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Acts chapter 7 and we've been going chapter by chapter through the book of Acts. And I want to turn your attention to verse number 51. Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do ye. The title for the sermon tonight is Resisting the Holy Ghost. Resisting the Holy Ghost. Resisting the Holy Ghost is something that can be done always. Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. So these words have been spoken by Stephen. And last week we were introduced to Stephen as one of the first deacons. You may recall when they chose seven deacons, the first named was Stephen, then Philip, and those are the two main guys that we learn about. And so this chapter contains a great sermon, a great speech that's come from the lips of Stephen. And unfortunately he's put to death at the end of his preaching. So, you know, I mean, even being a deacon, like even taking on a position as a deacon, even though you're not the primary man, you're not the primary preacher or the primary, you know, name that's, you know, known, the church is known by, it's still a dangerous job, right? Just to be a deacon and being used mightily by God. Now let's start there in verse number one. It says, then said the high priest, are these things so? So he's asking Stephen, are these things that we heard true? You say, what are the things that he's been accused of? Remember he was arrested last week. And just quickly come back with me to chapter six and verse number 13, Acts 6 13, it says, and set up false witnesses, which said, this man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against his holy place and the law. So there are false witnesses saying, look, Stephen's speaking blasphemy, verse number 14, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the customs, which Moses delivered us. So they're making accusations. Stephen has said, he's going to destroy the temple. And that's why when we get to chapter seven, verse number one, then said the high priest, are these things so? So he's given Stephen an opportunity to answer for himself. Are these accusations true? Are you really saying these things, Stephen? Well, Stephen now begins to give his response, his defense, I guess you want to call it that. And he begins going all the way back to the father of faith, Abraham. And he gives this long history of the people of God, the descendants that came from Abraham. And so, look, it's a long chapter, chapter, obviously of 60 or so verses. What is it again, the 60s verses. So I'm not gonna be able to give every verse full attention. Obviously, if you understand the history of Israel, you know, these things are gonna be familiar with you. But I do wanna draw your attention to some of the points that Stephen brings up in his sermon here. So let's start there in verse number two. And 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 Charan, and said unto him, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and come into the land, which I shall show thee. Now, immediately we have some very important words that is spoken of here by Stephen. Now, first thing I wanna do, drop down to verse number 55 quickly. It says here about Stephen, but he being full of the Holy Ghost, okay? So when Stephen is preaching this, the Bible says he's being full of the Holy Ghost, meaning that what we're reading is true, okay? It's true history of Israel. But we get some additional information that you don't get anywhere else in the Bible, okay? So what's really important here is Stephen makes it very clear when Abraham was called out of the land, okay? So when was he called by God? It said there in verse number two, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charan. Now Charan in the Old Testament is Haran, okay? Now, I want you to understand that. So God called Abraham out of Mesopotamia, then he went with his father and Lot and his family, and they were making their way to the promised land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran. And really it was Abraham's father who decided, let's stop at Haran, and they made their abode there for a period of time, okay? So for a brief period of time, Abraham had not really followed what God had asked him to do. They had stopped there at Charan or Haran. Now, keep your finger there and come with me to Hebrews 11. There's a lot that I wanna show you in the book of Hebrews as we go through Acts chapter seven, but come with me to Hebrews 11. The reason this is important is because we start to understand when Abraham got saved. When was Abraham saved, you know? And there are different opinions out there in the Christian realm. And the reason there's a lot of opinions is because people forget to add Acts chapter seven to the equation of Abraham's life, okay? So when we go to Hebrews 11 and look at verse number one, it says, now faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it, the elders obtained a good report. So we know that salvation is by faith, right? And the elders obtained a good report or a good reputation or good standing before God because of their faith. We know it's faith that saves us. Now, drop down to verse number eight. It tells us when Abraham had this faith. In Hebrews 11, verse eight, it says, by faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance obeyed, and he went out not knowing whither he went. All right, so when he was called out, the Bible says he did that by faith. That's how the elders obtained a good report. So when he was called to go to another land, did he have faith? Yes, he had faith in the God of the Bible, meaning Abraham was already saved. So when was he saved? When he attached this to Acts 7, when he was still in Mesopotamia. That's when he actually got saved, when he was still in Mesopotamia, okay? All right, now, why is that important, Pastor Kevin? All right, keep your finger in Hebrews if you want, keep a bookmark because we are gonna look at some other passages in Hebrews, but come with me to the famous chapter, James chapter two, that we all love. James chapter two, I mean, I love it, it's God's word, I love it, but the false prophets love it as well, of course. James chapter two in verse number 20, some of the false prophets' favorite verses here. James 2.20, James 2.20, give me a moment to turn there because I wanna show you this. James chapter two in verse number 20, when you say that salvation is by faith alone, what do the false prophets wanna say? Well, what about the works though? We gotta see the work so it's not real faith. It's not saving faith if they don't have the works. So turn you to James chapter two in verse number 20, but wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead. See, you need the work so your faith is, what they call dead means that faith that you had was not enough to save you, whereas faith is what