1 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,119 This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark 2 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,240 Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,400 County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,720 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:41,560 The Lord says there's neither Jew nor Greek, nor bond or 6 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,160 freeman or male or female. We've all been made to drink 7 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:50,120 that same spiritual drink from God's economy and the way he 8 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:52,640 views things. He doesn't look at ethnic 9 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,440 issues, he doesn't look at racial issues, he doesn't look 10 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:01,560 at financial issues, he doesn't choose people based upon some 11 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,879 place of birth. He doesn't see anybody as being 12 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:06,680 more important than someone else, right. 13 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,760 We're all the same as people. In today's world, there are so 14 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:12,800 many things that divide us from one another. 15 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,800 Race, gender, political ideology, or even favorite 16 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,800 sports teams can drive wedges between people if we allow them 17 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,120 to. But Pastor Clark teaches us 18 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,400 today that in the eyes of God, all of us are equal. 19 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,160 All of us have sinned and are in need of a Savior. 20 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,200 Jesus didn't come to this earth to die for one group of people. 21 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,280 He came to offer salvation to any who would call on him. 22 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,880 The early church was diverse because it was open to everyone. 23 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:45,600 Now here's Pastor Clark in the book of Acts Chapter 5 with 24 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,480 today's edition of Living Waters of Grace. 25 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:54,680 So we are in the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles could 26 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:58,400 be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit as well, because it is 27 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:02,560 about the work of God's Holy Spirit in the church, the early 28 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,600 church. So the early church, when we 29 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,440 study this in Acts, this is all new. 30 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,280 Everything that we're studying is new to the people who became 31 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:18,080 believers at Pentecost and when God put his church together, the 32 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:23,600 New Testament church, there was no programs, very little 33 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:28,240 politics, no agenda. It was just people loving Jesus 34 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:30,840 and hanging out together and worshipping God. 35 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:34,880 They didn't really have buildings like we have nowadays, 36 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,760 church buildings at that time. They didn't have much of an 37 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:43,360 organizational chart in regard to how ministry flows within the 38 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,880 four walls of a a church community. 39 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,360 So everything is organic, everything is developing, 40 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,960 everything is brand new. I'm going to finish reading the 41 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:57,720 verses in chapter 5 starting at 40 leading into chapter 6. 42 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,360 This is after Gamaliel told the leaders of the empire at the 43 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,240 time not to hassle the Christians. 44 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,760 If it's of if it's of man, it'll fall apart. 45 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:08,600 If it's of God, no one can stop it. 46 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,120 And obviously it is of God because no one has stopped it in 47 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:15,120 over 2000 years. But it says, And they agreed 48 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:16,920 with him. And when they had called for the 49 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:20,080 apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not 50 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:22,600 speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. 51 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:25,520 So they departed from the presence of the council, 52 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,160 rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his 53 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,880 name. And daily in the temple and in 54 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:36,000 every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as 55 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,840 the Christ. So they weren't worried about 56 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:45,960 being embarrassed or ridiculed or persecuted or betrayed. 57 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,240 And in regard to the nation, they love serving the Lord. 58 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,280 And they weren't self-centered, they were other centered. 59 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,760 They were Christ centered and they were praising God that they 60 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,800 had an opportunity to suffer difficulty for their faith, 61 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:00,760 something that we can learn from. 62 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,080 And they worshipped every day. It wasn't just like they waited 63 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:07,080 till Wednesday or Sunday or some other day. 64 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,840 These people had such a desire to be in the Word and be 65 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,040 together as Christians that they they gathered whenever they 66 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,640 could in homes and they were always teaching one another 67 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,839 about the things of God and preaching the gospel to people 68 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,760 that never heard or needed to know who Jesus was. 69 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:26,840 This a wonderful move of of God's spirit. 