among the people. There arose some from what is called the synagogue of the freed men. Sirenians, Alexandrians, those from Celicia and Asia and Ontario, Pomona and Chino disputing with Stephen and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. And so notice how it speaks of Stephen. He was filled with faith and power. He was the one who did great wonders and signs. Verse 5 speaks of him being filled with the Holy Spirit. Verse 10 speaks of his wisdom. So this man here is debating with representatives of what is called the synagogue of the freed men. The freed men were Roman Jews who had been emancipated. There were some from Cyrene and which is northern Africa from Alexandria which is Egypt from Celicia which is just north of Israel as well as what is called Asia which is Asia Minor. It speaks of Turkey by and large. And notice verse 10 they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Now Jesus had given his people a promise. It's found in Luke 21 15. I will give you words in wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. And this particular promise is being fulfilled in the life of Stephen. Now Stephen was not an elder in the church. He was one of the first deacons. He didn't hold a high office but he was highly qualified to preach. His opponents are unable to resist his wisdom as well as the spirit and so as he's speaking they're getting frustrated. They can't defeat his argument and so as often occurs when the argument can't be defeated well other means are used. So what they do is they trump up a false charge against him and they bring in false witnesses. Verses 11 through 14 says they secretly induced men to say we've heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. They stirred up the people the elders and scribes. They came upon him, seized him, brought him to the council. They set up false witnesses who said this man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. We've heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, change the customs which Moses delivered to us. So those are the false witnesses. Now he was accused of blasphemy against God, Moses and the temple. You need to note that because these were the three most holy relationships that Jews possessed, the relationship with God, the relationship with Moses and the relationship in worship of God in that temple. And so they're saying that they're speaking, he is speaking against these things. Well Jesus didn't come to destroy but rather to fulfill God's promises to Israel and in Matthew 5 17 he said do not think that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets. I haven't come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Virtually I tell you until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. In Romans chapter 10 we saw this recently in verse 4 Paul said Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. When he says Christ is the end of the law, the law is summed up in him, it points to him. And in Galatians 3 to 24 it says the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. He didn't come to destroy but to fulfill. Now as this is taking place, notice verse 15, all who sat in the council looked, looked instead vastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel. As they're looking at him his face seems to be burning with an inner light. It's a picture of someone who is in the presence of God, that's what this is referring to. And so God is beginning to reveal his approval of what Jesus has done but he's also approving of Stephen as his messenger. So as this is taking place, verse 1, the high priest said in chapter 7, are these things so. Stephen begins his defense and in doing so he preaches his final message. He's giving a defense of the faith to the Jewish Supreme Council and his defense is basic Jewish history and this defense is going to have incredible results. What he's doing is he's revealing his thorough knowledge of Scripture as well as Jewish history. So when you look at this and like I said I'm going to read through most of it and just touch on a little bit but it's divided into three basic sections and those sections, each section briefly outlines their history as a nation. Verses 2 through 16 is going to be sharing on what is called the patriarchal period. That was 2000 BC with Abraham and all. Then you get to verse 17 to verse 43 that's called the Mosaic period which deals with Moses and the law that's 1400 BC and then you close with verses 44 through 50 which is speaking of what is called the period of the Tabernacle and then it comes to a conclusion. We'll be looking at that and again I'm going to be reading a lot of it. I'm not going to be taking each verse as I normally do one verse at a time but I'm going to be putting them all together so that we can actually get through this passage today. Now he was culturally a Greek more than likely what was called earlier a Hellenist but he reveals a deep understanding of the Jewish Scriptures and in his message and you need to see this he is actually signing his death warrant, his own death warrant because after rehearsing their history he cannot plead ignorance. See they could have looked at him as being just one of those Hellenists those outsiders and and may have had a tendency towards or could have had a tendency towards giving him a little bit of mercy but no he's going to sign his own death warrant by showing them that he is thoroughly aware of the history of Israel. He's going to be speaking of God's work with Abraham Moses and the temple and in doing so he's signing his own death warrant. You see this is a man who's filled with faith in the Holy Spirit and as man like that he gives a clear biblical presentation and it's because he has a desire to remain faithful to the Word of God and to preach that message he's been commanded to give. That reminds me of 1 Corinthians 2 verses 1 and 2 where the apostle Paul said this he said, I brethren when I came to you didn't come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. In 1 Thessalonians 1.5 our gospel didn't come to you in word only but also in power in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance. You see the gospel preacher is mandated by God to not add to his word things that are going to detract from