saves. But anyway, they forget verse number 21, which follows straight afterwards. Was not Abraham our father justified by works? See, Abraham was justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar. So if you're going to say that salvation is by works, or that works is how we determine whether you're saved, the example that the Bible gives us, that God's word gives us is Abraham offering his son Isaac upon the altar. That's when he was justified by works. Well, we have Acts chapter seven with Hebrews 11 that tells us he got saved in Mesopotamia, right? Long before he had Isaac as a son. So I want you to turn to a few passages very quickly. You can move away from James and come with me to Genesis 21. Come with me to Genesis 21. We wanna determine here how old Abraham was when he offered Isaac upon the altar. How old was he? Does anyone know? Well, we don't know the exact age of Abraham, but we can have a rough estimation. Not rough, a pretty good estimation I would say, okay? In Genesis 21 and verse number five, Genesis 21 verse number five, it says, and Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born unto him. All right, so Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born. Now, when Isaac was born, is that when he offered Isaac on the altar? No, the Bible says that Isaac was a young lad, was a lad. Uses that word lad, okay? Now that's kind of like a teenager. People estimate, I mean, we don't know exactly, but let's say he's 15 years old, all right? Isaac was 15 years old, roughly 13, 14, 15. It's not gonna matter all that much, okay? A lad when he was offered, so Abraham would have been 115 years old, right? 115 years old, when you can say, now we can see his works. See, this is when he was justified by faith, when he was 115 years old. Well, let's look at another passage coming to Genesis 12. Genesis 12, we have another age of Abraham here that we can compare. Genesis 12 verse number four. So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him, and Abraham was 75 years old when he departed out of Haran, or like we read in the New Testament, Charan, okay? So how old was he? 75 years old when he left Charan. But Acts 7 says he was saved when he was in Mesopotamia, before he went into Charan. Now here's the thing. So 75 years is when he left Charan. He was about 115 years old when he offered Abraham, Isaac upon the altar. So how many years is that? 40 years, right? 75 plus 40, you get to 115 years old. 40 years from the time he left Charan to the time he offered Isaac upon the altar. Now he was saved according to Acts 7, before that when he was in Mesopotamia. We don't know how long he was in Charan. We know that his father passed away there in Charan, and then once his father passed away is when he continued his journey into the land of promise toward Canaan. And so if we just give an estimation, let's say that we're in Charan for five years. I think that's been fair, okay? Just five years, it's not that much, okay? Then we would say that he would have been 70 years old when he left Mesopotamia. That would bring us to about 45 years. So according to, if we just use those numbers, okay? If you say 45 or 40, it doesn't matter. The point is, it's decades, okay? Decades difference from the time he was caught out of Mesopotamia when he had faith apparently, faith that pleases God, versus when he offered up Isaac upon the altar. Now, that's 45 years, many decades. When did Abraham actually get saved? This is a problem we have turned to James 2 to use this passage about someone's salvation. Because if that's the example that God gives us, let's say James 2 is how you get saved or how you determine if someone is saved. That tells us as that example, the biblical example, that I've got to wait 40 or 45 years before I can determine whether you are saved. You say, pastor, I put my faith in Christ five years ago. What's gonna happen in 40 years though? Are you gonna be willing to offer your son up to be sacrificed? Because if you're not, then I don't know if you've done enough works to be saved. That's stupidity. But how many false prophets turn to James 2, you gotta have the works, but get to mention that Abraham is the example of works. What James 2 is teaching us is that his works of offering up Isaac as a sacrifice is justified because of his faith on the Lord God. And if you have your own time, in Hebrews 11, the Bible tells us that Abraham was expecting that if he had to kill Isaac, that Isaac would rise from the dead because he was a picture or an image of Jesus Christ, that Christ would rise from the dead as well. His works are justified because of his faith, which he had some 45 years before that took place. But this is why Acts 7 is important because we have extra information to exactly when God called Abraham out. And when that calling happened, he already had the faith to go and follow what God had asked him to do. Anyway, come back with me to Acts 7. Acts 7 and verse number four. So brethren, if we're trying to base someone's salvation by their works, I mean, the standard is willing to sacrifice your children. And 45 years, I don't care what you've done 10 years after you got saved, whatever works, I don't care. It's not enough because it doesn't compare to you sacrificing your children. I mean, that's a crazy, that's a stupid way. There are many false prophets that preach. James 2 is how you get saved, which is just crazy. Anyway, Acts 7, let's continue verse number four. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Charan. And from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land wherein ye now dwell. So that's what I'll be explaining, right? Once he left Charan because his father died, he went into the land of Canaan, and that is the land that God had promised the descendants or the covenant of people, the physical nation of Israel to occupy. But then verse number five says this, and he gave him none inheritance in it, no, 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 God promised Abraham this land, and yet he never inherited any of it in his life at that point in time. The promise was made even before Abraham had any kids. So that land that he walked on, that was promised to him by God, it's a promise to God for him, but he didn't inherit it on this life that he lived, okay? This is super important because come back with me to Hebrews 11, come back with me to Hebrews 11 and verse, I'll pick up a finger there or bookmark, Hebrews 11, verse number nine, Hebrews 11, verse number nine, it says, by faith he sojourned in the land of promise in a strange country dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. They're also heirs of the same promise, but he's dwelling in tabernacles. See Abraham never owned land, okay? And so land where he can actually build a house and you know, he was a sojourner, he was just passing through, all right? And so as he's passing through, he's just sitting up tents, relocating himself when he has to, but then this continues in verse number 10. This is why, for he looked for a city which have foundations whose builder and maker is God. So God promises Abraham this physical land. Abraham's all right, I'll go to it, but he's like, I feel like a stranger here. I'm looking for the city whose maker is God. I'm looking for a city with strong foundations. You say, what is that city? Well drop down to verse number 13. 