Music
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found Was blind but now I see
Twas grace that taught my heart to fear And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed
Music
Good evening everyone. Let's all find our seats. Grab your hymnals and turn to song number 10.
Let's all stand up for this first song if you're able. Song number 10 near the cross. Song number 10 on that first.
Jesus keep me near the cross. There a precious fountain. Free to all our hearing still.
There's no town without you. In the cross, in the cross, we have only ever been.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Jesus loves me, he who died Heaven's gate to open wide He will wash away my sin When his
letters shout the name Yes, Jesus loves me Yes, Jesus loves me Yes, Jesus loves me The
Bible tells me so Jesus loves me, he will stay Close beside me all the way Thou hast
led and died for me I will henceforth live for thee Yes, Jesus loves me Yes, Jesus loves
me Yes, Jesus loves me The Bible tells me so
All right, great singing.
Brother Aaron, why don't you come on up, sir?
We'll sing song number 43 next.
Brother Glenn, thank you for your services.
He's like a ninja.
Just a few announcements.
If you do not get a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand and one of the ushers can
get one for you.
We're going to do song number 43, March in the Zion, song number 43.
Our services are as follows.
Sunday mornings at 1030 Sunday evening is at, excuse me, 1030 Sunday evening is at 5
p.m.
And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock tonight.
We are in Acts chapter number 7.
And then just as a reminder, we are a family integrated church.
Infants and children are always welcome into the services for your convenience.
We do have mother baby rooms located in the hallway.
Should your child need some diversion, if they get a little fussy, if they start crying,
you can take them into those rooms.
By the way, just to help you out a little bit, what I mean by that is if the child is
just constantly crying and they're just inconsolable, that's basically your cue to go into one of
those rooms and just calm them down and then bring them back in when they're ready.
Changing tables are available in the infant rooms.
And so just keep that in mind.
You see this so many times and teams there as well.
We got a new team, Brother Maury, team number 8.
So he's got himself a team there, excited about that, looking forward to how God's going
to use Brother Maury there.
And if you'd like to learn how to solo in, you can see me after the service to be placed
on a team.
And then you see the list of expecting mothers.
We have some new ladies on here, Ms. Janelle Gonzalez and Ms. Ivy McEwen.
We need a date for Ms. Ivy McEwen there so we can put that on there.
Please pray for them.
And then some of the upcoming church events.
We have the men's prayer meeting resuming Friday, August 28th, and that'll be at 7 o'clock.
And so men, we encourage you to come and bring your sons with you so they can learn how to
pray.
And then we have a baby shower for Rhea on Sunday, August 30th.
Ladies prayer meeting will resume on Friday, September 4th.
You can see Ms. Janelle Gonzalez for more details about that.
Celebrating the September birthdays on Sunday, September 6th.
And then we have a homeschool field trip, Nature Walk, coming up on Tuesday, September
15th.
We'll give you more details as far as where it's going to be located.
Of course, with COVID-19, a lot of things are closed and so we're going to be looking
for a park where we can take the children.
And so we'll give you more details as that date approaches.
And then we have a Samaria missions trip coming up on Monday, September 21st.
We'll have a sign-up sheet on Sunday for that.
And just keep that in mind.
We'll probably make it a two-day trip, probably go up north.
And so I'll pick a city up there and then we'll do the Samaria trip there.
And so I'll give you more details as we approach that as well.
And that's pretty much it for our announcements.
It's been very hot lately.
Not too regular for California, in my opinion, especially Southern California.
It's been very hot.
And so I just want to remind you, when you go out soul winning, make sure you drink a
lot of water, make sure you take some potato chips with you, salted potato chips, because
you can pass out in weather like this.
And so just keep that in mind and be safe out there as you go.
Let's go ahead and take some soul winning numbers for this week.
Any salvations from Monday to Wednesday?
Monday to Wednesday, salvations?
Pretty dry these last couple of weeks.
How about today, this Thursday, this afternoon?
Any salvations?
No?
No swiping at your hair?
No, you know?
All right.
My son and I, we got two this afternoon.
Anybody else?
Going once, twice, thrice?
All right.
Keep up the great work on soul winning.
Let's go ahead and sing our next song.
Song number 43, Marching to Zion.
Song number 43 in your song books.
Song number 43.
Sing it together on that first verse, nice and strong.
Come we that love the Lord and let our joys be known.
Join in a song with sweet accord.
with sweet accord.
Join in a song with sweet accord.
Join in a song with all of them.
Join with your unreallem,
Don't try this at home.
Are youMusic Company Lyrics
That's fantastic American pump cakes
of them openly.
What is he referring to?
The show of the ordinances.
He was the fulfillment of those Old Testament laws.
Now here's the thing, murder's not done away with.
Stealing is not done away with.
God's moral law is still in act.
It will always be what God wants us to make sure that we follow and fulfill because of
the fact that it existed prior to Moses' law and even thereafter as well.
But they're saying, oh, he's speaking blasphemy against the law.
It's a lie, okay?
Now we'll say this is that, yeah, Jesus shall destroy the temple, amen?
And in fact, he did destroy it.
