1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,240 Dear God, we do thank you for all that you have done for us so that we can say 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:13,360 it is well with my soul and Lord as that song says, oh Lord haste the day 3 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:18,600 when we can see you coming in the clouds of glory and Lord continue each and 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:22,800 every day to take our hand because we recognize that you are our precious Lord. 5 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:28,240 Guide us and bless us. In your name we pray, amen. 6 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:33,200 It's good to be back here. Like I said, it's been a couple weeks since I've been 7 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:39,880 here. So as we're getting started here, question is, are you easily distracted? 8 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:43,880 Anybody easily distracted? Are you distracted by a screen over here that says 9 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:55,440 loading? Have you ever gone into the kitchen and you find yourself in the 10 00:00:55,440 --> 00:01:00,440 kitchen and then you look around the kitchen and you're like, why am I in 11 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:05,960 here? I know I came in here for some reason but I cannot recall, I cannot 12 00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:13,040 remember why I am in here. Or maybe you recognize that there's more and more 13 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:19,360 different laws, there's different things that want to keep us safe and so so many 14 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:27,760 laws that about distracted driving do not be texting or talking when you're 15 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:32,320 driving down the road because there's so many accidents that take place and maybe 16 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:35,680 you've seen people as you're driving down the interstate you look over and 17 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:40,360 there's some person and they're looking at their phone and you're like, let me go 18 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:44,280 a little quicker to get past this person because I'm not sure that they 19 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:48,800 recognize that I'm here because they're obsessed with their phone that's going 20 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:54,080 on here. Anybody experienced that or recognize that? Sometimes we see that 21 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:59,200 because we are easily distracted and sometimes those distractions can be 22 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,720 dangerous, sometimes those distractions can even be deadly in the case of 23 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:08,440 driving. I'm going to try one more time and then we're not going to try anymore. 24 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:15,200 Let me try one more time, cast, church roving TV available. There we go, all 25 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,720 right. So we are kind of to a new segment in the in the book of Acts that we've 26 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:24,280 been studying about. We've been looking through the the early chapters of Acts 27 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:31,120 and in those early chapters we've seen the church is on fire, the church is 28 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:36,960 growing rapidly, that many people are being baptized and lots of cool things 29 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:43,000 are happening with the church. It's growing and as we move into the next 30 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,080 little segment of the book of Acts, I'm gonna throw out a word here and 31 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:52,160 sometimes this word can be good and sometimes the word may not be good and 32 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:59,000 it's the word viral. Viral, that means something that's passed from person to 33 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:04,840 person, something that spreads rapidly, something that goes beyond where you are 34 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:09,280 and goes to other people and I don't know about four years or so we were 35 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,680 reminded that if something is going viral can be very negative and it can 36 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:18,800 cause sickness and different things like that but still today in the in the 37 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:25,120 internet world if something goes viral that's a good thing. That means it's 38 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:30,160 popular, that means people are looking at it, that means people are sharing it with 39 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,880 someone else and saying look at this picture that I saw, look at this video 40 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:40,480 that I saw. Well in these next few sections of the book of Acts, the church, 41 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:48,760 the gospel is going viral. It's spreading from person to person, it's moving 42 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:55,080 rapidly throughout the territory, throughout the segment. The church is 43 00:03:55,080 --> 00:04:00,400 going viral because individuals are passing it to someone else because 44 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,600 they're excited about it and they're like let me share with you what I have 45 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:11,680 learned. The church went viral and I'm gonna say guess what, it needs to go 46 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:18,040 viral again, the gospel needs to spread from person to person and you can help. 47 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:25,240 In Acts chapter 5 and 6 the church has exploded. We've talked about these 48 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:32,720 numbers before but the church went from 120 people and then there was a 3,000 49 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:37,200 people on the day of Pentecost and then the next number that's thrown out 50 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:44,600 there's 5,000 men and then it talks about in Acts 6 verse 1 it says in those 51 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:50,600 days when the number of disciples was multiplying so no longer are they 52 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:56,120 adding people