 Good morning. Thank you for connecting as we journey in this study of the book of Acts. So far it's been a joyful ride as we've seen the people of God wait upon him for the promise of the Father, which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We saw how once the baptism in the Holy Spirit took place, the church was so powerful, empowered by the Holy Spirit and we're seeing the different things that are taking place in the church. So in the book of Acts, you know, we could even look at it as different stages. We said Acts chapter 2, there is the birth of the church, but then we can also consider progression and look at the different stages of the church. So today we'll talk a little bit about that and then continue from the end of Acts chapter 6 where we had actually stopped. So let's pray and let's get into today's session. Let me begin with the word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for godly examples such as the book of Acts. Lord, thank you Father for us. Lord, you've given us a prototype church. Father God, as we consider the various features of the church, we pray that Lord, we as your body will be transformed to God. The revival which took place, Father God, in the early church will be a part of our lives as well. Father God, we truly desire a God for a deeper and a powerful work of the Spirit. Lord, we pray you will do it in our time, so God, in Jesus' name we pray. So I shared with us that there are different stages that the church went through. So the birth of the church as we know is in Acts chapter 2 when they have come together and the baptism in the Holy Spirit takes place. So the entire record of the book of Acts is, it spans over 40 years roughly. So in these 40 years, we will see a move of God through God's people and the rising up of a particular individual known as Apostle Paul, whose missionary journeys have impacted the early church and they continue to impact us today. So we see how the gospel was really taken out of Jerusalem into various parts such as Asia Minor, Europe and also up until the capital of the world at that point which would be Rome. And there are certain other things that we saw, we saw the features of the church, how there were people who prayed and stood in unity in their faith and trust in God and God was able to release the promises upon their lives. We also saw the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy and in the first eight years, there is this community which is formed, which is so filled with the Holy Spirit, so transformed by the Holy Spirit and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit makes such a difference in their lives that they are stepping out and they are being that witness that Jesus talked about in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. So the first eight years, we could consider that from Acts chapter 2 to Acts chapter 8. And then we move on from Acts chapter 9 when we continue. We see another 10 years when the revival fires that are in the early church begin to move to various parts of the world and eventually we will see that it will be the church of course, many different apostles in the church but the rising up of Paul and especially the revival fire being carried through him. So that will be another 20 years. So what we are saying is about 10 years or 8 years of the church sort of being established and then the next 10 years would be the church stepping out, so various apostles, believers stepping out and doing the work of the ministry and eventually the final 20 years in the book of Acts is about Apostle Paul. So right now we are still in the first eight years and by now we could say that about 7000 people or so were part of the church because we saw that in the numbers on the very first day, 3000 people were added and when the lame man gave his life to the lame man's miracle took place in Acts chapter 3, there were many others who responded and so the church is now thriving, it's growing and we saw so many other things. One was the people who were coming into the church and the expansion of the kingdom of God, of the kingdom work of God happening through the church. We also saw the very many foundations of the church such as the teaching of God's word, the fellowship which they had, the sharing, the prayer, the meeting together to worship the Lord. So these were the foundational activities of the church. We also saw how there was great reverence for God among the people, even the outsiders, they were able to see these things and testify of the fact that these people really belonged to God and something unusual was taking place in their midst. We saw how there was great power and grace which was in the church and wonders, signs, miracles were performed. We also saw, excuse me class, I don't know if it's got to do with the headphones here that every time I wear the headphones I'm sneezing away but yeah hopefully I'll just adjust to this. So great grace with great power, signs, wonders and miracles that was a feature of the church. Now all of this is happening in the church and it's really something to be off but at the same time we saw that the world around was not so receptive and so there was opposition, there was persecution which the apostles as well as the church body had to face, so that is also a reality that existed during those times and beyond this there are other aspects, I think in the last section we also talked about God's supernatural intervention and angelic visitation, right? So there were several things to talk about within the church and outside the church. So finally we looked at the fact that the church while it was growing there were some internal issues that came up and the leaders had to work with wisdom to resolve those matters. So that's where we were and at chapter 6 we saw that for the distribution of food to the widows. There were widows who were neglected in the daily distribution and for this issue seven volunteers were selected, we saw how their character, their testimony, their work with the Lord was so important even though they were about serving food to the people in need and finally towards the end of this passage there is a description of a man called Stephen. So let's start with reading about Stephen and then we will continue to chapter 7. So at chapter 6 and verse 8 is where we will begin. So can I request