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Alright, let's turn to our first song this evening. Let's do song 262. The light of the world is Jesus. Song 262. The light of the world is Jesus. There in the first. The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin. The light of the world is Jesus. Like sunshine at noonday his glory shone in. The light of the world is Jesus. Come to the light is shining for thee. Sweetly the light has dawned upon me. Once I was blind but now I can see. The light of the world is Jesus. No darkness have we who in Jesus abide. The light of the world is Jesus. We walk in the light when we follow our guide. The light of the world is Jesus. Come to the light is shining for thee. Sweetly the light has dawned upon me. Once I was blind but now I can see. The light of the world is Jesus. He dwellers in darkness with sin blinded eyes. The light of the world is Jesus. Go wash at his bidding and light will arise. The light of the world is Jesus. Come to the light is shining for thee. Sweetly the light has dawned upon me. Once I was blind but now I can see. The light of the world is Jesus. No need of the sunlight in heaven we're told. The light of the world is Jesus. The lamb is the light in the city of gold. The light of the world is Jesus. Come to the light is shining for thee. Sweetly the light has dawned upon me. Once I was blind but now I can see. The light of the world is Jesus. Good singing, Brother Jeffrey, would you lead us in prayer this evening, please? Yes. Dear Lord, I pray that you would still pass this day with your spirit, that you would help us in speaking of old sermons for us, that you would give us ear to ear, that we would give attention, that we would minimize distractions, that you would take what you apply, and we apply it for our daily lives. I pray this all in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Let's go to our second song. Let's go to 364. 364, standing on the promises. There in the beginning. Standing on the promises of Christ my King. Through eternal ages let his praises ring. Glory in the highest I will shout and sing. Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises that cannot fail when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail. By the living Word of God I shall prevail. Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord. Bound to him eternally by love's strong cord. Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword. Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises I cannot fall. Listening every moment to the Spirit's call. Resting in my Savior as my all in all. Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God. Thank you so much for coming. If you need a bulletin, they're on that back cabinet. I think I need to grab one myself. I think I'm missing one. On the inside we have our service times and our soul winning times. As well as salvations. Was there any salvations reported this last week that hadn't been put in the bulletin yet? Alright, and then for our memory passage we're starting a new one. Romans chapter number 8. A really good chapter of the Bible. And lots of verses there so start working now. Romans chapter number 8. And anybody that's at the age of 18 or under that can quote the Bible in reverse will receive an ice cream at the midweek service if they would like. On the right hand side we have our list of expecting mothers. Please be in prayer for all of them. Several of our ladies are pregnant and that's really exciting. Also this last week we had brother Blake Renkin. So that was a blessing for him to come out here. And brother John Carter. He's coming this Sunday from Stronghold Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. And Pastor Berzins is the pastor of that church and he's sending out brother Carter. He says he does a really good job for him and so really excited to have him come out here and preach. I know he's very excited and he was really wanting to come out. He said anytime so he was just like he was really excited to come out here. And so we're grateful to have him. Make sure to thank him for coming out here and be very hospitable unto him. Upcoming events we have the Texas, Oklahoma Easter marathon. And there should have been a sign up sheet. Was there a sign up sheet that you all had from Sunday? Okay great. So I'm going to try and get that all compiled. I think we had it pretty close and then make another video, put it on our websites and stuff. And then that way we can advertise all the different soul winning times that people are going to be leading. And so very exciting to have extra soul winning during that time. Also if there is any other prayer requests throughout the week you can always email those in. And so I think that's pretty much all I have for announcements at this time. Let's go ahead and go to our third song, 356. Just flip backwards. I Must Tell Jesus, 356. There in the first. I must tell Jesus all of my trials. I cannot bear these burdens alone. In my distress he kindly will help me. He ever loves and cares for his own. I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. I cannot bear my burdens alone. I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. Jesus can help me, Jesus alone. I must tell Jesus all of my troubles. He is a kind, compassionate friend. If I but ask him, he will deliver. Make of my troubles quickly an end. I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. I cannot bear my burdens alone. I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. Jesus can help me, Jesus alone. Tempted and tried, I need a great Savior. One who can help my burdens to bear. I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. He all my cares and sorrows will share. I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. I cannot bear my burdens alone. I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. Jesus can help me, Jesus alone. Oh, how the world to evil allures me. Oh, how my heart is tempted to sin. I must tell Jesus, and he will help me. Over the world, the victory to win. I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. I cannot bear my burdens alone. I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. Jesus can help me, Jesus alone. Very good singing. At this time, we'll pass our offering plate and turn our Bibles to Acts, chapter number 7. Acts, chapter number 7. Starting in verse number 1, the Bible reads, Then said the high priest, Are these things so? 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 Charon. And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and come unto the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he 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 he now dwelt. 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 possession and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. 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 four hundred years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God. And after that, shall they come forth and serve me in this place, and he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him, and delivered him out of all of his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he made him governor over Egypt, and all his house. Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt, and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers found no sustenance. But 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 unto Pharaoh, then sent Joseph and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. So Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, and were carried over into Sycam, and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham brought, for a sum of money of the sons of Emer, the father of Sycam. 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 subtly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. 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 in deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian. For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not. And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, your brethren, why do you wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying, and was stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord, and the flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. 