it. We don't add the things that take away. I came to you determined to know one thing, Jesus Christ and him crucified and that's the heart of preaching the Word of God. And so he begins to do that and he begins with the patriarchs, the patriarchs you know by the name of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and even Jacob's sons. And so he begins in this way verse 2. He said, brethren and fathers listen, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Heron and said to him, get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land that I will show you. So notice how he begins, God appeared to our father Abraham. So he's speaking as a Jewish voice to the Jewish people, though they considered him in Hellenist, he's saying, no, I'm Jewish. So God appeared to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia. It says in verse, I'll start again in verse 3, he said, get out of your country and from your relatives, come to the land that I will show you. And he came, he came out of the land of the Chaldeans, dwelt in Heron and from there when his father was dead, he moved him to this land in which you now dwell. And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on, but even when Abraham had no child, he promised to give it to him for a possession and to his descendants after him. But God spoke in this way that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them 400 years. And the nation to whom they will be in bondage, I will judge, said God, and after that they shall come out and serve me in this place. He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham begot Isaac, it circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs becoming envious sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all of his troubles and gave him favour and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan. And our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. Now the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers and Joseph's family became known to the Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him. 75 people. So Jacob went down to Egypt and he died. He and our fathers. And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in a tomb that Abraham bought for us some of money from the sons of Hamar, the father of Shechem. And so he begins by speaking of Abraham and his original condition. And his original condition was one of paganism. Abraham was in the favour of God and served him before he ever saw the land of Canaan is what he's saying. Before the law had been given to Moses and before the temple was built. Therefore it could not be blasphemy to believe that God might be served without those ceremonies. And it worshiped elsewhere than the temple in Jerusalem. So he's already defending himself against the charges. Notice that he emphasizes Abraham's call to separation from idolatry and faith to God. That is the heart of all biblical preaching. Biblical preaching rests on calling people to come out of sin, to stop serving sin with all of our hearts and to turn from that, to repent from that, to be converted, to follow after God. That's the heart of all biblical preaching. And that's what Stephen is doing here. He's laying the foundation for that, to encourage people. You see, Abraham was called to separation. He was called to come out of the land that he was living in, a land that was given over to idolatry. Now, how do we know that? Joshua 24 verse 2. Joshua said to all the people, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, long ago your forefathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham, and lived beyond the river and worshiped other gods. Come out from amongst them and I will receive you. And so, this is what he's doing. He's calling people to be aware and actually to repent from the things that they're doing. And he's using Abraham as his model. Abraham was given a call to separation. Again, that's the heart of biblical preaching. Abraham had been called to come out from paganism, that he might have a relationship with God. That's how we were before we came to faith in Christ, is we had our own pagan system. I've heard people, you've spoken to them who have said, well, that's not the God I worship. So, when you share with them and you say, well, this is what Scripture says, and they'll say, well, that's not the God I worship. You worship the God, you worship, I'll worship the God I worship. Well, a sad thing is, is the gospel preaches that there's one God and there's one way to God, that's Jesus Christ. And there's one way to enter into the kingdom and that's to be born again. That's what the Bible teaches. So, when somebody says, well, you have your God and I have mine, it's another way for them to say, I worship idols. I have created a God after my own image. I'm willing to follow him and pursue him to my own destruction. And that's why we preach the gospel. And that's why Abraham was called out to be separated. Why? Because he came from a family of idolaters. In 2 Corinthians 6, verse 17, it reads, Come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. So according to verses 4 through 8, he came out. He came out of the land of the Chaldeans. He dwelt in a place called Huron. Now, Huron was 500 miles northwest of what is called Ur of the Chaldeans. It's in Iraq and some say it could very well be the city of Mosul. It says in verse 5 that God gave him no inheritance, not even enough to set his foot on. So what he did, and this is another thing to look at, is he obeyed God's call, though there was no immediate reward from God. Again, in the preaching of the gospel, we encourage people to come to faith in Christ, but we don't guarantee that they're going to have a perpetual happy day, that everything's going to be great. I don't know about you, but for me when I got saved, I had all the joy that I could possibly contain, and I had it for at least five days. And then after that, the Lord begins to work in your life, and he begins to prune, and he begins to work, and so Abram didn't have anything, no immediate gratification. He didn't receive his inheritance, is what he's saying. He by faith stepped out, and he stepped into a land, and he trusted God. In Hebrews 11, 8 through 10, it says, by faith Abram went