WEBVTT 00:00:05.230 --> 00:00:08.130 Well, here we are, another episode of the Semi 00:00:08.130 --> 00:00:11.429 -Seminarian. We're continuing our look at the 00:00:11.429 --> 00:00:14.150 Acts of the Apostles in this episode. We're going 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:17.429 to look and see what happens when the church 00:00:17.429 --> 00:00:21.309 experiences its first level of persecution and 00:00:21.309 --> 00:00:25.870 the martyrdom of the Apostle Stephen. I'll see 00:00:25.870 --> 00:00:33.950 you on the other side. The way that this 6 through 00:00:33.950 --> 00:00:37.750 8 is kind of framed, this is like a movie. Whenever 00:00:37.750 --> 00:00:41.490 you see how this part of the story ends, you're 00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:45.670 going to have a movie image in your head. So, 00:00:45.670 --> 00:00:48.329 again, we're going to be tonight's lesson, Acts 00:00:48.329 --> 00:00:52.969 section 4, persecution to expansion. It's going 00:00:52.969 --> 00:00:56.590 to deal with looking at Acts chapters 6, 7, and 00:00:56.590 --> 00:01:00.689 the very beginning of 8. So up to this point 00:01:00.689 --> 00:01:04.569 in the story, The church, the early church, empowered 00:01:04.569 --> 00:01:07.750 by the Holy Spirit, has been on an incredible 00:01:07.750 --> 00:01:11.290 run of successes. From the day of Pentecost, 00:01:11.329 --> 00:01:15.189 right, until where Peter preached in the middle 00:01:15.189 --> 00:01:17.609 of the city of Jerusalem, converted thousands 00:01:17.609 --> 00:01:21.109 of people. Every time it seems like the authorities 00:01:21.109 --> 00:01:24.989 have an attempt to squash the movement, it seems 00:01:24.989 --> 00:01:30.359 to just make them stronger and more bold. And 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:36.680 we also see a successful attempt by these early 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:40.659 Christians to begin to create a radical, powerful 00:01:40.659 --> 00:01:45.340 society within the existing society. The work 00:01:45.340 --> 00:01:49.939 of the early church was then, and should be today, 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:53.700 about changing the way that we live with one 00:01:53.700 --> 00:01:59.359 another from the individual up. of the kingdom 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:04.280 of God here on earth was one of the heart. You'll 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:07.159 notice in nothing that we've studied thus far 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:11.620 with regard to the birth of the church, was there 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:15.780 any attempt by the followers to overturn the 00:02:15.780 --> 00:02:20.020 political structure from the top down. This was 00:02:20.020 --> 00:02:24.259 a rethinking, a reimagining of what society should 00:02:24.259 --> 00:02:28.039 be like as followers of Christ from the individual's 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:35.039 heart up. And so far in our story, the wins and 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:37.520 successes for these early Christians was piling 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:42.180 up. But things are about to change. Like anything. 00:02:42.889 --> 00:02:47.069 the larger and more complex a organization or 00:02:47.069 --> 00:02:50.009 community gets, the greater the likelihood there 00:02:50.009 --> 00:02:52.969 is for tension within that community. So how 00:02:52.969 --> 00:02:56.889 does the early church deal with adversity? Acts 00:02:56.889 --> 00:03:00.729 chapter 6 opens the very human problem I think 00:03:00.729 --> 00:03:03.449 that we all can relate to and a grace -filled 00:03:03.449 --> 00:03:06.310 solution that I think in the end, when we understand 00:03:06.310 --> 00:03:09.389 what's happening, we can truly admire. So I'm 00:03:09.389 --> 00:03:12.800 going to begin reading here. Chapter 6. We're 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:15.219 going to read all of 6, 7, and beginning of 8. 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.199 There's going to be a stretch there where I'm 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:21.099 going to read Stephen's, what's called Stephen's 00:03:21.099 --> 00:03:25.539 Apology. I'm going to read that in whole. It's 00:03:25.539 --> 00:03:27.840 kind of a long stretch of scripture here, but 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:30.360 it'll be worth it. There's a reason why. So in 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:33.419 those days, the beginning of the church. Remember 00:03:33.419 --> 00:03:36.280 where we've just come from. Pentecost, growing 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:39.860 church, Peter and John going to the temple courts 00:03:39.860 --> 00:03:45.340 daily to pray. They heal the lame man whom everybody 00:03:45.340 --> 00:03:48.080 knows that had been seen at the temple gates 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:54.979 for decades. They couldn't deny it. And the Sanhedrin, 00:03:55.080 --> 00:03:57.479 the Supreme Court there, the officials, the authorities, 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:00.759 had asked them to please stop preaching in the 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:03.699 name of Jesus. Peter and John. basically respond 00:04:03.699 --> 00:04:07.120 that that's just not possible, that the authorities 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:10.080 can do with Peter and John whatever they wish, 00:04:10.139 --> 00:04:13.539 but they can't stop preaching what they have 00:04:13.539 --> 00:04:17.379 seen and what they've heard. And it's in those 00:04:17.379 --> 00:04:21.060 days where we see ourselves tonight. When the 00:04:21.060 --> 00:04:23.740 number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic 00:04:23.740 --> 00:04:26.019 Jews, I've got some definitions here that will 00:04:26.019 --> 00:04:28.379 help you kind of understand who these groups 00:04:28.379 --> 00:04:32.170 are, the Hellenistic Jews, among them, claimed 00:04:32.170 --> 00:04:36.430 that the Hebraic Jews, because they're widows, 00:04:36.449 --> 00:04:38.589 were being overlooked in the daily distribution 00:04:38.589 --> 00:04:43.470 of food. So the twelve apostles gathered all 00:04:43.470 --> 00:04:47.230 of the disciples, the followers of the way, gathered 00:04:47.230 --> 00:04:49.829 them all together and said, it would not be right 00:04:49.829 --> 00:04:52.810 for us to neglect the ministry of the word of 00:04:52.810 --> 00:04:56.069 God in order for us to wait tables. Brothers 00:04:56.069 --> 00:04:59.680 and sisters, Choose seven men from among you 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:01.540 who are known to be full of spirit and wisdom. 00:05:01.699 --> 00:05:05.000 We will turn this responsibility, this distribution 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:10.779 of alms and food to the widows, the poor. We're 00:05:10.779 --> 00:05:13.279 going to turn that responsibility over to them 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:17.379 so we, the twelve, can focus our attention on 00:05:17.379 --> 00:05:21.740 prayer and the ministry of the word. This proposal, 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:24.939 this idea, pleased everybody, pleased the whole 00:05:24.939 --> 00:05:29.060 group. And so they chose seven men. They chose 00:05:29.060 --> 00:05:31.240 Stephen. We're going to talk a lot about Stephen 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:34.759 tonight. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:37.420 and of the Holy Spirit. Also, Philip. We're going 00:05:37.420 --> 00:05:42.259 to be talking a lot about Philip next time. Procurus, 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:48.060 Nicantor, Timon, Paraminus, and Nicholas from 00:05:48.060 --> 00:05:51.620 Antioch, who was not a born Jew, but actually 00:05:51.620 --> 00:05:55.980 was a convert to Judaism, from Antioch. They 00:05:55.980 --> 00:05:58.439 presented these men to the apostles, who then 00:05:58.439 --> 00:06:02.300 prayed and laid their hands on them. Okay, so 00:06:02.300 --> 00:06:05.379 let's pause right there. We often think, I think, 00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:08.560 especially in the time of Jesus in the first 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:11.060 century, we often will think of the Jewish people 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:15.759 during this time in very monolithic terms. Like 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:19.000 we think of the Jewish people as one big group 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:22.180 of people, and maybe followers of Christ, the 00:06:22.180 --> 00:06:26.170 Christians, as... one other group of people in 00:06:26.170 --> 00:06:30.949 opposition to this other large group. But that's 00:06:30.949 --> 00:06:34.829 not an accurate portrayal of the Jewish people 00:06:34.829 --> 00:06:36.829 in the first century. And what I mean to say 00:06:36.829 --> 00:06:40.290 is that sometimes we'll just think of the Jewish 00:06:40.290 --> 00:06:43.670 people just as the Jewish people in a one -size 00:06:43.670 --> 00:06:47.629 -fits -all kind of way. The reality is, in the 00:06:47.629 --> 00:06:50.050 first century, that there is a great amount of 00:06:50.050 --> 00:06:53.089 diversity amongst the Jewish people in what was 00:06:53.089 --> 00:06:57.269 known at that time and today as the Second Temple 00:06:57.269 --> 00:07:01.069 period, Second Temple Judaism. Some of the various 00:07:01.069 --> 00:07:05.029 groups we already know of, there's the Pharisees 00:07:05.029 --> 00:07:08.129 and the Sadducees, both having their difference 00:07:08.129 --> 00:07:13.069 of Jewish religious thought. They're Jews, but 00:07:13.069 --> 00:07:16.139 they have different beliefs. There's a group 00:07:16.139 --> 00:07:20.240 called the Zealots who were militant about the 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:22.759 overthrow of Roman oppression. In other words, 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:26.300 they saw the message of God through revolutionary 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:31.079 and violent terms. They saw their duty and their 00:07:31.079 --> 00:07:35.800 worship of God as a form of active opposition 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:39.100 to the Roman oppression. Then there was also 00:07:39.100 --> 00:07:43.160 the Essenes. The Essenes become famous. In the 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:46.500 20th century, because it's their writings that 00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:49.259 are discovered in the 1940s that we now know 00:07:49.259 --> 00:07:52.180 as the Dead Sea Scrolls, those are writings, 00:07:52.339 --> 00:07:55.019 scrolls that were contained amongst the Essenes. 00:07:55.620 --> 00:07:59.040 Those were Jews that chose to live outside of 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:04.300 normal society and chose to live together communally. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:08.939 And you might think of the Essenes like the way 00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:11.750 we might think of as monks. So they lived together 00:08:11.750 --> 00:08:15.110 in kind of monasteries, and they were cloistered 00:08:15.110 --> 00:08:18.689 or separated away from the rest of society so 00:08:18.689 --> 00:08:21.709 that they could focus on their relationship with 00:08:21.709 --> 00:08:25.769 God and try to minimize any form of interaction 00:08:25.769 --> 00:08:30.350 with the outside world. There were also Jews 00:08:30.350 --> 00:08:32.909 of different ethnicities, and that's what we're 00:08:32.909 --> 00:08:37.600 seeing here. These Hellenistic Jews... would 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:39.279 have been Jewish people that would have come 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.000 from outside of Judea. They would have been Greek 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:44.960 -speaking, and they would have also followed 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:48.840 Greek culture. Then we would also, at least in 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:51.299 the first part of chapter 6 here, we see the 00:08:51.299 --> 00:08:54.179 Hebraic Jews or the Hebrews. These are Jews that 00:08:54.179 --> 00:08:58.159 grew up and live in Judea, right? And they would 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:00.440 probably have spoken either Aramaic. Well, they 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:02.700 wouldn't have probably. They would have spoke 00:09:02.700 --> 00:09:05.340 Aramaic or Hebrew, and they would have followed 00:09:05.340 --> 00:09:09.690 Hebrew culture. Now, we know that one of the 00:09:09.690 --> 00:09:13.490 defining characteristics of Hebrews is the way 00:09:13.490 --> 00:09:16.009 that they define themselves in opposition to 00:09:16.009 --> 00:09:19.830 the other, right? Many of the cultural rules 00:09:19.830 --> 00:09:22.649 that are set up, we find in the Hebrew scriptures 00:09:22.649 --> 00:09:27.009 in the Old Testament, often deal with Hebrews 00:09:27.009 --> 00:09:31.049 either doing certain things or prohibiting the 00:09:31.049 --> 00:09:33.970 doing of certain things so that they may be seen 00:09:33.970 --> 00:09:37.679 as distinct from other. other cultures that they 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:41.480 neighbored against. So even though these are 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:43.919 Jews that would have, they are Jewish people, 00:09:44.179 --> 00:09:47.559 but they grew up in a different place, the Hebrews, 00:09:47.659 --> 00:09:49.980 those that would have grown up in Palestine, 00:09:50.059 --> 00:09:54.320 in Judea, in Galilee, would have looked at the 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:57.480 Hellenistic Jews, even though they are brothers 00:09:57.480 --> 00:10:01.480 and sisters in the faith, as the other. And what 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:05.379 we're seeing in this dispute here early on, is 00:10:05.379 --> 00:10:09.080 this belief by these Greek -speaking Jews that 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:12.720 their widows and orphans are being mistreated 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:16.240 compared to the treatment of the widows and orphans 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:20.419 of the Hebrew Jewish people. Now, there's no 00:10:20.419 --> 00:10:23.860 evidence to suggest that that's on purpose. It 00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:26.259 just happens to define the conflict that we see 00:10:26.259 --> 00:10:30.120 amongst this group of Jews whom have now converted 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:33.960 to Christianity. They're still living ethnically, 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:37.419 culturally as Jews, and in many ways religiously. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:41.399 We still see Peter and John, apostles of Christ, 00:10:41.659 --> 00:10:44.399 still showing up to temple in the afternoon every 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:47.679 day to pray in the temple. We're not to the point 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:52.460 that these people have surrendered their Jewish 00:10:52.460 --> 00:10:56.500 way of life, even though they now accept the 00:10:56.500 --> 00:11:02.360 messianic truth of Jesus. So earthly Judaism, 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:06.179 when we put these kind of ethnicities to it, 00:11:06.220 --> 00:11:09.559 often is about us and them. And these Orthodox 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:12.759 Jews would have prided themselves on not having 00:11:12.759 --> 00:11:14.399 to do with anything that they would have considered 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:16.580 pagan, and they would have considered anything 00:11:16.580 --> 00:11:21.200 pagan that wasn't exactly like them. That's how 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:23.679 they would have viewed these Greek Jews. So, 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:27.399 where have these people come from? Well, let's 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:30.029 stop real quick, because where are we? We're 00:11:30.029 --> 00:11:33.970 in Jerusalem, and now there is this huge amount, 00:11:34.029 --> 00:11:37.769 there's thousands of people that would be Hellenistic 00:11:37.769 --> 00:11:40.629 Jews that are part of the body of Christ now, 00:11:40.669 --> 00:11:44.149 part of the early church. How has this happened 00:11:44.149 --> 00:11:47.750 within Jerusalem? Well, one, there would have 00:11:47.750 --> 00:11:50.169 been a number of Hellenistic Jews that would 00:11:50.169 --> 00:11:53.049 have just by nature, by natural course, would 00:11:53.049 --> 00:11:56.070 have lived in Jerusalem. But let's not forget 00:11:56.070 --> 00:12:01.440 how they got there. Remember, Pentecost fires 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:05.559 up, pardon the pun, fires up the early church 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:07.460 with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, right? 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:12.000 Why are the Jews, what's significant to Pentecost? 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:15.000 They've come. They've returned back from Passover. 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:18.639 They've returned after Passover, 50 days later, 00:12:18.820 --> 00:12:21.240 and they've come to offer their first fruits 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:25.539 in Jerusalem. So Jewish people that lived outside 00:12:25.539 --> 00:12:30.830 of Judea, These Hellenistic Jews have returned 00:12:30.830 --> 00:12:34.750 back to Jerusalem to offer their first fruit 00:12:34.750 --> 00:12:39.070 offerings. And while they were there, they had 00:12:39.070 --> 00:12:42.250 no intention of staying. But while they're there, 00:12:42.450 --> 00:12:46.049 they hear this sermon by this crazy guy named 00:12:46.049 --> 00:12:49.029 Peter. Their hearts are touched about Christianity 00:12:49.029 --> 00:12:54.129 and they stay. They don't go back home. Their 00:12:54.129 --> 00:12:57.000 lives have forever been changed. because now 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:00.100 they're Christians. So they have decided to stay 00:13:00.100 --> 00:13:04.860 in Jerusalem. Well, this influx of these Greek 00:13:04.860 --> 00:13:07.779 -speaking, Greek -cultural Jews are the ones 00:13:07.779 --> 00:13:15.379 that's caused this tension. So of the seven, 00:13:15.559 --> 00:13:18.059 what's interesting, of the seven that are chosen, 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:21.419 each one of these, beginning with Stephen, And 00:13:21.419 --> 00:13:24.159 then Philip, secondly, what is interesting about 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.600 these seven men that are chosen, each one of 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:30.320 them are Greek. Now the reason why I think that 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:32.940 this is a grace -filled solution to the problem 00:13:32.940 --> 00:13:36.240 is even though there are a large amount of Hellenistic 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:40.059 Jews, by far and away within the city of Jerusalem, 00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:44.259 the larger amount of the body of Christ at this 00:13:44.259 --> 00:13:48.029 point are going to be made up of Hebrews. So 00:13:48.029 --> 00:13:50.649 the Greek speaking Jews come to the apostles 00:13:50.649 --> 00:13:54.409 with a complaint that their old and affirmed 00:13:54.409 --> 00:13:57.850 are not being treated equally. So the apostles 00:13:57.850 --> 00:14:00.909 say, well, let's come up with a way that this 00:14:00.909 --> 00:14:04.090 can be corrected. So pick seven of the whole 00:14:04.090 --> 00:14:07.789 of both groups. Pick seven to be the ones that 00:14:07.789 --> 00:14:10.110 will be in charge of this to make sure everything 00:14:10.110 --> 00:14:14.629 is administered fairly. And what we find is none 00:14:14.629 --> 00:14:18.009 of the seven that are picked are Hebrews. So 00:14:18.009 --> 00:14:21.190 they've actually decided to pick those of the 00:14:21.190 --> 00:14:25.470 minority. And I think that that's a very graceful 00:14:25.470 --> 00:14:29.990 moment in the history of the early church. And 00:14:29.990 --> 00:14:33.750 as a result, I believe, of the desire not to 00:14:33.750 --> 00:14:38.230 seek power, but to seek grace and harmony, verse 00:14:38.230 --> 00:14:42.230 7 of chapter 6 says, so the word of God spread. 00:14:42.490 --> 00:14:45.539 The word of God spread. the number of disciples 00:14:45.539 --> 00:14:49.919 in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:54.639 of priests became obedient to the faith. That's 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:57.100 significant because now we're actually seeing 00:14:57.100 --> 00:15:02.220 priests being converted. Now, we are guessing 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:03.620 that these are going to be priests that are going 00:15:03.620 --> 00:15:07.559 to be lower on the totem pole. And I say guess 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:12.620 only because when we see members of the Sanhedrin 00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:16.769 convert, We know their names, right? I mean, 00:15:16.789 --> 00:15:20.149 when we go to Joseph of Arimathea, right, was 00:15:20.149 --> 00:15:22.889 a member of the Sanhedrin. He converted to being 00:15:22.889 --> 00:15:26.309 a follower of Jesus. We know his name because 00:15:26.309 --> 00:15:29.330 Joseph of Arimathea was an important guy at the 00:15:29.330 --> 00:15:32.269 time. So the fact that these priests aren't named 00:15:32.269 --> 00:15:35.049 is probably an indication that they are lower 00:15:35.049 --> 00:15:39.330 tiered priests, but priests nonetheless. And 00:15:39.330 --> 00:15:41.539 here we are now going to be introduced. to the 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:45.620 first martyr of the Christian church, and not 00:15:45.620 --> 00:15:47.320 