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, Put 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 have heard their groaning, and have come down to deliver them, and now come. I will send thee into Egypt. This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? The same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of an angel, which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out. After that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years. This is that Moses which said unto the children of Israel, The prophet shall the Lord your 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 the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us, to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us. For as for this Moses which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we woe not what has become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye hosts of Israel, have ye offered to me slaying beasts, and sacrifice by the space of forty years in the wilderness? 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 way beyond Babylon. 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, and in the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers into the days of David, who found favor for God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him in house. 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 ye build me, saith the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest? Have not my hand made all these things? Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers. Who have received the law by the dispensation of angels, and have not kept it? When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing in the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing in the right hand of God. Then 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, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, 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. Let's start with a word of prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this evening. Thank you for our church. I pray that you would bless the preaching this evening, that we would all receive edification from your Holy Spirit, as we hear the word of God preached, and that you would bless us as we go on our way this week. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So we're in Acts chapter number 7 this evening, and Acts chapter number 7 is kind of starting out in the middle of a story that we left off in chapter number 6. Look at chapter number 6 at the very beginning, where we have verse number, let's back up a few verses. Let's look at verse number 11. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. So these people are mad at Stephen, the Jews and those that are not accepting him. It says there was a certain group of the synagogue in verse 9. Verse 12, And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and came upon him, and brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses, which said, This man seeth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say, That this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. So we start out chapter 7 with Stephen returning answer to these accusations. They made these accusations against Stephen. They're saying Stephen spoke in these blasphemous words against the Lord and against the customs of Moses, and he said that this Jesus, who he's preaching about, is going to destroy this place. Now all these things are true to some extent, and I kind of covered that in my last sermon, that some of the things that they're saying definitely have an element of truth, but it's not that he's speaking anything blasphemous. He's not speaking anything incorrectly. He's actually preaching what Jesus said. Jesus said that one stone would not be left upon another, and so Jesus is the one that's telling him that the place would be destroyed, and Jesus is the one that's instituting the New Testament, and with the New Testament there's going to be changes. The veil was rent and twain, and we see all kinds of different changes articulated to us very clearly throughout the New Testament, but they're obviously going through a little bit of transition where they're teaching and educating people on the New Testament customs, and because of this, the rulers of the synagogue, those Jews, they hate this teaching because they kill Jesus. They hate the Word of God, and so Stephen's going to have this great sermon here, and really he goes through a lot of history to kind of explain just generally what's happening and what the Jews have always been like. He says in verse 1, Now, what's interesting is whenever we read this passage, and I love this passage of Scripture because whenever you read this, it's like Stephen must have been reading the same Bible that I was reading because everything that he's saying is just found purely in Scripture. I mean, he doesn't bring up anything that we can't find directly found in Scripture. It's the same story. It's the same characters. It's the same outline. Just everything is exactly what we've already read in the Bible, and this story is no different, okay? If you keep your finger, go back to Genesis 11, and we're going to see that Stephen is starting out very close to the beginning of the Bible. He's starting out with Abraham, and it makes sense that he's going to start out with Abraham because he's kind of leading up to Moses and he's getting into that detail, and he's going to talk about the promise that was made to Abraham, and it says in Genesis chapter 11, look at the very end, verse 31, And they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan. And they came unto Haran and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran. So the Bible's telling us that Terah took Abram and his wife and Abram's nephew and Lot, and they went out and they left Ur of the Chaldees. Now, that is Mesopotamia in the New Testament, so it's the same place, just a different name. I remember playing Bible trivia one time, and they said, like, the question was, where did Abraham leave? You know, where did he first leave from? And I said, Ur of the Chaldees, and they were like, wrong, Mesopotamia. And I'm like, okay, well, that's the same thing, but, you know, whatever. But it was just funny how they were like, you're wrong. But that's just because the Bible talks about it in two different ways. And they left and they went to Haran. That's, you know, Quran in the New Testament. It's got the CH, and a CH in the New Testament typically is going to have like a K sound to it, like Christ, right? It's not like CH, it's K. So in the same way, it's not Charan, it's Quran, right? And it's not the Quran, okay? It's not the stupid book that's made for idiots. It's talking about a place, okay, Quran. And so they leave there, verse 12, verse 1. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing, and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that cursed thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So God promised unto Abraham to leave his hometown, go to a new place. He was going to make a great nation of him. And so that's where we get this formation of the nation of Israel anyways is from Abram, these promises made. So that's where Stephen starts out his story. If you go back to Acts, chapter number 7, look at verse 3. And he said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. So that's exactly what we just read in Genesis, chapter number 12. So Stephen's not making anything up here. Notice how he appeals straight to the Bible. And really, we can learn a lot of things from inference in this story. What are we learning? Well, if someone's going to ask you a question about God or the things about God or doctrine or whatever, what should you appeal to? You should appeal to Scripture. You should appeal to the Word of God. Notice that Stephen, when answering himself, goes straight to the Bible, and he starts quoting the Bible and giving very specific examples of the Bible. He's not making anything up of his own accord. He's not talking about his own personal experiences. He's not giving his own ideas. He's just going to go straight to the Word of God and start teaching the Word of God, okay? So we have here in verse 3, verse 4, Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Koran. So the Chaldeans, that would be Ur of the Chaldees, right? Because they were Chaldeans. He left there. They