When he was crucified on a cross, the Bible says that the temple was rent and twain from
top to bottom.
Not only that, but it was destroyed in 70 AD as well.
Jesus answered and said unto them in John chapter 2 verse 19, destroy this temple and
in three days I will raise it up.
Now obviously he was referring to his body, but there was actual fulfillment of that that
when he was crucified on a cross, it was destroyed and it was later destroyed in 70 AD as well.
So they're saying, look, hey, is this statement true?
Now Stephen, he's a spirit-filled man.
Most pastors, if you say, hey, did you say this?
Well, I didn't mean it like that.
Well, you know, I could have said it a little better.
They kind of backtrack.
They get a little scared.
But you know what, these people who hate the Lord or they hate the word of God, if you
give them an inch, they'll take a mile.
That's not going to suffice them.
You know, that's not going to placate them.
So better to just say, yeah, I said it, yeah, that was me.
That's exactly what I said.
You got me right in context, absolutely, and I don't take anything back.
I don't believe in apologetics because I don't apologize for anything I said, okay?
And so Stephen, you know, they say, hey, are these things so?
And what does he do?
Does he backtrack?
No.
For the next 50 verses, he just preaches this hard sermon.
He gives them this concise history of Israel from Abraham to Joseph, from Joseph to Moses,
from Moses to David, from David to Solomon, okay?
And he's just preaching at them.
And there's just one guy who's doing this.
That guy's bold as a lion.
Now the reason he does this is because he's going to help them to understand the purpose
of the temple and the tabernacle.
Of course, the tabernacle came first, but he's going to show them the purpose of the
tabernacle and the temple.
And he's also preaching this to demonstrate that throughout the years, Old Testament and
even into the New Testament, there have always been a group of people who have rejected God
by rejecting the prophet.
You know, because they want to claim, oh, we're under Moses' law.
We're for Abraham.
But here's the thing.
All of those men were rejected by people.
They were rejected by Israel, as we're going to look at in just a bit.
So basically what he's saying, he's showing them that they're that generation of vipers.
He's showing them that they are the descendants of those who hated the prophets.
They hated Moses.
They hated the men of God.
And look, Stephen, he's not preaching anything different from Jesus, right?
He basically took Jesus' outline and made it his own.
Why?
Because Jesus said, woe unto you, Shribes and Pharisees, ye build the tombs of the prophets
and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous.
He says, you say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would have not been partakers
of the blood of the prophets, of those who killed the prophets.
And then he tells them, wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, the year of the children
of them which killed the prophets, fulfill you then the measure of your fathers.
He says, you guys are a generation of vipers, you're serpents, how can you escape the damnation
of hell?
And look, Jesus preached that and Stephen said, I like that sermon.
You know, I'm gonna recycle that sermon, I'm gonna preach this to these guys right here
because it applies to them.
The common theme that we see here in Acts chapter 7 can basically be summarized in Galatians
chapter 4, verse 28 says, now we brethren as Isaac was are the children of promise,
but as he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so
it is now.
And what he's referring to is Ishmael and Isaac, right?
Isaac is the promised child representing all believers.
Ishmael represents unbelieving Israel.
And he's saying, look, just as Ishmael mocked Isaac and persecuted Isaac in like manner,
you have unbelieving Israel persecuting believers even today in the New Testament.
Now let me say this, the time is not gonna permit for me to basically go through the
entire chapter because it's a very long chapter.
And a lot of content found here so I'm gonna mainly focus on, I'm gonna go from Joseph
to Moses and we're mainly gonna talk about the tabernacle of Moloch and we're gonna talk
about what that is, okay?
And how it pertains to the audience that Stephen is addressing here.
Now skip down to verse number 8 if you would.
Verse number 8, we're gonna pick up with Joseph here and just keep in mind, all of these men
are symbolic of who?
Jesus Christ, right?
They all had events and attributes and characteristics that pertained to Jesus Christ.
They were a foreshadowing of Jesus.
And Joseph was one of them.
Look at verse number 8, it says, and he gave him the covenant of circumcision.
So Abraham begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day.
And Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat the 12 patriarchs.
And the patriarchs moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him and delivered
him out of all of his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, and made him governor over Egypt and all of his house.
So automatically, when we read about Joseph, there's some things that should come to mind,
right?
You know the Bible talks about how he was sold of his brethren for 20 pieces of silver.
So the patriarchs actually sold him to the Ishmaelites, right?
Well how is that figurative of Jesus Christ?
Well because of the fact that Judas sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and the Jews
delivered Jesus unto the hands of the Romans to be crucified.
And what does the Bible tell us?
Is that they did it because of envy in both cases.
So the patriarchs delivered Joseph because of envy and the Jews delivered up Jesus because
of envy.
It was Pilate who said, he knew this because they were envious of him.
They wanted his inheritance.
Now not only that, but notice that it says in verse 9, the patriarchs moved with envy,
sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him, right?
And you know, that's one of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Joseph.
You know the story of perseverance and just him sticking it out no matter how much persecution
he received.
And one of the common things that we see over and over with Joseph is what?
The Lord was with him.
