1 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:09,960 Titled This Morning's Message is God's Faithfulness. 2 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,160 We're in the book of Acts, Acts Chapter 7. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,760 Stephen has been arrested. Remember, he started off, he's 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:21,000 just an ordinary guy and he's serving on the tables. 5 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:24,920 There'd been a dispute, murmurings between the the the 6 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:30,640 Greek cultured Jews and the Hebrew Jews about the bread that 7 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:36,000 was being divvied out amongst the widows who were able to be 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:41,520 cared for by the church. And so the congregation selected 9 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:48,400 7 men of honest report had to be full of the Holy Spirit. 10 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:51,800 Notice the qualifications that they needed to have to serve at 11 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,600 tables. And so Stephen is one of those. 12 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,920 And Stephen as he's doing that, he's also teaching elsewhere and 13 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,720 and God is using him and he's praying for people. 14 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,880 People are being healed. And so he's a problem. 15 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:09,920 He's a thorn to the work of the enemy. 16 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:15,920 So the religious Sanhedrin, the religious leaders of Israel call 17 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:24,560 and have Stephen arrested. He's brought before 71 members 18 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,520 of the religious leaders of Israel and he's put on the spot. 19 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:36,160 And he's been accused of quite a number of things that says verse 20 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,720 1, Chapter 7. Then the high priest said, are 21 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,320 these things. So that's all the accusations. 22 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,000 Stephen, why did he teach this message? 23 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,960 Why did he preach this message? That's whenever you ask and 24 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,400 study the book of the Bible, you got to ask some certain 25 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:54,680 questions. Why was it written? 26 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,520 Who was it written for? What was the message? 27 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,120 What's the application? Where is Jesus in this? 28 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,800 How does it apply to me? So why did Stephen prints this 29 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,360 message? Why is there Acts Chapter 7 in 30 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,160 answer to the charges that he had been accused of? 31 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:15,000 We can see that he'd been accused of blasphemous words 32 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:21,520 against Moses, which he didn't. He'd been accused of allegedly 33 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,160 speaking out against the law of Moses, which he didn't. 34 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:32,160 He'd been accused of blasphemy against God and deriding the 35 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:37,040 temple, which he didn't. These were the same accusations 36 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,200 that had come against Jesus. Same. 37 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,240 The devil never, never has a new way of attacking you. 38 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:47,120 It's the same old, same old. He uses the same old methods 39 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:52,440 every time to attack you. And so they'd even hired 40 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:57,440 witnesses, paid them off, said, come lie about this guy. 41 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,320 Just tell him what we've told you to say. 42 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,400 And Stephen's there. But Stephen doesn't defend 43 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:09,120 himself. Said to the kids on Friday 44 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,960 night, You know, nowhere in the Bible does God defend himself. 45 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,880 He doesn't prove his existence. People say, we'll prove God. 46 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:22,760 No, it's like you having to prove that you exist to 47 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:24,520 somebody. Well, I'm actually here. 48 00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:28,520 We'll prove it. No, God. 49 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:30,680 God doesn't have to defend himself. 50 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,160 We don't have to defend God. God exists. 51 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:40,040 He exists in the beginning. God created the heavens and the 52 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:44,120 earth. Stephen is not concerned about 53 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:47,200 defending himself. That's where we often go off 54 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:51,960 when we, we're discussing doing Christian apologetics with 55 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:56,160 people, atheist, agnostics, We're we start to defend 56 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,320 ourselves. Don't defend yourself. 57 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:05,160 We don't have to to defend lies. When someone lies to you, you 58 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:08,040 don't defend. Paul didn't when he wrote to the 59 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,520 Corinthians, he said God's my witness, God's my witness. 60 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,040 But he does want to do this one thing. 61 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:18,839 He wants to proclaim Jesus Christ. 62 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:24,120 So he says, aha, 71 years, a fixed congregation. 63 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:28,520 I'm going to tell you about Jesus, verse one, the high 64 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:33,760 priest said of these things. So Stephen said, brethren, 65 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:41,080 brothers, fathers, listen, I'm about to give you a sermon. 66 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:48,280 The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in 67 00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:52,040 Mesopotamia. That's modern day Iraq, by the 68 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:58,120 way, just so you know, Abraham is Iraqi, That's his roots. 69 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,240 Before he dwelt in Haran. What's Haran? 70 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,440 SE Turkey. And said to him, get out of your 71 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,280 country for away from your relatives, come to a land that 72 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:12,680 I'll show you. Then he came out of the land of 73 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:17,400 the Chaldeans, dwelt in Haran and from there when his father 74 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:24,320 was dead, he moved him to this land, Canaan, in which you now 75 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:29,120 dwell. Abraham, you know we Abraham in 76 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:31,760 Romans chapter 4 is considered and called the father of our 77 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,880 faith, rightly so. But you know, one of the things 78 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,960 I learned I used to have this idea as a new believer that 79 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:43,520 everyone in the Bible was like saintly, you know, because I I 80 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,400 grew up on Cecil B the Milne Bible movies. 81 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,400 I love King of kings. That was a bit later, but you 82 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:51,520 know, the Bible, the 10 Commandments, Charlton Heston, 83 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,960 all that sort of stuff, You younger people have no idea who 84 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,160 they are. People don't even have any idea 85 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,640 these days who The Beatles are. Wow, You're old. 86 00:06:08,840 --> 00:06:13,960 And so I had this, this idea that everyone in the Bible was 87 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:18,880 just perfect until I began to read the Bible. 