went to Koran. And then it says, And from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein he now dwelt. Now, we have to understand about Abraham. And this always confused me as a child because it would say, like, Abraham didn't go to the Promised Land or he didn't inherit the Promised Land. But what the Bible is helping, you know, sometimes as a kid you don't understand these things. There's a difference between, like, renting and owning, okay, right? If you rent a property, it's not yours even though you're living in it, okay? And the same thing is with Abraham. When he first travels into the Promised Land, he doesn't own any of the land. He's just a sojourner. He's just a traveler. So he's just dwelling there even though it's not his. It's not his possession. He doesn't own it. He doesn't have the inheritance of it. He's just a passing through, okay? So he is going to go into the Promised Land but it's not his. That's why it says in verse 5, 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 takes him to the Promised Land, he shows him the land, and he says, this is going to be yours and it's going to be your seeds. But he didn't actually give it to him yet, and Abraham didn't even have a child yet, okay? So basically God's just giving him these promises and so Abraham's just walking by faith. Now again, we have to think about what the word faith means. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Faith is when you believe something that God told you, okay? Faith is whenever the Bible makes a promise to you, tells you something, and you believe it. Faith according to the Bible is not you just making something up. You know, a lot of people, they kind of, they use the word faith for what would be a blind faith, okay? A blind faith is you just, I just think God wants to give me a red Corvette, you know? And it's like, where did you come up with that idea? I just believe it by faith, brother. And it's like, that's not faith. Because faith according, that's blind faith, okay? That's like an evolutionary faith. That's like a Big Bang faith where you have no idea, you can't see it, there's no science, there's no evidence, there's nothing. Nobody even said anything about it. You just believe it for just because, you know, just made up, your imaginary friend, right? That's not the Bible. The Bible is God's telling you something and then you have to trust in Him. You have to believe in Him. You're accepting His promise, you know? And we do this in all kinds of ways. You know, we put our faith in the pilot to take us to the destination. Why? Because He promised it to us. It's on your ticket. Your ticket literally has your destination printed on it. I mean, less people would fly if you walked up and you said, where are we going? He's like, I don't know. Well, I believe He's going to take me where I want to go. And it's like, you don't even know. Like, He didn't tell you, you're just hopping on a plane, you're just got, you're like, have you even flown before? He's like, no. And it's like, this is not the faith of the Bible, okay? The faith of the Bible is believing and trusting in what God promised. God told Abraham, go here, and then he went there. And then God told him, hey, this is going to be your land, and he believed it. And God told him that he was going to have a seed, and so he's believing it. But it's not because he's just coming up with his own ideas. He's just believing the things that God literally told him. Just like today, when we read the Bible and we decide to put our faith in what God told us. You know, when someone gets saved, they're doing the same thing. John 3.16. They read that and they decide, I want to believe that. Yeah, I'm going to put my faith in what God told me in this verse. People don't just get saved by just one day willing it. You know, they're just like, saved. I just think I'm saved. You know, a lot of people think that, but they're wrong. Okay, the real faith is when you believe what God told you and what God promised you today. And a lot of people will give lip service to this. Oh, I'm walking by faith today, brother. And it's like, what does that mean to them? It just means that they're going to just do whatever they want and they just believe God is just going to make it work out. That's what they're meaning by that, but that's not a biblical faith. A biblical faith is reading what God said and then saying, I'm going to do what God said and believe that's going to work out. The Bible says that thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. So walking by faith is not this ethereal concept. It's not a foreign idea. It's not something that's difficult to be grasped. It's a very simple concept. It's just difficult because people don't want to do it. And you say, why don't people want to do it? Well, first of all, they have to read the Bible in order to figure out where you're going to go. And if you don't read any of the Bible, then you have no idea. You can't even have faith if you don't read the Bible. You also can't have this. You can't be filled with the Spirit because the Spirit does not speak of himself, but he's going to bring things into remembrance and it's hard to bring something in remembrance that you never learned. If you want to be filled with the Spirit, let me tell you one prerequisite. You have to read the entire Bible because in order to be filled with the Spirit to the fullest capacity, you have to have given the Spirit the opportunity to remind you of everything in the Bible, of everything that Christ even commanded you. There are people that have never even read the Bible, yet they go around claiming they're filled with the Holy Spirit. That's not even possible. How can you even be filled with the Spirit? How can the Spirit remind you of things that Christ commanded you when you've never even read them? You've never even learned them a single time. It doesn't even make sense. God is a pragmatic God. What is pragmatic? It's very practical, very tangible. It's very easy to be understood. God just says, hey, do this and then you're supposed to do it. It's not something that's confusing. When we read in the Bible, when we read these great stories of these men, they're doing what God just clearly told them to do. When we read about the Hall of Faith or read about these people, they're just following God's promises and that's what faith really means. He says in verse number 6, And God spake on this wise, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil for hundred years. Now this is talking about Egypt. So not only do they sojourn in the promised land for a little bit, but his seed and specifically the children of Israel are going to go into Egypt eventually. It says in verse 7, In the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God, and after that shall they come forth and serve me in this place. So he's giving the promise of, The old guys are going to unfortunately go into a strange land, be in slavery, be in bondage, then I'm going to judge that nation and bring you back. He says in verse 8, So he's giving them a brief history summary. Abraham got the promise, and then Abraham got Isaac, Isaac got Jacob, Jacob was renamed Israel, and that's where you get the 12 tribes of Israel because it's literally his 12 sons that we have the entire nation of Israel divided into. And then it says in verse number 9, Now it's interesting to think about this. You know, when you're in the children of Israel or if you're the nation of Israel, your grandfather could be Issachar, or your grandfather could be Dan or Naphtali or Judah or Benjamin, or any of these guys, and Benjamin we'll leave out for half a second, but virtually all of them ended up being mad at Joseph and sold him in his slavery. You know, that's your grandpa, that's your lineage, is you're one of the people that resisted Joseph and rejected Joseph, wanted to even kill Joseph, sold Joseph into slavery, and then Joseph ends up going into the slavery. So you've got to think about your lineage. Your lineage had some problems already. Your lineage already had some issues in the fact that they rejected Joseph and God ended up using that in a positive way. But you can't forget the fact that they were resistant initially, weren't they? It says in verse number 10, And gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now