No matter what tribulation or trial or suffering that he went through, what happened?
The Lord was with him.
At the end of the story, at the end of the sentence, at the end of the chapter, the Lord
was with Joseph and praise God for that.
And here we see that it says God was with him.
Now the application that we could get there is this, hey, don't let your circumstance
cause you to think that God is not with you.
Now obviously if you're going through a difficult time, you should do some examination, amen,
to see if there's sin in your life.
If you're doing something that is displeasing to the Lord, you know, it's a time to examine
our hearts, right?
But if after you've examined your heart, you say, well, you know, I believe that I'm right
with God.
I'm not involved in sin.
I'm reading my Bible.
I'm trying to do the best that I can, then just recognize it's a season of life and God
is still with you.
Because your circumstances don't really determine whether God is with you or not, you understand?
We see that with Joseph.
Now you say, well, how does that pertain unto Jesus Christ?
Well, the Bible says of Jesus in Matthew 1-23, Behold, a virgin shall be with child
and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Immanuel, which is being interpreted,
God with us.
And so we see that parallel there with Joseph and Jesus Christ, that God was with Joseph
just as Jesus was named Immanuel because that being interpreted is God with us.
Now what is the main thing that we see here, you know, in regards to chapter 7?
Persecuted, hated, sold, delivered, envied by his own brethren, okay?
By the way, Stephen is being delivered, being put to death by his own countrymen, right?
Go back to Acts chapter 7, look at verse 22, talking about Moses here, it says that Moses
was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds.
When he was full 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children
of Israel.
And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed and
smote the Egyptian.
For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them,
but they understood not.
Look at verse 27, but he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away saying, Who made thee
a ruler and a judge over us?
So we see here that Moses understood that he was being sent by God to be the deliverer
of the Israelites, right?
But when he's like trying to do his best to help them, what do they do?
They thrust him away, they say, you know, we don't understand what you're trying to
tell us, we can't comprehend it, right?
And the Bible says about Jesus, in him was life and the life was the light of men and
the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.
So just as his brethren did not understand that Moses was like a savior, he was the deliverer
in like manner, Israel, in Jesus' day, did not understand that he was their deliverer
as well.
He was in the world, the world was made by him and the world knew him now.
He came into his own and his own received him not, the Bible says.
Now go to Luke chapter 19, if you would, hold your place there, Luke chapter 19.
Keep in mind what they're saying about Moses.
You know, they're like, who's making you a ruler and a judge over us?
In other words, they don't want anybody to what?
Rule over them, to reign over them.
Now in Luke chapter 19, we have Jesus Christ giving a parable here regarding the Jews.
A lot of his parables were about the Jews.
Verse 12 says, he said, therefore, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive
for himself a kingdom and to return and he called his 10 servants and delivered them
10 pounds and said unto them, occupy till I come.
But his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying, we will not have this man
reign over us.
It's the same thing that the Israelites were telling Moses, who may be a judge and a ruler
over us?
What are they saying?
We don't want you to reign over us.
These are people who despise governments.
They don't want people to rule over them, but they don't want an authority and worst
of all, they don't want God reigning over them as well.
Because although Moses was just the man, he was the man sent by God and in the scheme
of things, guess what?
He's a representation of Jesus Christ.
And just as they rejected Moses, we see people rejecting Jesus Christ and we see at the end
of chapter seven, people rejecting Stephen, even though they're sent by God.
Let's skip down to verse 38, it says, this is he that was in the church, I'm sorry, back
to Acts chapter seven, I'm sorry, Acts chapter seven.
So we're seeing a pattern here, are we not?
Is that there's constantly a people within God's people that are always rejecting the
counsel of the Lord, okay?
And look, I don't believe that all of these people were like, that some of them were saved.
I believe this is referring to just unsafe people.
You know who are the biggest troublemakers in church?
Unsafe people who act like safe people.
Bible refers to them as wolves in sheep's clothing, okay?
And every time someone's stirring up a little bit of trouble in the church, I often think,
is this person just an infiltrator or they're just an idiot?
Because look, Christians can be dumb too, right?
It's true.
Look, I'm willing to admit, as a brand new Christian, I did some pretty stupid stuff
because that's what immature Christians do.
But you know what, after being corrected and reproved, you know, people gain some wisdom
and they begin to mature in the Lord, they no longer become a troublemaker because they're
mature.
They put away childish things.
But you know what?
When people keep making trouble in the church, at that point, there's an issue there, okay?
And look, God believes in church planting, but so does Satan.
He believes in planting his tares, you know, among the wheat and churches, trying to cause
divisions and schisms and cause trouble in order to hinder us in the work of God.
And this is not something that's new, this is something that's always been done.
The Bible tells us in 2 Peter chapter 2 that there were false prophets also among the people.
What people is he referring to?
He's referring to the church in the wilderness.
There was false prophets there.
You have Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
You have different people who were just infiltrators within that camp trying to cause trouble,
usurp authority, disrespect Pastor Moses.
And you know what?
It cost them their lives.
Sometimes I wish I could just, you know, ask God to open up the earth and, you know, I
don't have that ability though.