to the church but now they're multiplying which goes faster 53 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:03,040 it's exponential. How many people are there and yet there's these Christians 54 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,940 that are being baptized, they're caring for each other, they're caring for the 55 00:05:07,940 --> 00:05:16,760 poor and needy but you know whenever the church is successful God is happy, church 56 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:22,680 members are happy but the devil is not happy and in the book of Acts we 57 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:28,320 immediately begin to see this great controversy taking place because we see 58 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:35,040 that the devil can't stand to see lives revived and as people are baptized as 59 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:40,840 the church is growing there are attacks and there's friction. I would say even 60 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:48,560 today we could anticipate that as this church grows as it expands as the gospel 61 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:53,680 goes viral as more people come we're glad visitors are here with us today that we 62 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:58,400 could expect some attacks from different things we could expect some some 63 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:04,120 friction we could expect some distractions so please as in your prayer 64 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,680 time be praying for our church be praying for the unity of our church 65 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:13,440 because what are distractions that we have in our world in our in our church 66 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:17,800 today you know sometimes we may not like the person who's preaching from time to 67 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:22,840 time and that can be a distraction or the computer may not work that can be a 68 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:28,960 distraction or we may be upset about decorations or music or so many 69 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:33,560 different things colors of carpet or walls or whatever and we can allow those 70 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:39,440 things to be distractions from what is most important that spreading of the 71 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:44,520 gospel so in the book of Acts what were some distractions that took place we're 72 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:48,800 not going to dig into it too much but in Acts chapter 5 there was a couple 73 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:54,680 Ananias and Sapphira who were distracted because in Acts chapter 4 it talks about 74 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,880 a man named Barnabas who sold some land and he brought the money and he gave it 75 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:03,120 to the church and he got a nickname they called him the son of encouragement 76 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:08,520 and in Acts chapter 5 this couple Ananias and Sapphira they sold some land 77 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:13,640 and they brought some money to the church which was a good thing they were 78 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:19,240 doing something good but they maybe they didn't do it for the right reason we 79 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:24,040 don't know all the details but for whatever reason they kind of lied they 80 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:30,080 told some untruths they said oh yes this is all the money that we received maybe 81 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:34,560 they saw the popularity that Barnabas had gotten or the you know the the cool 82 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:39,440 nickname that Barnabas had received and they were asked several times was this 83 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:45,200 all the money and they didn't have to give all the money they could have said 84 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:49,040 no this is a portion this is a segment of the money we just want to help the 85 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:53,160 church but over and over they kept saying yes this is all of it they were 86 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:58,680 lying to the Holy Spirit and there was a drastic event that took place for 87 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:03,920 Ananias and Sapphira as they actually died and because there was this 88 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:09,120 distraction there was this negative thing that was happening to this early 89 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:14,320 church in its infancy and then we come to chapter 6 where we're gonna look at 90 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:21,500 today and we see another distraction as we go back to Acts 6 verse 1 and it 91 00:08:21,500 --> 00:08:28,200 says now in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplying growing 92 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:35,080 quickly there was a distraction there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by 93 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:42,240 the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution so 94 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:46,160 what's happening here the church is caring for those in need the church is 95 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:51,780 doing something good the church has grown rapidly and for whatever reason we 96 00:08:51,780 --> 00:08:56,040 don't know exactly what the reason was but there were some people who needed 97 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:00,800 help but they were not being helped they were falling through the cracks it could 98 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,840 have been that the church grew so fast they they lost track of people that 99 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:11,120 could have been the reason or you notice some nationalities there it could have 100 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:14,720 had something to do with people being from different backgrounds different 101 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:20,320 nationalities that shows up later in Acts chapter 10 and we recognize that in 102 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,780 in our world today people are still treated differently because of different 103 00:09:24,780 --> 00:09:29,160 backgrounds whether it's different economic levels different education 104 