88 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:23,760 I found out. Wow, they're far from perfect. 89 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:31,280 Abraham, for example, did not immediately obey God's command. 90 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:34,640 He didn't just take off, leave the family and head out to the 91 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,000 Canaan. He didn't head straight to the 92 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:39,720 land that God had promised. He didn't do that. 93 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:46,920 Abraham also did not leave all his family behind in southern 94 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,480 Iraq. His father terror went with him 95 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:55,520 to Haran Iran's between is on the border of Turkey and the 96 00:06:55,520 --> 00:07:01,120 Syrian border. But despite Abraham's frailties, 97 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:09,120 his incomplete obedience and his struggles, Abraham grew in his 98 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:13,520 faith over time. It says in verse 5 and God gave 99 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:18,080 him no inheritance in it. In Canaan, he said put a claim 100 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:19,360 out for you. Stake out the claim. 101 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,280 That's yours. No, not even to set his foot on. 102 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:28,920 But even when Abraham had no child in Genesis chapter 15, God 103 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:33,280 makes his promise to Abraham that through you, Abraham and 104 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,920 through your seed and the descendants, the world, the 105 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:39,560 nations are going to be blessed. Speaking of Jesus Christ, it was 106 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:41,400 to come through the Jewish nation. 107 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:45,200 Abraham's gone. I don't even have AI have I have 108 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,480 nobody. And Sarah and I, we're, we're 109 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:49,920 old. We're on the pension. 110 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,000 We don't have any kids, and I have a servant. 111 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:56,400 And God says, no, he's Eliezer. He's not. 112 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,120 It's not through him. I'll give you a son. 113 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:07,160 But even when Abraham had no child, he promised to give it to 114 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:10,480 him for a possession and to his descendants after him. 115 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:16,200 So God speaking way beyond what even Abraham says, how can that 116 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,600 happen? I don't have any kids, but God 117 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,520 spoke in this way that his descendants would dwell in a 118 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:24,960 foreign land. What land was that going to be? 119 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,160 Egypt. And that they would bring them 120 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:32,440 into bondage and oppress them for 400 years. 121 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,360 So way before this happened, God said this is what's going to 122 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,440 happen. You're going to have a family, 123 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,799 they're going to grow and then that family will go down to 124 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:45,840 Egypt and there they'll stay there for 400 years and be 125 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:50,680 slaves. Amazing how accurate Bible 126 00:08:50,680 --> 00:08:54,760 prophecy is. And the nation to whom they will 127 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,280 be in bondage. Egypt, I'll judge, said God. 128 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:01,120 And after that they shall come out and serve me in this place, 129 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,760 Canaan land. Then God gave him the covenant 130 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,360 of circumcision. Abraham, you're to be 131 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:11,840 circumcised. This was later in Genesis 17. 132 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,960 So Abraham is already saved by grace. 133 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,720 Two chapters later he's going to be circumcised. 134 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:26,360 So circumcision has nothing to do with salvation, circumcision 135 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:31,960 of the flesh, that is, he gave him the covenant, that is the 136 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,680 agreement of circumcision. And so Abraham begot, Isaac 137 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:41,360 circumcised him on the 8th day. Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot 138 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:45,160 the 12 patriarchs. Why is Stephen given these 139 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:49,040 religious Hebrews, these religious leaders, a history 140 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,320 lesson? I mean, they know all this. 141 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:54,760 They know the Bible. They Pharisees know the 142 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,760 Pentateuch off by heart. They have to learn it every 143 00:09:57,760 --> 00:09:59,880 word. First five books of the Bible 144 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:08,000 plus the law, because Abraham. Stephen is going to show that 145 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:12,880 God appeared to Abraham all the way all this time. 146 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:19,000 God was faithful still to Abraham way before we have 147 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,120 anything that we're looking to now. 148 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:30,240 You see, Abraham had failures, he had faults, but God was 149 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:34,560 faithful to him. That speaks the world to me 150 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:42,280 because one of the most biggest fears I had as a new Christian 151 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:47,000 was making a mistake. Now that I'm a Christian, making 152 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,520 the wrong decision, now that I'm a Christian father, a Christian 153 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:54,240 husband. And then I realised, you know 154 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:55,880 what? We do make mistakes. 155 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:00,920 We do make the wrong decision, but God doesn't go, wow, you're 156 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:02,400 an idiot. That's it. 157 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:07,440 Can't use you anymore because the Bible is full of people, 158 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,520 ordinary like you and I, who make mistakes. 159 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:12,880 But here's what Stephen is teaching. 160 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:17,320 But God is faithful to you. He gets you out of the mistake, 161 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,720 fixes you up, and then gets you back on the right track. 162 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:26,360 That's what God does. God was faithful. 163 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,640 God appeared to and blessed Abraham before there was a 164 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:36,120 temple. Because one of the accusations 165 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,320 against Stephen was, weren't you coming down against the temple? 166 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,360 Abraham did not need the temple to be close to God. 167 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:48,760 When you and I go to Israel, we go to what used to be called the 168 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,560 Wailing Wall. That's called the Western Wall. 169 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:53,280 And the Jews stand there, they get bits of piece of paper and 170 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:55,680 they poke it in the, in the bricks of the foundation. 