there came a Dirth over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers found no sustenance. So he's basically explaining what happened. Well, they were living in the Promised Land, but then a Dirth came, which is just like a great famine, and it caused all of the children of Israel to look for food. And when we say the children of Israel, we're talking about the very literal children of Israel here. We're talking about the 12 kiddos and their families. We're talking about Naphtali the person. We're talking about Dan the person. They're hungry. They're looking for food. There's about 70 of them at this time as far as the 12 guys and their families. Obviously Joseph already in Egypt, but of the people that are still left in the Promised Land. And really what's great about this is this just gives you... We've never even learned the Bible. This is giving you a history lesson again or just what happens in the Bible. This is basically the whole story of the Bible as we're going through Genesis. And really the first book, Genesis itself, we haven't even gotten out of it yet. But Joseph ends up having his brethren come down unto him. That's what the Bible is going to teach here. It says in verse number 12, But 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 unto Pharaoh. Then sent Joseph and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred three score and fifteen souls. So it's 75 souls here. And again, every detail here is exactly what the Bible says. Because what happened? His brethren came into Egypt and Joseph recognized them, but they didn't recognize Joseph because they thought Joseph was dead or he was sold to slavery. They forgot about him, right? And Joseph kind of disguises himself. The Bible says he talked through an interpreter just to keep the charade going. And he wanted them to bring back the younger brother. He brings back Benjamin. He goes through all this charade. He ends up putting a silver cup in Benjamin's sack, and he kind of plays a trick on them. And as they head back, he has his men overtake them. They catch the silver cup, and he's going to take Benjamin back with them. Now I think in that story it's kind of interesting because it's like Joseph was thinking, okay, either my brethren are going to redeem themselves or I'm going to take Benjamin away from them so as to save Benjamin's life. Because I don't want the same thing that happened to me to happen to Benjamin. And so if they just were like, okay, fine, you can have Benjamin, then basically Rex used him, no harm, no foul. They're none the wiser at that point. But Judah ends up wanting to take his place, which is a picture of Jesus Christ wanting to take the place, right, because he's the lion of the tribe of Judah. And all these pictures are about Jesus Christ when you study this. But the second time, notice it said in verse 13, at the second time Joseph was made known as brethren. When they come back, though, then Joseph then reveals himself. He weeps. He can't hold himself back anymore because Judah is willing to take the place of Benjamin. And obviously it's just a very emotional thing for Joseph to go through. He reveals himself. He asks about his father, and they bring his father and all of their household back to Egypt. And Joseph basically preserves his entire family. Now it says in verse 15, so Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers. So all the children of Israel are now in the land of Egypt, just like God had already said they were going to go to a strange land. It says in verse 16, and were carried over to Sychem and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emma or the father of Sychem. 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 subtly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children. To the end they might not live. In which time Moses was born. Now basically the end of Jacob being buried is the end of the book of Genesis, and Exodus chapter number one, we've just started here, where Moses is being born, Pharaoh's killing the men children of the children of Israel, because they're multiplying and they're growing to be a greater company or number of people than the Egyptians themselves, and they're afraid. He says something like, well if we go to war they might join with the enemy, and then they'll overthrow us or something, so they have to justify to kill all the men children. Well Moses ends up getting delivered. Moses is raised, what does it say, for three months, it says in verse 20, 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. So what happens is they put Moses in a basket, they have him go down the Nile River, and Pharaoh's daughter is washing, finds the baby, has compassion on it, wants to raise it as her own son, and Moses I believe you know when you study just Hebrew, the name just means drawn from the water, which makes sense because he was baby drawn from the water, that's where he gets his name, Moses. And we even understand that Moses was still nursed by his own literal mother for a little bit longer, until he was weaned, and then he grew up in the house of Pharaoh, just as the Bible's telling us. And it says in verse 22, and Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds, and when he was full 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel, and seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian. For he supposed his brethren would have understood that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not. So what happens is, Moses you know has compassion on his brethren, he wants to help them, and at one point he literally sees two of his, or his brethren, I'm not sorry, before that, he sees an Egyptian smiting one of his fellow brethren, he ends up killing the Egyptian, burying him in the sand, and then it says in the next day, verse 26, the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, your brethren, why do you wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who may be a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. So what happens is, Moses is afraid because it's revealed or it's made known that he killed this Egyptian. He's afraid of Pharaoh, so he flees before the face of Pharaoh so he doesn't get killed by Pharaoh himself, and he just goes into the wilderness where he ends up marrying Zephora, and has a couple children, as the Bible tells us again here in verse number 29, Then fled Moses this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. Verse 30, And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, an angel of the Lord, and a flame of fire, and a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight, 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, Put 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 their groaning, and have come down to deliver them, and now come, I will send thee into Egypt. This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? 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. 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 forty years. This is that Moses which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the brethren your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me, him shall ye hear. Now what's really interesting about this passage, and really it's not necessarily this passage, but it's just the story, is there's so many types of Christ, there's so many pictures of Jesus Christ in the story, and you know when we take, when we look at this chapter, one of the things that we can do is we just kind of think about the Bible. You know when you just kind of think about the Bible, and you think about the storylines, and you think about all the things that are taking place, sometimes you can realize that there's greater symbols from the stories themselves. There's other pictures of Christ from just the big picture of the story, okay? And one that's really cool here, now he tells us very specifically that in verse 37, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me. So Moses literally even says that there's going to be a prophet in the future, and he's going to be like me, okay? And we know from studying the Bible, and studying other portions of scripture, and even the previous passages of Acts, that that prophet is Jesus Christ, okay? That prophet is specifically Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was even asked, art thou that