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:33,880 levels different racial backgrounds whatever it is people are sometimes 105 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:38,720 treated differently because of their backgrounds and that has no place in our 106 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:44,800 world and especially that has no place in the church I don't know if that's 107 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:49,920 what's happening here but unfortunately it still happens sometimes in our world 108 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:55,240 today but whatever was happening there were people that were not being helped 109 00:09:55,240 --> 00:10:01,200 that needed help and so there was a distraction as this church was growing 110 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:08,160 so there's two different things that could have happened there was a job not 111 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:13,240 getting done so that was a distraction that was taking place and the second 112 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:18,520 part of this distraction was how are we going to deal with this situation what 113 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:23,960 are we going to do about this and so it says in verse 2 then the 12 the 12 114 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:29,960 disciples the Apostles summoned the multitude of the disciples and said it 115 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:36,560 is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables there 116 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:41,360 was a job that needed to be done but the Apostles recognized that it was not 117 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:48,840 their role to do it when there's wrong attitudes as was happening here the 118 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:55,880 solution to that is finding the right people to do the right thing the 119 00:10:55,880 --> 00:11:00,080 Apostles knew something needed to be done but they knew it was not their 120 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:05,360 place to do it and so they came up with a solution it says therefore brethren 121 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:11,600 seek out from among you seven men of good reputation full of the Holy Spirit 122 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:17,960 and wisdom whom we may appoint over this business we need to find the right 123 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:22,760 people to do the right thing in this circumstance we need people who have a 124 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:28,480 good reputation who are full of the Holy Spirit who are wise who are able to take 125 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:35,280 care of this solution of this situation we need to find the right people to do 126 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:40,600 the right thing the Apostles said we're not those people but we will give 127 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:47,480 ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word those 12 they 128 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:52,820 knew that they had a particular role of proclaiming and preaching and reaching 129 00:11:52,820 --> 00:11:57,800 the world and that was everybody's role but they had it in a particular way and 130 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:02,520 so they wanted to find the right people to do the right thing and believe it or 131 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:07,800 not this is the pattern that is laid out throughout scripture you can go back to 132 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,520 the Old Testament what was the name of the person who led the children of 133 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:17,640 Israel out of Egypt Moses now Moses led the people out there the ten plagues 134 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:22,680 happened they came through the Red Sea and as they were in the wilderness 135 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:30,200 somewhere close to Mount Sinai Moses's father-in-law whose name was Jethro you 136 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:36,000 guys are really good with these quizzes Jethro came to visit Moses and his 137 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:40,560 daughter and he wanted to see you know spend some time with his their family as 138 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:44,520 they were traveling through perhaps close to where they were from and as 139 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:49,640 Jethro came to where Moses was he recognized that he could not even see 140 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:56,440 Moses because there were so many people who were lined up at Moses's tent who 141 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:02,480 wanted a piece of Moses they wanted to ask a question they wanted help solving 142 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:07,200 a situation we don't know what the questions were you know what do I do my 143 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:12,560 my sheep has a has a sore on his foot what do I do do you have any more 144 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:16,640 recipes for manna we're kind of getting tired of the recipes that we have I'm 145 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:21,280 having an argument about you know this brother of mine ripped my tent and he 146 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:25,840 won't fix it we don't know what the issues were but we know that the line 147 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:31,720 was so long the papa-in-law Jethro didn't even get a chance to talk to his 148 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:38,800 son and so he pulls Moses aside and he gives some wisdom he says this thing is 149 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:43,480 too much for you you are not able to perform it by yourself and then in the 150 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:51,040 verse 21 he says moreover you shall select from all the people able men such 151 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:56,800 as fear God men of truth hating covetousness and place such over them to 152 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:02,640 be rulers of thousands rulers of hundreds rulers of 50s and rulers of 153 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:07,320 tens you've got to divide up you have hundreds of thousands of people in this 154 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:12,280 group you've got to break them down into smaller segments and let these people 155 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:18,040 