70 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,280 It was approximately 20,000 people that were part of this 71 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:32,000 New Testament church at this time. 72 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:34,800 It was developing, it was growing and eventually there'd 73 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,080 be persecution and the church would be scattered and they 74 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:41,800 would be then meeting primarily in smaller homes, groups, that 75 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,240 kind of stuff. God wasn't interested in mega 76 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:48,520 churches back then. He was interested in real unity 77 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,280 and Christians coming together, knowing each other, loving each 78 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:56,280 other, praying for one another wasn't the size of the of the of 79 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:58,680 the organization. It was the life that was in the 80 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,760 community of faith at the time that impacted everyone that was 81 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:05,440 exposed to this New Testament church. 82 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:10,840 So we we we begin in chapter 6 here and the subtitle says 7 83 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:16,120 chosen to serve in any church and it happened in the early 84 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,000 church. There's always need for help and 85 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:24,520 they always say there's an 8020 roll, 20% to 80% of the work and 86 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,240 organizations or ministries or whatever. 87 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,600 We're fortunate here. There's a much higher percentage 88 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,440 of participation of help and service because of your heart's 89 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:35,800 desired and want to serve the Lord. 90 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:37,120 And we're very grateful for that. 91 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:38,720 That's what makes the church alive. 92 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,640 When people get involved with their passion and their 93 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:43,440 ministries and they're using their gifts. 94 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:46,880 And now in these days and those days when the number of the 95 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,800 disciples. This is Acts chapter 6, verse 1 96 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,280 was multiplying. There arose A complaint against 97 00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:56,480 the Hebrews by the Hellenist because their widows were 98 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,160 neglected in the daily distribution. 99 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:06,280 So the Jewish institution, the synagogue, the temple, they did 100 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,640 try to help take care of widows and orphans. 101 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,480 This is not something new. But now there's this breakdown 102 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:17,600 in relationship between Christians and the legalists of 103 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:22,560 the Jewish religion. And so the ministry is growing, 104 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,760 things are happening, and there's this complaint that's 105 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:30,480 beginning to occur because they need more help now. 106 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:35,240 These Hebrews were the people that were more, I guess, 107 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:40,400 organized within the community of Jerusalem and they were law 108 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,960 keepers and they were into, you know, their traditions and that 109 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,200 kind of stuff. The hell on us were Jewish 110 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,360 people, but they were impacted by Greek culture. 111 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:52,640 And so they were sort of looked out upon by the Hebrews. 112 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,920 But nonetheless, they were two communities of Jewish people. 113 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,520 These people had been scattered during the dysphoria and the 114 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,080 difficulties of of the nation of Israel, what they've been 115 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,640 through since the beginning of time as a nation. 116 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:08,640 So there's this this issue that things are falling through to 117 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:13,560 cracks and the 12 summoned the multitude of the disciples and 118 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,600 said it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and 119 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:22,040 serve tables. So what's the solution to the 120 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,880 problem? And any given church is always 121 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,720 something that someone maybe is upset about or they don't like 122 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:29,800 something or they're frustrated or whatever. 123 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,720 Instead of coming and making it known to the leadership, Lots of 124 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:37,000 times people begin this behind the scenes, backbiting, 125 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,760 murmuring, complaining, backstabbing, whatever. 126 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,440 They did this or do you know what he did or what she did or 127 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:44,520 whatever. And that stuff never solves 128 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,440 anything, right? But lots of times things can be 129 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,520 taken care of quite easily if someone just goes and says, hey, 130 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:51,680 have you ever thought about this? 131 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:54,200 This isn't really working really well right now. 132 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:56,840 And have you ever thought about trying this or this idea, 133 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,080 whatever. And we as leaders are open to 134 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:03,360 whatever ideas you guys have. Many times, if they're good 135 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:05,840 ideas and they're from the Lord, we want to see them implemented. 136 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:08,640 If we're missing something or we're not doing something right, 137 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,440 we want to be told about that so we can correct it. 138 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,440 Not the people get mad and they leave or they say they don't 139 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:17,480 listen or whatever. That's not the way we want to 140 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:20,200 roll here. But what was happening here is 141 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,280 that they realize the apostles, I can't do all this. 142 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:28,880 There's twelve of them and they cannot handle all this group of 143 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:31,880 20,000 approximately people and do it well. 144 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:38,120 And so they said, look, we have to study and we have to pray so 145 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,880 that whenever we come and teach the people, we have something of 146 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,520 substance to tell them. But if we're too busy handling 147 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,280 all the details of the church, then we're not going to be 148 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,600 prepared to tell the people the things of God from the word of 149 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,280 God. They were stretched and they 150 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,400 realized that they couldn't do this themselves. 