called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who are heirs with him of the same promise, for he was looking forward to the city without foundations whose architect and builder is God. The only land that he ever really owned was his burial plot. It's recorded in Genesis 23. While God had spoken to him in verse 6, that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them 400 years, and the nation to whom they will be in bondage, I will judge, said God, and after that they shall come out and serve me in this place. And so he rounds off the time to 400 years, though Exodus 1240 tells us they were in Egypt for 430. He's speaking concerning the plagues and how that Israel left and eventually had come and worshiped God in the land. In verse 8, he says, he gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac begot Jacob and Jacob begot the 12 patriarchs. So he continues by referring to obedience to the covenant God had given to him, and from Jacob came what are called the 12 tribes of Israel. So in verse 9, the patriarchs becoming envious sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him and delivered him out of all of his troubles, gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, Joseph's family became known to the Pharaoh. Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, 75 people. So Jacob went down to Egypt and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamoroth, the father of Shechem. So he reminds them of how the brothers of Joseph had grown to hate Joseph. In Genesis 37, Joseph it's recorded had two dreams. There were sheaves that were bowing before his sheaf, and then there were the eleven stars, the moon and the sun all bowing down to him. Now Jacob, his father understood the dream. The dream meant that Joseph would rule over the family. In Genesis 37-10, Jacob said, Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you? Well his brothers hated him for that. They envied him. They wanted to kill him. But the first Mexican in the Bible, Ruben, said no. Instead, I don't know, I just felt like saying that, I'm sorry. Instead they sold him to Ishmaelites, and the Ishmaelites took him to Egypt. What's the point he's making? The patriarchs were guilty of opposing God and his purposes. So he defended himself against the accusation of blasphemy by affirming God's covenants with Abraham and the patriarchs. He now moves to what is called the Mosaic period, which is around 1400 B.C. Again I'm going to read and summarize. So beginning at verse 17, but when the time of the promised junior, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt till another king arose who did not know Joseph. This man dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies so that they might not live. At this time, Moses was born and was well pleasing to God. He was brought up in his father's house for three months, but when he was set out, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, was mighty in words and deeds. Now, when he was 40 years old, he came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they didn't understand. The next day, he appeared to two of them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them, saying, men, your brothers, why do you wrong one another? Notice in verse 27, he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away saying, who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday? Then at the same, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian where he had two sons. When 40 years old, when 40 years had passed, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight, he drew near to observe the voice of the Lord, came to him saying, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Moses trembled and dared not look. The Lord said to him, take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground. I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard they're groaning and I've come down to deliver them and now come. I will send you to Egypt and Moses, this Moses whom they rejected saying who made you a ruler and a judge is the one God sent to be a ruler and deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness, 40 years. So this speaks of the promise of the land that they were to receive as a possession. What he's doing now is he's defending himself against the charge of blaspheming Moses. You see, Moses was unique, he was qualified to lead. There were a number of advantages that he had. Notice verse 22, it says Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. He was well pleasing to God. He was a man who was handsome, he was educated, he was strong and he was eloquent. Now, I find it interesting to note that because he was mighty in words and deeds. When you read the call of Moses, how God says to him, take off your sandals, take off your shoes, you stand in on holy ground and God begins to outline his plan on using him to deliver the children of Israel. Do you remember how Moses said, I cannot speak? I find that interesting to note because there are many who say, well, Moses had a stutter. Whether he did or didn't, I don't know. There's an assumption and perhaps there is some scholarship that points that out, but when you read what Stephen has to say, it makes it kind of clear that he was mighty in words and deeds. He was, now I want to show you something briefly here. It says that he was learned, verse 22 again, he was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Do you know what that includes? Let me share something with you about this. He was in line to become the Pharaoh. If you're in line to become the Pharaoh, you're going to go through all the training that a Pharaoh should go through. Now that includes all the philosophy and all the religion and all the things that pertain to the Egyptian worship system. So he had to be aware of everything pertaining to all the false gods that were worshiped by the Egyptians. Pharaoh himself was regarded as a god and so he was to be trained and was trained by the priests and the scholars in all of the wisdom of the Egyptians. But it wasn't simply wisdom in terms of knowledge and the ability to apply it properly. All the training that a Pharaoh would go through is what Moses went through. Now why am I pointing that out? It's because