judge the people at all times then it will be that every great matter they 156 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:23,760 shall bring to you but every small matter they themselves shall judge so it will 157 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:29,800 be easier for you for they will bear the burden with you divide these people up 158 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:35,560 into smaller groups put people over these small segments and if someone has 159 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:40,840 a small problem you got a new recipe for manna somebody can take care of that if 160 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:45,440 there's a bigger issue you can push it up to the next bigger level and the next 161 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,760 bigger level and finally if there's a major issue that needs to be dealt with 162 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,840 well Moses that's the issues that you need to deal with because you're the 163 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:58,200 leader you don't have time to take care of all the little things we got to 164 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:04,760 divide and conquer and Moses said that that is wise wisdom and that is what has 165 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,800 happened so that was in the Old Testament that's one example you can 166 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,800 look in the New Testament and you can find other examples for instance 1st 167 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:17,840 Corinthians 12 is a great example if you were to read 1st Corinthians 12 it talks 168 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:24,720 about the body of Christ and it says the head is Jesus he's the head of the 169 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:30,280 church which is the body of Christ and it says each part of the body each 170 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:35,600 member of the church is a part of the body and each person has received 171 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:43,480 skills and talents and gifts and you know each person each part of the body 172 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:51,000 is important you probably know people I know people who are maybe missing a part 173 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:57,400 of their body missing a limb or an eye or a finger or whatever it is and 174 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:02,800 because of the beauty of our created bodies we're able to adapt to different 175 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:08,520 things we're able to wear glasses or a hearing aid or whatever it might be but 176 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:14,680 when we have all parts of the body working in the most efficient way that's 177 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:21,160 when the body is in peak condition in the same way in the church you're a part 178 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:25,360 of the body you're a part of the church God has placed in you some sort of gift 179 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:32,320 some sort of talent some sort of circle of influence that only you can reach you 180 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:38,320 know people that I don't know you have gifts and skills that I don't have but 181 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:44,140 God has placed that in you and yes the church can adapt the body of Christ can 182 00:16:44,140 --> 00:16:49,240 adapt and we can function even if you choose not to use what God has placed in 183 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:54,720 you but if we want to be the most efficient in working for God then each 184 00:16:54,720 --> 00:17:02,240 one of us needs to recognize what skill do I have what talent do I have what can 185 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:08,080 I do for God what can I do for the body of Christ and there's different ways to 186 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:12,240 to do that you can someone may come alongside you and say you know what I've 187 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:17,800 noticed you are really good at playing the clarinet he wouldn't say that to me 188 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:23,120 no one would say that to me people may come along or maybe you will participate 189 00:17:23,120 --> 00:17:29,020 in something and you're like I really enjoyed that I enjoyed knocking on some 190 00:17:29,020 --> 00:17:35,040 doors around the neighborhood a few weeks ago I can do that again or maybe 191 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:40,480 you said I hated doing that role and that's a sign you know what that's not 192 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,680 what God placed in your heart but praise the Lord you just learned one thing 193 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:48,520 you're not supposed to do and so you can then continue to experiment and find 194 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:54,480 what God wants you to do but the early church and the church we are seeking to 195 00:17:54,480 --> 00:18:00,720 find the right person to do the right thing I'm gonna tell you right now you 196 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:08,760 are the right person for something have you discovered what your role is yet I 197 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:15,200 wanted to look back at verse 4 just one more time because it says we the 198 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:19,840 Apostles say we Peter James and John and the others we will give ourselves 199 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:26,440 continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word think about that if 200 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:33,480 those people who wrote the scripture much of the scripture those people who 201 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:40,040 spent time with Jesus those people who empowered by Jesus and the Holy Spirit 202 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:46,480 worked miracles if those people needed to give themselves to prayer needed to 203 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:53,080 give themselves to the study of God's Word how much more do we need that are 204 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:58,480 you spending time in God's Word during the day during the week are you spending 205 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:04,280 time in prayer during the day during the week come join us Wednesday evening as 206 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:08,720 we