151 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,360 They were asking for help. So they said it isn't a good 152 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:01,920 idea that we should leave what we're supposed to be doing, 153 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:04,880 teaching the word of God. And and when they say serving 154 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,000 tables, it doesn't mean like giving people food, wiping them 155 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,240 off, get the dishes, all that. It's just being a servant in all 156 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:15,160 these different other capacities of what happens when churches 157 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,360 begin to grow and there's needs. So it says. 158 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:23,800 Therefore, brethren in verse 3, seek out from among you 7 men of 159 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,600 good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom whom we 160 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,640 may appoint over this business, but we will give ourselves 161 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:32,800 continually to prayer in the ministry of the word. 162 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:36,280 So what's beautiful about this? It got the congregation involved 163 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,080 like you guys. You should know the people that 164 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:41,560 come to Calvary you, you, you talk to them all the time. 165 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:46,360 If we have need for help, you might suggest to Pastor Lewis or 166 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,280 one of the elders, Hey, you know this, this guy or this woman 167 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,640 they're they're really gifted. They got a real love for God. 168 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,320 Have you ever thought about, you know, we need have a need for 169 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:55,440 this? And they were telling me they'd 170 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:57,880 like to do whatever. I mean, that's how you get the 171 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,880 right people in the right place. So, you know, they, they made 172 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,120 suggestions in regard to what was happening. 173 00:10:04,560 --> 00:10:07,840 So the saying, please, the whole multitude. 174 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:11,000 So the church was in unity. They weren't disunity. 175 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:13,840 They were connected and they they understood we're going to 176 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:15,520 fix this. We're going to make it right. 177 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,760 And so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy 178 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:25,240 Spirit, and Philip and Procurius and Nicanor and Theemon and par 179 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:29,680 Menas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set 180 00:10:29,680 --> 00:10:32,480 before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they 181 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,720 laid hands on them. So what's interesting is the 182 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:39,880 predominant number of people in this church at the time were 183 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:44,200 Hebrew Christians. The Hellenists were a smaller 184 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,520 percentage of the group, but a lot of people in this instance 185 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,320 that were called to serve were from that Hellenist group, which 186 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,160 is I find sort of interesting, you know, the Greek influence. 187 00:10:54,640 --> 00:11:00,720 And so the Lord says there's neither Jew nor Greek or Bond or 188 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,280 Freeman or male or female. We've all been made to drink 189 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:09,120 that same spiritual drink from God's economy and the way he 190 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,640 views things. He doesn't look at ethnic 191 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:14,680 issues, He doesn't look at racial issues. 192 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:17,240 He doesn't look at financial issues. 193 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:21,440 He doesn't choose people based upon some place of birth. 194 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,880 He doesn't see anybody as being more important than someone 195 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,760 else, right? We're all the same as people. 196 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:32,160 And so whenever you have a, a church community, you don't have 197 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:36,840 preference over one person or group or background. 198 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,000 We need to be LED of the Holy Spirit. 199 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:43,080 We need to do what God's telling us to do, not what the culture 200 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,440 maybe is trying to push us to do or what's politically correct, 201 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:47,960 you know, that term and that kind of stuff. 202 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:52,360 We want God to raise up who he wants to raise up and for him to 203 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:54,880 take down who he needs to take down. 204 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:59,000 And so they, they got the support of the people. 205 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,840 It wasn't a congregational role kind of thing or anything. 206 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:06,320 It was the body of Christ being alive enough to, you know, be 207 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:09,760 together in regard to people that they thought would be 208 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:12,960 really good in this capacity. And so there was no 209 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,520 disagreement. And so whenever they got these 210 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:18,680 guys together, these seven, they ordained them. 211 00:12:18,680 --> 00:12:21,120 And ordained ordination is, is biblical. 212 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:26,040 It's the laying on of hands to the person that's going to do a 213 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:30,080 particular ministry in the church, and that person is 214 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:34,440 codified or recognized by God's calling. 215 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,960 And the laying on of hands isn't anything powerful from the 216 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:39,880 person who's doing the laying on of hands. 217 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:43,880 It's a picture of God laying his hands on them and we're just 218 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,600 agreeing with what it is that God's already done in a person's 219 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,560 life. And so when they did that, this 220 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:53,240 is the exciting thing. Verse 7, they got it together. 