the first martyr of Christendom, right, because 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:50.399 that's Christ, but the first martyr of the church, 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:55.440 verse 8, Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:58.000 and power, performed great wonders and signs 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:01.860 among the people. Opposition arose, however, 00:16:01.899 --> 00:16:04.779 from members of the synagogue of the freedmen, 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:09.600 as it was called, Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria, 00:16:10.460 --> 00:16:16.879 as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia, 00:16:16.980 --> 00:16:19.399 who began to argue with Stephen, but they could 00:16:19.399 --> 00:16:22.059 not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave 00:16:22.059 --> 00:16:26.600 him to spoke. So he is preaching within this 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:29.940 synagogue that's composed of these people. That's 00:16:29.940 --> 00:16:33.879 significant. These places that are mentioned, 00:16:34.059 --> 00:16:37.620 these are provinces of the Roman Empire, not 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:41.169 provinces of Judea. So places like Alexandria 00:16:41.169 --> 00:16:46.210 and Sicilia and Asia are going to be places that 00:16:46.210 --> 00:16:49.070 are part of the Roman Empire, but they are Hellenistic. 00:16:49.149 --> 00:16:52.429 They are Greek -speaking, Greek -cultured people. 00:16:55.250 --> 00:16:59.590 Cilicia is particularly mentioned, it's believed, 00:16:59.690 --> 00:17:02.649 because that is a province of the Roman Empire. 00:17:03.169 --> 00:17:08.720 I can't say it. And the capital of that province 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:14.000 is Tarsus. And there's a very famous person that 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:17.720 comes from the city of Tarsus. Anyone? Saul comes 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:20.900 from Tarsus. So the argument here is that Stephen 00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:25.240 has picked a fight with perhaps the very synagogue 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:28.859 in which Saul attended. That's going to come 00:17:28.859 --> 00:17:33.289 back into play. Now they couldn't stand up against 00:17:33.289 --> 00:17:35.609 the wisdom the Spirit gave him to spoke. So they 00:17:35.609 --> 00:17:38.170 had these debates with Stephen, but they couldn't 00:17:38.170 --> 00:17:42.170 beat him with words. So they're going to try 00:17:42.170 --> 00:17:46.109 to go after him with false witness. We're going 00:17:46.109 --> 00:17:48.750 to find out. So again, who's mad at Stephen? 00:17:48.990 --> 00:17:52.509 These are Jews. This is a synagogue, again, that's 00:17:52.509 --> 00:17:55.309 frequented by Jews that are not Palestinian. 00:17:55.750 --> 00:17:59.950 They're not of Judea, right? Or the Roman province 00:17:59.950 --> 00:18:06.420 of Judea. And again, that Cilicia is the capital 00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:11.680 of Tarsus where Saul is from. Verse 11, they 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:14.519 secretly persuaded some men. Here's the false 00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:17.559 witness part. We've heard Stephen speak blasphemous 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:21.400 words against Moses and against God. So they 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:23.380 stirred up the people and the elders and the 00:18:23.380 --> 00:18:27.619 teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and 00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:31.119 brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:34.299 false witnesses who testified. This fellow never 00:18:34.299 --> 00:18:38.539 stops speaking against the holy place and the 00:18:38.539 --> 00:18:42.819 law. So we get an idea of what Stephen's sermons 00:18:42.819 --> 00:18:46.819 are about and what is making the Jewish people 00:18:46.819 --> 00:18:49.980 angry. Stephen is saying something that makes 00:18:49.980 --> 00:18:54.220 them angry about the holy place or the temple 00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:59.480 and also about the law, the Torah. For we have 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:02.700 heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy 00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:06.039 this place and change the customs Moses handed 00:19:06.039 --> 00:19:08.200 down to us. And this is actually an accusation 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:10.839 that was falsely made against Christ as well, 00:19:10.900 --> 00:19:13.099 right? That he said that he would tear down the 00:19:13.099 --> 00:19:15.460 temple and rebuild it magically in three days. 00:19:15.539 --> 00:19:18.920 Now we know from the gospel account, according 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:22.779 to John, that's not what Jesus said, right? He 00:19:22.779 --> 00:19:25.740 actually said, you tear down the temple and I 00:19:25.740 --> 00:19:28.359 can rebuild the temple in three days. But he 00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:30.420 didn't say, I'm going to destroy this temple. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:33.559 He wasn't even talking about the temple, really, 00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:36.059 was he? He was talking about the temple being 00:19:36.059 --> 00:19:40.160 replaced with the body, the spirit in the body. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:45.759 So all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin, all 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:48.940 of these Supreme Court justices, they looked 00:19:48.940 --> 00:19:52.460 intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face 00:19:52.460 --> 00:19:54.599 was like the face of an angel. In other words, 00:19:54.740 --> 00:19:59.849 they didn't see fear. They didn't see uneasiness 00:19:59.849 --> 00:20:04.109 or worry. They saw the peace of Christ. The apostle 00:20:04.109 --> 00:20:07.130 Paul tells us about later in his letter to the 00:20:07.130 --> 00:20:11.569 Philippian church. They see his calmness. Now 00:20:11.569 --> 00:20:15.609 why are they mad? Because Stephen is challenging 00:20:15.609 --> 00:20:21.170 their understanding of the story of God and his 00:20:21.170 --> 00:20:26.210 relationship with his people. And how is he challenging 00:20:26.210 --> 00:20:29.809 that? Well, Jews are going to hold two things 00:20:29.809 --> 00:20:33.690 sacred in their religious spiritual lives, the 00:20:33.690 --> 00:20:38.589 temple and the law. And Stephen is somehow challenging 00:20:38.589 --> 00:20:41.609 notions about what the chosen people, the Jewish 00:20:41.609 --> 00:20:46.769 people, think about the temple and the law. And 00:20:46.769 --> 00:20:49.970 actually, Stephen is going to be the first apostle 00:20:49.970 --> 00:20:54.829 to make the argument that Jews are not the chosen 00:20:54.829 --> 00:20:59.859 people. for the exclusivity to God. But they're 00:20:59.859 --> 00:21:03.059 actually the chosen people because they're chosen 00:21:03.059 --> 00:21:08.700 by God to serve as messengers of His love to 00:21:08.700 --> 00:21:13.579 the rest of the world. So Stephen's thesis about 00:21:13.579 --> 00:21:17.680 the Jewish people of which he, although is Hellenistic, 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:23.009 is one of. is that we as Jews are God's chosen 00:21:23.009 --> 00:21:27.130 people, but we're not chosen people at the exclusion 00:21:27.130 --> 00:21:30.690 of every other person on the world that's not 00:21:30.690 --> 00:21:34.890 Jewish, but actually the chosen of chosen people 00:21:34.890 --> 00:21:40.170 means God entrusted to us the message of his 00:21:40.170 --> 00:21:45.349 love for every creation in the world. And that's 00:21:45.349 --> 00:21:49.710 what our job is. Our job isn't to just sit back. 00:21:50.190 --> 00:21:52.750 and enjoy the fact that we happen by complete 00:21:52.750 --> 00:21:56.589 biological accident, been born into the right 00:21:56.589 --> 00:22:00.390 race of people, but rather it comes with a responsibility. 