But you know the Bible says that those people are twice dead plucked up by the roots, that
they're gonna receive a swift destruction, so I guess it doesn't matter if I have that
ability or not.
But we see the church in the wilderness.
It says in verse 38, this is he that was in the church in the wilderness, with the angel
which spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received the lively oracles
to give unto us, to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in
their hearts turned back into Egypt.
And obviously we see that over and over again, you know, from Exodus, Leviticus' numbers
in Deuteronomy.
The common pattern that we see amongst the children of Israel is that they would be right
with God, but then they'd just thrust them away, they'd rebel, they'd serve other gods,
and God would just wipe them out, just start with, you know, those 20 and under or whatever,
and just move on, right?
This is the common thing that we see here.
But I want you to notice in verse 39, it says, in their hearts, they turn back again into
Egypt.
Now I'm gonna get into the interpretation of this and what this actually means, but
this is a great application that we can derive from this, can be applicable to Christians
backsliding, right?
You know, before someone goes into the world, you know, they're faithful in church, they're
doing right, they're serving the Lord.
Before they just go full-blown into the world, let me just tell you this, they turn to the
world in their hearts first.
Before they take their whole body into the world, they took their heart there first.
You understand?
That's how it works.
Because before you commit a sin, before you commit things that are displeased into the
Lord, it starts in the heart first.
You think upon Him, you meditate upon Him, you entertain those thoughts, which will eventually
take your feet in that direction as well.
So we see here that they didn't want the Word of God, not because, you know, they didn't
believe it was true, but because they turned back to Egypt in their hearts, that's why.
And you know what, here's a good application and a good principle that, hey, you know,
check your thought life, right?
Think on those things which are above, set your affections on things above, not on the
things of this earth.
And every once in a while, we all have a propensity to maybe allow the glitz and the glamour of
this world to grab our attention, but we need to cast down the imaginations and every high
thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, the oracles of God, and bring into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
Don't be like these guys to whom the fathers would not obey, right?
And you gotta check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Amen?
You know, don't just allow yourself to just have unfettered thought lives and imaginations
or whatever it may be, because eventually that will determine how you act.
For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
Don't turn back to Egypt in your heart, folks.
You know, like, oh, man, we had it so much better with all the garlic and the leeks and
the melons, you know, but you don't think about all the other stuff, and I've already
preached about that, you know, but that's where it starts, folks, you know.
That's why it's good to be consistent in church, amen?
I understand, you know, during COVID-19, a lot of people have been out, you know, probably
80 to 85, 90% of our church got sick, you know, we all got the coronavirus, okay?
You know, and obviously there's different elements that play a role in what's going
on, but here's the thing, in general, in general, you should be consistent in church.
You know why?
Because if you're not, you're gonna have the propensity to think upon the world, think
upon Egypt.
But you know what, when you come back to church, you're gonna be like Asaph because you're
gonna hear preaching from God's word, and then you will understand their end.
When you're not in church, you become envious of the wicked, okay?
And it's not because you don't know the Bible, but because of the fact that you're not being
reminded.
And look, folks, we constantly need reminders.
You have Christians who just always wanna learn something new, and that's great, but
you know what, more than that, you need reminders.
You constantly need to be reminded of basic fundamental biblical truths to keep you on
track.
And you know what, if you stay on those fundamental basic Bible truths and principles, it's gonna
get you to the next stop, which is the new truth, okay?
The new thing that you wanna learn, the deeper meaning of the Bible, but you're not gonna
get that if you're constantly just not getting down the basics, not being faithful in church,
not being faithful in your Bible reading, okay?
Don't turn back into Egypt.
Now I'm gonna get into the actual interpretation of that verse, but I want you to notice that
we see Moses, he's rejected of his own kinsmen, right?
Joseph, rejected of his brethren.
The only one who really wasn't rejected, by the way, David was rejected of King Saul,
right?
Who is symbolic of unsaved Israel as well, because the kingdom was taken from him and
given to someone who is better than King Saul, which is David.
And the Bible says that Jesus said to the Jews, the kingdom of God should be taken from
you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Now the only one who wasn't rejected was Abraham.
We don't really read anything about him being rejected, right?
What we do see is him rejecting Ishmael, isn't that right?
And Ishmael is symbolic of the Jews.
So that guy's pretty, he's like, I'm not gonna be rejected of them, I'm gonna reject them.
He rejected Ishmael with Hagar, you know, they shall not have the inheritance with Isaac
and he just cast them out, cast out the bond woman kind of thing.
So props to Abraham, amen.
Now let's get into what it means that they turn back into Egypt.
Look at verse 40 of Acts chapter 7.
So they turn, in their hearts, they turn again into Egypt saying unto Aaron, make us gods
to go before us.
For as this Moses which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we want not what has become
of him.
And they made a calf in those days and offered sacrifice unto the idol and rejoiced in the
works of their own hands.
Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven as it is written in the
book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have you offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices
by the space of 40 years in the wilderness?
Aka, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your God, Rem-fam, figures
which he made to worship them and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
Now this is obviously referring to the event where Moses went up to Mount Sinai in order
to receive the tables of testimony.