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. They were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. Verse number 16, but now they desire a better country, that is an heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he have prepared for them a city. Now, of course, if you understand the book of Revelation, that heavenly city, that heavenly Jerusalem will one day descend, that city whose builder and maker is God. You know, the bride of the lamb, as it's introduced for us in the book of Revelation, that's the city, that's the land, that's the country that Abraham was looking forward to, not the physical land. Now, I still believe those promises will come fully realized to Abraham, because I do believe that when Christ comes back, that he sets up his kingdom for a thousand years, very much so on that land of promise, and Abraham will receive that land, and for a thousand years, Christ is going to rule and reign from Jerusalem, and the whole earth will be subject unto Christ. There'll be a great thousand years, but more important than that, that'll be finished, then God creates a new heaven, new earth, where heavenly Jerusalem descends on that new earth. And that is really the focus points of Abraham, and that should be our focal points on this life. Not the city of the Sunshine Coast, and not the city of Sydney, or the city of Brisbane, but the city that God has prepared for us. He is the maker, and it's prepared for us. Jesus Christ says he's gone to prepare a place for us. And so I just wanna show you these connections here, and of course, the physical people of Israel will eventually take that land during the Old Testament days and all of that, but I just wanna show you that there was a greater land, there's a greater city that we're looking forward to, and I'm personally looking forward to, that new heaven and new earth, and the heavenly Jerusalem. Verse number six, sorry, back to Acts seven. Acts seven, verse number six. And God spake on this wise, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil 400 years. So this was God's plan, that they would be taken into Egypt. Of course, their 400 years, the generations that were born into Egypt through Joseph, and then it says here in 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, and so Abraham begat Isaac and circumcised him, the eighth day, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat the 12 patriarchs. And of course, the circumcision there, the outward circumcision is an object lesson of the circumcision of the hearts. Abraham was circumcised in the heart, he was a believer, long before he had any physical circumcision. So now we continue this story about Joseph. So again, Stephen's given this feedback, this so far, there's nothing really that, you know, the high priest, or the Pharisees, or these people can accuse him of. He just, he's given them just a lesson of history of the past, right? Of their ancestors, you know? And that this land was promised to them through Abraham. Well look, let's continue there in verse number nine. It says here, and the patriarchs moved with envy, the patriarchs there is a reference to Joseph and his brothers, okay? The 12 brothers, the 12 tribes of Israel. And the patriarchs moved with envy, sowed Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom, the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. I mean, obviously the story of Joseph is very amazing. For him to start as a slave, being sold into Egypt, and somehow he becomes the second most powerful man of the whole land, of Egypt. Like that's pretty intense, that's crazy. So how did that happen? Well the Bible says God was with him. And so, you know, just something I want you to take out of this is, I don't think any of you guys have been sold into slavery. I mean, maybe your family don't like you, all right? Maybe you feel a bit betrayed by family members or whatever for your faith, but at least you've not been sold into slavery, okay? And here's the promise that with God with us, that we can rise and do some great things for him. You know, and this is Joseph, like he had a bad life, it's a pretty bad life, to be stripped away from a family, your dad being told that you were killed by wild animals, thinking that you're dead, and then God was with him and rose him into power and prestige there in Egypt. Verse number 11. Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers found no substance. And when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren, and Joseph's kindred was made known and to Pharaoh, then sent Joseph and called his father, Jacob, to him, and all his kindred, preschool and 15 souls. So Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, and were carried over into Sychem and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Amor, the father of Sychem. All right, so just one quick lesson that I want to take out of this, of course, very famous passage in Romans 828. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. I don't preach a lot about this verse, I don't preach a lot. Like, growing up in church over the years, different churches, this is a passage that kept coming up over and over and over and over again. And I think I've heard it that often, that I just thought, I'm not gonna preach it that often But it's a great promise. Like all things, can all things in my life work together for good to them that love God? And I better love God. But I want all things to work together for good. But if you're sold into slavery, like of course you're wondering what good can come out of this? You know, whenever there's dramas, whenever there's problems, and you know, I can choose or you can choose to either dwell in the problems, dwell in the negativity, or say something good will come out of this. Man, it changes your life when you're able to hold on to this promise. You know, whenever something bad happens, of course, I'm a normal human being like you, of course I get sad and I feel sorrow and hurt and pain. But at some point, you gotta determine, do I stay in this negativity? Or do I accept this great truth that all things, even this negative thing, something good will come out of this? That's God's promise to me. I better love him. I better love my Lord. I better do what he's asked of me, right? If you love me, keep my commandments, said Jesus