171 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:58,120 That's not, it's only the foundations that they're 172 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:02,200 against. The actual site of the temple is 173 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:06,640 on top of the of Mount Zion, which you have to go up onto, 174 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,200 which is run by the Muslims at the moment. 175 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:18,400 And it's so sad because even here in Israel today, they're 176 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:24,160 standing against a wall as their connection to God. 177 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:31,840 They're standing against giant limestone bricks and that's the 178 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:39,960 way they connect to God. It's heartbreaking verse 9 and 179 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,240 the patriarchs becoming envious sold Joseph. 180 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,240 So we've moved on to Joseph now into Egypt. 181 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:53,400 But notice what Stephen says. But God was with him twice. 182 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,280 You read in Genesis and the story of of Joseph it says but 183 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,760 the Lord was with Joseph, but the Lord was with Joseph because 184 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:06,560 everyone else was against him. Verse 10 and delivered him out 185 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:10,240 of all of his troubles. If you want to read a great 186 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:16,600 story to your kids, read the story of Joseph and gave him 187 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,360 favour and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh king of 188 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:23,440 Egypt made him governor, second in charge of Egypt and all his 189 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:25,880 house. Now a famine in great trouble 190 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:28,720 came over all the land of Egypt. Remember how did that happen? 191 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:34,360 God told Joseph there's going to be 7 lean years and seven good 192 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,920 years. Get ready, load up because it's 193 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:40,800 coming. So they had 7 great years. 194 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:44,000 They stored all the grain, Joseph packed it away, and then 195 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:48,840 seven lean years and all the countries around that area were 196 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:52,680 starving. Israel, I mean, Egypt was loaded 197 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:55,880 because of what Joseph did through the Lord. 198 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,920 Now famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt 199 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,600 and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. 200 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:06,400 That is Jacob and Joseph's brothers. 201 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:11,840 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out 202 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,200 our fathers first. That's the other eleven 203 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,000 brothers. And this, notice this, I 204 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,520 underlined it. And the second time Joseph was 205 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,000 known to his brothers. Remember Joseph, he comes out, 206 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:26,440 his brothers are out on the farm, they're gathering the 207 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,320 grain, looking out the sheep. Joseph comes out and he's got 208 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:33,160 that, that that gown that's got long sleeves, looks like he's 209 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:35,000 not going to do any labouring work with that gear on. 210 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,800 His brothers are cranky enough with him already. 211 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:42,040 I think dad's favouring him. And Joseph tells a story about 212 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:45,400 the vision that God gave him about all the she's are going to 213 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:47,520 bow down to him and then the sun and the moon. 214 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,360 Even mum and dad are going to bow down him and the brothers 215 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:54,240 really ticked off. They're going to kill Joseph. 216 00:14:55,600 --> 00:15:03,520 And I attempted to and they rejected all that God was saying 217 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:07,480 through Joseph, rejected him, sold him off as a slave. 218 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:15,120 But when they come to Egypt this time, remember they came once, 219 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:20,360 then they had to go back again. Just you got another brother, 220 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:22,960 aren't you Benjamin? You need to bring him. 221 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:25,200 You got to bring him. They bring him. 222 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,200 Dad says, no, I don't think I'm heartbroken as it is, you know, 223 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,320 losing Joseph. So they bring Benjamin. 224 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:38,560 Joseph lays out the table in order of all their births, gives 225 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:40,720 Benjamin an extra, extra food and extra blessing. 226 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:42,240 And the guys are going, this is freaky. 227 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:48,480 And then they leave, take all their goods with them, and a cup 228 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,600 of Joseph's is hidden in Benjamin's bag. 229 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,800 And so then as they go off, they go, heck, like the Egyptians 230 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:59,320 come after, search through all their bags, they didn't know 231 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,560 what's going on. They find Joseph's cup in 232 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:08,840 Benjamin's bag, bring him back. Oh, no, things have got worse. 233 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,920 You know, the rest of the story. And the brothers come and they 234 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,840 go, this is, they're talking Hebrew. 235 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:19,560 This is because of what we did to Joseph. 236 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:24,280 This is what we did and Joseph dress as an Egyptian. 237 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:30,840 He hasn't and eventually he breaks down and he says I'm your 238 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,520 brother. My first thought, he's going to 239 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:38,640 kill us. Joseph is a type of Christ 240 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:45,160 rejected the first time, the second time and they wept 241 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,640 together. Jesus is going to return to the 242 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:54,680 Mount of Olives and Israel. We'll turn to Jesus. 243 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,280 They'll look upon him. They'll say, where did you, 244 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:00,240 where did you get these wounds from? 245 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:02,880 It's after the tribulation period. 246 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:07,520 Jesus returns the second coming. His feet touch the Mount of 247 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:10,560 Olives, which where where we go and we actually see the location 248 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,079 and it says the nation. He says, I got it in the house 249 00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:20,400 with my friends and I realise and the mourning is so great 250 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,920 that husbands and wives separate as if they've had a child died 251 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:26,119 and the nation mourns, but they turn. 252 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:31,120 They turn and accept Christ the second time, like Joseph. 253 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,240 You see, circumcision to the Jews was a big deal. 254 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:40,400 You know what, you're going to be circumcised. 