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Amen. So Acts chapter 7, Stephen's sermon. So it's a long chapter, 60 verses long. We're going to get through the whole thing tonight. I want to make sure that, I'm not saying I won't go back and preach a couple different things on Acts chapter 7, but I want to get through the whole thing so we see the context of what Stephen was talking about. Because Stephen, if you remember from Acts chapter 6.5 that we did last week, if you remember we looked at two things. We looked at the self-righteousness of the Jewish leaders, and we looked at what they accused Stephen of. They accused him of wanting to change the law of Moses, or of being against Moses, of being against what they considered the law that the Jews at that time considered. They said he was against that, he was trying to change that, and then they accused him of trying to destroy the temple. So Stephen, in a roundabout way, in a very detailed way actually, he addresses both of those things in his sermon in Acts chapter 7. At first glance, if you've just read through it one time, at first glance it looks like Stephen's just giving a history lesson of the nation of Israel. But he's actually pointing out some very specific things along the way. He definitely is giving, walking them through the history of where they came from, but he's pointing out along the way some very specific things to address what they're accusing him of. So let's go ahead and get into the sermon this evening. Look at Acts chapter 6 and verse number 11 very quickly, and we'll go right into Acts 7. But the Bible says this is what they did to Stephen, okay? They supported men which said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. So this is the accusation against him. They also accused him of wanting to destroy the temple. We'll talk about that as well. But now look at Acts chapter 7 and verse number 1. So he's brought before the council, and the high priest asked him, it says, then said the high priest, in verse number 1, are these things so? He's like basically says to Stephen, what do you have to say for yourself? And then Stephen, the rest of the chapter, well, the majority of the rest of the chapter is Stephen preaching this sermon, you know, against these people. All right, look at verse number 2. So from verse 2 on, basically verse 2 through about verse number 8 is what I would call Stephen's just going, he's just talking about the origins. He started to explain to these people where they came from, where your beginning came from with Abraham. Look what he says in verse number 2. He says, and men, he said, men, brethren and fathers hearken, the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charon, and said unto him, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and come into the land which I shall show thee. Turn to Genesis chapter 12. This is what he's referring to here. We're not going to go back to every single point in the Old Testament. We wouldn't have time to do that, but he's referring to when God called, he first called Abraham out of his country. Okay, look at Genesis chapter 12 and verse number 1. Now the Lord said unto Abraham, get thee out of thy country. He's like, well, he goes up to Abraham, he says, you're going to have to move. You're going to have to move and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee. Now look at verse number 4. And then he came out of the land, so Abraham just did it. He just went. Okay, he went to the land and he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Charon and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land wherein ye now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it. No, not so much as to set his foot on. This is what, turn to Hebrews chapter 11. So this is Stephen talking. He's saying, Abraham was told that he was going to get this land, this country, and he's like, but he never got it himself is what Stephen is saying. Not so much as to set his foot on, yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession and to his seed after him when as yet he had no child. So Abraham was married to Sarah at that time and she had, they had no children. They had no children, so God is saying, you're going to inherit all this land. Your children's children are going to inherit all this land and he didn't even have any children. And they were, you know, they were old. They were old, the Bible says. And God spake on this wise that his seed should sojourn in a strange land, that means, you know, live or travel to in a strange land, and that they should bring them into bondage and then treat them evil for a hundred years. So not only is Abraham not going to get to see this land, but his ancestors, his children's children and, you know, ancestry that's supposed to inherit the land is going to be treated evil for four hundred years before they even get a chance to see it. So this is a far off promise for Abraham. Look at Hebrews chapter 11. This is the faith chapter in the Bible, but this shows you the faith of Abraham right here. And Hebrews chapter 11 is pointing it out. By faith Abraham was called to go out into a place where he should, that which he should, after received for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out not knowing whether he went. He just, God told him, get up and go and he just got up and he went. By faith he sojourned into the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob and heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city with half foundations whose builder and maker is God. Through faith Sarah also, faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age, she was old, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so as many as the stars of the sky in the multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. So he had all these ancestors. It says these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. So look, this is what Romans chapter four, verse number two says, you know, faith is what saved Abraham. Okay, faith, look he just, he went on faith, he believed God, Romans four says, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Everybody in the Old Testament was saved the exact same way that everybody in the New Testament is, just by faith, by believing God. So that's the first thing that we need to understand right there. But the point is, is that Abraham, he proved his faith because he just had no, he got none of it. He got none of it. He just went where he was supposed to go and totally by faith. Look at Acts chapter seven and verse number seven. And the nation, so look it says, you know, God spake to him that they would go into bondage and treat them evil for 400 years. This was the Egyptian slavery that he's talking about. He's saying they'll go through great hardship before even reaching this promised land. Look at verse number seven. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God. And after that they shall come forth and serve me in this place. And he gave them the covenant of circumcision. He gives them this covenant to set them apart from the other nations. And so Abraham begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day and Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat the 12 patriarchs. So that's, he's basically explaining to them, this is where you came from and Abraham went by faith. Abraham had faith in what God said. So that's the first contrast that he makes with these people. He's like, look, Abraham didn't receive anything that God promised him. He just had faith. Okay. That's the first thing. So here it begins. Look at Acts chapter seven and verse number nine. Now what he's going to do, he's going to start pointing out prophets in the Bible. And he's going to contrast the prophets with what the people of their time thought about the prophets. And he's going to start out with Joseph. Look at Acts chapter seven and verse number nine. It says, and the patriarch. So here we are, the patriarch, that means Jacob's 12 sons. Okay. And the patriarchs that became the 12 tribes of Israel. The patriarchs moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him. So here we see in verse number nine, we see the first prophet that he brings up. Well, I guess you could count Abraham, but he brings up a prophet, Joseph. And it says the people, who are the people? His brothers. There was literally only 12 of them at this point. There was only 12 men in the nation at this point. And already they were disagreeing with what God was saying already. So this is what Stephen is getting at here. He's trying to point out a pattern to these people. Okay. Look what he says. So I have underlined in my Bible, I have moved with envy and I have Joseph. So the prophet is Joseph and the people were moved with envy against him. Go to Genesis 37. What were they mad at Joseph about? What were they mad at Joseph about? They were envious of him, right? So they were envious. What does envy mean? We just went through this on Sunday morning. They were mad because he had something that they didn't have. Or he was doing something that they didn't have, having success that they weren't having. They were just upset at what he had. He had the favor of his father. But moreover, it's what God was showing him is what they were upset about. Look at verse number five of Genesis 37. This is what happened. And Joseph dreamed a dream and he told it his brethren. And they hated him yet the more. They already hated him in the first place. He was the baby of the family and his dad favored him. He gave him the coat of many colors, remember? And now it says Joseph dreamed a dream and told it his brother. You say, what's the big deal? The kid has a dream and he tells his brothers and his brothers hate him. Like what's the problem? Let's look at what the dream was. All right. The dream, he said unto them, here I pray you this dream, which I have dreamed. For behold, and look, we know this dream was of God because this is exactly what happened. This was a prophecy of what actually came to pass. He says, for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field. And lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright and behold, your sheaves stood round about and made obeisance to my sheaf. It's like, you know, my sheaf rose up and you all bowed down to me. This is what the kid says. So they hated him even more. But the point is, what they should have done is they should have listened to what God's word was saying. They should have listened to the prophecy that Joseph was saying. Look at verse number 10 of Acts chapter 7. Because this is exactly what happened in the Bible. Look at verse number 10. And delivered him, so the last part of verse number 9, it says, first of all, Joseph's brothers were against him and they actually tried to kill him and then they ended up selling him into slavery, into Egypt. But God was with him. Okay? I mean, this is a, there's a sermon right there. Okay? That it doesn't matter who's against you in your life, if God is with you, none of that matters. Because Joseph rose to the number 2 position in all the kingdom of Egypt. Look at verse number 10. God was with him and delivered him out of all his afflictions. He was in jail, he got out of jail, and then he served Pharaoh and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. You know, the story of Joseph is just such a good story of just like, just let God promote you. Just let God promote you. Don't go to work or don't go off in your life and just like, you know, hey, do great things, that's great. But don't be like, look at how great I am. Because if God's with you, God will promote you. God will raise you to the high seats. You know, if you raise yourself to the high seats, you're going to be put in the low seats, the Bible says. All right? But look, Joseph's a perfect example. He got raised to the second position in the land of Egypt. Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Canaan. This was a terrible drought and great affliction. And our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent our fathers first. So Jacob's the dad. He sends the boys into Egypt to look for food, to look for livestock, for food for their livestock, for corn. And the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren. So Joseph, being basically ruler of the kingdom at this point, sees these men coming and he makes himself known to his brothers. He says, hey, it's me. It's me. And Joseph's kingdom was made known unto Pharaoh. And Joseph showed what? What did we pray for in the prayer? Joseph showed mercy to his brothers. Then sent Joseph and called his father Jacob to him and all his kindred, three score and 15 souls. He brought everyone to Egypt and took care of everybody. Okay? He forgave them. So Jacob went down into Egypt. Jacob actually died there. And he died and our fathers and were carried into Sichum and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Amor, the father of Sichum. But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to him, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt. So the time of the promise, the time when God wanted to move his people out of Egypt into the promised land, the people in Egypt were multiplying. The Hebrews in Egypt, they were getting more and more and more. Till another king arose which knew not Joseph. Now another Pharaoh comes along, doesn't know who Joseph is, doesn't care who Joseph is. It's all freaked out that these people are multiplying so much and he enslaves them. Okay? So look at verse number 19. The same dealt subtly. Subtly is never a good thing in the Bible, by the way. You should never be subtle in your life. If you have something to say, say it. The devil is subtle. You know, when he's dealing subtly, he's sneaking about, he's secretly planning things, subtlety is never a good thing. And evil entreated our fathers so that they cast out their young children to the end, they might not live. This is in Exodus chapter 1 where Pharaoh, this new Pharaoh literally says, so he can stop the Hebrews from multiplying so much, he literally says to them, kill all the male Hebrew children. He's like they must, he tells the midwives to kill all the male babies of the Hebrews. And this is where, you know, the slavery begins and this is when Moses is of course saved out of that situation. He ends up being raised by Pharaoh's daughter. But look at verse number 20 of Acts chapter 7. Now we see the second prophet here. The second prophet that Stephen is bringing up. In which time Moses was born and was exceeding fair and nourished up in his father's house three months. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. So Moses was, he was raised in Pharaoh's house. He had literally like everything to lose. He had a great worldly life. And when he was a full 40 years old, verse 23, 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 Egyptians. So here he was in Pharaoh's house. He knew he was a Hebrew and he fell compelled to go as a Hebrew to visit the Hebrew people who were in slavery. And he goes and he sees one of the Hebrews being beaten or treated badly by an Egyptian and he kills this Egyptian. He kills this Egyptian. Look at verse number 25. Now this is where, again, Stephen is pointing out some very specific things here. For he supposed, he saw one of them suffer wrong and he defended him. For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them. But they understood not. See Moses here, Stephen points out Moses in verse 25, he thought that the Hebrews would rise up. He thought that the Hebrews would be like, I'm so glad you're here to help us. But that's not what they did. And it's interesting because there's proof that Stephen has the Holy Ghost with him here because Stephen, if you read the story, we don't really have time to go back to Acts chapter 2 and study this story, but if you read the story in Exodus chapter 2 about Moses killing this Egyptian and then fleeing, it doesn't really focus on what the Hebrews said. What it focuses on that he was worried that Pharaoh would find out. That's why he runs away. But look at what it focuses on here. He says, you know, they understood not, look at verse 26, and the next day, because something else happens, the next day after he kills the Egyptian, he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again saying, sirs, your brethren, why do you do wrong to one another? So now he goes back the next day and he sees two Hebrews fighting. And he breaks them up, and he says, hey, your brothers, what are you doing? And look what they said to him again. But he that did his neighbor wrong, the guy that started the fight, thrust Moses away saying, who made you ruler and judge over us? These people are slaves. These people are slaves. This guy comes in and is trying to help them. He's trying to help them in this physical conflict. He literally saved one of them the day before. And then this guy says to him, without kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday. I mean, thanks a lot, right? Pretty thankful people here. Then fled Moses. This is where Stephen says something just a little bit. He gives a little bit more information than Exodus chapter two. He says, then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian where he begot two sons. So look, I'm not saying that he didn't run away in Exodus chapter two, because he thought Pharaoh was going to find out. He clearly thought that. But part of it was, he's like, these people don't want my help. This is what Stephen focuses on in Acts chapter seven. He focuses on, once again, what do we see? A prophet, and we see the people, which people? The children of Israel rebelling against the prophet. The first day they met Moses, the first day, Stephen points out, they rebelled against him. The next day, they rebelled against him. So he leaves. He takes off. And look, he goes to the land of Madian where he begets two sons. He's there for 40 years. He's there for 40 years before God calls him and says, you've got to go back and get my people. Look at verse 31. And when 40 years were expired, Stephen continues, there appeared to him, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, an angel of the Lord, in the flame of fire, in a bush. And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight, as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. This is the story from Exodus chapter three. Then the Lord said, then said the Lord to him, put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place where thou standeth is for thee. And when for the place where thou standeth is holy ground. This is why I believe in Joshua chapter five, when Joshua crosses the river, he crosses the Jordan, and he runs into the captain of the Lord's host, and the captain of the Lord's host says, take off your shoes. Because this is holy ground. That's why I believe that was the Lord Jesus Christ appearing in the Old Testament. Okay? Because it's God. Whenever somebody, whenever you hear, you know, take off your shoes, you're on holy ground, it's God speaking in the Bible. Okay? So the bush, God from the flaming bush tells Moses to go get the people. I have seen, verse 34, I have seen the affliction of my people, which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. Look