He was there for 40 days and 40 nights and we see that he leaves Aaron in charge of the
camp.
Obviously Aaron is a weak leader and because of that, they're like, hey, where's Moses?
He's not coming back.
He's going to make us a god to take us back into Egypt.
He compromises, takes their gold, collects it, throws it into the fire, creates this
golden calf and the Bible says that the children of Israel rose up to play.
In other words, they rose up to play the whore, idolatry is what that's referring to.
Now what happens?
Moses comes back down from the mount, he sees it, he breaks the tables of testimony and
then he melts the gold and makes everyone drink of it.
So I know the Bible says that Moses was like the meekest man, but don't get that guy mad.
I mean he had wrath, folks, okay?
Now a couple things to point out about this story and what we see here in Acts 7.
Number one is this, and don't miss this, unbelieving Israel is consistent with the
with apostate Christianity in the end times.
Unbelieving Israel is very consistent with apostate Christianity in the end times.
Now verse 40 says, saying unto Aaron, make us gods to go before us, for as this Moses,
which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we want now what has become of him.
Now think about this.
First of all, when I say unbelieving Israel is consistent with apostate Christianity,
it's like this, Romans 9 says this, they are not all of Israel, which are of Israel the
Bible says.
And you know what?
In like manner, not everyone who says they're a Christian is a Christian, ain't that right?
Not everyone who says they're a Christian is saved.
That's why when we go out soul winning and we preach the gospel, if someone says I'm
a Christian, we don't say, okay, have a good day.
That's a broad meaning.
It's like, well, what does that mean?
I mean, Jehovah's Witnesses call themselves Christians.
John MacArthur calls himself a Christian, folks.
We know he's not one.
You know, anybody who says that they're a Christian doesn't mean that they aren't.
They can believe some heretical teaching about salvation.
They have a different salvation, a different Jesus, a different Bible at that.
So you know what?
When someone says they're, look folks, even when someone says they're a Baptist, we don't
say, all right, have a nice day.
I just led someone to the Lord earlier today who said they were a fundamental Baptist from
a Spanish ministry, very popular ministry.
She wasn't even saved.
You know, what if she said, you know, she said the guy's name and I would be like, oh
yeah, he's, that guy's big, man, I don't even need to ask you.
You know all about that.
I said, what do you have to do to be saved?
You got to repent of your sins.
It was like, whoa, you know, but she called herself a Christian at that.
She called herself an independent fundamental Baptist.
So you know, when I say unbelieving Israel is very consistent with apostate Christianity,
what are we talking about when we say apostate Christianity?
We're talking about Christians who have gone into apostasy regarding salvation, regarding
the Bible, regarding Jesus, these very essential doctrines.
You know, the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.
So that departing from the faith is synonymous with falling away into heresy, going into
apostasy, the great falling away as we see in 2 Thessalonians chapter number two.
So you say, what are you saying?
What I'm saying is this, is that the church in the wilderness had apostate Israelites
who were not worshiping the Lord.
They were not saved, they weren't worshiping the Lord, hey, they weren't doing any sacrifices
in his tabernacle.
What were they doing sacrifices in the tabernacle of Moloch?
They were doing abominable sacrifices, in fact, they were sacrificing their children
to Moloch, okay, allowing them to pass through the fire, we see that in the book of Jeremiah.
Now go to 2 Peter chapter number three, hold your place there, because this is all in relation
to end times Bible prophecy.
You say, why is that?
What did the Israelites say of Moses?
We want not what has become of him, in other words, he said he was gonna come back, but
we don't know what happened, he hasn't come back since, right?
Well look at 2 Peter chapter three, verse three, knowing this verse, that there shall
come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.
Now let me define for you what is a scoffer, a synonym for the word scoffer is mocker,
and a mocker is someone who basically tries to imitate, copy, that which is authentic.
You know, when someone mocks you, they're basically copying exactly who you are.
So in other words, there shall be in the last days scoffers, this is a group of people who
are acting like Christians, but they're not really Christian.
You say, how do you know?
Verse four, saying, where is the promise of his coming?
We want not what has become of this Moses.
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of
the creation.
So these mockers are like, hey, you know, people are gonna say, Jesus Christ is still
coming back, the anti-crisis, not Jesus.
They're like, well where's the promise of his coming?
All things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation, hey, we have this
image here, referred to as what?
The abomination of desolation.
The abomination of desolation takes place in the midst of Daniel's 70th week, in the
midst of those seven years.
And what we see is that when the abomination of desolation is set up, according to Revelation
chapter 13, all the world wonders after that image, and they worship that image.
Just as Israel, in Moses' day, worshiped the golden calf.
Why?
Because he tarried in his coming.
We want not what has become of Moses, and then what happens?
Moses comes, right?
Just as when the abomination of desolation is set up, 75 days thereafter, who comes?
Jesus, according to the Bible, right?
Now Moses comes, he's mad.
He melts the golden calf, and he causes everyone to drink of that, right?
And what does the Bible say about Jesus' coming?
The day of the Lord marks the wrath of God, where all these people who are worshiping
the beast will drink of the wine of the cup of God's wrath.
Indeed.