somebody to go ahead and read please, at chapter 6 verse 8 all the way till verse 15. And Stephen full of faith and power did great wonders in science among the people. Then there arose some from what is called the... Sorry, I can't pronounce it. Which part does Ali? First line. First line. Sirenians. Sirenians. Okay, and those from Celia and Shia disputed 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 word against Moses and God and they stir up the people, the elders and scribes and they came upon him, seized him and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses who say this man does not sit against this holy place and the law for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us and all who sat in a council looking steadfastly at him saw his face as the face of an angel. Yes, thank you, Zellie. So in this particular passage we continue to read about one of the volunteers which would be Stephen and we saw earlier that he had a wonderful testimony. It was said about him that he was a man full of faith, holy spirit and he was someone who was selected to serve tables. Now that shows us that he is but a volunteer so he is not termed an apostle or given any other leadership title but we have a little more to read about Stephen in the verses that continue. Verse 8 where an additional description is given regarding him full of faith. We already saw that he was a man full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit. Now it says full of power, with great wonders and signs among the people. So that's something for us to think about that it was not just the apostles but even an ordinary person in the church or an ordinary volunteer in the church is moving in what? Power, great wonders, signs among the people somewhere in our thinking. We could be limited where we only assume that it would be the pastors or the elders or the bishops who are meant to walk in the power of God the way Stephen walked. But who is Stephen? He is just a volunteer. So today as we equip the believers in our church we can trust and hope in God that the most ordinary of our congregation members would be able to walk in the power of God. Maybe they are a child but that is not a limitation for God to work through their lives or to display His glory and splendor through their lives. So that's a good understanding that we must have that signs, wonders and miracles are not limited only to the leadership. Now let's read on. We see now that Stephen got into trouble because remember we said in the first 8 years great things were happening within the church but persecution and opposition was also rising up on the other side. So Stephen was a victim of this kind of a persecution. So we see that there was a group and it's been mentioned here arose some from what is called the synagogue of the Freedmen. So it was a set of people, Syriacians, Allegrandians, people from Sicily, Cilicia and Asia. Later you would notice that Cilicia is the place that Saul who turned into Paul came from. So Saul was a witness to what is going to take place in Stephen's life. He was part of that team or group that came against Stephen. What did this group do? They started disputing or quarrelling with Stephen regarding what? They were accusing him and blaming him of speaking blasphemous words or blasphemous is speaking against God and the things of God. So it's mentioned there in verse 11 blasphemous words against Moses and God and not only did they accuse him but there is a scenario where they stir up the people around me. They are creating this atmosphere where even others have been informed regarding what Stephen has done and people are beginning to rise up against Stephen. So now that there is an accusation, a strong accusation against Stephen they seize him and bring him to the council. So earlier the people who used to stand before the authorities were apostles but here is a believer standing in front of the council now. So what's going to happen? And they accuse him. They say this man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this place, holy place and the law for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us. So that is the accusation. Remember that. They say Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us which is against what their beliefs and customs were all about. And as they were against Stephen, accusing him of these things Luke also adds that the face of Stephen showed like the angels. Meaning the glory of God was upon him as he stood before the accusers. So God's presence was with him when he was going through this accusation. Now let us read chapter 7 which will talk about the trial of this volunteer and wonderful man by the name of Stephen. So we move on to chapter 7 now and we're looking at the interrogation process. So I request somebody to go ahead and read please. You can start off with verse 1 and could read till verse 8. I said, are these things true? And he said that the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Potania before he dwelt in Haran and said to him, get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land that I will show you. Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran and from there when his father was dead he moved him to his land, this land in which you now dwelt. And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot off. But even when Abraham had no child he promised to give it to him for a possession and do 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 him in this place. Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision and so Abraham with God, I said circumcision on the eighth day and I said with God. Thank you so much. Thank you for that. We are noticing here that Stephen is presenting a defense and in his defense he is revealing that he is well versed in the scriptures or he is well versed in the Jewish scriptures. So that is another important feature to look at because it only reminds us that the believers of the early church and Stephen being an ordinary volunteer also knew scriptures quite well meaning they would have been trained properly and you know, equipped in the word of God. So he is presenting his defense in a very well informed way. He begins with the story of Abraham and how God led him out and you know what is happening through the life of Abraham. So there's this whole narration that he starts off with because he wants to lead this discussion to the Lord Jesus very similar to the preaching of Peter in Acts chapter 2 when he brings out the patriarchs and makes that connection to the Lord Jesus. So standing before the council, it's a very intelligent way of making his defense because the listeners are learned people and Stephen's argument was such that they could not have really shot him down with their comments or shot him down with the information that they had because whatever he's saying here historically is quite accurate. So he is narrating from the life of Abraham and he's talking about the journey of the Israelites and how God led them, how God brought them out and how Abraham had a son by the name of Isaac and then it went on to the following generation. So he's narrating this entire history. Let's just look at all the things that he has to say. So we'll continue reading. I would want to request another person baby to please read from verse 9 and you can go on till verse 16. And the patriarch becoming invious soul just said in Egypt but God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt and he met him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Kenya and our fathers found no sustenance but when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt he said, now our fathers first. And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers and Joseph's family became known to the Pharaoh then Joseph went 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 Sitchem and laid in the tomb that Abraham brought for some of money from the sons of Hamur, the father of Sitchem. Yes, thank you Azali. Let's continue to read. Another person can pick up from verse 17 and go further ahead. So there's a whole lot that he is talking about because he wants to come to a place of conclusion regarding worship and so when we flow through with the entire passage we'll have a better understanding. So right now the background is being narrated. So verse 17 to maybe one person can read till 36 if that's okay with you and then we'll again read the rest another person. But when the time of the promise came here which God had sworn to Abraham the people grew and multiplied in Egypt till another king arose who did not know Joseph this land dealt preciously with our people and oppressed our forefathers making them exposed their babies so that they might not live. At this time Moses was gone and was well pleased to God and he was brought up in his father's house for three months but when he was set up our forefathers started to take him away and brought him up as his son and Moses was alone was alone in all the distance of the Egyptians and was mighty in birth and deeds. Now when he was 40 years old he could take it to his heart and visit his brethren the children of Israel and seeing one of them suffer wrong he defected and avenged him who was oppressed and struck down the Egyptian. For we suppose that this president would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand but they did not understand and the next day he appeared of two of them and they were fighting and tried to reconcile them saying men, you are president men, you are president why do you long for another but he would dig his neighbor long pushed him away saying who made you a ruler at the church for us do you want to kill me you did the Egyptian yesterday then at this same Moses fled and became a traveler in the land of Egypt when he had good sons and when 40 years had passed an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame fire in a bush in the wilderness of Monsignai Monsignai when Moses saw it he barbed at the site and as 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 and the God of Jacob and Moses struggled and dared not to look then the Lord said to him take his sandwich 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 felt their clothing and I have fucked up to deliver them and now I have sent you to Egypt this Moses whom they rejected said who made you a ruler and a judge is the one God sent to be a ruler and delivered by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush he brought them out after he had shown battles and signs in the land of Egypt and in the red sea and in the wilderness 40 years Amen Thank you Thank you, Rosa So we have seen regarding this Moses and how Stephen is bringing out the fact that Abraham journeyed and then he had his descendants and then it came to a time when there was a man called Joseph who God was with him and he was taken to this land of Egypt where God established him and eventually came a generation in Egypt that did not know Joseph and because they did not know Joseph and his contribution to the nation eventually they started oppressing the Israelites who had moved into Egypt and then we see how all the Israelites were in bondage and they needed a deliverer and God raised up a man by the name of Moses so he is specifically talking about Moses and you wonder why is Stephen talking so much about Moses quite elaborately he says how he gave it to his heart at the age of 40 it gives incredible hope to those who may be older in years and you wonder what can I do for God but at the age of 40 he becomes very conscious of going and delivering his people so he is ready to go and he does it his own way he goes and tries to deliver the Israelites in his personal strength and he strikes at Egypt but that was not God's way of bringing the deliverance to the Israelites so let me know that he went into the wilderness and he was he fled to hide himself from Pharaoh because it was just not the right time for Moses to bring the deliverance another 40 years passed by so you can think about the life of Moses that's another sermon in itself but we are not going to get into it Stephen is only narrating the life story of Moses but we can see the depths of what he is stating here as to how God gave man of deliverance through a journey and preparation for him to actually come up as this mighty man who leads the people into the promised land so the life of Moses he is elaborately discussing about the life of Moses now the question why are we talking about Moses because you see the accusation and we looked at it in Acts chapter 6 and verse 14 where he was accused with the statement that he is trying to change the customs which Moses delivered to us so