when Moses encountered, he made a decision, I'll go and visit my brother in accordance with flesh. He was aware that he was a Jewish man. When he came and saw wrong being done by the Egyptian task master, remember with me the story for just a moment because he sees this wrong being done, he looks to the left and he looks to the right, the scripture says, and he promptly disposes of this man. He kills him and buries him in the sand. Why is that something to rest on for a moment? Let me tell you why. The task masters, these ones who are overseers of the Egyptian rather of the Jewish slaves, were the baddest men in the military. These were men who could strike fear into you. That's how they controlled you and they weren't afraid of any of these Jewish slaves. That tells you something about Moses. Moses looked to the left and he looked to the right thinking nobody could see him and then he promptly just kills him. What's that tell me about Moses? He's a bad man. He was a bad man. He was dealt a force bad. He didn't even think to look up. There was someone watching him. The second thing, how did this guy say this to him? Verse 26, next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them, saying, man, your brother, and why do you wrong one another? Notice verse 27. He who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday? Who do you think's talking? The guy that he had rescued. The guy that he had rescued turned on him. Gives you some insight into the life of Moses. Nobody was there except the ones who were fighting and the task master. That gives you some insight into human nature. Who made you a judge over me? Are you going to kill me? Word went out and when you read the scripture you know that Moses fled into the wilderness because of this. So Moses is somebody that was highly trained. So when it says he was not eloquent, when he says I cannot speak, that's not exactly right because God said who made your mouth? You're telling me you don't have the ability to speak the words that I put in your mouth? No, you're hesitating and resistant is what it is. So I have to break you. And that's where the 40 years in the wilderness in this man's life came in. Because for the first 40 years, and it says it right here, he said in verse 25, he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand. So he's thinking at the age of 40, still a powerful warrior that in my flesh I'm going to deliver you. And God said, no, it's not by the strength of your hand, it's by the strength of my might. You have to come to know who I am so you don't improperly present me to the people that I will deliver through you. So for the first 40 years of his life, he thought he was something. And then the next 40 years in that wilderness, he discovered he's nothing. So the last 40 years of his life, he could find out what God could do with the nothing who is willing to be used by him. And so he's pointing this out here as he's speaking. He was a mighty person. He excelled, but God had to break him. Again, in verse 33, God has told him, take the sandals off your feet, the place where you stand is holy ground. One brief thing, just a little touch on that, I want you to notice that God's presence called for reverence on the part of Moses. There's no flippancy involved in your walk with God. You're not kind of like, yeah, God, that's why I have a real, I personally, it's just, it's my problem. I know it, but I have a real problem when people speak in a flippant way to God. I just don't like that. I don't like hearing them talking to God. Yeah, God, yeah, I just do not like it. My father wouldn't allow me to call him, say, yeah to him, my father, just a human being. It was yes or no, sir. It was yes, but it was never, yeah, I never said, yeah, except one time. And he never said, yeah, again, because he said, what did you say to me? That was my father. What did you say to me? I'm sorry, dad. Yes, sir. That's how I was raised, to have a politeness and a respect. And when we don't respect God, he shows you something, shows me something about our walks with God, because you're not flippant with God. This is almighty God. And that's why he said, take off your sandals. You're standing on holy ground. And so this is what we're seeing. You see, God is going to be the one who delivers, but he's going to use Moses to do the work. Now, in verse 37, I want to point this out. This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren, him you shall hear. Now, that's from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 1815. It's called a messianic prophecy. It's speaking of the Messiah to come and it was fulfilled in Jesus. And that's what Stephen is pointing out. You see, in John 614, it reads, those men when they had seen the miracle Jesus did said, this is of truth, that prophet that should come into the world. So he's pointing Jesus as Messiah. So he goes on into verses 38 and 40. This is he who is in the congregation and the wilderness with the angel. Now, what happened? Well, the nation of Israel wouldn't obey in their hearts. The nation of Israel went back to Egypt. Verse 41 tells us, they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 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, O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your God rim fund, images which you made to worship, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. They made a calf, a worship Moloch. The word Moloch speaks of ruling. Moloch is the name of the idol, God of the Ammonites, to which human victims, particularly young children, were offered in sacrifice. Its image was a hollow brazen figure with a head of a nox and outstretched human arms. It was heated red hot by a fire from within, and the babies were placed in its arms to be slowly burned while to prevent the parents from hearing the dying cries of their children, the sacrificing priests would beat drums. So it was very loud. I've seen the illustrations of this particular God and his arms stretched out, and they would take the babies and they would place it on the arms, and the arms were in an angle, and so the baby would actually roll down and in there was an opening where the baby would fall in and be incinerated while the parents worshiped, killing children isn't