00:22:01.250 --> 00:22:05.910 That our job is actually to clearly and succinctly 00:22:05.910 --> 00:22:09.410 argue to every person that we meet, whether they're 00:22:09.410 --> 00:22:13.309 Jewish or Gentile, that God loves them and offers 00:22:13.309 --> 00:22:16.509 them salvation through Jesus Christ. Now how 00:22:16.509 --> 00:22:19.539 is that different than... Peter's message, for 00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:24.380 example. Peter, the first sermon we hear at Pentecost. 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:28.680 Peter, we hear preaching in Solomon's porch in 00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:33.160 the temple. Well, Peter's message is different 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:36.660 than Stephen's because Peter's message was a 00:22:36.660 --> 00:22:41.220 message to the Jewish people that they are to 00:22:41.220 --> 00:22:44.359 repent because they missed the coming of the 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:49.079 Messiah. Peter was not necessarily preaching 00:22:49.079 --> 00:22:52.700 about what's to come outside of the walls of 00:22:52.700 --> 00:22:55.460 the city of Jerusalem. He was actually preaching 00:22:55.460 --> 00:22:59.900 to what happened inside the hearts of the Jewish 00:22:59.900 --> 00:23:04.140 people within Jerusalem. So Peter wasn't preaching 00:23:04.140 --> 00:23:07.220 to Gentiles or about Gentiles and their salvation, 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:13.059 but Stephen is. And that's going to anchor the 00:23:13.059 --> 00:23:16.500 high priest. We suspect would still be Caiaphas, 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:19.440 the same high priest that would have tried Jesus. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.779 So the high priest then asked Stephen, are these 00:23:24.779 --> 00:23:27.099 charges true? We are right at the beginning of 00:23:27.099 --> 00:23:34.099 chapter 7 of Acts. To this, Stephen replied, 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:38.160 brothers and fathers, listen to me. Now, this 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:40.700 is called Stephen's Apologies. This is going 00:23:40.700 --> 00:23:44.019 to be... A long section of scripture that I'm 00:23:44.019 --> 00:23:45.980 going to read, but it's necessary that we read 00:23:45.980 --> 00:23:48.660 the whole thing. Brothers and fathers, listen 00:23:48.660 --> 00:23:52.480 to me. The glory of God appeared to our father, 00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:56.900 Abraham, while he was still in Mesopotamia, before 00:23:56.900 --> 00:24:01.160 he lived in Haran. And God said to him, leave 00:24:01.160 --> 00:24:05.259 your country and your people. And God said, go 00:24:05.259 --> 00:24:08.900 to the land and I will show you. So he left the 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:11.910 land of the Chaldeans. And he settled in Haran. 00:24:12.529 --> 00:24:17.089 After the death of his father, Terah, God sent 00:24:17.089 --> 00:24:21.029 him to this land where you are now living. He 00:24:21.029 --> 00:24:24.250 gave him no inheritance here, not even enough 00:24:24.250 --> 00:24:27.710 ground to set his foot on. But God promised him 00:24:27.710 --> 00:24:30.730 that he and his descendants after him would possess 00:24:30.730 --> 00:24:33.970 the land, even though at the time Abraham had 00:24:33.970 --> 00:24:38.289 no child. This is Stephen recounting their history 00:24:38.289 --> 00:24:42.420 to the... jewish supreme court god spoke to him 00:24:42.420 --> 00:24:45.500 in this way for 400 years your descendants will 00:24:45.500 --> 00:24:48.880 be strangers in a country not their own and they 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:52.420 will be enslaved and mistreated but i will punish 00:24:52.420 --> 00:24:55.420 the nation they serve as slaves god said and 00:24:55.420 --> 00:24:57.859 after they will come out of that country and 00:24:57.859 --> 00:25:01.920 worship me in this place then he gave abraham 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:05.119 the covenant of circumcision and abraham became 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:07.799 the father of isaac circumcised him eight days 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:10.680 after his birth. Later, Isaac became the father 00:25:10.680 --> 00:25:12.759 of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the 00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:15.940 12 patriarchs. Because the patriarchs were jealous 00:25:15.940 --> 00:25:20.019 of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. 00:25:20.299 --> 00:25:23.079 But God was with him and rescued him from all 00:25:23.079 --> 00:25:25.980 of his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled 00:25:25.980 --> 00:25:28.359 him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh, king of 00:25:28.359 --> 00:25:32.200 Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and 00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:37.509 all his palace. A famine struck all Egypt and 00:25:37.509 --> 00:25:40.970 Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors 00:25:40.970 --> 00:25:44.710 could not find food. When Jacob heard that there 00:25:44.710 --> 00:25:48.089 was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on 00:25:48.089 --> 00:25:51.509 their first visit. On their second visit, Joseph 00:25:51.509 --> 00:25:54.230 told his brothers who he was, and the Pharaoh 00:25:54.230 --> 00:25:57.450 learned about Joseph's family. After this, Joseph 00:25:57.450 --> 00:26:00.190 sent for his father Jacob and his whole family. 