221 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,560 They got it straightened out. Then the word of God spread and 222 00:12:56,560 --> 00:12:59,720 the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. 223 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:02,720 And a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. 224 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,680 So what was cool about this is the apostles were released from 225 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:09,800 the responsibility of having to deal with the the widow 226 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,360 situation. They were able to concentrate on 227 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:15,200 what it was that they were called to do and then they were 228 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,080 able to do it effectively. And the word went out and the 229 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,240 church kept growing. It kept growing. 230 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:22,680 It says it multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. 231 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,040 And not only the people in the streets we're hearing, but the 232 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,560 high-ranking officials that were serving in the synagogue. 233 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:32,440 The priests were getting saved too, which is awesome, right? 234 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:35,040 Just a move of God, a real revival. 235 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:38,400 And so Stephen, we're going to concentrate on him now. 236 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:40,760 The next Stephen was one of the seven. 237 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:45,320 He was not an apostle, but he was a man of God filled with the 238 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:48,760 Holy Spirit. So God doesn't differentiate in 239 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:51,640 regard to the communication of the Word. 240 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,160 A man of God is a man of God. You know, the title doesn't not 241 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,080 make the man the man of God. It's not the pastor or the elder 242 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,640 or the Deacon. It's you and me as men were 243 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:04,400 either given over to serve God and to be used by God and to use 244 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:08,720 our gifts that God's given us, or we just sit around and don't 245 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:11,880 do anything right in our church. You know, we want to see more 246 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,640 and more men teaching the word of God because if they're 247 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,200 learning to teach the word of God, they're going to help the 248 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:20,520 church grow, but they're also going to be used by the Lord in 249 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,200 their own homes and their family and their own sphere of 250 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:25,880 influence as as well as the church. 251 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,280 And that Wednesday night we have other guys beside pastors that 252 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,080 are teaching the word and they're this is competent and 253 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,640 gifted and a blessing to us is, is, is the pastors. 254 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,280 We don't hold one person up higher than the other. 255 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:40,640 It's the word of God that's doing the work, right. 256 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:44,120 The word of God communicated to the people of God is what 257 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:47,480 changes the the hearts of of the people of God. 258 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:52,600 So Stephen is a man of faith. It says here in verse 8, Stephen 259 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:56,760 full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among 260 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:57,960 the people. And then you might say, well, I 261 00:14:57,960 --> 00:14:59,520 thought any of the apostles could do that. 262 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,160 Well, back in the early church days, God's miraculous power was 263 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:07,040 being poured out through men and women in very different kind of 264 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,360 circumstances. It wasn't, excuse me, only an 265 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,920 Apostolic kind of authority that would have the ability to do 266 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,560 these things. I mean, Stevens picked to be and 267 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:18,280 there was no deacons at this time. 268 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,720 Later on, the word develop Deacon means servant. 269 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:24,960 In the book of Timothy, it tells about the qualifications of 270 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:28,960 leaders in the church, but they weren't so much at this 271 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,520 particular point in time positioned as deacons. 272 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:35,280 They were just servants, right. So Steven, he's doing these 273 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:39,680 ministries and he's called to help with the widows, but he, he 274 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:42,480 didn't say, well, well, I guess I'm just like a down and out guy 275 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:44,360 and I'm, I'm not good enough to do anything else. 276 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:48,760 So I'll help these widows and I'll, you know, no, he was a man 277 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:50,320 of God. So he had a lot of spiritual 278 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:51,760 gifts. He was able to do a lot of 279 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,320 different things. He wasn't just doing one thing 280 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,240 right. He was able to be used by the 281 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:58,920 Lord. And then in verse 9, there arose 282 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,640 some from what is called the synagogue of the freeman 283 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:07,400 Sirenians, Alexandrians and those from Silesia and Asia 284 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,560 disputing with Stephen. They began to argue with him 285 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:14,640 because of his evangelistic zeal and his preaching of of Christ. 286 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:19,200 Cilicia is the region where the apostle Paul was serving with 287 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,280 the Sanhedrin at the time. He was called Saul of Tarsus and 288 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,240 we'll study later on in the book of the Acts how he became born 289 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:28,200 again. But he was a persecutor of 290 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:32,480 Christians. And so it says that and when 291 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,600 they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which 292 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,840 he spoke. So these guys are hearing what 293 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:44,640 the gospel's about the person of Jesus, the history, the biblical 294 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,160 point by point step and he goes into great detail. 