were reading about revival reading about the spirit we're talking about 207 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:14,840 prayer join us if you have time at 630 on Sunday evenings because if these 208 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:21,280 people needed prayer how much more do we need prayer let's look on at verse 5 it 209 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:27,960 says and this this shows me that God is truly at work this shows me that a 210 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:35,360 miracle has taken place because it says the same pleased the whole multitude 211 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:40,040 have you ever been in a group of people whether it's at your place of employment 212 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:46,080 or at the church where something is done where something is said and it pleased 213 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:51,560 everyone that that tells me a miracle took place because even in the church 214 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:56,280 when decisions are made sometimes somebody's not happy about something but 215 00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:02,160 in this case it says the same pleased the whole multitude and they chose seven 216 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:07,920 people Stephen a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit and Philip procures my 217 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:14,440 canner Timon Parmenus and Nicholas a proselyte from Antioch and I'm gonna 218 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:18,360 guess that there's a good chance that there's probably only two of those 219 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:22,680 people that you've really heard of except for reading that verse Philip 220 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:28,860 shows up in a in chapter 8 and Stephen shows up later in this chapter and in 221 00:20:28,860 --> 00:20:33,220 chapter 7 but those other guys guess what we don't know very much about them 222 00:20:33,220 --> 00:20:40,440 except that one verse and that tells me that even if someone is unknown even if 223 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:47,440 someone is not famous even if someone is a common person just like us that we can 224 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:52,560 make a difference that God can work through us to make a difference when you 225 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:57,560 are the right person doing the right thing well guess what these guys were 226 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:03,040 particularly Stephen it says whom they set before the Apostles and when they 227 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:08,720 had prayed they laid hands on them and notice what happened in verse 7 the word 228 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:15,680 of God what it do spread and the number of the disciples there's that word again 229 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:23,320 multiplied greatly in Jerusalem not only are people being added to the church not 230 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:28,600 only are the disciples or the believers multiplying but it says a great many of 231 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:35,000 the priests were obedient to the faith even those who seemingly were against 232 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:40,760 this newfound faith in Jesus we're beginning to see something different and 233 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:45,440 we're believing and we're following through these were the right people 234 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:52,400 doing the right thing and it made a huge difference but guess what that cycle 235 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:58,580 continues that cycle repeats there's a controversy at work and the church is at 236 00:21:58,580 --> 00:22:04,000 attack and so we see Stephen the right man doing the right thing full of faith 237 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:10,880 and power he did great wonders and signs among the people verse 10 they were not 238 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:16,640 able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke they tried to shut him 239 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:21,520 down they tried to debate but they couldn't because he was guided by the 240 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:27,240 spirit and finally they were tired of it verse 12 they stirred up the people the 241 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:32,320 elders and the scribes and they came upon him and seized him and brought him 242 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:38,800 to the council so they brought him to a trial to a place of a court and they 243 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:44,800 wanted to shut this down they attacked him they accused him of talking about 244 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:51,080 Jesus of working with Jesus and it says in verse 15 that as they he was in this 245 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:58,240 court setting that he looked like an angel truly the right person doing the 246 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:06,280 right thing but then they made a mistake because they asked him a question they 247 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:10,680 they were shutting him down they were fighting against him but then they asked 248 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:15,960 him a question and it's an open-ended question almost he made it an open-ended 249 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:23,160 they said are these things so and for the majority of the rest of chapter 7 is 250 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:27,920 Stephen's reply to that one question we're not going to have time to read it 251 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,400 but if you're looking for something to do on Sabbath afternoon read through 252 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:37,920 that response of Stephen because Stephen recites the history of the children of 253 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:43,200 Israel and he recites how over and over God led them somewhere or raised up a 254 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:48,920 leader and the children of Israel rejected it and turned away and allowed 255 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:55,960 this to be a distraction from what was really happening Stephen was the right 256 00:23:55,960 --> 00:24:01,200 person and he began to proclaim the story of God the story of God's people 257 