00:26:00.210 --> 00:26:03.549 There were 75 of them in all, and Jacob went 00:26:03.549 --> 00:26:07.589 down to Egypt. where he and our ancestors died. 00:26:07.910 --> 00:26:10.650 Their bodies were brought back to Sechem, and 00:26:10.650 --> 00:26:14.230 he placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought 00:26:14.230 --> 00:26:17.509 from the sons of Hamor at Sechem for a certain 00:26:17.509 --> 00:26:20.890 sum of money. As the time drew near for God to 00:26:20.890 --> 00:26:23.329 fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of 00:26:23.329 --> 00:26:26.470 our people in Egypt had greatly increased. Then 00:26:26.470 --> 00:26:29.740 a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came 00:26:29.740 --> 00:26:31.880 to power in Egypt. He dealt treacherously with 00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:34.819 our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing 00:26:34.819 --> 00:26:37.180 them to throw out their newborn babies so that 00:26:37.180 --> 00:26:40.539 they would die. At that time, Moses was born 00:26:40.539 --> 00:26:43.680 and he was no ordinary child. For three months, 00:26:43.700 --> 00:26:45.980 he was cared for by his family. When he was placed 00:26:45.980 --> 00:26:48.359 outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought 00:26:48.359 --> 00:26:52.519 him up as her own son. Moses was educated and 00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:54.799 all the wisdom of the Egyptians was powerful 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:58.220 in speech and action. When Moses was 40 years 00:26:58.220 --> 00:27:00.740 old, he decided to visit his own people, the 00:27:00.740 --> 00:27:03.339 Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated 00:27:03.339 --> 00:27:06.039 by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and 00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:09.240 avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought 00:27:09.240 --> 00:27:11.619 his own people would realize that God was using 00:27:11.619 --> 00:27:17.500 him to rescue them, but they did not. The next 00:27:17.500 --> 00:27:20.799 day, Moses came up upon two Israelites who were 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:23.099 fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:24.980 men, you're brothers. Why do you want to hurt 00:27:24.980 --> 00:27:27.829 each other? He was mistreating the other, pushed 00:27:27.829 --> 00:27:31.069 Moses aside, and said, Who made you ruler and 00:27:31.069 --> 00:27:34.190 judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me 00:27:34.190 --> 00:27:37.789 as you killed the Egyptian yesterday when Moses 00:27:37.789 --> 00:27:40.349 heard this? He fled to Midian, where he settled 00:27:40.349 --> 00:27:43.809 as a foreigner and had two sons. After 40 years 00:27:43.809 --> 00:27:46.490 had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the 00:27:46.490 --> 00:27:50.130 flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount 00:27:50.130 --> 00:27:52.880 Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:55.200 sight. As he went over to get a closer look, 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:57.880 he heard the Lord say, I am the God of your fathers, 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:00.339 the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses 00:28:00.339 --> 00:28:05.039 trembled with fear and did not dare look. Then 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:06.839 the Lord said to him, Take off your sandals, 00:28:06.940 --> 00:28:08.880 for the place you're standing is holy ground. 00:28:09.400 --> 00:28:11.619 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people 00:28:11.619 --> 00:28:14.400 in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:16.680 come down to set them free. Now come, I will 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:20.400 send you back to Egypt. This is the same Moses, 00:28:21.099 --> 00:28:23.839 They, the people, had rejected with the words, 00:28:23.960 --> 00:28:27.940 Who made you ruler and judge? He was sent to 00:28:27.940 --> 00:28:30.440 be their ruler and delivered by God himself through 00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:32.500 the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He 00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:35.099 led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and 00:28:35.099 --> 00:28:38.539 signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for 40 years 00:28:38.539 --> 00:28:41.319 in the wilderness. This is the Moses who told 00:28:41.319 --> 00:28:44.700 the Israelites, God will raise up for you a prophet 00:28:44.700 --> 00:28:48.380 like me from your own people. He was in the assembly 00:28:48.380 --> 00:28:50.700 in the wilderness when the angel who spoke to 00:28:50.700 --> 00:28:53.480 him on Mount Sinai and with our ancestors, and 00:28:53.480 --> 00:28:56.700 he received living words to pass on to us. But 00:28:56.700 --> 00:29:00.460 our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:03.079 rejected him and their hearts turned back towards 00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:06.119 Egypt. They told Aaron, make us gods who will 00:29:06.119 --> 00:29:08.839 go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led 00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:11.299 us out of Egypt, we don't know what's happened 00:29:11.299 --> 00:29:14.420 to him. That was the time they made an idol in 00:29:14.420 --> 00:29:17.210 the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to 00:29:17.210 --> 00:29:20.309 it and reveled in what their own hands had made. 00:29:20.369 --> 00:29:22.650 But God turned away from them and gave them over 00:29:22.650 --> 00:29:25.430 to the worship of the sun, moon, and stars. This 00:29:25.430 --> 00:29:27.789 agrees with what is written in the book of the 00:29:27.789 --> 00:29:30.950 prophets. Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings 00:29:30.950 --> 00:29:32.789 40 years in the wilderness, people of Israel? 00:29:33.470 --> 00:29:36.650 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molech, the 00:29:36.650 --> 00:29:39.349 star of your God, Rephan, the idols you made 00:29:39.349 --> 00:29:41.630 to worship. Therefore, I'll send you into exile 00:29:41.630 --> 00:29:45.440 beyond Babylon. Our ancestors had the tabernacle 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:47.839 of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:51.559 It had been made as God directed Moses according 00:29:51.559 --> 00:29:54.640 to the pattern that he had seen. After receiving 00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:58.079 the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought 00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:00.859 it with them when they took the land from the 00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:03.500 nations God had drove out before them. It remained 00:30:03.500 --> 00:30:05.960 in the land until the time of David who enjoyed 00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:09.119 God's favor and asked that he might provide a 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:11.019 dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was 00:30:11.019 --> 00:30:14.240 Solomon, David's son, who built a house for them. 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:18.640 However, the Most High does not live in houses 00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:21.720 made by human hands. As the prophet says, heaven 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:25.099 is my throne, the earth is my footstool. What 00:30:25.099 --> 00:30:26.880 kind of house will you build for me, says the 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:30.299 Lord? Or where will my resting place be? Has 00:30:30.299 --> 00:30:34.380 not my hand made all these things? He is quoting 00:30:34.380 --> 00:30:38.359 the Old Testament prophet Isaiah there. You stiff 00:30:38.359 --> 00:30:41.829 -necked people, he's quoting Yahweh there. Your 00:30:41.829 --> 00:30:44.990 hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You're 00:30:44.990 --> 00:30:47.789 just like your ancestors. You always resist the 00:30:47.789 --> 00:30:51.950 Holy Spirit. Was there ever even a prophet your 00:30:51.950 --> 00:30:56.950 ancestors did not persecute? They even killed 00:30:56.950 --> 00:30:59.150 those who predicted the coming of the righteous 00:30:59.150 --> 00:31:03.750 one. And now you have betrayed and murdered him. 00:31:03.970 --> 00:31:07.269 You who have received the law that was given 00:31:07.269 --> 00:31:12.640 through the angels. but have not obeyed it. That's 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:15.519 the end of what we call the apology of Stephen. 