295 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,880 It's probably one of the greatest historical sermons in 296 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,400 the New Testament as to what God started with Abraham and moved 297 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,200 all the way through Christ when Christ came. 298 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:58,120 We'll take our time as we study this. 299 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:01,040 But, and so they're arguing with him. 300 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:05,079 But what was amazing was they inside weren't able to resist 301 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:07,760 the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. 302 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,359 There was an anointing on this man and they weren't able to 303 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,880 ignore it. They weren't able to dispute it. 304 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:18,680 They weren't really able to find concrete evidence to disagree 305 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:21,880 with what he was saying. They didn't like what he was 306 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:25,800 saying, but they weren't able to disagree with what he was 307 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:27,760 saying. They were convicted even at the 308 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:29,920 early stage of his his preaching here. 309 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:34,960 And it says then they secretly induce men to say we have heard 310 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,240 him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. 311 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,640 So already these guys are beginning to spread division and 312 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,640 lies among the multitudes of people. 313 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,280 They're putting him down. They're disagreeing, they're 314 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:53,200 lying about things he said. Isn't that typical of anybody 315 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,440 that is influential in the culture? 316 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,080 If they're good people and they're trying to do the right 317 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:06,480 job, how many people slander the leader or the spokesperson or 318 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:08,480 the person? You know, it could be a 319 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:11,560 politician, it could be, you know, whatever, a pastor, you 320 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,920 guys or your family, you know, you're sharing your faith with 321 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,960 someone and, and they're, they're saying, well, you know, 322 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:20,720 I wouldn't listen to him because I saw him run a red light last 323 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:21,840 week. You know, he's not a real 324 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:23,800 Christian or just goofy stuff, right? 325 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:27,440 They come up with all kind of reasons to invalidate you as 326 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:29,720 being a follower and a servant of God, right? 327 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:33,320 So they're beginning to stir all this up. 328 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,800 You know, we've heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses 329 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,480 and God. He never did that, but he surely 330 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:43,480 told them that Jesus was better than Moses, which he is, right? 331 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:49,160 They also talked about the authority of Christ versus all 332 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,240 those who went before him. He was very clear on 333 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:56,120 representing the Lord as as to who he was and what he did. 334 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,280 And it says in verse 12. And they stirred up the people, 335 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:04,320 they got them all uptight, got them all anxious, aggravated the 336 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:09,360 elders and the scribes, and they came upon him, seized him and 337 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:12,960 brought him to the council. So none of the stuff's true. 338 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:18,000 What they're saying about this evangelist Stephen, he's being 339 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,680 faithful to this. Give the word out there, simply 340 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,280 the history of what Christ has done and they get this group of 341 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:28,040 people that want to arrest them now, seize them and bring them 342 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,920 before the authorities, the same authorities that Christ had to 343 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,280 go through and go before, which is interesting. 344 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:40,880 They also set up false witnesses who said this man does not cease 345 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,600 to speak blasphemous words against this holy place in the 346 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:50,440 law. False witnesses, That's common 347 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:56,080 in the day as well. How many times have you heard 348 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,520 things that are being said about someone that aren't? 349 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,040 That isn't true. This is happening in the 350 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,640 political arena right now. Thank the Lord there's evidence 351 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,840 to the contrary and it's brought out to clarify that it is a lie 352 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,880 and it's not true. But if the enemy always wants to 353 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,520 bring lies and slanderous things. 354 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:20,440 Against the truth. It's just the way it is in in 355 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,120 our world, and it's the way it's been since the beginning of 356 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:26,000 time. So they set up these false 357 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,080 witnesses. Now, when Stephen was speaking 358 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:35,840 about what God had put on his heart, he wasn't like saying 359 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:41,040 that the temple was insignificant, but he was trying 360 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:43,200 to help them understand. You've made this into an 361 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:48,240 idolatrous institution. You begun to worship the 362 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,840 structure and the artwork and the beauty of the temple and not 363 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,560 the one who created it. And that can happen very easily 364 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:58,240 in, in, in churches. People told you, if you've been 365 00:20:58,240 --> 00:20:59,880 into that church, it's magnificent. 