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:06,760 and the story of God's guidance but over and over they rejected it and finally 258 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:13,280 this group of religious leaders could not stand this truth anymore and so we 259 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:19,200 come down to verse 51 and Stephen calls them stubborn and he calls them out and 260 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:24,920 he says you stiff-necked and uncircumcised people you always resist 261 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:31,360 the Holy Spirit just as your fathers did and he says you resisted and killed the 262 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:37,480 just one you even killed Jesus and in verse 53 it says you have received the 263 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:44,480 law by the direction of angels and you haven't kept it you even rejected this 264 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:50,920 thing and the people were so mad the people were so upset that they had to 265 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:57,720 shut him down and it says let me get there they cried out with a loud voice 266 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:03,880 and stopped up their ears so they're Stephen is talking Stephen is preaching 267 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,840 and they are yelling and trying to shut it down and every time I read this I 268 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:12,800 think of a story when I was a child we were sitting at the table one morning 269 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,600 probably at breakfast probably having biscuits and gravy Sunday morning or 270 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,920 something and my brother and I were talking about something that my mom 271 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:23,520 didn't want to hear any more about if I recall correctly it was might have been 272 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:28,360 snakes that we'd seen some snakes and they were slithering around and my mom 273 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:33,800 kind of shivered and oh and so of course we had to talk more about snakes and how 274 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:38,680 slithery these these little things were now I don't I do not like snakes but my 275 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:42,920 mom really did not like snakes and so this is what she did I'll never forget 276 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:47,440 it as we were talking about this thing that she didn't want to hear she put her 277 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:52,200 fingers over her ears and she just started making a noise to drown out 278 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:58,320 what we were saying something kind of like and the reason I remember that is 279 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:04,520 not because of what she did but because of what the dog did when my mom started 280 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:10,520 to do that the dog thought well it's time to howl and this dog that we had it 281 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:15,960 never barked it never howled and for the very first time this dog started howling 282 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:21,060 away under the table and from that time on if we wanted the dog to howl we could 283 00:26:21,060 --> 00:26:26,000 make a noise and the dog would join in the choir but that's what I think of 284 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:31,560 when I see this story because they did not want to listen to Stephen anymore 285 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:36,160 they didn't want to hear another word to come out of his mouth they didn't want 286 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:40,880 to hear anything else that he said and it says they stopped up their ears and 287 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:46,920 they gnashed their teeth at him and they drug him out of the city and they shut 288 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:52,760 him down and they shut him up by throwing rocks at him have you ever been 289 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:58,840 hit with a rock have you ever been hit maybe with a baseball or a softball or 290 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:05,520 even a soccer ball those hurt when you're hit by it and Stephen was not hit 291 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:11,120 accidentally but was hit on purpose and was hit with the purpose of killing him 292 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:16,320 and notice back just a verse it says Stephen full of the Holy Spirit gazed 293 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:21,960 into heaven and saw the glory of God and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand 294 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:28,760 of God and he said look I see Jesus there and he could say it is well with 295 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:34,520 my soul and he could say precious Lord take my hand even in this challenging 296 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:40,920 situation even as so many people are against me so many people are upset so 297 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:45,920 many people are trying to shut me down as they're throwing rocks at him and it 298 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:52,120 says in verse 59 they stone Stephen as he was calling on God and he begins to 299 00:27:52,120 --> 00:28:00,160 echo the words of Jesus upon the cross he says Lord Jesus receive my spirit and 300 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:05,480 Jesus said into your hands father I commit my spirit and it says then he 301 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:10,760 knelt down and cried out with a loud voice Lord do not charge them with this 302 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:17,960 sin and when he said this he fell asleep he was standing for God he was the right 303 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:26,640 person doing the right thing and it cost him his life in this situation there was 304 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,400 a story just the beginning of March you may have heard it it was in Louisville 305 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:35,920 Kentucky and there's a bridge that goes across that massive Ohio River the Clark 306 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:40,520 Memorial Bridge or the second Street Bridge in Louisville and I believe it 307 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,680 was March 1st there