prophet? Why would they ask such a question? Well because they were anticipating that prophet, because Moses had told them, okay? And they've gone through all these processes, and Stephen is just simply reminding them, hey, all those promises that were given to us, and all the things that we're waiting for, this is the fruition, these are the things to come. Now what's interesting about Moses, and it's not in one way, it's in literally hundreds of ways, Moses symbolizes Jesus Christ, okay? Tons and tons of ways, and they overlap even. There's not one singular event. But what's cool is this story specifically, that just the little check sections that's being plugged out, picture Jesus Christ in a very unique way, okay? Now let's think about how it would picture Christ, okay? Let's think about what happens with Moses. Moses is trying to rule over his brethren, he's trying to judge his brethren, right? There's two of them striving together, and they make this proclamation, verse 27, who made thee a ruler and a judge over us, right? So these guys are kind of rejecting Moses, they're refusing him, it says in verse 30, this Moses whom they refused, okay? Now keep that in mind, go to Matthew chapter 21, go to Matthew chapter number 21. Now think about this, isn't that exactly what happens with Jesus, too? Isn't when Jesus comes, but he came unto his own, and his own received him not, is what the Bible teaches. So his own brethren, the Jews, they also refused Jesus Christ, okay, initially. Look what it says in Matthew 21, and look at verse 23. And when he was coming to the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him, as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority? Now isn't that a similar question to the idea of who made thee a ruler, right? Because if you're a ruler, you have what? Authority, right? Jesus Christ was clearly exercising authority when he was on this earth. I mean, he forgave sin, and he was making it clear unto them that, you know, God allowed him to forgive sin as an evidence of what? The fact that he's God. He's God manifest in the flesh. That God had given him the power, he'd given the Son of Man the power to forgive sin. And so they're asking Jesus how he got this power. You know, how is he casting out devils? How is he performing miracles? How is he healing people? How is he forgiving sin? How is he doing all these things? Who's giving you this authority? Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us, right? It's the same question, but here's the thing. They're not interested in the answer, because he's going to tell them in verse 24, And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it, from heaven or men? So you ask them a question, hey, I'll tell you guys, but wait a minute, in order for me to answer, I'm going to have you answer me a question first. The baptism of John, was it of heaven or of men? They end up not being able to answer, and so he ends up not telling them by what authority he did. But you have to think about this. Moses' first coming, they rejected him. Jesus Christ's first coming, what did they do? They rejected him, okay? Now what happens? When Moses comes back, what happens? Well, it tells us in verse 35, This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? The same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer. Okay, so it's like, hey, when he comes back the second time, he's a ruler, okay? And you have to think about this. When Jesus Christ returns, guess what? He's not the Savior coming alone, he's the ruler now. He's the one in charge. He's going to rule and reign for a thousand years, okay? But think about this also. When Moses came back, okay, what's the first thing that happens when he comes back? Doesn't he judge Egypt very harshly the first time he comes back? What happens? I mean, you have the ten plagues, right? You have the horrible things. You have the frogs and the lice and the locusts, and you have all these horrible plagues that are being put out on Egypt. Well, guess what happens when Jesus Christ returns the first thing that happens? The plagues, the same things, the seven vile trumpets are going to come. Go if you would to Revelation, chapter number 6. Go to Revelation, chapter number 6. Why? Because he's the same as Moses. You know, Moses, when you think about it, it's not that Jesus Christ is repeating Moses, it's that Moses is foreshadowing Christ, okay? This is what you have to understand. Everything is about Jesus Christ, and all the things that they're doing in the beginning, they're just picturing what Christ will do, because it's all about Jesus Christ, and it's all about his life and all the things that he's going to accomplish. So it's not that Jesus is copying Moses. Moses is copying Jesus, but beforehand. He's a foreshadowing of what is going to come. But in Revelation, chapter number 6, we have the return of Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly tells us, look at chapter number 6 and look at verse number... Let's start in verse number 13. Or let's do chapter 12. And behold, when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became his blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth their untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And heaven departed as a scroll, when it was rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hit themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? So Jesus Christ has come in the clouds. That's at the opening of the sixth seal. And there was seven seals. And what you have to understand about the end times is when he opens the seventh seal, the seventh seal has seven components to it. So it's two sevens there, okay? It's the seven vile judgments. It's not like another seven seals, though. It's one seal that's going to open up the last seven vile judgments. It says in verse one of chapter seven, And after these things I saw four angels standing in the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel sending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God and their foreheads. Now, they end up sealing the 144,000, and I'm going to skip that for just a second. But notice that before they do what? They hurt the earth and the sea. So there's going to be a lot of damage happening to the earth and the sea after this, okay? They seal the 144,000. Then look at verse number eight. And when he'd opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And that's just because of how horrifying the seventh seal is going to actually end up being. Look at verse two. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and then were given seven trumpets. So the seventh seal contains seven trumpets. Another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer, and there was given unto much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne, and the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. The angel took the censer and filled it with fire of the altar and cast it into the earth, and there were voices and thunderings and lightnings in an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets would pray themselves a sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth, and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. Now this is similar to Egypt. Egypt literally has hail and fire mingled with blood. I mean, it has the exact same events. It has the earth being burnt up. It has the green grass being destroyed, okay? Verse number eight in the second angel sounded, and it was a great mountain burning with fire cast on the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood. Remember when the Nile turned into blood with Moses? That's also happening exactly the same as it's happening here, and it says in the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died, and the third part of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven burning as it were a lamp, and fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters, and the name of the stars called wormwood, and the third part of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, so as the third part of them was darkened and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. So not only that, you even have an extended period of darkness. Now, darkness was one of the last plagues left out. The Bible said it was so dark you could feel it. That's dark when you can feel darkness. Okay, that's intense, that's extreme. It says, And I beheld an angel, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice, Whoa, whoa, whoa, to the inhabiters of the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound. Now, that's crazy. This is already horrible. And then he's saying, like, you haven't seen nothing yet. He's saying, like, it's way worse. Verse one of chapter nine. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. Now you have locusts from hell coming out, and they have, like, a scorpion tail, and they have hairlike women, and I think they have teeth like lions. It describes them. It says in verse five. And to them was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months, and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he strike of the man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it. And so the sire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared in the battle, and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men, and they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions, and they had breastplates as it were breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle, and they had tails like unto scorpions, and their stings were in their tails, and their power was to hurt men five months. I mean, this is incredible. Another thing you have to notice is that, you know, some people get mad about the idea that men are supposed to have short hair and women are supposed to have long hair, but then how else do you interpret this verse when it says they had the hair of women, if it's the same, right? If men and women have the same hair, why does it say the hair of women with the faces of men? It's saying their face is like fierce looking, but then they're like Fabio, okay? They have a girly hair or whatever. It's like these Fabio-type scorpion locust things from hell that are coming out. They even have a king, it says in verse 11, and they had a king in which the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. That's the first whoa. I mean, this stuff is crazy what's happening. Then they have all kinds of other, I'm not even going through everything, but ultimately you have the same fulfillment, don't you? Moses rejected, he goes away for a period of time, then he returns, and then horrible wrath is poured out on what? On the unbelievers, on Egypt. On unbelieving Egypt, the ungodly, the wicked, and then he ends up delivering them, okay? And this really is a similar picture with Christ. Christ is refused, Christ is rejected, and then he ends up going back up into heaven, but he's going to return and he's going to judge the wicked just like Moses did. Now, the order of events is slightly altered because obviously he kind of judges them, and then they're rescued out of Israel, whereas according to the Bible, we're raptured first, and then he pours out his wrath onto the inhabitants on the earth, okay? But it's still kind of the same basic concepts that we have with Moses, which is kind of incredible when you think about it, and it pictures the coming of Christ and what he's going to do. Go back to Acts, chapter number seven. Go back to Acts, chapter number seven. And I've preached a couple of sermons, I think two or three already, on Moses picturing Jesus, but I haven't even gotten some of the greatest parts. And literally, Moses will picture Christ in so many different ways, so many different times of his first, second coming, and all the judgments and all the different things that he pictures, because Moses is one of the most powerful figures in the Bible and one of the clearest types of Christ, okay? And it says here in verse number 36, He brought them out after he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and the Red Sea and the wilderness forty 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. This is he that was in the church in the wilderness, with the angel which spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us, to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us. For as for this Moses which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we woe not what has become of him. They made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the work of their own hands. Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? 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. Now we're getting just kind of a really quick fast forward through the history again, but essentially they take them out in the wilderness, that first generation rebelled, they worshiped false gods. Notice God is saying you should have done sacrifices unto me, but you're sacrificing unto your false gods, Moloch, and they made figures. What are the figures? They made a golden calf, but he also says they made a star of their god Remphan. Now it seems like it's no coincidence that the Jews today, what is their greatest symbol? It's the Star of David, isn't it? And they love to have carved golden images of the Star of David, wear these emblems, and they have these symbols and these figurines, but you know what? We're not supposed to have any figurines or any kind of an idol, or any kind of a picture like that, and start worshiping some idol, some picture, some symbol. We're supposed to worship God, which is right here. It's the King James Bible. It's the words of God that we worship and serve today. We don't have some kind of a symbol. Obviously we think about the cross, and we emphasize the cross in the New Testament, but you know what? I'm still not going to make some great carved cross and worship it and bow down to it and think that it has any kind of extra significance. No, it's the words of God that we worship here. You know, the cross that I like is the C-R-O-S-S, not some symbol, not some kind of a picture. And look, the Star of David is about as godly as the Star of Remphan today. It's wicked. It has nothing to do with God. It's not found in the Bible. The only star that you have them carrying around or championing is this Star of Remphan today, which is a picture of the rebellion against God, which is a picture of the fact that they didn't serve or worship God, and they were stubborn, and they rejected Moses, and they just turned back in their hearts is what the Bible says. I mean, how can you literally watch all those plagues, walk through the Red Sea on dry land, watch all the Egyptians get destroyed by the water, and then literally worship a golden calf and say that, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. That's what they say. That's what you call reprobate. I mean, if you can go through all that, if you can go through the Passover ceremony, if you can have Moses lead you out by the hand like that, and you still are worshiping the golden calf, I mean, that's because those people reprobate. I mean, those people don't believe in the Lord. You know, Moses is saying, like, blot them out of your book. You know, he's like, blot me out of your book if you forgive their sin. That's pretty extreme. He said, like, I want to go to hell if you're going to save these people, if you're going to redeem these people. He was mad at them. Okay, why? Because they were very wicked. They were very evil. And really, that same anger, it takes a while for some of these apostles to figure out, like Saul. Saul, who's later called Paul, right? It takes him some while to figure out that's what the Jews are really like. But he tells them that they resisted, and they made up their own gods. He says he's going to carry them away to Babylon. Doesn't that happen in the Bible? Yep, he eventually ends up carrying them away into Babylon because they forsake the Lord. You know, they don't worship him. It says in verse 45, which also our fathers that came out after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God draped out before the face of our fathers in the days of David, who found favor for God and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. Now, some people make a big deal about verse 45, but it's really just very simply explained, because notice it says Jesus there, okay? But what we're talking about is Joshua. And you say, okay, why does it say Jesus? Because in Hebrew it's Joshua, and in Greek in the New Testament it's Jesus, okay? But it's the same name. Just like you have Noah and Noe, or you have Elijah and Elisias, okay? It's just the same