255 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:45,200 Came into the New Testament, but ritual had replaced 256 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:50,720 relationship. Circumcision came two chapters 257 00:17:50,720 --> 00:18:01,920 later after Abraham had by grace found righteousness in God and 258 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,520 says the family became known to Pharaoh, that is Joseph's family 259 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,600 and Joseph verse 14. Sent and called his father 260 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:12,080 Jacob. Jacob and all his relatives to 261 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:16,360 him, 75 people. That was the nation Israel, 75 262 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:17,440 people. That's it. 263 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,640 Joseph, his brothers hated him, sold him into slavery. 264 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:29,080 His father misunderstood him. Even Jacob misunderstood him and 265 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:34,040 what God was doing in his life. But they recognised Joseph, as I 266 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:38,160 said, the second time, Acts 713 and the second time Joseph was 267 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,320 made known to his brothers and Joseph's family became known to 268 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,640 the Pharaoh when they returned to Egypt for more food during 269 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:49,640 the time of the great famine. God was faithful also to Joseph, 270 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:53,680 whose life was one of complete surrender. 271 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:57,360 He didn't make mistakes. As you read the story of Joseph, 272 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:00,240 it's one of the great stories. Like Daniel, everything he did 273 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,120 was just perfect. He did he, he was a great guy. 274 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,560 But every time he did something, you know, he told his brothers 275 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,280 about a vision. They condemned him, then they 276 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:14,560 sold him and then he goes and he serves Potiphar and then and and 277 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,360 Potiphar's house flourishes of Potiphar was in charge of the 278 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:21,400 executions of Egypt. Captain of the guard. 279 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,120 Potiphar's wife says I want you Joseph. 280 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,240 Joseph takes off, runs away from he's accused of rape. 281 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:33,880 He's put in gaol and done anything wrong, but the Lord was 282 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,320 with him. He was still in God's will. 283 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,960 And then while he's in gaol, the servants, you mean the Baker 284 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:46,360 And, and, and and they have the prophecies. 285 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:48,280 And Joseph said this is what's going to happen to you. 286 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:50,840 The wine, the one who's in charge of the wine cup and the 287 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:53,080 one who's the Baker. And they. 288 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,640 Yeah, I will remember to tell Pharaoh when, you know, when, 289 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:57,360 when, when we get out. And then I forget. 290 00:19:57,360 --> 00:19:59,480 And Joseph, Joseph was still stuck in prison. 291 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,520 You see, Joseph did everything right but his life. 292 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:07,560 Was misunderstanding, misunderstanding, 293 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,800 misunderstanding accusation accusation 1 after the other. 294 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:19,480 But listen up. He was in God's will still and 295 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,360 the Lord was with him. Sometimes we think or because 296 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:25,240 this has happened to him. God's not with me. 297 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:29,400 Wrong. God was with Joseph the whole 298 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,400 time. The Lord was with him. 299 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:38,280 And Joseph says to his brothers, remember at that final gathering 300 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:41,080 what you did, you meant for evil. 301 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:45,160 My God. God had a greater plan and he 302 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:47,760 meant it for good. You see, this is the ultimate 303 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:49,960 plan that you and I need to be involved in. 304 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,360 We need to always be looking up to the bigger picture. 305 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,520 You might be going through a storm, a trial, and trouble in 306 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:58,760 your family and your relationship, in your life. 307 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,600 Now there's a bigger picture. It's all dependent. 308 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:06,200 What you need to do is you need to rely upon God. 309 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,360 Stay faithful to him. God will stay faithful to you. 310 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:11,680 He'll never leave you. He's with you. 311 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:20,160 During this time, God was faithful to Joseph, and Joseph's 312 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,880 life was in complete surrender. He said to Potiphar's wife, I 313 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,120 don't want to sin against the Lord, and he took off. 314 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,760 Joseph did not go to the temple to be close to God. 315 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,360 Where was God? God was with Joseph when he was 316 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:42,440 in the pit, when he was in the gaol, the Lord was with him. 317 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,200 God was with Joseph all through his times of being beaten, sold 318 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:53,920 as a slave, and being forgotten seemingly. 319 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,320 But the Lord was with Joseph all through these times. 320 00:21:57,520 --> 00:21:59,920 Joseph again is a type of Christ. 321 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:05,520 For the sons of Israel rejected Joseph, but he later became 322 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:07,720 their Saviour. Without him they would have 323 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,640 starved to death and died. No Israel. 324 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:20,160 Their only hope when famine came was Joseph and the seed and the 325 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,520 grain in Egypt. Verse 15. 326 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:27,480 So Jacob went down to Egypt and he died, he and our fathers, and 327 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:32,360 they were carried back to Shechem, ah, and laid in the 328 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:34,760 tomb. And here's the only bit of land 329 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:37,440 that Abraham had in all of Canaan. 330 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:42,560 And Abraham had bought that land in Shechem for a sum of money 331 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:46,200 for the sons of Hamor. From the sons of Hamor, the 332 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,400 father of Shechem, memory buried Sarah. 333 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,640 The only piece of land Abraham owned or possessed in Canaan was 334 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:58,160 a little cemetery. That's all. 335 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:02,760 That's all we ate in Shechem. By the way, really interesting 336 00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:05,320 from the river to the sea. Is that what they say? 337 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:12,080 Shechem is 56 kilometres north of Jerusalem. 338 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:17,480 Where Samaria? That's called the West Bank 339 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,280 today. Today it's called Nablus 340 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,480 Shechem. It's located Shechem, the land 341 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:29,240 that Abraham bought and owned or West Bank. 342 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:34,880 Don't fall for the lie of them taking over, you know, 343 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,680 possessing land and, and, and the Palestinians. 