that is why he has to talk about Moses and the customs of Moses and justify himself before the council the learned council which is standing before him and that is the reason he is going on about this and he also needs to bring a defense to the accusation where he was told that he spoke blasphemous words against the holy place and the law and of course they added to that saying he said that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place so there are these accusations which are standing against him and Stephen is speaking to the council to state that it is not so I have justified myself here and in his speech or in his defense you see great wisdom you see even intellect is something that we could point out and so the council is abased because here is an ordinary person standing and his face looks like the face of an angel we were told that simply shows that the presence of God was with him as he was being opposed so that gives us great assurance that when we go through times of being questioned for doing the right thing for God, God's presence will be with us and God's wisdom will be given to us so that we too can face our those who are questioning us with the wisdom of God the way Stephen did so that is why he is talking about Moses now let's see what else he says we need to go from verse 37 let's read till verse 43 it was going to be the next list show let's see who was in the complication the virginess with the angel has spoken to him about Sinai and with our fathers one who received the living or it goes to him who our fathers did not obey but rejected and in their hearts they turn back to each other saying to Aaron make us gods to go before us as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt we do not know what has become of him and they made a path in those days of sacrifice to the idol and rejoiced in the works of their own acts then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of Aaron as it is written in the book of the prophets did you often miss the altar animals and sacrifices during 40 years in the virginess or house of Israel you also took up the tabernacle of the rope and the star of your God rampant images which you made to worship and I will carry you away beyond Babylon thank you let's just read to the end of that section so another person can go ahead till verse 53 so he will complete his speech at verse 53 and we will have a full picture of what he is actually trying to say so if you check it out you will be able to read 44 at chapter 7 verse 44 a father 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 father having received it in turn also brought it with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles whom God drew out before the face of our fathers until the days of David who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling in Jacob but Solomon built him a house have a way the most high does not dwell in the temples made with hands as the prophet says heaven is my throne and earth is my food still what house will you build for me says the Lord or what is the place of my rest has my hand not made all these things you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in harden years 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 the just one of whom you have now become the betrayers and murderers who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it when they heard these things they were cut to the heart and they bashed him with their teeth but he being full of the Holy Spirit gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing in the right hand of God and said look I see the heavens open and the son of man standing in the right hand of God then they cried out with a loud voice stopped their ears and ran at him with one of God and they cast him out of the city and stoned him and the witness laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul and they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice do not charge them with the sin and when he had said this he fell asleep okay thank you Jafina so you read the whole section the whole chapter so we will just see what happened initially I mentioned that he spoke about the life of Moses because he wants to prove that he has done nothing to oppose the customs of Moses and now he goes on to talking about the place of worship remember the accusation was that he spoke against the place the holy place and the law of God and that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy it but he is giving his explanation here and he is saying that God is a God who he is the God of Heaven he actually does not need a place to dwell it however because the people they also were insisting that they wanted a king they wanted a place God went ahead right and even though he is the God who dwells in heaven he did instruct them regarding a place where his presence would come or the Tabernacle however he points out regarding the children of Israel in verse 51 he says you stiff-necked and unsurcumcised in the heart and ears okay so he is pointing to the fact that even when God gave instructions regarding worship the children of Israel were such that they try to do their own thing they were against God they were opposed to God at the laws of God so the point he is making is it is not that he is against God but he is reminding the same generation of their forefathers and the fact that their forefathers were also opposed to the house of God who opposed the the laws of God and he is then telling these people that they are also stiff-necked and that their hearts are actually not coveted so when he says unsurcumcised in the heart and ears he just means that their hearts are not coveted to God and he is showing them that the previous generations were against what God was doing in their midst they were against the Holy Spirit and he is telling them so are you you are also doing the same thing and the fathers that you are so proud of they were the ones who persecuted the prophets and they killed those who were telling about the coming of the Lord Jesus or the Messiah or the Christ here uses the term that just one and he says that these people are now following in the footsteps of their fathers who opposed the work of God in the past and they killed prophets and these people are doing the same thing so he is trying to bring them to a place of conviction and he is