name. Or you have Apollyon and Abaddon, right? But it's the same person, okay? And so Joshua can be literally transliterated into Jesus, okay? And so it's basically the same. But notice it's both in English, like we see Apollyon, we see Abaddon. But they're in English, but they're both, you know, transliterated a little bit different. Same with, it could be Joshua, or it could be Jesus. There's other English names where it's kind of like that, where it's kind of like, you know, it's two different things, but it's like the same thing or whatever. And so don't get freaked out about that, okay? It's talking about Joshua, but it's also, you know, could be spiritually picturing Jesus, because obviously Jesus led them into the wilderness. But some people look at this like, oh, the King James Bible has errors, because it says Jesus here is supposed to say Joshua. And it's like, that's just because they don't understand that Jesus and Joshua are equivalent, okay? They're the same possible name, all right? Now, let's keep reading. It says in verse number 47, but Solomon built him a house. So he's talking about how Joshua brings him in the Promised Land, and then David wanted to build him a house, but then Solomon actually ended up building a house. Now, again, talking about pictures of Christ, let me give you another one. The Bible says, for what the law could not do, okay, Christ did. Well, think about this. Moses is a picture of the law, and the law cannot save you. The law couldn't bring them into the Promised Land. Moses couldn't bring them in the Promised Land, but Joshua could bring them in the Promised Land. And you can't get saved by the works of righteousness. You can't get saved by the law. And what the law can't do, hey, the faith of righteousness, the faith in Jesus Christ can. That's how you get into heaven is through Jesus, through his sacrifice. So another picture that we have right here, okay? Then we have David. He wants to build a tabernacle for God. Solomon's building it. Verse 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 ye build me, saith the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest? Have not my hand made all these things? Now, keep your finger and go to Hebrews chapter one real quick. Hebrews chapter number one. But the thing that's silly is, you know, if you could think that you could build a house for God, because he literally created everything in his hand. So he's basically saying that you've got a size problem, okay? He can't fit in the building. If you're going to say, how is he going to dwell in a house that you could make whenever he made everything with his own hand? And the Bible even tells us in Hebrews chapter number one. It says in verse 10, And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. So notice God literally created everything in his hands, okay? And the Bible says he filled the heaven of heavens. He's bigger than everything. He's bigger than all of his creation. It's kind of just a figure. It's figurative that we would build him a house. It's symbolic that we would build him a house. And obviously Jesus Christ can come down and in a manifestation dwell in the house of the Lord. But it's just kind of, he's just trying to show you how it's futile. You know, while you say this is his house, really it's all his house. You know, he fills the whole heavens, okay? And they want to make such a big deal about the temple. But what was one of the accusations they made about Stephen? Oh, he's going to destroy this place. You know, he's spoken blasphemous things about this place, how it's going to be destroyed. And it's like, quit making such a big deal about the house. I mean, God literally fills the heavens of heavens here, okay? He literally made everything in his hand. Don't think it's like that's the only place he could dwell. Like, if you knock down this house, like, where is he going to live? You know, you can't make him a house anyways, okay? It's futile. So he's answering all these questions. He's answering the fact that, look, all these things are pointing to Christ, and then how in the world are you going to fit God into this building? Who cares if this place is destroyed, you know? He's the God of the whole earth. He's the God of the whole heavens today, okay? So he's giving a very good answer, and this is the conclusion of his answer, because then look what he says. Verse 51, Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your Father is dead, so do ye. Now, that's what you call hard preaching. You're preaching this on as he preaches his great sermon, and then he just starts ripping in them. I mean, he's just saying, you guys are wicked. You guys are uncircumcised in heart. You guys are uncircumcised in ears. You can't even pay attention. You don't even understand anything. You're just resisting the Holy Ghost. And he's saying, how can he say he's resisting the Holy Ghost? Well, didn't he just give a scripture? And isn't all scripture breathed of God? Isn't it all of the Holy Ghost? So whenever you give someone the verses of the Word of God, whenever someone rejects the Bible, is it clear they're really rejecting the Holy Ghost? It's not me they're rejecting. They're resisting the Holy Ghost. And when you're resistant to the commandments of God, let me make it clear to you, you're resisting the Holy Ghost himself. Some people have this idea of the Holy Ghost being this feeling or this emotion or whatever. It's not some special feeling. It's not some special emotion. It's the King James Bible. It's the words of God. And whenever someone shows you, it's like, well, the Spirit hasn't revealed that to me. And it's like, he just did. He just slapped you over the face with that verse. You uncircumcised in years. You do always resist the Holy Ghost. It's frustrating when you show people clear scripture and they won't believe it. But you know what? It still happens today. It's always been baffling to me. It's been mind-boggling to me. Whenever I have a contention with someone over the Word of God, and then I just show them clearly what the Bible says, they're like, no, I don't agree with that. No, I don't like that. That's what my God thinks. And I'm like, wait a minute. This is your God. This is what he thinks. We have the mind of Christ here. And it's frustrating, but you know what? The prophets had the same problem we did. People are uncircumcised in years. They're uncircumcised in heart. They can't hear it because they don't want to hear it. The heart's been uncircumcised. There's something protecting their heart from hearing this information. It's rebellion. Again, this is what you call hard preaching. Hey, you're resisting the Holy Ghost. You're unsaved. You're a betrayer. You're a murderer. I mean, this is straight to the chase, right? There's not any sugarcoating it. He's not like, you guys, you know, we're just a little ignorant, and you made a mistake. You missed the mark. Some people, they'll say sin is just when you kind of missed the mark. And it's like, it's not missing the mark. It's the transgression of law. And notice, he's not sugarcoating anything. He's making it clear. Now, I love verse 32 because he says this. The prophets, they have showed before of the coming of the just one. So what did all the prophets do? They preached about Jesus Christ. And they showed the coming of Jesus Christ. He's saying all of them. Now, we have other verses that tells us, just go to chapter 10 real quick and look at verse 43, a real famous verse. But look what another person says. This is Peter. He says in verse 43, to him, talking about Jesus Christ, give all the prophets witness, that through his name, whosoever believeth in him, shall receive remission of sins. So if I live before Christ, people say, well, how did they hear about Christ? Any prophet. Because notice, all the prophets gave him witness. And notice in chapter number seven, Stephen is telling us they all showed the coming of the just one. So notice, hey, if I lived in the Old Testament, I heard about the coming of Jesus Christ. And if I live in the New Testament, I hear about how Jesus Christ came. You know, why is one easier or harder than the other? Honestly, I think sometimes it's easier to even believe in the future than it is the past. Because there's so many people, they try to discount the past, or they try to put confusion