00:31:16.059 --> 00:31:19.599 So let's look at, that's a lot of stuff. That's 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:23.160 basically the whole of the history of the Jewish 00:31:23.160 --> 00:31:26.759 people from Abraham to Jesus. Basically, in a 00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:29.480 nutshell, right there. So let's look at the argument 00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:32.980 that Stephen's making and why the next verse 00:31:32.980 --> 00:31:35.220 will say, when the members of the Sanhedrin heard 00:31:35.220 --> 00:31:38.579 this, they were furious. and gnashed their teeth 00:31:38.579 --> 00:31:44.180 at him. What's made them so upset? That's right. 00:31:44.380 --> 00:31:48.400 But let's tease out specifically what Stephen's 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:52.059 argument is making. So let's go back to the first 00:31:52.059 --> 00:31:55.240 paragraph of his apology. That's going to be, 00:31:55.400 --> 00:32:02.180 let's see here. Verse 2, that's right. To this 00:32:02.180 --> 00:32:04.859 he replied, Brothers and fathers, listen to me. 00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:08.140 The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham 00:32:08.140 --> 00:32:11.519 while he, that's Abraham, was still in Mesopotamia. 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:15.220 And it was even before he lived in Haran. He 00:32:15.220 --> 00:32:18.279 told him to leave your country and your people. 00:32:18.839 --> 00:32:25.079 So God comes to Abraham, right, in Mesopotamia. 00:32:27.339 --> 00:32:31.900 Now let's look at the very last paragraph. The 00:32:31.900 --> 00:32:42.410 very last paragraph. beginning with verse 48. 00:32:43.569 --> 00:32:46.450 However, the Most High does not live in houses 00:32:46.450 --> 00:32:49.150 made by human hands. And then he quotes the prophet 00:32:49.150 --> 00:32:53.650 Isaiah here. Stephen is making a very, very succinct 00:32:53.650 --> 00:32:59.549 statement about where God resides. And what he's 00:32:59.549 --> 00:33:05.210 saying is God doesn't reside in the temple. There 00:33:05.210 --> 00:33:11.069 wasn't... A promised land. This was back in Mesopotamia. 00:33:11.329 --> 00:33:17.049 This was in Ur. And God was there. And fast forward 00:33:17.049 --> 00:33:20.230 through all of this history of the Jewish people, 00:33:20.329 --> 00:33:24.890 at the time of Jesus, and Stephen's still quoting, 00:33:25.029 --> 00:33:27.309 Isaiah is saying, God doesn't live in houses. 00:33:28.809 --> 00:33:33.009 God is bigger than... You Jewish people are in... 00:33:33.339 --> 00:33:36.480 It's through the hardening of their hearts, okay? 00:33:37.019 --> 00:33:43.099 But they are limiting God. They're placing God 00:33:43.099 --> 00:33:48.400 in a box, quite literally, the temple. Because 00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:52.819 if God doesn't reside in the temple, then the 00:33:52.819 --> 00:33:57.140 temple system is severely flawed with its power 00:33:57.140 --> 00:34:02.559 and legitimacy, right? And not only that, Another 00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:05.039 thing I think Stephen is making, and here is 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:08.699 very, very subtle, but here's where Stephen begins 00:34:08.699 --> 00:34:14.119 talking about what God values in faith and to 00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:18.340 whom God is trying to reach. Because as we look 00:34:18.340 --> 00:34:22.360 through this discourse of Stephen's brief history 00:34:22.360 --> 00:34:26.219 of the Jewish people, we notice that each person, 00:34:26.420 --> 00:34:34.119 Abraham and Joseph, And Moses, each one of these 00:34:34.119 --> 00:34:39.099 people, God sends favor upon. And each one of 00:34:39.099 --> 00:34:43.000 them had the courage to do something. Leave. 00:34:43.780 --> 00:34:49.639 When God directed them, when God interceded in 00:34:49.639 --> 00:34:54.340 their lives to take them outside of Jerusalem 00:34:54.340 --> 00:34:59.769 and outside of Judea, the men that... trusted 00:34:59.769 --> 00:35:03.389 God and did that were those that found favor 00:35:03.389 --> 00:35:08.650 with God so Stephen is making a very very subtle 00:35:08.650 --> 00:35:13.630 argument here about who is favored amongst God 00:35:13.630 --> 00:35:18.429 and it's not just the chosen people of Judea 00:35:18.429 --> 00:35:22.489 but it's the men and women of the world that 00:35:22.489 --> 00:35:29.860 hear and respond to God's direction That is super, 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:33.739 super important for Stephen, right? Because Stephen, 00:35:33.880 --> 00:35:37.579 like other prophets, have been warning the Jewish 00:35:37.579 --> 00:35:42.500 people for centuries about just hearing the wisdom 00:35:42.500 --> 00:35:46.960 of God, but not doing anything about it. That's 00:35:46.960 --> 00:35:49.460 what got them in this mess in the first place. 00:35:51.559 --> 00:35:54.599 And so Stephen is saying there is something very 00:35:54.599 --> 00:35:58.139 valuable that we have been missing in our relationship 00:35:58.139 --> 00:36:01.940 with God. That God places favor upon men and 00:36:01.940 --> 00:36:05.460 women who not only hear the wisdom of his truth, 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:13.340 but act as a result of it. This is going to inflame 00:36:13.340 --> 00:36:18.480 the Sanhedrin. Because as he is attacked, Stephen, 00:36:18.679 --> 00:36:22.730 subtly, as he has attacked both the validity 00:36:22.730 --> 00:36:27.010 of the temple and the strength of the Torah, 00:36:27.170 --> 00:36:30.050 because basically what he's saying is finding 00:36:30.050 --> 00:36:33.869 favor with God isn't just about following these 00:36:33.869 --> 00:36:37.610 rules, but allowing your lives to be transformed 00:36:37.610 --> 00:36:41.130 to where you might go to a place where you don't 00:36:41.130 --> 00:36:43.969 even know what's going to happen tomorrow, but 00:36:43.969 --> 00:36:48.010 you trust in God. That's finding favor with God. 00:36:48.349 --> 00:36:53.190 It's not the 613 commands that we find in Leviticus. 00:36:54.070 --> 00:36:57.429 The Sanhedrin, what he's basically saying is, 00:36:57.550 --> 00:37:00.650 everything that you guys stand for is wrong. 00:37:01.989 --> 00:37:05.989 And you are wasting all of our and God's time 00:37:05.989 --> 00:37:10.309 by acting like you're important. That's basically 00:37:10.309 --> 00:37:15.349 subtly what Stephen is saying. The Sanhedrin... 00:37:15.769 --> 00:37:18.070 they don't take too well to this resolution. 