Serving or Rejecting God? (Acts 7:1-53)a

© 2014 Tony Garlandb

Context

  1. Stephen, accused of blasphemy, testifies before the religious leaders

  2. Longer than typical

  3. As interesting as many of the Old Testament details may be, today's message concerns the overall theme of what Stephen has to say and the reaction of those listening to him

  4. Acts 7:1-53

The Patriarchs: Abraham to Joseph (Acts 7:1-16)

  1. And the Patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him. (Acts 7:9)

  2. Joseph, the rejected, became the means by which provision was made for the rest of the family—and ultimately the line of promise.

The Exodus, giving of the law, and wilderness wanderings: Moses (Acts 7:17-45)

  1. Moses was the chosen instrument of God to deliver Israel out of Egypt

  2. Moses intercedes on behalf of oppressed brethren, but is rejected (Acts 7:24-28)

  3. This Moses whom they rejected . . . is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliver (Acts 7:35)

  4. It was Moses who . . .

    1. Performed signs and wonders (Acts 7:36)

    2. Said, The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear (Acts 7:37 cf. Deu. 18:15)

    3. Was with the congregation in the wilderness for 40 years

    4. Received the living oracles (the law) on Mount Sinai (Acts 7:38)

    5. Received the plan for the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness by divine revelation (Acts 7:44)

  5. Whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected (Acts 7:39)

The temple and the throne of David: David, Solomon (Acts 7:45-50)

  1. Found favor before God, desired to build a dwelling place for God

  2. David gathered and planned, received divine directions, in preparation for his son, Solomon, who would build the Temple (the “house” of God)

  3. Yet, even the kings in the line of David and Solomon became increasingly corrupt leading to the judgment of the throne of David—such that there was no king in Israel since—even unto the day in which Stephen here spoke.

    1. I will carry you away beyond Babylon (Acts 7:43)

The punch line: Acts 7:51-53

  1. You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it (Acts 7:51-53).

    1. Continually resisting the Holy Spirit

    2. Acting just like their fathers

      1. Their fathers had killed those who predicted Messiah Jesus
      2. They had killed Messiah Jesus Himself
    3. They were walking in the same historical rut as their fathers—the well-worn pattern of disobeying and rejecting God, all the while believing they were seeking and serving God.

The pattern

  1. On the stage of history: revelation by God followed by rejection by cultures and nations

    1. Adam and Eve

    2. Worldwide evil prior to the flood

    3. The nations at the tower of Babel

    4. Israel's failure to follow God, both the north and south

    5. The failure of the throne of David to institute godly rule

    6. The failure of Israel to accept her Messiah

  2. But what about our own lives — our walk with God as professed believers?

    1. Loving God, worshiping God, but living in disobedience

      1. Christians who believe they are seriously following God, even praying for His will in their lives, but who are living in direct disobedience to His will
        1. Unmarried Christian couples who are sexually active
        2. Professing Christians who are practicing homosexuals
      2. Our disobedience can be major or minor, but if we think we can be true disciples of God while walking in serious disobedience, we are no different than the Sanhedrin at the time of Stephen
        1. Believed they were among those who were serious about serving and seeking God (after all, Paul—soon to be Saul—was one of them!)
        2. In reality, they were diametrically opposed to God and His principles
        3. This is serious spiritual deception!
    2. What about less obvious situations where we reject God's voice in our lives?

      1. We don't like the message
        1. Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord (Acts 7:57)
        2. But if we liked the message, then we'd already be motivated in that direction. To get us to turn and change our ways involves helping us to see we are on an incorrect path or held captive by incorrect thinking
      2. Our pride gets in the way
        1. Unwilling to accept input from those we deem as “lesser” then ourselves
          1. A man who was blind from birth, having been healed by Jesus, testifies before the religious leaders
            1. The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He [Jesus] is from; yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?" And they cast him out. (John 9:30-34)
        2. Unwilling to admit our own faults
          1. Concerning Israel, Paul writes: For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God (Rom. 10:2-3).
          2. Yet, these are the very faults that need to be addressed if we are to be conformed into the image of God's son (Rom. 8:29)
      3. We discount the familiar as a source of God's input in our lives
        1. The familiar is not given proper honor and attention
          1. And when He [Jesus] had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?" So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house" (Mat. 13:54-57).
          2. Really a symptom of our unwillingness listen to those we deem as “lesser” or even similar to ourselves
        2. Seeking God's voice through the unusual
          1. Like "spiritual teenagers" who never hear what our parents are saying, but the minute we hear it from somewhere else (a source without authority, like another adult or peer), then it is value and considered
          2. Attempting to “validate” that it must truly be God's voice if it comes from someone who doesn't know us very well
        3. Discounting that God most often speaks in normal situations through the voices of those He has placed around us.
          1. A well-known Proverb states, Faithful are the wounds of a friend . . . (Pr. 27:6). Why?
            1. Friends know us over the long haul have insight into our struggles, gifts, and personality
            2. Friends have a vested interested in us, value us as friends and brothers and sisters in Christ
            3. Friends can't get away with “hit-and-run”; they have to be careful and thoughtful with what they have to say. Friends will still be around tomorrow
            4. Friends are motivated to preserve the relationship

Principles

  1. God often works through unexpected means

    1. Abraham traveled all the way from Chaldea to the land of promise, but received no immediate inheritance in the the land he was taken to

    2. God purposefully took Israel down into Egypt, under favorable conditions, knowing this would eventually result in their bondage and need of deliverance

    3. Pharaoh's evil scheme to kill the male Hebrews led to Moses being raised up in the house of his daughter in preparation for leading Israel out of Egypt

    4. The crucifixion of Jesus, a seeming defeat, was actually a spectacular defeat over death and darkness which only the genius of God could have engineered

    5. When things seem to go astray in our own lives, we are often too quick to conclude that it can't be God—as if we have the ability to reliably discern the mind and will of God in relation to the events of our lives

    6. Where is our trust in God's sovereignty over us?

  2. Mankind has a well-worn history of rejecting God, both personally and nationally. Fortunately, God is enormously patient

    1. God provides numerous opportunities for us to hear what we need to hear and to respond in repentance. Consider God's patience with the religious leaders of Israel:

      1. The ministry of John the baptist
      2. The ministry of Jesus
      3. The day of Pentecost (Acts 2)
      4. Peter and John, heal a man born lame, testify before the council (Acts 3)
      5. Peter and John, released from prison by an Angel, testify before the council (Acts 5)
      6. Stephen, witnesses before the council (Acts 6-7).
    2. However, if we persist in our stubbornness, God eventually gives us what we want rather than what we need.

      1. After Israel repeatedly rejected Moses, God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven . . . Molech . . . and the star of . . . Remphan (Acts 7:42-43)
  3. We must continually pray to have spiritual ears so as to avoid that which Isaiah and Jesus warned of:

    1. The commissioning of Isaiah: Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' "Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed." (Isa. 6:8-10)

    2. Jesus' use of parables: Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled . . . (Mat. 13:13-15)

    3. But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear (Mat. 13:16)

      Sat Oct 18 19:36:20 2014
      SpiritAndTruth.org Scan Code
      c


Endnotes:

1.Acts 7:1-53, Unless indicated otherwise, all Scripture references are from the New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


Links Mentioned Above
a - See https://spiritandtruth.org/teaching/Acts_by_Tony_Garland/22_Acts_7_1-53/index.htm.
b - See https://spiritandtruth.org/id/tg.htm.
c - See https://spiritandtruth.org.