was a accident on that bridge it was a four-vehicle 308 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:51,000 accident and before everything had stopped one of those vehicles an 18 309 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:57,760 wheeler a tractor-trailer was hanging over the side of the bridge you may see 310 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:01,680 that they're barely hanging on I'm not sure how it's not going all the way over 311 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:07,800 now down on the other side of that tractor-trailer that's hanging down was 312 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:14,040 the cab and inside the cab was the driver of the truck and she was in there 313 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:19,400 suspended you know on the edge of this bridge and then the pictures you know 314 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:25,040 almost look like an action movie or a superhero because it seems it's a 315 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:31,280 spider-man himself comes dangling down on ropes hanging down off the edge of 316 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:36,480 the ladder of the fire truck but it is not spider-man instead it is firefighter 317 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:43,200 Bryce Carden and he lowers himself down off these ropes and he comes down by the 318 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:48,760 cab of the truck and he's able to open the door and he's able to hook up the 319 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:53,760 driver of the vehicle and the story said that the driver she was a military 320 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:59,000 veteran and this is how they described the driver she was cool as a cucumber 321 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:05,520 as they were being pulled back up now firefighter Carden he specializes in 322 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:11,760 high-angle rescues so this is what he was quoted as saying he said like I was 323 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:17,720 telling the chief it all goes back to the training we've done we've probably 324 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:24,400 done this a hundred times so we have good leaders that have taught us how to 325 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:31,800 take care of a situation like this he this was a crazy situation but he was 326 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:36,880 the right person doing the right thing because he had been trained for that and 327 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:41,160 he knew how to come down the ropes he knew how to hook up the driver he knew 328 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:45,720 how to reassure that driver and it said they eventually made it back up to the 329 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:51,240 bridge after a few prayers and help from the other first responders and this is 330 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:57,280 what the firefighter said she was just praying she was praying a lot so I prayed 331 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:02,600 with her he'd done it before he was experienced he was the right person 332 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:08,760 doing the right thing and look at the difference it made in this situation 333 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:16,000 Stephen was the right person doing the right thing and yet he ended up being 334 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:22,960 stoned he ended up dying and you could say what a tragic end to that story and 335 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:30,640 yet and yet in that story there's a hint of something to come there's a hint of 336 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:36,440 the gospel about ready to go even more viral I forgot that picture there they 337 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:42,340 are coming up because in Acts 6 verse 58 there's a hint there and it says the 338 00:31:42,340 --> 00:31:49,880 witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul and that 339 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:56,680 is a hint of what is to come because in Acts chapter 9 we see Saul again and in 340 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:01,920 Acts chapter 9 we see the Holy Spirit showing up in Saul's life so that at 341 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:07,400 that time he is the right person to do the right thing to help the gospel to 342 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:13,280 blow up to spread throughout the the Roman Empire to go throughout the entire 343 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:23,520 world so you are the right person God has something for you to do Jesus laid 344 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:28,600 down his life on the cross Jesus died so that each one of us could be part of the 345 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:33,840 family of God each one of us could have some role could have some aspect to play 346 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:39,000 in bringing other people to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior you are the 347 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:43,920 right person the question is have you found what the right thing is for you to 348 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:49,640 do that's my challenge for you this week say God what is it that you want me to 349 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:56,840 do what can I do as in my part as the family of God let's bow our heads for a 350 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:03,600 word of prayer dear God we thank you you have laid down your life for us and we 351 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:08,360 read here in Scripture about how sometimes there's distractions that Satan 352 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:14,040 wants to send our way and the way to to push through those distractions is to 353 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:19,600 unite and and being the right people doing the right things for you and Lord 354 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:25,120 help each one of us here to find something that you would have us to do 355 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:31,280 to find someone that you would have us to talk to to find a talent or a skill 356 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:37,240 that we can put to use for your kingdom and Lord may each and every day we do 357 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:42,960 the right thing for you in your name we pray amen