I don't know who did that, but you're right about that.
The Bible says, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day, referring to Christ
coming shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be
revealed.
And so what is it that comes before the son of perdition, excuse me, the son of perdition
coming is the great falling away, referring to apostasy.
So you're going to have a bunch of, you know, these people who follow John MacArthur, and
I was going to say Rick James, Rick Warren, him too.
You know, all these apostate pastors, they're going to be worshiping the beast.
They're going to love him.
They're going to think, man, this is the greatest, this is the savior.
And people are going to be like, no, you know, behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye
shall see him.
And they're going to say, where is the promise of his coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continued as they were from the beginning
of the creation, we're going to usher in the kingdom.
You know?
We see those parallels though, don't we not?
Where the golden calf is symbolic of that abomination of desolation that's being set
up.
So it says in verse 41, they made a calf in those days and offered sacrifice unto the
idol and rejoiced in the work of their own hands.
So they promote that construction of the abomination of desolation.
Now look, folks, these people who are worshiping the calf, the golden calf, do you think they
were saved?
No.
No one who's saved will just like love to worship an idol, right?
You have Solomon who was led astray, but you know what?
That's likened into some guy who's saved who marries some Jehovah's Witness or some Mormon
and just goes just to appease his spouse.
It doesn't really believe that nonsense.
These people wanted to worship the calf.
So are they worshiping God?
No, they're worshiping a devil.
They're worshiping Satan.
So that is figurative of what's gonna take place in the end times.
Now go to Revelation chapter 13, let's look at that.
Revelation chapter 13.
Keep in mind that it's not until this point that the world, they're not gonna know who
the antichrist is until he dies, receives a deadly wound to the head, his deadly wound
is healed, and then he proclaims himself to be God.
The Bible says that he goes into the temple of God proclaiming himself that he is God.
And at that point, that's when he actually becomes the antichrist.
Pastor Anderson's calling me.
I'll call you back.
I'm preaching right now, all right?
All right, bye.
I'm gonna call him during church one day.
I want him to pick up.
He forgets we have church on Thursday.
So what was I saying?
Abomination, antichrist, Jews, what else?
Oh yeah, he becomes the antichrist, okay?
Now look what it says in verse number three, and I saw one of his heads as it were wounded
to death and his deadly wound was healed and all the world wondered after the beast.
And they worshiped a dragon which gave power to the beast and they worshiped the beast,
saying, who is likened to the beast?
Who is able to make war with him?
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and power was
given unto him to continue forty in two months.
And he opened his mouth and blasphemed against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle
and them that dwell in heaven.
Isn't that interesting?
So they're not worshiping in God's tabernacle, they're blaspheming his tabernacle, okay?
Which he's referring to the tabernacle which is in heaven, okay?
Because the tabernacle that was here on this earth during Moses' time was patterned after
the actual tabernacle that's in heaven, understand?
He says in verse number seven, it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to
overcome them and power was given unto him, given him over all kindreds and tongues and
nations and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written
in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
So everyone, no matter what religion they're part of, they're worshiping the beast.
And look folks, this includes mainstream Christianity.
And I know I talked about it a little bit on Sunday, but you know what?
This includes Grace Community Church, Grace Community Synagogue of Satan, because that's
exactly what he is.
And I don't take anything back that I said about that devil, he's not saved, he's a reprobate
and I hope he splits hell wide open tonight.
Why would you say?
Because he's damned so many people to hell, that's why.
Look, all the stuff that I said about him does not compare how God thinks about that,
man.
He's twice dead, plucked up by the roots.
You know what?
Every person who criticized me for preaching against John MacArthur never even brought
up a biblical, no, not one scripture, not one Bible verse, and if they did put a Bible
verse, it wasn't valid because it wasn't King James quoting the ESV and ASB, how are you
gonna hate your brother?
You're in darkness.
He's not my brother.
The guy's not even saved.
And then you have Paul Chappell taking a picture with John MacArthur, talking about he's praying
for him, taking a great stand.
It's like you weakling.
You Aaron, just compromising.
Garbage folks.
But you know what?
People like that have to exist though.
John MacArthur has to exist because he operates like a trash collector, collecting all these
people who hate the oracles of God and to prepare them for the antichrist.
And look, John MacArthur's the one who said you can take the mark of the beast and still
be saved.
He's not gonna deny it.
People tell me, how can you say that?
I'm like, ask him yourself.
He's not like ashamed about it.
He preaches this from the housetop.
That's his doctrine.
And when then he showed them that, they're like, oh, well, yeah, I mean, yeah, you can't
take the mark of the beast and be saved.
Of course you can.
Nonsense, folks.
That's the great, we're in the great falling away right now where you have dozens and dozens
of churches all over America, all over the world, you know, damning people to hell,
teaching a false gospel, teaching false doctrine, and people just love these preachers.
And that's why they're an abomination in the eyes of God, because they're highly esteemed
among men, according to the Bible.
Now go back to Acts chapter 7.
We're gonna continue with this thought of end times here.
So they're worshiping the golden calf.
They're worshiping in the tabernacle of Moloch.