telling them that you know they need to really wake up to what God is doing and not oppose the work of God not oppose the work of God so the people the forefathers they resisted God's work they even resisted Moses and the laws which were given to Moses right so then it's like him saying you know what is this what are you accusing me about because starting from your father's till you you are also opposing the work of God it's not me who is opposing the work of God but it is you who is opposing the work of God so this is what he is sharing to the council earlier I said that we must appreciate his understanding of scriptures his speaking with wisdom but then another important thing that we must appreciate is his boldness because he is standing before the council and he is bold enough to present a defense so these are all things about Stephen that we can please so sort of we can comment about him now when Stephen gave his presented his argument people were touched so that same phrase which we saw when Peter preached cut to the heart that is mentioned over here people were cut to the heart or they were convicted about what he was saying but at the same time it affected many of them negatively and so they dashed at him is what scriptures say that means that they hated what he said or they did not like what he spoke and the opposition obviously has risen to the point where they are ready to kill him but at that point how is Stephen now this is again it adds to the testimony of Stephen Stephen a man full of faith full of wisdom full of power we saw all these three things and right now he is again as a man full of the Holy Spirit gazing into heaven and seeing the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God so that reveals to us that he is a man who is sensitive to the communication of the Holy Spirit remember when we talk about the prophetic we say dreams, visions chances so many ways in which God actually speaks to his people so Stephen at a very crucial moment beyond seeing the opposers who are standing in front of him he is seeing a vision of heaven his spirit man his spirit eyes are open like the prophets of old and he is seeing a vision or a picture of heaven he is full of the Holy Spirit and he is gazing into heaven what does he see two things the glory of God why because the heaven is filled with the glory of God so that awe he must have sensed in those moments the glory of God secondly it says Jesus standing at the right hand of God which is very precious because we usually talk about being seated at the right hand of God isn't it we are seated in Christ in the heavenly places so sitting down some countries say that sitting down is a sign of completing the work when Jesus finished his work on the earth he went to be sat down up in heaven but in this particular instance we see that Jesus was standing standing at the right hand of God and commentators say that standing up is a symbol of honor so the Lord Jesus looking at the boldness of Stephen and his witness that you know he could have just run away or he could have denied the way Peter denied Jesus he could have denied Christ but he stood up for the truth he stood up for what he believed and he was ready even if it meant that his own life will be sacrificed for the faith and it shows how God sees or how God perceives or receives this kind of faith it's like Jesus is honoring by standing up for Stephen up in heaven and saying good job you know Stephen so that's the way some commentators have put it that Jesus standing at the right hand of God my God is where Jesus is proud of his man of the hour Stephen and you know Stephen views this picture and he says look I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God so he is narrating his vision to the listeners and that's what is going on but the end is very sad for Stephen there is an uproar people did like what he said that he is actually cast out of the city and stoned once you know he is killed we are told that his clothes were laid at the feet of a young man named as Saul remember we saw the synagogue of the freedman where Silesia is mentioned that is the place of like you know Paul is from Silesia and right now there is his first friendship in the book of Acts here at the martyrdom of Stephen so it is understood that where the clothes were laid at Saul's feet it was most likely that the leader of the team that went to persecute Stephen was Saul so Saul was the head of the group that killed Stephen so that is who Saul is so gives us a picture of what he might have believed and you know how he hated those who trusted in the Lord Jesus but it is a very sad time when a volunteer or a believer of the church is killed for his faith and you know we are told they stored Stephen and what was Stephen doing think about this this again is so precious he is being stored he is hurt and in pain and you know devastated, traumatized put to shame so much is happening to him physically, emotionally but spiritually the strength of the spiritual person and the strength of his character in these moments of great difficulty Stephen says Lord Jesus receive my spirit the way Jesus said that and one more thing he says Lord do not charge them with this sin isn't he a true disciple of Jesus what did Jesus say on the cross he said these very same words he offered up his spirit to the Lord because his life was about God and the purpose of which God had called him so that's what Jesus did he offered up his spirit secondly Jesus forgave the persecutors in the same way Stephen is forgiving his persecutors and he is saying do not charge them with this sin and the scriptures say that he fell asleep what a great man and you know what would we do if we were in the position of Stephen being stoned for the faith which we have would we be able to rejoice in the spiritual reality of the glory of God and be able to picture the love the honour that Jesus is pouring out on our lives and then even be in the position to forgive our persecutors so many things for us to think about but what an inspiration what a standard what an example that Stephen is even as a martyr to the church of Jesus Christ so an impactful light let's go ahead for a break right now we will come back in 10 minutes and continue with Acts chapter 8 where the excitement will only build up further ok so I see you all in 10 minutes thank you