new, and this is something that this nation has to repent from also, the killing of our children. They were killing babies then and there's still some doing it to this day. This is no condemnation of those who have gone through the procedure of abortion. I'm not condemning anybody. I've known too many who have, and the sorrow and brokenness of their hearts after they discover what they've done was wrong. So perhaps there may be someone listening right now who could be feeling pain in your heart over it. You know, God does forgive every sin. This is not to lighten that. It's simply to acknowledge that he does forgive every sin. That is not the unpardonable sin, but you understand in a way others don't, and that's what they did at that time. Remfan was literally, it's an Egyptian God called the shrunken. It was proved that it was lifeless. So what's he do? He defended himself against the charge of disregarding Moses and the law. Now in verse 44, our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness as he appointed instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, which our fathers having received it in turn also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob, Solomon built him a house. However, the most high does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says. Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool. What house will you build for me, sayeth the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest, as my hand not made these things? So he closes by answering the charge of blasphemy, the temple. Notice how he says, our fathers had the tabernacle. He points out that Solomon built God a house. Why is that? David wanted to, and David didn't. Why is it that Solomon did? It's because David was a warrior. He had blood on his hands according to 1 Chronicles 22, 7 through 9. And so God would not allow King David, though he wanted to, so he allowed his son, who was a man of peace. David supplied the plans, a large portion of finances, but Solomon built the temple. The temple was never intended to be a permanent dwelling place. Nothing on earth can contain his glory. That's why God took upon himself human flesh and came himself to this earth. So he didn't blaspheme the temple. They did by rejecting Jesus Christ, and that's why he goes to the heart of the matter. And in verse 51, he says, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised and hardy-nears, you always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the just one, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. They gnashed at him with their teeth, but he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven, saw the glory of God, Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, look, I see the heavens open, the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. They cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, ran to him with one accord, and they cast him out of the city, stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. They stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit. He now 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. You killed the prophets. You are uncircumcised in heart and ears. It's like what Jesus said in Matthew 23, 29 through 31. What do you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets, adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, if we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Therefore, you are witnesses against yourselves. You are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Well, when they hear that, and the conviction strikes, and they point it out for what they've done, they're very upset over that. They got very upset, and they closed their ears to what was being said. You see, what we've seen up to this point is how people filled with the spirit, how they preach, and what we've seen is how they perform works. And now we have a chance to see how those who were filled with the spirit die. What they did is they took them out of the city. There usually was a pit. They put them in the pit, tossed them in it. Those who witnessed against him, which were the false witnesses, were the first to hurl the stone at them. So these false witness picked up stones. They're not small stones. They're large, and they were the first to cast. And as they're casting stones at him, he's praying, Lord Jesus, he says, received my spirit. Lord, don't charge them with this sin. Jesus is told to us in Mark 16, is seated at the right hand of the Father, but here we see him standing up to welcome the first martyr, Stephen, into his presence. What a beautiful picture. He stood up to welcome him, my good, my faithful servant. And how did he die? By asking God to be merciful to those who put him to death. Stephen became the first martyr. He wasn't the last in early church history. Peter was crucified according to church tradition upside down in Rome under Nero. James, the brother of John, was beheaded by Herod Agrippin, Acts 12. John was not martyred. He was exiled to Patmos. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Philip crucified in Upper Asia. Thomas was thrust through a spear in India, and Bartholomew was beaten to death in India. It is believed that Matthew was killed with an axe in Ethiopia. That James, the son of Alphaeus, was beaten to death. Simon the zealot crucified in Britain. Judas, the son of James, was crucified. Matathias was stoned and beheaded in Jerusalem. Mark was dragged to death in Alexandria. Luke was hanged on an olive tree in Greece, and Paul was beheaded under Nero in Rome. Many of these were tradition, that some of them are scriptural, but every one of them died a martyr's death. Jesus said, You shall be hated by all men for my name's sake, but he who endures to the end shall be saved. When we got saved, we entered into a road that leads to our own death. We are already dead, and yet we're alive. We should live as those who understand that we're just passing through, that the world is not our home, and that one of these days, and it won't be long, that we'll be welcomed into the presence of God. So may the Lord help us to remain faithful to the end, because it demonstrates that we truly do understand what it means to pick up our cross daily and follow him.