And in the end times, people who worship the abomination of desolation, they're done, right?
These are the same people that are gonna take the mark of the beast that goes into the frontal
lobe cortex, sears their conscience, and causes them to be reprobates.
That point they're done.
Now isn't this interesting?
Look at the wording in verse number 42.
After they worship, it says, then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven.
Huh, that sounds familiar.
Go to Romans 1, Romans chapter number 1.
So he says, after they worship, what does God do?
All right, I'm just gonna give you up to worship the host of heaven then.
Now look, Calvinists will teach you this, no, they've always been damned.
But here it says that they had to, with their own will, worship the host of heaven.
At that point, God says, all right, I'll give you up to that then, if that's what you want.
Now look at Romans 1, let's see how consistent this is with Romans chapter number 1.
It says in verse 21, because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither
were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image, made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts,
you know, like a calf, and creeping things, wherefore, in other words, because of this,
God gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their
own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a life, and worshiped
and served the creature more than the creator who was blessed forever, amen.
For this cause, God gave them up to vile affections, for even the women did change the natural
use into that which is against nature, and likewise, also the men leaving the natural
use of the woman, burdened in their lusts one toward another, men with men working that
which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves the recompense of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God of their knowledge, God gave them over to
a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient.
So look folks, this doctrine has always been around, even from the time of Moses, because
when they worshiped the golden calf willfully, God says, I'm just going to give you up to
worship the host of heaven then.
As it is written in the book, go back to Acts chapter 7, now this is consistent with end
times Bible prophecy, is it not?
Because people who willfully worship the image of the beast, they worship the antichrist,
they're going to take the mark of the beast, in which case they seal their fate.
They become a reprobate.
You say, well you don't think there's a chance for them?
They don't want a second chance.
They want to worship the devil.
They're not going to have a change of mind.
And by the way, when you, when the conscience gets seared, okay, when the frontal lobe cortex
gets seared, when it's no longer there, it's no longer valid, it's void of reasoning, they
will not second guess a lie.
When someone gives them a lie, they'll just believe it, which is exactly what happens
to people in end times.
That's why all this crazy doctrine can be taught by the false prophet and people are
just like believing it.
I mean, we read it and we're like, how can this happen?
How can so many people be deceived?
Well, this is how.
Because they worship the beast, and in turn, God gives them over.
That's why he sends them strong delusions that they should believe a lie, okay?
Verse 43 says, yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your God, Remban,
figures which ye made to worship them, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
So this is pretty interesting here because what we see is that instead of worshiping
in the tabernacle, which was a tent that was basically mobile, they could move it in different
places because they're always, you know, they're like, they're just constantly on the move,
right?
They weren't stationed in one specific area.
It wasn't until Solomon that the temple was built.
God's presence would be in the tabernacle just as it was in the temple.
Now in the New Testament, the Bible refers to our bodies as what?
The temple of the Holy Ghost, which you have of God, and you are not your own.
But Paul also refers to it as what?
Tabernacle.
So it's referring to the body that houses the Holy Spirit, which is the presence of
God.
You understand?
And you can see the parallels there with the Old Testament, how God's presence was in the
tabernacle, it was in the temple, and that's why in the New Testament, the physical edifice
known as the temple and the tabernacle are no longer valid.
Why?
Because we are now the temple of God, okay?
The Holy Spirit indwells within us.
And in fact, the Bible says that this is his, what, possession, the purchased possession.
You understand?
I'm going somewhere with this, okay?
You're like, I already know this, all right.
But think about this.
So if there is a temple of God and a tabernacle of God in the Old Testament, and there is
also a tabernacle of Moloch, which is a tabernacle of Satan, and if in the New Testament the
tabernacle in the temple now is defined by the actual body of the believer that houses
the Holy Spirit, then what is the body of the Jew, right?
There you go.
What is it?
A tabernacle of Moloch.
And just as the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, right, he indwells the believer, you know,
this is his possession in like manner, not just the Jews, obviously any Christ-rejecting
reprobate who hates the Lord becomes a tabernacle of Moloch, where they're possessed by Satan.
Oh, man, you're taking it a little too far there, man.
Hey, look, folks, Jesus is the one who said that they are the synagogue of Satan.
That's what Jesus said.
He's the one who came up with that vicious phrase there.
I mean, that's a great statement right there.
The synagogue of Satan.
Why?
Because they are actually indwelled by Satan themselves.
Okay?
And look, this is why the Antichrist, you know, I believe he's gonna be a Jew.
I don't think that people can argue that.
Now, you go to some Fox News Baptist Church, they're like, it's a Muslim.
It's gonna be the Muslim, you know, these people from Iraq.
That's why we gotta bomb them all and fulfill prophecy.
Because they're watching so much Fox News, to them, the enemy is always the Muslims,
right?
And I'm not defending the Muslims at all.
You know, Muslims are wicked, too.
They believe in a wicked religion.
I'm sure there are sincere Muslims out there, and you know what?
I think they're easier to win than Jews are, in my opinion, because they actually respect
Jesus, considering him to be a prophet, whereas Jews, on the other hand, hate Jesus.
They spit when they hear his name.