366 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:03,520 They have the most amazing stained glass and they have, you 367 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:08,120 know, how high ceilings in the, in the chandeliers and, and 368 00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:11,560 people can go on and on and on and they like, they go into that 369 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,640 and then they think, well, you know, because all that stuff's 370 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,240 there, then there must be God must be there somehow. 371 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,800 And then they, they, they come into a place like this. 372 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:21,560 And where's the stained glass man? 373 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:24,960 You know, is this really a church or is this a cult or what 374 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:28,880 is this place? You know, and I'm not negating 375 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:30,920 the beauty. I like a, a beautiful church. 376 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,120 I go into Saint Vincent once in a while and pray when I'm 377 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:35,040 driving down the road. I just like going in there 378 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,560 because it's sun's coming in through that stained glass 379 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:38,360 window. It's cool. 380 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:40,840 I like that. If we could afford it, I'd like 381 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:42,880 to do it right, but we're never, we're probably never going to be 382 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:44,920 able to do that. So if you want that, you got to 383 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,720 go up there, right? Nonetheless, it's not an opinion 384 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,680 of this is better and this is worse. 385 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:52,840 You know, the whole idea was it was their heart. 386 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,240 And because of their hearts being so focused on religion and 387 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:01,640 the duty of the law, they were religious Pharisees, and they 388 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:06,680 were trying to make everybody in a legalistic way, follow their 389 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,600 pattern of religion. And so Stevens telling them 390 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:15,280 about the freedom that we have in Christ and that God is not 391 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:19,640 dwelling in temples made with hands, Jesus made that clear. 392 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,600 It's nice, you know, when we're together as a church, I sense 393 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,920 God's presence here, not because of the building, but because 394 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,560 you're here. You represent him. 395 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,000 Your life is filled with God's Spirit and, and that's what 396 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,320 makes the place alive When whenever you guys all leave here 397 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:36,920 and you walk in here, it's just a room. 398 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:42,560 It's just a room, but you still can sense of spirit because he's 399 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,400 with you if you're the only one in the room. 400 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:50,120 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will 401 00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:53,880 destroy this place and change the customs which Moses 402 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:58,200 delivered to us. So they're really making a big 403 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:03,720 deal about the building. And whenever Jesus said this 404 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,640 temple will be destroyed or be raised up in three days, we all 405 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:09,880 know because we went through the Gospel studying, that he was 406 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,760 referring to his body, right, and his resurrection. 407 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:17,120 But of course, the temple was going to be destroyed in AD 70. 408 00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:20,200 And he warned them about what was going to happen to their 409 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,680 wonderful city and because of their Pagan rituals and 410 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:26,360 everything else that was going on, that the Lord was going to 411 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:29,040 allow that all to be eventually destroyed. 412 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:36,480 And the customs, you know, the traditions of men make God's 413 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:41,880 word of no effect. If I or Lewis or any of us as 414 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:49,360 leading the church began to make a custom primary versus the 415 00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:54,720 worship of Jesus, we've lost it. We've already gone down the 416 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,800 wrong Rd. Thank you for listening to this 417 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:00,840 edition of Living Waters of Grace. 418 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,160 Pastor Clark is teaching us about the book of Acts in this 419 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,080 series. Acts is a powerful and unique 420 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,000 part of Scripture, not just because it records the spread of 421 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,480 the gospel geographically from Jerusalem to the ends of the 422 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:18,000 earth, but also culturally. Acts shows us how the message of 423 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,720 Jesus moved beyond its Jewish roots and began to reach the 424 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:24,640 Gentile world. What started with Peter leading 425 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,560 a small group in the Upper Room became a global movement with 426 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,320 Paul taking the gospel to cities, synagogues and 427 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,000 marketplaces across the Roman Empire. 428 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:39,480 Acts captures this vital transition and reminds us that 429 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:43,280 the good news of Jesus is for all people in every place. 430 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:48,480 May we be inspired to carry that same gospel boldly into our 431 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,640 world today. Living Waters of Grace comes to 432 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:53,920 you from Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland. 433 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:58,440 If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, you can listen to Grace FM 434 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:03,320 on the new 91.7 frequency. 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We're so thankful that you 446 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,800 joined us today. Be sure to tune in to the next 447 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,160 edition of Living Waters of Grace.