344 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:43,480 There's no such people. The only Palestinians are the 345 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:53,240 Jews and the land is theirs. They're not occupying, it's 346 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,080 their land. They're not the illegal 347 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:59,640 occupants. And I only wish some of the 348 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:04,280 idiots that proclaim and protest and as we see on the ABC so 349 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:10,760 much, can't stand the ABC now. They're anti Jewish. 350 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:15,760 If you're anti Jewish, you're going to be cursed by God, and 351 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:22,400 the land of Israel is God's land, it's God's land. 352 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,760 Verse 17 But when the time of the promise drew near, which God 353 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:33,920 had sworn to Abraham, the people grew multiplied in Egypt till 354 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,360 another king arose, another Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. 355 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,680 This man dealt treacherously with our people, oppressed our 356 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:44,000 forefathers, making them, exposing their babies so that 357 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:45,800 might not live. They wanted to kill all the 358 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:50,120 males babies. At this time Moses was born and 359 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:52,840 was well pleasing to God. He was brought up in his 360 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:56,040 father's house for three months. But when he was set out, 361 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:59,600 Pharaoh's daughter took him away, brought him up on her own. 362 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,600 Remember he was put in that little bull rush thing on the on 363 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:06,800 the Nile and Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the 364 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,240 Egyptians was mighty in words and deeds. 365 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:12,640 Now verse 23. Now when he was 40 years old, 366 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,840 this is Moses came into his heart to visit his brothers, the 367 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:21,000 Hebrews, the children of Israel. He saw one of them suffer wrong. 368 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,280 He defended and avenged him. He was being a beaten and struck 369 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:29,760 down the Egyptian who was beating the Israeli for he 370 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,880 supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would 371 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:38,360 deliver them by his hand. They didn't understand and the 372 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:43,720 next day he appeared to two Israelis and they were fighting 373 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,040 and tried to reconcile him saying hey you guys are 374 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:50,600 brothers, stop fighting, what are you wrong one another. 375 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:55,520 But he who did this did his neighbour wrong, pushed him 376 00:25:55,520 --> 00:26:00,480 away, saying, who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 377 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,240 You want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday. 378 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,560 Then at this saying, Moses fled, became a dweller in the land of 379 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,520 Midian where he had two sons. Stephen reminds the religious 380 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:15,560 leaders that their fathers had previously evenly had previously 381 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,200 rejected Moses. They didn't welcome Moses. 382 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:21,800 They told him to get lost. Who were you? 383 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:26,920 Who made you judge over us? So Moses again is another type 384 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,640 and a shadow of Christ, favoured by God from his birth, 385 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,640 miraculously preserved in his childhood from Pharaoh. 386 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:36,920 He was mighty in words and deeds. 387 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,760 But when Moses himself offered deliverance to Israel, he was 388 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:44,640 initially rejected. Jesus came unto his own, and his 389 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:46,400 own. What received him not? 390 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:50,520 Israel said he had no right to be a ruler and judge over them, 391 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:53,600 but God had called Moses to be their leader. 392 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,400 Stephen was saying this, you've rejected Jesus Christ of 393 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:02,920 Nazareth, who was like Moses, yet greater than him. 394 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:08,200 When Moses him spelled himself spoke of Christ coming after 395 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,600 him. Verse 37 drop down there, we'll 396 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,560 come back to it. This is that Moses who said to 397 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,880 the children of Israel, the Lord your God will raise up for you a 398 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:22,720 prophet, capital P like me, from your brethren, him you shall 399 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:28,480 hear Speaking of Jesus, even though Israel rejected Moses, 400 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,720 God had chosen Moses. God had appointed Moses to lead 401 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,360 his people out of Egypt, the great exodus out of slavery. 402 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:42,000 After 400 years, Moses demonstrated great signs 403 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,920 including God speaking to him from the burning Bush. 404 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,560 Verse 30 Stephen is saying God was with Moses. 405 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:51,280 Moses knows what he's talking about. 406 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,960 Moses is talking about Jesus. Verse 30. 407 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:59,720 And when 40 years had passed, so Moses is now 80, an Angel of the 408 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,000 Lord appeared to him in a flame in a fire in a Bush in the 409 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,480 wilderness of Mount Sinai. When Moses saw it, he marvelled 410 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:08,440 at the sight. He drew near to observe. 411 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,760 The voice of the Lord came to him, saying, I am the God of 412 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:16,120 your father, as the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. 413 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:18,640 And Moses trembled and dared not look. 414 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,920 Then the Lord said to him, Take your sandals off your feet, for 415 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:24,000 the place where you stand is holy ground. 416 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,360 I have surely seen the oppression of my people in 417 00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:29,920 Egypt. I have heard they're groaning 418 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:31,760 and have come down to deliver them. 419 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:36,240 And now come, I will send you to Egypt. 420 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,200 Moses, you're my chosen deliverer. 421 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:45,600 Again, God speaking to Moses via the burning Bush shows that 422 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:49,080 God's presence is not limited to the temple. 423 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:54,000 Secondly, that God is bigger than the temple. 