at verse 35. This Moses, whom they refused saying, who made thee a ruler and a judge? Stephen brings it up again. He's like, this is the same Moses that was being sent back where they, they rejected him. The people rejected him. Notice the pattern that Stephen is bringing up again and again and again. The same did God send to be ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel, which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out. Now he continues the story. He doesn't go into the 10 plagues and all that, but he brought them out after he had showed wonders and signs into the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness 40 years. This is that Moses which said unto the children of Israel, a prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me, him shall ye hear. This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in Mount Sinai and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us. So he's saying Moses was that prophet that brought them out of Egypt, that brought them into the wilderness, that brought them the law. God used Moses to give the law to the people. And then verse 39, what does Stephen say again? To whom our fathers would not obey. How does he describe Moses? He's like this is the prophet that the people wouldn't obey. So he's saying, you're saying that I'm here to change Moses' law? I'm saying that you didn't even listen to Moses back then. Your fathers didn't even listen to Moses. You sit there and talk about oh our fathers and our fathers. Your fathers didn't listen to him either. Exodus 15, Exodus 15, turn to Exodus 16 actually. Exodus 15 is where God kills Pharaoh's entire army. Miraculous event of parting a sea. He parts a sea. He parts the great waters and the people walk across dry land and then Pharaoh follows after them and God destroys the whole army. They saw the whole thing. Look at verse 2 of Exodus chapter 16. The very next chapter in the Bible. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said unto them, would to God that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt. Where we sat by the flesh pots and where we did eat bread to the full. For he had brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Are you seeing the contrast here? Abraham was told to go and he went and he never got there. Abraham never got anything that he was promised. Isaac, Jacob, they never got the promised land. They went, Hebrews 11 talks about these people. They went by what? By faith. They went by what? By belief. And here these people, they couldn't believe even after they saw a great miracle just a few days earlier. Go back to Acts chapter 7 and verse number 40. Stephen is trying to just compare, just to bring up a pattern again and again and again. And not only that, not only that, they said, you know, they didn't even have the faith. Why were they complaining here? They were complaining because they were hungry. They didn't even have the faith that God could feed them. What did they think? They didn't have the, they think God's going to bring us out here and just let us die? That's exactly what they thought. Because they had zero faith in God. That's why when Moses went up to the mountain, what did they do right away? The Egyptians rubbed off on them. The Egyptian culture was with these people. This is what I believe. That these people were in Egypt too long. They were in Egypt too long and they became Egyptian essentially. They adopted their gods, they adopted their culture, they adopted it. Look at verse 40 of Acts chapter 7. 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. Moses goes up to the mountain and in just a few days they're worshiping false gods. And they made a calf in those days and offered sacrifice unto the idol and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. That's interesting right there. They just, they went back to what? They went back to what people always go back to. Works righteousness. That's really what false gods are. That's really what false idols are. They're like, hey I made something. That's why your idols in your life, you know, you're like oh I worship some statue. Yeah but what is it that you're counting on? What is it that we meet everybody out that we talk to? What are they counting on? They're counting on how great they are and how great they are as in whatever different thing that they do that they think is great. That's their idol. It's the things that they did with their own hands. This is what these people were depending on. It's just workspace salvation. It's all the same thing. There's only two religions in the whole world. You say what? There's a billion. No there's two. There's believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's it. There's just trust completely on Jesus and it's a done deal. There's that religion. That's what the Bible says. You're sealed forever. Done. It has nothing to do with you. It doesn't have 1% to do with you. It doesn't have .5% to do with you. It doesn't have .01% to do with you. It has nothing to do with you to get it or to keep it. That's one religion. All the other religions, they're all in the same category. Workspace righteousness. I have to do this to get to heaven. Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, it's all the same. Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, pick one. It's all the same. You have to do this, this, and this to get to heaven. It's works-based religion and that's Satan's religion right there. That's why they always have that in common. Even these stupid golden calves. What was it? Works-based righteousness. That's what it was. Look at Acts chapter 7 verse 42. Acts chapter 7 verse 42. Now it gets a little bit prophetic. He gets a little prophetic here and kind of tells him what's going to happen to the nation or what he kind of prophesized what happened to the nation over the next several hundred years. Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven. That's not like God. That's like the sun, the moon, the stars, more false religion. As is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrificed by the space of forty years in the wilderness. He's talking here about the kingdoms of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel, how they went into false idolatry here. He's referring, he's literally quoting Amos chapter 5 that Garrett brought up on Sunday night. Amos chapter 5 verse 25, it says, O have ye offered unto me sacrifices, offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel. But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiron your images and the star of your God which ye made to yourselves. Therefore I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord whose name is the God of hosts. Now I believe that that specific, he says beyond Damascus in Amos chapter 5 and it says beyond Babylon in Acts chapter 7. I believe he's talking about Amos actually lived during the time that the northern kingdom of Israel was carried away, okay. So they were the most wicked split, they were the, you know, the kingdom split into the northern kingdom and then the southern kingdom of Judah. The southern kingdom of Judah was much better, I mean they still did a lot of bad things, but they lasted about a hundred and eighty years longer and the northern kingdom of Israel was actually just taken away. They weren't taken into captivity, they were just removed and just gone forever and they were taken into by the, taken into captivity, not captivity, they were destroyed by the Assyrians, okay. Beyond Damascus it says in Amos chapter 5. Turn to Numbers chapter 14. Turn to Numbers chapter 14. Let's go back to, okay, let's go back to the wilderness, okay. He's talking about, he's just really tearing up the people in the wilderness and how they were rebelling against their prophet that was Moses, okay. He's explaining to them how the people in the wilderness rebelled against their prophet Moses. Look at Numbers chapter 14 and verse number 28. The last straw for the people in the wilderness, the children of Israel that were traveling towards the promised land, the last straw was the situation with the spies. So the spies were sent to spy out the land. They were close. God said pick a spy from every tribe. They sent 12 spies. Look at verse number 28 of Numbers chapter 14 and the Bible says, Say unto them, as truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you. This is because the spies came back and ten of the spies said we can't go there. These people are huge. These people are huge. They have, you know, iron chariots. It's like we're all going to die if we go there. They had, what did they have? They had zero what? Zero belief. Zero faith. Again, it was only, it was only Joshua and Caleb that came back and said, what are you people talking about? What are you people talking about? The Lord can deliver anyone into our hands. They were the only ones that had belief in the Lord. And that's what Numbers chapter 14 is talking about. It says God is tired of this and this was the last straw and it says, verse number 29, it says, your carcasses shall fall in the wilderness and all that were numbered of you according to your whole number from 20 years old and upward which have murmured against me. Doubtless you shall not come into the land concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein save except, he says, Caleb the son of Jethuna and Joshua the son of Nun. So only the two spies and Joshua, of course, took over for Moses and led the children into the promised land. The spies were the last straw for these people. God says you're all going to die here. The children under 20, because God marked it, he said the children under 20, you know, you haven't been corrupted by whatever corrupted, you know, the chunk of you. So he says the kids under 20 can go, anyone over 20, you must all fall, you must all die of old age and then you will go into the wilderness. Look at Acts chapter 7 and verse number 43. Acts chapter 7 and verse number 43. So now we get into a future prophecy here that I kind of read for you already in Amos chapter 5. But Stephen says, Yea, ye took up, he's quoting Amos chapter 5 here, Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your God, Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon, he says here, he says Damascus in Amos chapter 5. But I do believe this talking about the northern kingdom here. But either way, the philosophy is the same. Look at verse 44. Now we shift. Now we shift into something a little bit different. So what is the pattern so far? The pattern so far is he was showing where they came from with Abraham. He was showing just the unquestioning faith of Abraham and then he was showing the contrast of the children of Israel and their subsequent prophets with the faith of Abraham. He's showing just how they rebelled from the beginning. They rebelled from the 11 brothers, the Joseph head. They all rebelled against their prophet at that time. He's trying to show them like, hey, this is what you're doing. But he's addressing this idea that Stephen was there to change the law of Moses. What are you talking about? You never believed Moses is what he said to them so far. He said, so if you hear Christians today say that, you know, because Jesus Christ himself said, if ye would have believed Moses, ye would have believed me. So when you hear Christians today say, and look, I used to believe this myself 20 years ago. Like, oh, the only difference between a Christian and the Jew is that the Jew just doesn't believe in Jesus, but they believe in the Old Testament. No, they believe none of it. They never believed any of it. This is what Stephen is getting at. He's like, what are you talking about? I'm here to change the law of Moses. You don't even believe it. You never believed it. You always rebelled against it. Example, example, example, example. Now look what he does. Now he shifts. Now this gets a little deep. Now he shifts into the temple. Now he shifts into, because then they didn't, they accused him of something of the temple. You're going to destroy our temple. They just worship this temple. They're just like, so they're just obsessed with everything. Everything Jesus said that had temple in the sentence. They're just like, ah. So they're just obsessed with the temple. So now Stephen's going to straighten them out on the temple. Look at verse 44. Our fathers had the tabernacle, because before it was the temple, they had a tent. It was called the tabernacle. This was what was in the wilderness. This is what they carried into the promised land. Okay, so he's going to give a little history on the temple. They had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness. This is the people in the wilderness. As he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. There's great detail on how God wanted this tent made. Okay. Which