They believe blasphemous things about Jesus, and who is a liar, but he did deny that Jesus
is the Christ.
He's Antichrist.
You talk to a Jew, they do not like Jesus at all.
Yeah, but they like God.
If you don't have a son, you don't have a father.
So you can give lip service and say that you believe in God, but folks, Jesus is God.
And that is the principle of the tabernacle, amen?
That's why he says, look, I mean, Steven, he's pretty, he's getting at it right now.
He's like, look, you say, why is he preaching this?
Because he's about to drop the bomb on them, that's why.
He's basically saying, you guys are the tabernacle of Moloch.
You guys are that which houses Satan and the devil, because you guys have always, you're
the generation of vipers, the serpents.
How can he escape the damnation of hell?
Now look, I'm not gonna say that all Jews are reprobate, but I don't believe that.
I know some people that believe that, maybe even in our church.
I think they're wrong there.
Because you know what, I know some Jews that just, they think they call themselves Jews,
but they don't know a lick of Jewish doctrine.
That point, I believe they can be saved.
Now I've never led a Jew to the Lord, I don't think it'll ever happen.
But here's the thing is that when you talk about Jews who actually believe Jewish doctrine,
they love the Talmud, they know what it says and they embrace it.
Yeah, they're reprobate, of course they are.
How can you read the Talmud and see all the blasphemous things that it says against Christ
and believe it and love it and embrace it?
You're the tabernacle of Moloch at that point.
You're taking the star of your God, Rem-fan, that star of David, which is a satanic symbol.
Look, Baptists need to wake up and burn that flag on their platform.
Pray for Israel.
They got the Babylonian flag on one end and then they got the star of Rem-fan on the other
end and they're right in between.
Clowns to the left of me, jokers on the right.
Here they are, stuck in the middle.
You guys don't get it.
What I'm saying is this, is that look, you know, this is wicked, folks.
And look, he's basically telling them, because in the beginning of the chapter, what do they
say?
Are you talking about our temple?
And he just starts going through the whole history and they're like, all right, you know,
he's got it, he's got it, and then he just drops the bomb on them.
Look, let's look at it.
Verse 44, actually go to verse 51.
Here's the applications of the sermon, all right?
Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost,
as your fathers did.
So do ye.
You know what the application is?
You.
You're the application.
I'm talking about you, is what he's saying.
This guy's bold.
Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?
And they have slain them which showed before the coming of the just one, of whom ye have
been now the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the disposition of
angels and have not kept it.
When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart.
You know what they're saying?
He's speaking about us.
He's saying that we're the tabernacle of Moloch.
They were cut to the heart and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory
of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.
Now I'm gonna finish with this point.
Let's end on a good note, though I believe all these notes were good, amen?
You know, when you preach God's word, not everyone's gonna be happy with you.
When you talk about some of the things that we talked about tonight, they're not gonna
be happy.
And you know what they're gonna try to do is gnash at you with their teeth, criticize
you, and try to cause you to be afraid.
So what's the answer?
You gotta be like Stephen.
Number one, be filled with the Holy Ghost, and number two, look unto Jesus the author
and finisher of your faith.
You know, he didn't tuck his tail and run.
He wasn't apologetic.
He didn't say, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that.
He didn't say, well, maybe I took it too far.
He didn't say, I'm sorry if you got offended, you know what he did?
He just looked unto Jesus, because he knew it was his time.
And you know what, if you're filled with the Holy Ghost, and you focus on Christ, if God
before us, who can be against us?
Who can be against us?
And said, Behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand
of God.
And they cried with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon them with one accord
and cast them out of the city and stoned him.
And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
This is later going to become Paul.
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
And they kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.
And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
What a great way to go out.
Just preach the most fiery sermon and just die right then and there and just be carried
off into heaven.
So what's the principle that we can learn from here?
First and foremost, Stephen was a deacon who knew his Bible.
And when he preached, he preached thoroughly.
He was a thorough preacher.
And then lastly, he was a bold preacher.
And so the last principle that we can learn is this, hey, you know what, keep standing
on the truth, keep standing on the word of God.
And if they gnash at you with their teeth, just ask God to fill you with his power and
his spirit to be bold in the Lord, you know, and look unto Jesus.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word and thank you for the example of Stephen.
What an awesome, awesome person in the Bible and help us all to be like him, to pattern
our lives after Stephen because he patterned his life after Jesus and help us to be as
bold as he was and to preach the word of God.
Obviously, he was a man who knew the word of God.
I mean, he's preaching the Bible.
And yes, he was being used of the Holy Ghost to say these things, but it required for him
to have the word of God in his heart as well.
And I pray, God, that you'd help us to do so.
Thank you so much.
Bless all there is.
And in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Song number 41, sweet by-and-bye, There's a land that is fair and air,
And by faith we can see it apart, For the Father waits over the way,
We shall see it by and by, We shall meet on that beautiful shore,
We shall see it by and by, We shall see it by and by,
We shall see it by and by, We shall meet on that beautiful shore,
We shall see it by and by, We shall see it by and by,
We shall see it by and by, We shall meet on that beautiful shore.