424 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:58,640 And thirdly, you do not need the temple to be close to God. 425 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:04,000 Verse 35 This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, Who made you a 426 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,760 ruler and a judge, is the one God sent to be a ruler and a 427 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,880 deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the 428 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,880 Bush. He brought them out after he had 429 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,760 shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt. 10 Plagues fell, 430 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:22,520 remember, and in the Red Sea departed, and in the wilderness 431 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:28,000 40 years in his own strength, Moses couldn't bury one Egyptian 432 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,480 under the sand, but with God's power pumping through him, Moses 433 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:36,640 was able to bury the entire army of Pharaoh with the ocean. 434 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:44,320 Verse 37 This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, 435 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,800 the Lord your God will raise up to you a prophet like me, from 436 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:49,280 your brethren, him you shall hear. 437 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,840 Moses is speaking prophetically of the coming of Christ. 438 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,520 This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness 439 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:00,480 with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai with our fathers, 440 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:03,960 the one who received the living Oracle to give to us. 441 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:07,640 Notice what Stephen is saying here. 442 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:15,120 Whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected Israel over and 443 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,760 over is rejecting the messengers and the prophets of God. 444 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:23,560 And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt. 445 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,520 Moses goes up on Mount Sinai, he's away. 446 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:30,120 And so they get agitated, they force Aaron. 447 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:34,920 No, they don't force Aaron. Aaron falls to their whims and 448 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:38,840 they build a golden calf. And they, they have this great 449 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:40,920 worship time of this golden calf. 450 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:46,320 They made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, 451 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:50,760 rejoiced in the works of their own hands, and God turned and 452 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:54,280 gave them up to worship the host of heaven as it is written in 453 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,280 the book of the Prophets. You see, Israel's rejection of 454 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:01,280 Moses LED them to make a golden calf to worship. 455 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:04,680 If you reject Jesus Christ, people say I'm an atheist, I'm 456 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:09,360 an agnostic. Now you worship something, maybe 457 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:11,080 you worship yourself. A lot of people worship 458 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:14,200 themselves these days. You've seen people walk past the 459 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:27,520 window. You worship something. 460 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:35,200 You worship something. You'll bow down, you'll give 461 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,080 your resources, your passions to something. 462 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:41,000 You reject Christ, you'll worship something. 463 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:48,160 Now remember, all this was done after God. 464 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,240 So the worship of the golden calf. 465 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:56,240 Think about this Mount Sinai Moses up there getting the war 466 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,880 and they're down at the base of Mount Sinai having this great 467 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,840 carry on. And this is after the 10 plagues 468 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,280 that they've witnessed and experienced and lived through 469 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:11,880 the death of the first born and every family who didn't have 470 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:14,960 blood over the the the lentils and the doorposts. 471 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:21,960 This is after that, after God had demonstrated his might and 472 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,920 power in Egypt that God was their deliverer through Moses. 473 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:28,880 Oh we don't, we don't want Moses make us a calf. 474 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:41,800 So now Israel, as Stephen is speaking to the 71 council, he 475 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:46,040 says now Israel was worshipping what you know what the temple 476 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:53,960 like their fathers worship of the golden calf because Jesus 477 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,720 had come into the temple twice on 2 occasions, didn't he? 478 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:02,640 And he said this is what my father's house, but you have 479 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:08,520 made it a den of thieves in my house. 480 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:10,760 My house shall be a House of prayer. 481 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:15,120 And so they had turned into and that's that's the problem still 482 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:21,880 today, they're up against that, that wall, and the God who 483 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:28,080 created them is Jesus Christ. And they've accepted the wall 484 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:34,600 instead of Christ. Verse 44 our fathers had the 485 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:36,280 Tabernacle of witness in the wilderness. 486 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:38,480 That's the tent. And he appointed instructing 487 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:41,360 Moses to make it according to the patent that he had seen, 488 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,920 which our fathers having received it in turn also brought 489 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:47,640 with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles. 490 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:50,960 And God drove out for the face of our fathers. 491 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:55,400 And the days until the days of David, we found favour before 492 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:58,640 God asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 493 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:01,120 David said I want to build your house. 494 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,640 God says no you're not, I don't need ours. 495 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:06,920 Well if he how gonna build his son can do it. 496 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:12,120 But Solomon building the house. However Solomon said however the 497 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,600 Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands as the 498 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:18,560 prophet says. Because Isaiah said back in 499 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:23,520 Isaiah 66, heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool. 500 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,840 What house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is 501 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:29,880 the place of my rest? Has not my hand? 502 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:32,320 Has my hand not made all these things? 503 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:37,440 And so our fathers had, Stephen is saying to these religious 504 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:40,920 leaders, our fathers have the Tabernacle. 