Christ. You know, when we get discouraged, that's not the time to quit on God. That's not the time to quit following his word. That's a time to just do what he's asked us to do and tell him that you love him and say, Lord, I can't wait for the good to come out of this situation. So this is a great sermon, right? That Stephen is preaching to these, you know, the high priest and those people that hate him, the false witnesses and all these people that have turned against him. He's not saying anything controversial at this point in time, is he? He's just laying out the facts of their ancestors. Then he continues about Moses. And actually, most of this is about Moses. Most of this chapter is about Moses. So verse number 17 begins with his early life, Moses' early life. Verse number 17 says, but when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtle, subtle, subtlety, can someone say it for me? Subtly, thank you, okay. The same dealt subtly with our kindred and evil and treated our fathers so that they were cast, sorry, so that they cast out the young children to the end they might not live. Okay, so we realize that when there's a wicked government, a wicked president or a wicked Pharaoh in power, they merely just want to kill kids. And the fact that Australia's still killing babies in the mother's womb, abortions, tells us the state of our nation before the eyes of God. It's a wicked nation. It's a wicked government, wicked policies, wicked laws that allow mothers to kill their unborn babies where they should be most protected in the mother's womb. But these things, there's nothing new under the sun, these things play out, right? And verse number 20 says, in which time Moses was born and was exceeding fair and nourished up in his father's house three months. His mom looks at Moses and she goes, he's too beautiful. Like any mother, any mother has a child. This is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. The rest of us are like, oh, I don't know. When babies are just born, like they're kind of wrinkly, right? But mothers think they're beautiful. Anyway, Moses' mother thought, what a beautiful child. And she's like, I'm not gonna kill this child, right? So she hides him for three months. Verse number 21, and when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned, this is so important, this is an important part that again, information that you don't get anywhere else in the Bible. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. So Moses got the best education that you could get on the earth at that time, okay? Egypt's education, teachers, he got all of that wisdom of the Egyptians. What else did we learn about Moses? And was mighty in words and in deeds. This tells us Moses was a powerful speaker. Think about that for a minute. If you know the story of Moses, not just what he spoke, but in deeds, he was well known. Like, I don't know, we don't know exactly what he did over the kingdom, but like he was accomplishing great things in Egypt, speaking great words, probably a great politician, right? I mean, he's the grandson of Pharaoh in many ways, the adopted grandson of Pharaoh. So he's got great education, great wisdom, great speech, okay, and great works that followed him while he was in Egypt. Now, this is what's funny, because if you keep your finger there, come with me to Exodus chapter four, Exodus chapter four, please, Exodus chapter four, Exodus chapter four, because I've heard bad teaching about Moses as well, right? That's why Acts seven is so important. Stephen, fool of the Holy Ghost, is filling in some gaps of information of the history of these forefathers. But in Exodus four, we're looking at when God caused Moses to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. Acts four, 10 says, and Moses said unto the Lord, oh my Lord, I am not eloquent. Neither hitherto for, for since there has spoken unto thy servants, but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. Now, if you just read the book of Exodus, you're gonna think, oh man, yeah, he can't speak. He must have like a stuttering problem, right? He's like this timid guy. I feel bad for him. God's asking him to this great work and the guy's like, I can't even speak. But actually when you look at Acts seven, Moses is lying to God, isn't he? The Bible says, no, he was mighty in words. This guy's a great preacher. This guy's a great speaker, okay? He's a perfect candidate. The skills that he's developed in Egypt, God's gonna use what Egypt has given him as a weapon against the Egyptians, right? To convince Pharaoh to let the people of God to go, right? But I just wanna show you that because when you read Exodus, you really think that, like, man, I feel bad for him. But actually he's lying. Like he's got skills, he's got wisdom, he's got abilities, okay? He's well known for his deeds, his mighty deeds. But look how God responds in Exodus 4.11. And the Lord said unto him, who have made man's mouth or who maketh the dumb or death or the seen or the blind have not I the Lord? Now therefore go and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say. Now, of course, the Lord's not lying. The Lord's speaking great truth there. What I like about this when you compare it, once again, you see Moses lying. He's discouraged, he doesn't want the ministry anymore. Like it was his ministry. He knew that he was gonna be used by God to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. But what I like about this is that even a man who has the wisdom of the world, even a man who's able to do great deeds and speak great words, when God is using him, he better pay attention to what God is teaching him. You can either go out with the wisdom the world's given you, the great speeches that can come from your mouth, or what's better and what is right is to rely on God being with your mouth. Because this shows me the difference between where man can take pride of his self-achievements or take down the pride and say, it doesn't matter what I've learned in the world, it doesn't matter how successful I am in the flesh, I still need God to be with my mouth. I still need God to teach me the words that I need to speak. Can you come with me to Hebrews 11? Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11, verse number 24. Hebrews 11, 24. It says, by faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteem in the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. So we learned something else about Moses. Not only was he greatly educated, great words, great deeds, he was offered all the treasures of Egypt. He could have been a very wealthy, I'm sure he was wealthy growing up under Pharaoh's household, right? He had everything available to him. He had the world, like everything the world offers was offered to Moses. Somewhere in his journey, he said, I'd rather suffer with Christ. That's what it says. Suffer affliction with the people of God, esteem in the reproach of Christ greater. Did Moses know Christ? Yes. Salvation has always been through Jesus Christ. I don't know the exact story. Maybe his own life he saw as a reflection of Christ. I remember when Christ had to go into Egypt because Herod was trying to kill the children. It's very similar to his story. You know, when God speaks of the Egyptians coming out of Egypt, God speaks of his son that came out of Egypt and that being a reference to Jesus. So as Moses is leading, I should say, the children of Israel to Exodus out of Egypt, leaving Egypt, that's an object lesson of Christ coming out of Egypt and settling in Nazareth. Somehow, I don't know at all, I can't tell you, but somehow Moses knew much more than we realize. And I guess his life and his situation, the events playing out, showed him what would play out in the future when Christ would come and suffer for him. He says, I'd rather suffer with Christ. I'd rather be rewarded with Christ than be rewarded by the world. That's a great decision that he made. All right? So we know where his heart is. And what this means is, if you come back with me to Acts 7, I just wanted to explain to you, is that he knew, he knew, which we'll soon see, that his job, that God had given him a ministry, and his ministry was to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. He knew this was why he lived. This is why he was one of the children that did not die by the hands of the Egyptians. Why his life was preserved. He knew why he got an education. He knew why he could speak great words. He knew why he was accomplishing great deeds. He knows, man, God's gonna use me one day to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. And you'll soon see this here as we continue in Acts 7. Acts 7, verse number 23. And when he was full, 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. So he's 40 years in Egypt, and that 40 years, he goes, you know what? I wanna suffer with Christ. I wanna go and see my real brethren, okay? The Israelites that are suffering here. Verse number 24. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed and smelt the Egyptian. Now look at verse number 25, this is so important. For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not. He goes to the Israelites when he delivers them and helps that guy from being attacked by the Egyptian, kills the Egyptian, hides the evidence. He's thinking that all the Israelites should be aware that God's gonna use me to deliver you. But the Israelites are like, we don't know that. And this shows us some really great and interesting things about, like if there's a man here that wants to serve God, that wants to get into ministry, and maybe you know it. Maybe you know God has a plan for me one day to get into ministry, okay? It's a good thing to say, you know what? Instead of chasing the world, I'm gonna do something great for the kingdom of God. I'm gonna be used by God to lead a congregation. Remember Moses was leading as the pastor of the church in the wilderness. Maybe that's in your heart. Maybe God is preparing you for this. Maybe the experiences like Moses, the wisdom, the things that you've gone through in life is opening the door. God's training you to be ready to step into ministry one day. And you're like, I know this, but why doesn't anyone else know this? Be patient, is what I'm trying to tell you here, because God would not use Moses at 40 years old. God would use Moses at 80 years old to do the work that he had set him up for. You know, I don't wanna throw myself and be this hero, but man, when I was working my old job and I was traveling to Melbourne and to Brisbane and to Auckland and to Perth and I'd leave my family and then I had to go to Japan and Thailand and Singapore. I'm like, God, why are you doing this? Why are you making me travel? Why are you giving me teams to look after? You know, I've got to organize over here and over there and I've got to go here and there. Why Lord, why are you making my life so hard? All I'm saying, I'm not trying to be a hero. I'm just saying, you know, the experiences, the knowledge, the wisdom that God gives you. You know, if God is preparing you for a work in the ministry, he's gonna utilize the things that you've learned before. It's not a surprise to me that there's blessed Baptist Church and in Sydney and I'm pastoring that church. It's no surprise to me that I've been asked if I can help out there in Port Macquarie to lead another church. I don't really want to, to be honest with you, right? But God gives you skills and experiences over the years and you don't even realize at what point God will take all those experiences and utilize you in the ministry. So I just say that out there because you might hate your job and you might be frustrated about what you're doing and why you're doing what you're doing. Don't be surprised if God is gonna use, is training you right now, right? Use what you're learning right now. You know, when you're 40 years old or 80 years old, whatever it is where God might say, okay, you've learned what you need to learn. Now you're ready to be used in the ministry. You never know. But you require patience. Because Moses is trying to force it to happen at 40 years old for the people who are not ready. And God was not ready. Look at verse number 26. And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove. There was two Israelites fighting. And would have set them at one again, saying, sirs, yeah, brethren, why do you wrong one to another? So he steps into a fight that doesn't belong to him an issue, right? He's trying to be a judge. Guys, why are you fighting? Like you're Israelites, you're supposed to be brethren. All right, he's trying to make peace. Verse number 27, but he that did his neighbor wrong, thrust him away saying, who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Jesus Christ has very similar words when a man comes about the inheritance issues, right? It's true. People get involved in dramas that do not belong to them. He goes in verse number 28, will thou kill me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. So he tried to hide the evidence that he killed an Egyptian, right? But he was found out. People had seen him do it. And now he's like a fugitive. He runs away, okay? Because he killed an Egyptian. That's not, you know, you know, vigilante behavior is not something we're meant to do, all right? I mean, if that Egyptian was doing something wrong, he should be arrested, taken through whatever court proceedings that were in Egypt in those days and be judged. But Moses decided to judge the situation himself two times, and he was wrong to do it. He knew that God was preparing him. He knew he had to get into the work one day, but it wasn't time. So he flees. Now I'm going to read to you very