also, our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus. Now this Jesus here, this means Joshua. Okay, Jesus and Joshua is the same name. This is not Jesus Christ. Okay, so it's saying, they brought this in with Jesus, Joshua, it's another name for Joshua, into the promised land. The same tabernacle they brought Joshua, because Moses didn't go into the promised land. It was Joshua that went into the promised land, into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David. So they went in. Who went into the promised land? It was Joshua, and he drove out the Gentiles. Remember the great battles that we studied in the book of Joshua? Joshua was a great war captain. He was a great leader in battle. He went and he drove out all these people before, you know, with the Lord, of course. But look, this is, go to Acts chapter 7 and verse 45 now. Okay, you go to verse 46, I'm sorry. Verse 46. Who found favor before God and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. So this was David now. Now he's talking about David. Okay. So David wanted to build God a house. David, his heart was so much with the Lord, he's like, you know what, the Lord doesn't deserve to dwell in a tent. It's like, I want to build the Lord a house. But God said to David, he's like, no, you've shed too much blood. I want, your son will build the temple. Okay, but David, look, David laid up materials and all that. Okay, I'm preaching a little bit on that on Friday morning. But it says, but Solomon built him a house. Okay, so David wanted to build it. It was kind of his thought. God said, no, Nathan told him no. But Solomon built him a house. So this is how the temple got built. We went from a tent to this great immaculate temple. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as sayeth the prophet. Now look, this temple right here, Solomon's temple, is not the temple that they're talking about when Stephen is standing there. Okay, because this temple was destroyed by Babylon. The Solomon's temple was destroyed by Babylon. This was the second temple that we were now talking about. But still, it is an elaborate temple. It was nothing like the first temple. But Stephen just drops the bomb in verse number 48 right here. He says, howbeit, he's like, however, God doesn't dwell in temples. God, he's like, the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as sayeth the prophet. Now, he quotes Isaiah 66. Now he quotes Isaiah. He's like, you don't believe Isaiah either. He quotes Isaiah 66, where he says, heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. What house will ye build me, sayeth the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Now, I can understand how people heard Isaiah say that, and they didn't totally understand what that was about. Okay, because the Bible, first of all, Stephen is telling the Jews, he's telling the Jewish leaders at this point, he's saying, God doesn't dwell. God doesn't dwell in, he never dwelt in the tabernacle. He didn't dwell in the, meaning he doesn't live there. It was like a meeting place. It was like a conference room he would come to once a year. In Leviticus chapter 16, you know, the Day of Atonement, God would come down onto the mercy seat. But the priest couldn't just walk in, he couldn't just walk into the Holy of Holies and just find God living there. First of all, God didn't live there. Isaiah 66, God lives in heaven. It's like the earth, wherever that tent is, it's like my footstool. They don't live in that tent. He's like, I go down there to meet with you once a year, is what he says. And look, there's some specific rules you better have your tie on, son. When you come into that place, or you die. That's what we're looking at with the garments of the high priest. You want to talk about how specific God was on the man that would come into that place once a year. I mean, that's what we're talking about, the garments of the high priest. God was very specific, but God did not live there. Stephen just burst the bubble of the temple. He's like, see that temple right there? God doesn't live here. God doesn't live in this thing. He's like, the earth is his footstool. He doesn't dwell in temples. He's like, what is the place of my rest? That's an interesting couple of words he uses right there. Turn to Hebrews, chapter three. Turn to Hebrews, chapter three. Stephen basically says the temple is nothing, especially now. The temple was a temporary meeting place. It was the sacrifices, all the things that happened in the temple, the high priest, his clothing, the sacrifices, the bulls, the goats. It was all temporary. It was just to picture the real thing that, guess what, has already happened. Has already happened. So the temple, he's saying the temple means nothing. At this point. Look at Hebrews, chapter three, and verse number 17. Look at the connection here. Hebrews, chapter three, and verse number 17, the Bible says, but with whom was he grieved 40 years? Here he brings up these, the people in the wilderness. You think he was upset with these people? Was it not with them that had sinned whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? Look at verse 18. And to whom swear he that they should not enter what? Into what? Into his rest. But to them that what? Believe not. So we see that they could not enter in because of what? Because he was mad at them? Because of unbelief. The people, you see what Stephen's getting at here? When he says, when he quotes Isaiah 66, you know what he's getting at, and you know what Paul is backing up in Hebrews, chapter three, he is saying that the people in the wilderness with their unbelief, not being able to go into the promised land, pictures people who are not going to be saved because they don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what he's talking about. And he is telling them, he's telling them, you will not enter into his rest either. Go to Hebrews, chapter four. Go to Hebrews, chapter four. Hebrews, chapter four. I know this is kind of deep, but this is it right here. Hebrews chapter, it is such, it shows you that every single thing in the Old Testament pictures Jesus Christ. Everything. That's why we're studying silly little things, like the little shoulder pad on the priest, because it's not a silly little thing. Because everything that God detailed in the Old Testament, it points to the Lord Jesus Christ. And Stephen knew every single one of these things. He's speaking through the Holy Spirit. Look at Hebrews, chapter four. Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us, let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into what? Into his rest. Any of you should seem to come short of it. It's like, look, we he's saying want to come you don't want to come short of entering into his rest, whatever that is, let's keep reading. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them. But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with what with faith in them that heard it. For we which believe which have believed do enter into rest. Rest equals salvation. The people in the wilderness not being able to go into the Promised Land, it pictures their unbelief, their lack of faith, that, you know, it pictures not being saved. And what Stephen is saying to these people is like, by you putting your faith in the temple, by you putting your faith in the temple is like you're having that same unbelief. Because the temple turned to First Corinthians, First Corinthians, chapter six, turn to First Corinthians chapter six. The temple is now us. The temple is now us. You turn there, let me keep reading for you. It says, as I have sworn in my wrath, that they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Entering into rest in Hebrews chapter three, Hebrews chapter four, and what Stephen is talking about in Isaiah 66 is talking about being saved. It's talking about believing the gospel. It's talking about believing that Jesus Christ is exactly what he's talking to these people about, that they don't believe. Believing that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Believing what they don't believe. He's saying, this is you. This is you. The temple means nothing. The temple means nothing. Look at First Corinthians chapter six and verse 19. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you? Which you have of God and you're not your own? In Hebrews chapter three, the Bible says that Jesus's house is us. Why? Because we're the temple. That's why. Because when you got saved, God put a down payment of the Holy Ghost in you. You have the Holy Ghost inside you. That's why you can grieve the Holy Ghost. In First Corinthians chapter six verse 19, it's talking about sinning against your own body. It's talking about that specific case of fornication right there. It's talking about how fornication in the verse previous, it says, flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that commiteth fornication sinneth against his own body. So only sin, but you're sinning against your own body and you're sinning against the temple of the Holy Ghost. God's like, that's my temple. He's like, I bought that place with the blood of my son and you're defiling it. But look, we are the temple. This is what Stephen is saying. He's like, you think, he's like, the temple is going to be gone. In Mark 13 and Matthew 24, Jesus says, there's not going to be one stone left here on top of the other one. It's all going to be gone. But guess what? It's worthless because we're the temple. We're the temple. Go back to Acts chapter seven. Go back to Acts chapter seven. I don't know how much of the Jewish leaders, how much of this they caught, but there's a lot here. I pray that I'm trying to just capture the image of what he's trying to get at here. Look at verse 51. Verse 51, he says, ye stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You do always resist the Holy Ghost. And then he kind of wraps it up right here in the next few statements. He says, as your fathers did, so do ye. It's like, which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? That's his summary statement right there. He's like, you always resist the Holy Ghost. It's like they've slain them, which showed before of the coming of the just one, Jesus, of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers. Turn to Matthew chapter 23, who have received by the law, by the disposition of angels and have not kept it. Angels meaning, in that case, I believe, just messengers, people delivering God's word. Look at verse 54. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth. Look at Matthew chapter 23. Jesus rebuked Pharisees for the exact same thing. Because the Pharisees were actually so what? They were so self-righteous, there were these people that they literally told Jesus, they literally told the apostles, they really told the disciples, hey, we never would have done, we never would kill the prophets. We never would have done what those people did. But look what Matthew 23 verse 28 says. It says, even so ye outwardly appear righteous unto men, they're self-righteous, but within you're full of hypocrisy and iniquity. It says, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous and say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, see what they said? We would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. This is what they said. And then Stephen told them, you just killed the Messiah. These were the self-righteous people that said, if it would have been us, we'd have listened to Isaiah. We'd have listened to Joseph. We'd have listened to Moses. We wouldn't have been, because they, to what they did, what they did, what these Pharisees and these religious leaders at the time did is they took those people in the wilderness and they took those rebellious people and they put them off as like, oh, just, they were just a few rebellious people. No, it was, it was most of them. It was most of them. And this is kind of the main point of Stephen's sermon here. And I'll wrap that up at the end. But Stephen said, you did the same thing. Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Jesus Christ, like you did the same thing. He's like, and then, then they did the same thing by stoning Stephen. They literally reaffirmed his sermon. I mean, look at these people, these self-righteous fools, these hard-hearted people, that hard heart just led to this unbelief. And, you know, but here's what you need to take from this. Here's what you need to take from this. Most people are always, I mean, I'm talking to the majority of people here. The vast majority of people are always going to reject God's word. That, I mean, isn't that what we see today? Isn't that it? I mean, come on. What percentage of people are saved? We go out knocking doors, talking to people all the time. The percentage of people saved, if you're like the super biggest optimist I've ever met is like, you know, 1%, 2%. Either people just don't believe in anything today, have no knowledge or care of anything, or they believe in works righteousness. That's it. The vast majority, but look, it has always been this way. It's always been this way. This was Stephen's point. These men, these men throughout the Bible were just out there preaching God's word and just everybody was like, no, they rejected it. They rejected it. Look, but here's the thing, you know, as an American, you need to kind of understand this, okay? Because we're kind of tuned that like, you know, we're a democracy, and the majority is always right, and, you know, we're not a democracy, by the way, but the majority is always wrong when it comes to God's word. That's what you have to understand. So don't get into this Christian life and start learning the Bible and doing the Bible and having some people come after you and be like, what are you doing? How come you're not doing the stuff you used to do? And how come you're not doing it? And start persecuting and be like, oh man, like the majority is against me. The majority is always going to be against you. It's always been that way. Expect it. Expect it, because it's going to happen. It's going to happen. All right, so Stephen, he preached out this pattern, and then they just repeated the pattern one more time. I mean, like, look, I mean, as a, and I could tell you one thing about Stephen, I mean, as a pastor that hasn't really been a pastor for that long, I could tell you one thing about Stephen, this is a mature preacher right here. This is a mature preacher right here. Why? Why do I say that? I say that because, you know, it used to bother me. I'm getting better at it, but it used to bother me when you would preach something and, like, people just wouldn't listen. That used to bother me. But look, that's normal. That's normal. I mean, God forbid that's us. God forbid we hear Bible preaching and it goes in one ear and out the other. God forbid that's us. But the point is, is that most people are going to reject God's Word. And as a mature preacher, you just have to understand that. And Stephen, he's just like, man, I'm laying out the truth. I mean, he knew what was going to happen. He knew that they weren't going to just, like, all get saved right there. He knew they were stiff-necked. But man, he laid it out there. He laid it out there like, like, the best that anybody has in the Bible, this man. And you look at this guy and, you know, you look at, you know, the verses in Acts 6 where it says, you know, he had a face of an angel and all this. But I'm telling you, this was a fire-breathing preacher right here. I mean, God tells a pastor to preach the Bible. He tells a pastor, like, he tells a pastor, he's like, he's like, you don't just preach what you want. He's like, you preach the whole thing or don't be a pastor. That's why I'm so shocked that so many people are just so flippant about being pastors. It's like, you want to be a pastor, you preach the whole thing. And you know what? People are going to like it. If you're this person that just says to have people love you, you know, just you're in the wrong, don't go into the ministry because that's not how it's going to be. Because most of the time, the results will be bad. And that's what Stephen shows us. Because people won't listen. And guess what? The world will always reject the Christian. So you as the church members sitting here, you need to understand that the world will always reject you. Hey, man, we're separating from it. We're out. You know, I'm not having my kids anywhere near that public perverted school, whatever you call that thing today. I'm not going to give my kids over to that garbage. I'm separating from it. But you know what? People aren't going to like that. Get used to it. We have to have a thick skin, because that's the way it's always going to be. The world will always reject the Christian. Go back to Acts chapter seven. Let's finish up. Look at verse, look at verse number 55. Acts chapter seven. Look at verse number 55. They gnashed on him with their teeth. They gnashed on him with their teeth. That meant they were... The heathen raged against him. They were infuriated with him. They didn't take five minutes to think about it. They were like, oh. No, they were just mad. They were mad. They were gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, you think, after that, looked up steadfastly into heaven. Turn to Colossians chapter three. Let's turn to Colossians chapter three first, because I want to show you where Jesus is. Turn to Colossians chapter three. Keep your place in Acts chapter seven. We'll go to Colossians chapter three. We'll come back to Acts chapter seven. Go to Colossians chapter three, and we'll come back to Acts chapter seven. Colossians chapter three. Look at verse number one. Where's Jesus? When Jesus ascended, where is he? Look at what the Bible says in Colossians chapter three in verse number one. It says, if ye then be risen with Christ... Look, if you're saved, if you're saved, you should be baptized. When you're baptized, you should get up and you should walk this Christian life. If you be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ... He's like, seek heavenly things, is what he's saying. Walk in the Spirit. Follow those spiritual things. He says, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Where's Christ at? He sits on the right hand of God. All right, now I'll go back to Acts chapter seven. So Christ is sitting on the right hand of God. Christ is sitting on the right hand of God, but he being full. They're gnashing on him with his teeth. They're rushing at him. The sermon's over, and they're going to kill the preacher right now. I mean, just picture the scene here. Picture the scene. Look, I've had people in this church not like what I'm saying. It's very obvious. You can see it in their faces. And I've had people mad at me. I've had people call me names. I've had all kinds of things said about me. I've never had people rush at me and try to kill me. Okay, so look at this. But he being full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven, and look what God showed him, and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Jesus Christ stood up for Stephen. Jesus Christ stood up at Stephen's death. What a beautiful thing. And they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him.