505 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:45,280 Then someone built God a house. And I want to ask you today, you 506 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:47,880 this morning in your thinking, is church here? 507 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:50,800 Is it the only place where you meet God? 508 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:54,639 Is it the only place where you meet God? 509 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:58,600 Is God absent from the rest of your life? 510 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:00,600 You know, each time I, I love the beach. 511 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:03,080 I love going surfing. And before we go out into the 512 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:10,720 beach, I kneel and I pray I for the sharks, by the way, we have 513 00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:13,560 dominion over all things, you know, and I'm not saying that 514 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:16,560 I'll tell the sharks what to do, but I pray for safety. 515 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:25,000 But it's got I pray in the car, I pray in the backyard, I pray 516 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:27,520 sitting, talking to someone. Friday night, Sat with a couple 517 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:30,840 of kids just we prayed, we prayed outside, we prayed 518 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:34,320 inside. Where is God? 519 00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:44,760 God is with you all the time Now, Stephen, he turns it 520 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:49,200 because the religious leaders, the 71, they're thinking, yeah, 521 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:51,320 our fathers water packet deals, they are. 522 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:54,600 They rejected all that Abraham was talking about. 523 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:59,800 They rejected Joseph and they rejected Moses. 524 00:36:00,720 --> 00:36:03,480 And now Stephen says you're just like them. 525 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,760 Thou are thinking thou are the right ones. 526 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:13,320 And Stephen says no, you're the same as them. 527 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:20,840 Wow, this is a great way to have an altar call you stiff necked 528 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:24,520 and uncircumcised in heart. Yeah, they're circumcised 529 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:28,840 physically, but in their hearts not and ears. 530 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:34,080 You always resist the Holy Spirit as your Father's did. 531 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:37,120 So do you. Which of the prophets did your 532 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:41,760 Father's not persecute Isaiah? They got him, put him between 533 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:44,200 two boards and cut him in half while he's alive. 534 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:48,360 And they killed those who foretold the coming of the just 535 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:52,160 One Jesus, of whom you now have become the betrayers and 536 00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:55,640 murderers who have received the Law by the direction of angels 537 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:59,720 and have not kept it. You do always resist the Holy 538 00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:02,280 Spirit. The term stiff necked is not 539 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:07,880 something foreign to the 71 listeners back in the book of 540 00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:10,680 Exodus. God had said this previously of 541 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:15,520 Israel, Exodus 32 nine and the Lord said to Moses, I have seen 542 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:20,200 this people and indeed it is a stiff neck people. 543 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:22,840 You know what that that's the picture of a a donkey. 544 00:37:23,720 --> 00:37:26,400 You know a donkey when you're trying to pull a donkey along 545 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:29,560 and it drops his hindquarters puts a thing like that. 546 00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:33,840 And so I ain't going that's the picture of what that's not not 547 00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:40,480 God and you know, drop not not doing it uncircumcised in hearts 548 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:43,400 and ears is not foreign to their ears as well. 549 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:50,240 Exodus 32 nine sorry, Jeremiah 926 and all the House of Israel 550 00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:56,280 are uncircumcised in their heart as our fathers have been in the 551 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:57,280 past. So true. 552 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,840 You are the same today. Stephen says wow, where's he 553 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:05,480 going with this? Remember, this is not a sermon 554 00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:11,320 that he sat down and prepped up. This is the Holy Spirit speaking 555 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:14,120 through Stephen to the religious leaders of Israel. 556 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:23,720 This is God speaking through his prophet Stephen verse 54, when 557 00:38:23,720 --> 00:38:26,280 they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. 558 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:28,800 They gnashed at him with their teeth. 559 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,920 They were gnashing. If you look it up, it's grinding 560 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:34,000 their teeth. Oh man, we're going to kill this 561 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:37,200 guy. But he noticed. 562 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:41,080 But he verse 55 being full of the Holy Spirit. 563 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:46,520 So he's saying this led by God, gaze into heaven. 564 00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:50,840 So the glory of God, Jesus standing at the right hand of 565 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:56,160 God and said, look, I see the heavens open and the Son of man 566 00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:58,080 standing at the right hand of God. 567 00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:06,000 God's word too edged. You either get saved by it or 568 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:10,480 conviction. Stephen was fearless in his 569 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:13,760 preaching. The crowd turned into a boiling 570 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:17,200 mob. Violent anger erupted, but their 571 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:19,480 real anger really was against God. 572 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:24,120 They were rejecting God. But for Stephen, at this moment, 573 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,200 his eyes capture a vision of Jesus. 574 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:30,720 Why? Because he's full of the Holy 575 00:39:30,720 --> 00:39:33,160 Spirit. JB Phillips translation on this 576 00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:37,840 says Stephen filled through all his being with the Holy Spirit. 577 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:43,840 Woose Greek New Testament says Stephen being under the control 578 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:48,600 of the Holy Spirit. Stephen saw the very glory of 579 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:50,560 God. He sees Jesus standing. 580 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:54,840 Now this is different because we're told that when Jesus 581 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:56,640 ascended into heaven, what did he do? 582 00:39:56,640 --> 00:40:00,080 The book of Hebrews sat down at the right hand of the Father. 583 00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:05,520 So here Jesus, and tells us he's standing at the right hand of 584 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,360 the Father. Jesus. 585 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:15,560 Gets up in heaven and stands to welcome Stephen. 586 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:32,200 Amazing, amazing. Jesus stood up to receive him to 587 00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:34,160 honour Stephen in the glory. Well done. 588 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:39,240 I couldn't. Faithful Sir Stephen was the 589 00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:42,880 first of the martyrs. The lynch mob driven by 590 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:47,320 religious insanity ran at Stephen the same word as them 591 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:49,960 rushing Stephen. It's the same words used to 592 00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:54,080 describe the demon possessed pigs that ran into the sea. 593 00:40:54,080 --> 00:41:00,160 Remember, they took off because of their rage. 594 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,280 They completely ignore Roman law. 595 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:04,920 They didn't go down to the Roman law and say, look, you know this 596 00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:06,960 guy, He's we're except we want him put to death. 