quickly from Psalm 62 verse number five. My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be moved. My soul, wait thou only upon God. You know, the Bible often speaks about waiting on the Lord. I want to reinforce today, the lesson we can take out of this is, your timing is definitely not God's timing. It just is. And I've learned that over the years. What I want to happen now, or two years from now, God turns it upside down all the time. He's got his own plans. But God's way is always better. You know, let's say you're 40 years old. You say, pastor, I really want to become a pastor one day. I want to start a church one day. Praise God. We don't need to rush. We wait upon the Lord. And if I have to ordain you at 80 years old, like we'll do it at 80 years old. Whenever the Lord says it's time, that's when it's time. There's no rush. Okay? Learn what you need to learn during this time that God is preparing you. And Lord willing, one day, God will use you mightily as a pastor. But verse number 30. And when 40 years were expired. So again, Moses spent 40 years in Egypt. Great riches, great education. Okay? And now 40 years hiding. Okay? He got married, had kids, right? During that time. So now he's 80 years old. And when 40 years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sights. And 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 and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled and durst not behold. Then said the Lord to him, pulled off thy shoes from thy feet for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people, which is in Egypt. And I have heard they're grown in and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. Now were the Egyptians suffering before this? Yeah, they were really suffering, weren't they? The children were being put to death. Sometimes in the ministry you might think, but Lord, there's a need right now. I need to go now. And God might be saying, not yet, 40 more years. Or whatever it is, right? 10 more years, five more years. You know, we look at things sometimes and we go, it's gotta be now. I wanna encourage you brethren is wait upon the Lord. Whatever it is, there are other areas of your life, right? People that have no interest in being pastors. I understand that's not for everybody. But there are certain things you want in life probably now, but we want that new house or that new car or that job or that whatever it is. You know what you do? You wait upon the Lord, you prepare, you study, right? You, whatever skills God can use and teach you until you're ready, get busy, but you wait upon the Lord, right? Waiting for the Lord to say, now it's time to go into Egypt. Now it's time to deliver these people from this place. Verse number 35, now we have the Exodus. So you can see it's a lot about Moses here. So we know that he goes into Egypt. He pretends that he can't speak. God says, I'm gonna be with you. Moses is still like, I don't wanna do it. God gets mad at him, but allows Aaron to go with him, his brother. I mean, God's merciful. I don't know why Moses is trying to lie to God. I can't speak. I don't know. Boy, God will use whatever you've got. God can use you in a mighty way, but God is merciful as well. And verse number 35, this Moses whom they refused, saying, who made thee a ruler and a judge? So 40 years ago, they refused him, right? No, you're not gonna deliver us. Like, who do you think you are? Are you gonna kill us as well? I mean, he gets criticized that as well. When he takes him into the wilderness, they're also saying to him, are you gonna kill us here in the wilderness? Did you bring us out here to die? We were better off in Egypt. But anyway, that's something that kept being thrown at Moses over the years. Out of the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel, which appeared to him in the bush. All right, so God now has made him a ruler and a deliverer. God has now appointed him to this position of authority over the children of Israel, okay? He was trying to do it before his time, but now God says it's time. Verse number 36, he brought them out. After that, he had showed wonders and signs in 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 your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me, him shall ye hear. Now Stephen's starting to get to the point. He's gone with Abraham, talking about Joseph, about Moses. And so far, there's nothing they can disagree with. But now he says, remember when Moses said that there'll be a prophet raised up like him? Now he's trying to draw their attention to Jesus, right? Verse number 38, this is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spoke to him in the Mount Sinai and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us. So I just wanna show you that there in verse number 38, the Old Testament Israelites in the wilderness were a church. Okay, this whole, now it's a church age. It's always been a church. There's always been a church, okay? When God's people come together, they're assembled together and God has appointed, they're a leader like Moses. He says that is a church. So, you know, has the church replaced Israel? Well, believe in Israel was already the church, right? Like it's inclusive. Obviously when we're in the church of the first born in heaven, Moses is gonna be there. Abraham is gonna be there. David's gonna be there. Joseph is gonna be there. Callum is gonna be there. Michael is gonna be there. I'm gonna be there for sure, right? Because God is inclusive of all who have put their faith and trust in Jesus. I've lost my spot. 39, oh, before 39, who received the lively oracles to give unto us. So that's the job of a preacher to give the lively oracles of God, preaching God's word to his people. Verse number 39, to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt. In their hearts, they said, we wanna go back to Egypt, right? We don't wanna die here in the wilderness, Moses. Again, now Stephen's getting to the point here. Our father's rebelled against God's men, against God's prophet. So obviously he's going to liken the rebellion to these people that have arrested him, right? Made his false accusations. He's going to liken them. Like he started with this great message, this great man of God. Maybe the high priest is gonna be like, oh, he's gonna compare me to Abraham and Joseph. And now he's like, now let me tell you about the rebellion. Let me tell you about our stiff-necked fathers. He starts to really get fired up now in his sermon, right? Verse number 40, saying unto Aaron, make us gods to go before us. And as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we were not what is become of him. That's because he was in Mount Sinai collecting the 10 commandments. So they're like, where is Moses? He's disappeared. Can you make us a golden calf? Verse number 41, 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 not just a plain words. They rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Again, works-based gospels, right? Works, religion, being made right with God, a golden calf for the works of their hands. Look what we've done. Look what we've accomplished. Now salvation is by faith with that works. Verse number 42, then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven. As it is written in the book of the prophet, so your house of Israel, have you offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices, but the space of 40 years in the wilderness? Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your God, Remphan, figures which you made to worship them. And I will carry your way beyond Babylon. So we're fast forward into, you know, history of the children of Israel. And it says, look, I've been your God, I've delivered you. I've given you the lively oracles. I've used great men, you know, to offer you deliverance. Instead, these Jews, they started to worship false gods. Instead of worshiping the tabernacle of God, they'd rather the tabernacle of Moloch, the star of your God, Remphan. I've heard it said, I mean, I don't know. People say that the star of David and the flag of Israel is the star of Remphan. I don't know. Years ago, I looked into it. Someone said to me, the star on the flag of Israel, that's the star of Remphan. I looked into it. I did a lot of study, a lot of research. I'm not saying it's not, but it's not, it's not like factually true. At least at this, like it's more of a hypothesis. It could be, but the star of David is, I'm not that I think the star of David's anything great, but I'm just saying that it's sort of a modern addition associated with the Jews. I think even as early as like the 1600s or 1700s or something like that, okay? So I've heard that said quite often, actually. The star of David is the star of Remphan. I mean, if you go to Google and type that in, it'll come up. Like it'll come up with a star of the occult, and then there'll be like text that says star of Remphan, but that's just someone that put text on it. Like it's not an archeological or historical fact. I'm just saying that to you because, the church is the pillar and the ground of the truth. And I wanna be careful with fables, either way. Fables that either give glory to the Jews or fables that diminish who they are or whatever. I just wanna avoid fables, it could be. I guess it's in the realm of possibilities, but I'm just trying to, again, when I went back, going back maybe 10 years ago, when I first heard about these things, I couldn't confirm if that's actually factually true, but it could be, it could be. The point is the Jews would rather follow a false religion than the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and Moses. And again, this is the point that Stephen is trying to get to. He's trying to drive like who are these people that have rejected Christ? Who are these people that have arrested him? Who are these people that are persecuting the church of God in the New Testament? Are you like our forefathers, the great men of God? Or you like these rebellious people that rather have the heart in Egypt and would rather worship Moloch and Ramphan rather than the God of the Bible. Verse number 44. Oh, by the way, at the end of verse number 43, and I will carry away beyond Babylon that of course took place with the southern king of Judah, when Nebuchadnezzar came in, destroyed the house of God and they were taken into captivity for 70 years. Verse number 44. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen, which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles. So now he brings up Jesus, see there? Whom God drove out before the face of our fathers unto the days of David, who found favor before God and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob, but Solomon built him a house. Here we're talking about the tabernacle in the house, which is the temple. You know, the tabernacle and the temple were known as the house of God in the Old Testament. It says in verse number 48, howbeit the most high dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. What house will you build me? Save the Lord. Or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Like God's like, what house can a man build that will contain me? You know, I'm in heaven, my feet are on the earth, it's my footstool. Like obviously a physical building cannot contain God. But it still allows his people to do that, okay? And of course, God would use these Old Testament practices as object lessons of a greater spiritual truth. And I won't get into turn there, I'll just quickly read to you in 2 Corinthians 6, 16, which says, in what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. So when we read about the temple and the tabernacle, about the Old Testament, I want you to start thinking about the New Testament, the light of the New Testament, how these are lessons that we are the temple of God, right? And over the years of Jewish history, they defiled the temple, right? They took out the glory and the riches of the temple, and they gave it to the world sometimes. And we need to be careful about the temple of our body. You know, this should be a holy place. This should be a place that is clean, you know? And I know we're all sinners, but you know, when people profane the temple in the Old Testament, that's like kind of when we get into bad things, bad habits, sins that affect our lives. And when that happens, we need to remind ourselves, let's clean up this temple, God lives within us, ask God for forgiveness, hoping to clean us from the inside out, remembering that God dwells within us. Like what a blessing, what a privilege that we have here in the New Testament. The Bible also says in 1 Timothy 3.15, but if I tarry long, thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God. Say, what is the house of God in the New Testament? Which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Church is important. New Life Baptist Church is important. While we are individually the temple of God, dwells in each one of us, we still are required to come to his house. You know, we're not looking at this building. I wish I could, God doesn't care about the building, care about the temple, right? But when we gather together, brethren, this is the house of God. We need to make sure that New Life Baptist Church is the pillar and ground of the truth. That's what the tabernacle was supposed to be. That's what the Old Testament temple was supposed to be. And that is what New Life Baptist Church should be, the pillar and the ground of the truth. Let's continue in verse 51, Acts 7.51. Thank you for your patience. Ye stiff-necked, now he gets into it, right? He's speaking to those that have arrested him. Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. See, a believer is someone that is circumcised in the heart. What is he saying? You are unbelievers. He says, you do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. Is it possible to resist the Holy Ghost? Yep, always. And these people that arrested Stephen did that same thing. Now, I don't have time to go into Calvinism, but very quickly, one of the tenants of Calvinism or Reformed theology is irresistible grace. So you did not choose to get saved, did you know that? You did not make a decision to put your faith on the Lord. God gave you the faith and it was just too irresistible. The Holy Spirit worked in you. Just, you just couldn't help it. You just, woo, it just happened. I just, you just cannot resist the Holy Ghost and he saves you before you're even able to believe on Christ. That's Calvinism, Reformed theology. No, the Holy Ghost can be resisted. And as we're going, we preach the gospel and we give someone the full message of the good news of Jesus Christ and we say, hey, do you wanna trust Christ as your Savior right now? I don't want to right now. So sad, right? When you get through the whole presentation and you're like excited, now just put your trust on Christ. That's all, ah, I need more time. That person's resisting the Holy Ghost. Resisting, meaning the Holy Spirit is trying to work in him, right? You're planting seeds of God's word in his heart. Like there's a change happening, spiritual, the spiritual battle that's taking place, this warfare and they're trying to win that soul and he says, no, I'd rather be stiff-necked like the Jews of old. Verse 152, which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? He says, you and all your fathers have, which prophet have you not persecuted? You hate all of God's prophets, is what he's saying. And they have slain them, which show before of the coming of the just one of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers. You see these prophets of old, they've been talking about the coming of the just one, which is Jesus Christ. The prophets of old have always prophesied about Christ because then you now have betrayed and murdered that just one, like you're worse. Verse 153, who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it, and when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth. You know, if it was social media, they'd jump on Facebook and start posting, ah! Let's attack Stephen! They can't handle it. They can't handle the words of a spirit-filled man. Holy Ghost is using him. Verse number 55, 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. What a vision, that's amazing. Like Stephen's done so well that God gives him a vision and now he sees heaven. I mean, obviously God's encouraging him. Like Stephen's gonna be there soon, right? Like not long. It's like the heavens open up to receive Stephen because he's gonna be killed and he sees Jesus. Like what? That's beautiful. I don't know, that's just so amazing. I wonder if we're gonna experience something like that. Who knows some great persecution of God and being close to death and God just gives you just a, who knows, I don't know. Just something special, right? To see and go like, you know, I'm ready to go. I can't wait! Just like Abraham, who cares about this earth? I'm just a sojourner, I'm just passing through. I can't wait to be home with God in heaven. And then it says here in verse number 57, and they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord. So they start yelling, they don't wanna hear him. They close their ears, ah, don't let him talk. We don't wanna hear him. They start running toward him. I forgot to put in my notes here, but you know the Jews were not allowed to kill anybody. They had to get permission by the Romans. That's why they had to take Jesus to Pilate. Okay, Pilate, can you crucify him? Can you kill him? They do something really against the law, right? Not just against the law of God, but against the law of the land, which is Roman Empire there, okay? And verse 158, they cast him out of the city and stoned him and the witness laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul. So they stoned him to death. What a way to go. Innocent, completely innocent. And the people that stoned him take their coats off or whatever, and they lay it at the feet of a young man named Saul. Now this Saul will become the apostle Paul, okay? Now, this doesn't really tell us that Saul instigated this issue or anything like that, but the fact that they're bringing their clothes and laying it at his feet signifies that Saul is somewhat of an authority at this point in time. Like, oh, so look after this, we're gonna go and stone him. He doesn't stop them. He doesn't stop them. He just allows them to go and kill Stephen. Verse 159, and they stoned Stephen calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Great words. And he 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. He died. But believers, we truly never die. We just fall asleep. One day God's going to bring that body, right? Bring it back from the dead, new resurrected body, and we'll be awake again, right? On this earth. But the final words of Stephen are, as you could probably know, very similar to the final words of Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ says, you know, forgive them for knowing not what they do. You know, Jesus Christ says also, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. You know, Stephen's saying the same things. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and lay not this sin to their charge. And when, like, what a way to go. Like, no desire for vengeance. Like, not trying to stand up and defend himself. Not, like, not afraid. You know, he's just ready to just, Jesus, I'm ready, man. Just take me now. What a great man Stephen was. I can make sense why he was chosen to be a deacon, a man full of the Holy Ghost. Well, the title for the sermon was Resisting the Holy Ghost. Stephen preached this great sermon, trying to tell them, look, the prophets of old were speaking about Jesus and you've rejected him too. You see, when you reject Jesus Christ, you're stiff-necked and uncircumcised in the heart. In order to be saved, we need to stop the stiff-neck, right, the pride, take down the pride. Say, Lord, I'm willing to believe on you. Please circumcise my heart. I'm putting my full trust on Christ alone. That should be the response. These people were cut at the heart and they should have said, yeah, you're right, Stephen. We messed up, what do we do? How can we make these things right? Instead, they end up killing. What a great man. A great man is preaching a great sermon. I'm sure Stephen would want nothing more to see some of these people get saved. But we know this plays a significant role in Saul's life, who does a great work for God in the future, there in the book of Acts. All right, brethren, let's pray.