00:37:19.010 --> 00:37:23.250 And instead, they become furious and they gnash 00:37:23.250 --> 00:37:27.349 their teeth at him. But Stephen, remember, face 00:37:27.349 --> 00:37:32.289 like an angel, full of the Spirit, looked up 00:37:32.289 --> 00:37:36.130 to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus 00:37:36.130 --> 00:37:39.309 standing at the right hand of God. And look, 00:37:39.449 --> 00:37:43.530 he said, I see heaven open and the Son of Man. 00:37:43.960 --> 00:37:48.019 standing at the right hand of God. Now, I believe 00:37:48.019 --> 00:37:52.099 that to be a true and literal event, but I also 00:37:52.099 --> 00:37:55.340 believe that that has something to teach us in 00:37:55.340 --> 00:37:58.679 the 21st century as well, that there is a tremendous 00:37:58.679 --> 00:38:02.360 amount of peace that can be gained by us when 00:38:02.360 --> 00:38:06.840 we focus on the right hand of God and not focus 00:38:06.840 --> 00:38:09.579 on those that are gnashing their teeth all around 00:38:09.579 --> 00:38:17.239 us. And so Stephen is focusing on Christ in this 00:38:17.239 --> 00:38:19.860 moment. Although he doesn't mention Christ, does 00:38:19.860 --> 00:38:23.639 he? He calls Him the Son of Man. The Son of Man. 00:38:23.739 --> 00:38:26.420 And this is actually going to be the only other 00:38:26.420 --> 00:38:29.820 time in the New Testament where we hear anybody 00:38:29.820 --> 00:38:32.639 refer to Jesus as the Son of Man other than Jesus 00:38:32.639 --> 00:38:37.260 Himself. Happens to be the only time. At this, 00:38:37.300 --> 00:38:40.650 the Sanhedrin, you can imagine. Not only have 00:38:40.650 --> 00:38:44.369 we decided to find you guilty of heresy, but 00:38:44.369 --> 00:38:48.590 even in our ability to pronounce judgment against 00:38:48.590 --> 00:38:53.510 you, you continue to blaspheme. And he continues, 00:38:53.570 --> 00:38:58.070 if you are seeing God glorified and you're seeing 00:38:58.070 --> 00:39:01.389 Christ with him, you're blaspheming us as we're 00:39:01.389 --> 00:39:04.010 sentencing you to death. And they covered their 00:39:04.010 --> 00:39:07.170 ears. And they yelled at the top of their voices. 00:39:07.570 --> 00:39:10.530 And they all rushed him. dragged him out of the 00:39:10.530 --> 00:39:15.789 city and began to stone him. Now, what's interesting 00:39:15.789 --> 00:39:20.510 is this is not an execution. The Sanhedrin did 00:39:20.510 --> 00:39:25.030 not have the power to put anyone to death. This 00:39:25.030 --> 00:39:30.429 is a lynching. This is vigilante justice. Although 00:39:30.429 --> 00:39:34.329 the Sanhedrin had the ability to pronounce guilt 00:39:34.329 --> 00:39:37.909 or innocence, they did not have the legal authority 00:39:37.909 --> 00:39:43.400 or ability to condemn anyone to death. Meanwhile, 00:39:43.480 --> 00:39:48.699 the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of 00:39:48.699 --> 00:39:53.320 a young man named Saul. While they were stoning 00:39:53.320 --> 00:39:56.960 him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 00:39:57.599 --> 00:40:00.159 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, 00:40:00.280 --> 00:40:03.820 do not hold this sin against him. And when he 00:40:03.820 --> 00:40:08.139 said this, he fell asleep. And that is the first 00:40:08.139 --> 00:40:14.199 martyrdom. of a Christian apostle. So let's back 00:40:14.199 --> 00:40:16.480 up here a little bit, and we have been introduced 00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:21.280 to this seemingly important but we're not quite 00:40:21.280 --> 00:40:23.900 sure character of this guy by the name Saul. 00:40:25.280 --> 00:40:30.239 So how would Saul describe himself in this particular 00:40:30.239 --> 00:40:35.340 moment, if he could, in Acts chapter 7? Well, 00:40:35.360 --> 00:40:38.809 let me just jump to Philippians chapter 3. Verse 00:40:38.809 --> 00:40:42.170 3, and I'll tell you how Paul would have described 00:40:42.170 --> 00:40:47.630 himself in this moment. For it is we who are 00:40:47.630 --> 00:40:51.429 of the circumcision, we who serve God by His 00:40:51.429 --> 00:40:56.010 Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, put no confidence 00:40:56.010 --> 00:41:00.769 in the flesh. Though I myself, Paul says, have 00:41:00.769 --> 00:41:06.050 reasons for such confidence. If someone else 00:41:06.050 --> 00:41:09.289 thinks that they have Reason to put confidence 00:41:09.289 --> 00:41:15.190 in the flesh. Great. But I have more. He says, 00:41:15.289 --> 00:41:18.269 I was circumcised on the eighth day. There was 00:41:18.269 --> 00:41:21.630 no mistake by my parents. Parents' responsibility 00:41:21.630 --> 00:41:25.369 to circumcise their male children by the eighth 00:41:25.369 --> 00:41:29.710 day. Of the people of Israel, of the tribe of 00:41:29.710 --> 00:41:34.989 Benjamin, the elites, the Benjamin, the Benjamite. 00:41:35.480 --> 00:41:40.619 are the elite rulers of Israelites. A Hebrew 00:41:40.619 --> 00:41:46.260 of Hebrews. In regard to the law, I was a Pharisee. 00:41:46.320 --> 00:41:50.340 I didn't just know the law. I could expound upon 00:41:50.340 --> 00:41:54.980 the law. As for zeal, persecuting the church, 00:41:55.260 --> 00:41:59.539 as for righteousness based on the law, I was 00:41:59.539 --> 00:42:05.219 flawless. This is the character. that we have 00:42:05.219 --> 00:42:07.920 just been introduced to here at the end of chapter 00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:12.619 7, this young man by the name of Saul. Meanwhile, 00:42:12.719 --> 00:42:16.699 the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of 00:42:16.699 --> 00:42:21.280 a young man named Saul, the end of verse 58 says, 00:42:21.460 --> 00:42:25.159 meaning to say that whilst the crowd has decided 00:42:25.159 --> 00:42:28.840 to stone Stephen, Saul watched over their coats 00:42:28.840 --> 00:42:31.800 while they did the dirty work. They trusted Saul 00:42:31.800 --> 00:42:35.039 to hold on to their outer garments while they 00:42:35.039 --> 00:42:41.019 did the stoning. And Saul, chapter 8 opens, approved 00:42:41.019 --> 00:42:43.699 of their killing him. Now this relationship, 00:42:43.940 --> 00:42:47.360 this story, not only about what Stephen said 00:42:47.360 --> 00:42:50.360 to the Sanhedrin, but at the end of his life, 00:42:50.440 --> 00:42:53.880 this is going to come up again. Because Saul... 00:42:54.269 --> 00:42:57.110 When he's Paul, he's going to remember this story, 00:42:57.230 --> 00:42:59.829 and this story is going to have a very, very 00:42:59.829 --> 00:43:04.190 deep impact on his life. When Saul converts to 00:43:04.190 --> 00:43:09.469 Christianity, this moment is one of the moments 00:43:09.469 --> 00:43:14.090 that convicts him. So even in the midst of this 00:43:14.090 --> 00:43:18.650 terrible, terrible atrocity, this vigilante justice, 00:43:19.530 --> 00:43:22.829 This first century lynching, God is planting 00:43:22.829 --> 00:43:27.150 the seed in the heart of Saul who still has Christians 00:43:27.150 --> 00:43:30.769 to persecute that will eventually bear the fruit 00:43:30.769 --> 00:43:38.449 of Paul's evangelism. On that day, a great persecution 00:43:38.449 --> 00:43:42.010 broke out against the church in Jerusalem. And 00:43:42.010 --> 00:43:44.630 all except the apostles scattered throughout 00:43:44.630 --> 00:43:48.010 Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen. 00:43:48.599 --> 00:43:52.260 and mourned deeply for him. Saul began to destroy 00:43:52.260 --> 00:43:56.280 the church. Going from house to house, he dragged 00:43:56.280 --> 00:44:00.460 off both men and women, and he put them in prison. 00:44:01.519 --> 00:44:03.719 And that's where we'll end our story for this 00:44:03.719 --> 00:44:11.800 time. Well, there you have it. I hope that episode 00:44:11.800 --> 00:44:15.280 was as inspiring for you as it was for me. Join 00:44:15.280 --> 00:44:19.699 us next time as we... Watch as the apostles will 00:44:19.699 --> 00:44:22.719 now take the message of Jesus Christ outside 00:44:22.719 --> 00:44:25.400 of Jerusalem and eventually to the wider world. 00:44:25.460 --> 00:44:29.099 We'll see you next time here on the Semi -Seminarium.