597 00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:14,080 They forget that we're killing him now and attacked him. 598 00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:17,960 Verse 57 and they cried out with a loud voice. 599 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:21,200 They stopped their ears, put their hands over their ears, ran 600 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,400 at him with 1 accord. This mob, they cast him out of 601 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:28,680 the city, dragged him, stoned him, and the witnesses laid down 602 00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:32,880 their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 603 00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:38,080 Stephen as he isn't under horrific, brutal, painful 604 00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:48,200 attack, praise at that moment, his last moment, verse 59 and 605 00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:52,600 they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God. 606 00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:58,240 That's praying and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, he's 607 00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:03,280 gone home. Then he knelt down, cried out 608 00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:07,080 with a loud voice. Lord, do not charge them with 609 00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:09,520 this sin. Who does that sound like Father 610 00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:11,400 forgive them for? They know not what they do. 611 00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:15,800 He's praying this for this, this crazy religious mob who are 612 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:19,000 killing him. And when he had said this, 613 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:23,480 notice it says he fell asleep. He didn't just nod off. 614 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:32,000 Oh, all about dream. Stephen's life ended in the same 615 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,880 way. He'd lived in complete trust in 616 00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:39,760 God, believing that Jesus will take care of him in the life to 617 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:43,560 come. Forgiveness is what he prayed. 618 00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:47,520 Father, forgive them. And we know that God answered 619 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:49,600 Stephens prayer. How do we know God answered this 620 00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:55,600 prayer? Good question, for God used it 621 00:42:55,600 --> 00:43:02,040 to touch the angry, misguided heart of the person who agreed 622 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:05,880 with the stoning, who supervised the stoning, who looked after 623 00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:07,920 the clothes of everyone, who stoned everyone. 624 00:43:08,240 --> 00:43:14,640 Stephen Paul would be the evidence of God answering 625 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:19,320 Stephen's prayer. Lord lay not this charge against 626 00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:23,360 him. Notice Luke does not write and 627 00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:28,240 Stephen died. Notice that in the New Testament 628 00:43:28,240 --> 00:43:31,080 you'll never see Christians dying. 629 00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:37,840 It'll always say sleep. Christians don't die. 630 00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:47,600 Hold, let me let me explain. We fall asleep and wake up 631 00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:51,680 immediately in glory to see the face of our Lord. 632 00:43:55,040 --> 00:44:01,320 Isn't that wonderful? We have had someone pass, and if 633 00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:07,240 members of the church past day or two, we have someone else 634 00:44:07,240 --> 00:44:10,440 who's soon to pass, others in my family who are. 635 00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:19,240 If you're a believer, you fall asleep, you don't die, you see, 636 00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:22,120 because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 637 00:44:22,120 --> 00:44:28,360 Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have 638 00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:33,960 everlasting life. Paul says we move tents. 639 00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:39,360 Isn't that beautiful? I watched my mother die. 640 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:48,320 I remember the the scriptures of the angels coming to Lazarus. 641 00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:51,800 Remember who it had the sores and the dog and the angels came. 642 00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:55,320 In John 14 it says that Jesus comes personally. 643 00:44:57,920 --> 00:45:04,720 So when I eventually sleep, it's going to be the greatest moment 644 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:10,240 of my life. I will have ended all that God 645 00:45:10,240 --> 00:45:16,680 has asked me to do, finished. And then I will wake and I'll 646 00:45:16,680 --> 00:45:24,200 have the face of Christ and I'll see him in all his glory. 647 00:45:25,720 --> 00:45:29,760 This is the wonder of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 648 00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:35,920 Stephen was an ordinary man who gave his life to live for God. 649 00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:40,360 He was no Superman because the Bible doesn't have Superman. 650 00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:46,160 He was a man filled with the Holy Spirit. 651 00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:52,560 Each of you here this morning have no idea, and I shared that 652 00:45:52,560 --> 00:45:59,320 with some of the kids Friday, how greatly God can use you as 653 00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:02,880 you walk and live in the power of the Holy Spirit. 654 00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:11,800 The question is, do you give yourself to him? 655 00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:17,000 There's a point and a place in my life that I did. 656 00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:20,680 Helen did. Yes, we commit our lives to 657 00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:22,880 Christ. There's a point and a place 658 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:29,560 where we actually go. You know what, God, I surrender 659 00:46:31,360 --> 00:46:35,880 everything. My plans. 660 00:46:37,440 --> 00:46:39,360 God, what? What is it you want me to do? 661 00:46:40,760 --> 00:46:46,200 God, how can I serve you? And when you do that, something 662 00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:50,680 happens and God goes, OK, because I've had this plan for 663 00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:56,720 years before you were even born. Let's do this and I'll be 664 00:46:56,720 --> 00:47:01,080 faithful to you all the way. God is calling you. 665 00:47:01,080 --> 00:47:05,120 If you don't know Christ here this morning, you'll die. 666 00:47:07,120 --> 00:47:10,880 You won't sleep. And I inquire. 667 00:47:11,360 --> 00:47:15,120 I urge you to receive Jesus Christ today as your Lord and 668 00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:20,480 Saviour, to know that God has not only your past, your 669 00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:23,240 present, but He has your future in His hand. 670 00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:28,560 He is with you all the way. God is faithful. 671 00:47:29,960 --> 00:47:33,560 Let's worship the Lord. Let's stand and pray. 672 00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:45,000 Heavenly Father, I pray for the souls here today. 673 00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:50,640 I pray, Father, for any who do not know you that today they 674 00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:52,440 will surrender their lives to you. 675 00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:58,200 And I pray for believers who know you but have been holding 676 00:47:58,200 --> 00:48:04,480 on to their old ways, their old life, and you have such a great 677 00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:14,920 work that they yet do not know. Lord, draw those to you today. 678 00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:18,760 Let there be a surrendering of their hearts today too. 679 00:48:19,680 --> 00:48:26,840 I pray in Jesus holy name, the Lord was with Joseph, the Lord 680 00:48:26,840 --> 00:48:29,880 is with you. God is faithful.