with the past, or they try to say things like this, like... You know, I think of this. We talk about losing your salvation. And I think it's just because it's a time parallax problem for some people. Because for some reason they think as soon as they believe all their past sins are forgiven, but they don't think that their future sins will be forgiven for some reason. But think about when you're in the Old Testament, and you're saying someone in the future is going to come and pay for all of our sins. It would be a little bit easier to wrap your mind around how your future sins are going to be forgiven too, because you're just thinking, well, of course, he's coming in the future to save me. But it doesn't matter, because Christ is outside of time, and his sacrifice was once for all for all sin. So it doesn't matter past, present, or future sin. And obviously we believe a lot of things about the future. Christ is coming again, and all these other things that the Bible teaches us. But in the Old Testament, you know how they got saved? By putting their faith in the coming of the just one. And you know how we get saved in the New Testament? By believing that Jesus Christ was that just one. And we put our faith in that he came, and he paid for all of our sins. It's the same gospel, but obviously they might be looking at it from their perspective versus our perspective. But guess what? We're all looking at the same thing. You know, whenever it came to them being in the wilderness, they got bitten by serpents. And what they did to save themselves is they had this pole lifted up, and they had a serpent on it. And they said, all you do is look and live. But here's the thing. You could have looked from over here. Oh, saved. You could have looked from over here. Saved. You could have looked from over here. Saved. You could have been 100 yards away. Saved. You could have been one foot away. Saved. And you might have looked a little bit different. Your perspective, your perception of it might have been a little bit different, but you know what? You were looking at the same object. And here's the thing. It's the object of your faith that saves you. And what's that object, Jesus Christ? The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I love that verse. Go back if you went to Acts 7. Look, some people, oh, there's different ways to get saved. And there was different gospels. And there's all these dispensations. No, no, no, no. It's all about Jesus. It always has been. It always will be. He was prophesied in Genesis chapter number 3. The seed that would come. And God created the light. And the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Look, it's always been about Jesus. It's always been about the gospel. Look at verse 53. Who have received the law by the dispensation of angels and have not kept it? The word dispensation, or I'm sorry, disposition. I'm saying dispensation, but I'm meaning disposition. It's only used one time in the Bible. Sometimes, dispensation can mean a couple different things, like your state of mind or current state of affairs. But another definition means a bestowment or bestowal. And I think that's what that's meaning right here. Just like a gift, kind of. It was a bestowment of angels. Now, angels can simply mean messengers. So they received the law as a gift from messengers, but they didn't keep it. Right? They had Moses give them the law, and they had other prophets come and give them the law. They had other messengers come and tell them the commandments of the Lord. And they just resisted them, they rejected them. Okay, they didn't keep it, verse 54. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. Now, notice this, though. Even though they're unsaved, even though they don't believe in Jesus, they're not putting their faith in him, they haven't trusted in them, notice that God's word still affects them, though. Notice they were still cut to the heart. And here's the reality. Even the most hardened, God-hating, atheist reprobate or whatever, he still feels reproached by things like thou shalt not kill, and thou shalt not steal, and thou shalt not bear false witness. They still feel bad for sinning. They still feel bad. It still hurts them. They don't like the fact that they're being reproved. Now, I could show you multiple places in the Bible like this. Cain, he was very grieved in his heart when he got caught. He was a reprobate. Judas, he repented himself. He hung himself, he felt so bad about it. Pharaoh, he said, I'm wicked. The Lord is righteous. Look, if you're going to talk about who's the most reprobate in the Bible, I mean, these guys. These guys are pretty reprobate. I mean, Cain, Judas, Pharaoh. But they still felt really bad about their sin, didn't they? It still hurt them in their heart. They didn't like it. They felt bad about it. That's why Cain killed Abel. He didn't like the fact that he was reproached because of sin. He felt bad about it, so he lashed out in anger, and he's mad about it. And so the same thing happens today. The people that attack Christians is because they're angry. They're mad about the fact that they're wicked and that they're sinners and that they're evil and the Word of God comes into their heart, and it reproaches them, okay? Now, do they say, Stephen, you're misinterpreting the Bible here. Let me show you what the Bible says. What do they do? They just go straight to cancel culture. They stop selling his book on Amazon. They just terminate his YouTube account, don't they? Because they can't do anything about it. And this is where the... This is cancel culture at its finest right here. Okay, what's going to happen? It says, ...and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Then they cried out a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, and he kneeled down and cried a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin at their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Now, this is really cool at the end, but I want to first address the fact... Look, the cancel culture. They can't do anything about the truth, so they just have to shut it off. They just have to turn it off. But this is what you have to understand. God is on our side. God has the truth, okay? And the wicked are going to constantly try to shut off valves of the truth. They're going to try and cancel the truth, the messengers of truth. For this chapter, I mean, they effectively turn off Stephen. They rock him to sleep, okay? As the funny pun, right? They stoned him to sleep, right? But here's the thing. We know that there's Acts 8 and 9 and 10. Hey, the Bible keeps going. Did the truth stop? We just read about what Stephen did. Did they really cancel Stephen? It doesn't seem like they did a very good job canceling Stephen since we all just got to read everything he just preached to us. You know, you would think that after they did it, well, no one's going to ever hear those blasphemous words again. Oh, wait a minute. Here's everyone hearing those words, right? So here's the thing. Even though we may think in the moment, oh, man, they turned us off. Oh, man, they shut us down. Oh, man, they got us in this one way. You know what? God is going to be on our side, and he's going to bust that truth out somehow. God is going to get his word out there. The word of God is not bound, okay? And so we have to keep fighting. We have to just keep going and just keep pressing and keep preaching the truth, because the truth has power today, and we can't worry about them canceling us in some way or canceling a particular person. You know, praise the Lord that when Stephen got canceled, all the other Christians didn't say, oh, well, I don't want to be like Stephen. They said, well, then we'll pick up where Stephen left off. And you know what? Just because one person gets shut down doesn't mean you have to get shut down. And you know what? If every Christian in the world today would just get on fire for God and get filled with the Spirit and go out and start preaching the truth, you know what? We'd get the gospel to everyone really quick. The problem is people are canceling themselves. People today, they're just turning themselves off. They're shutting themselves down. They're just canceling themselves. You know, why is it that the Stevens of today are being shut down and no one wants to carry the torch? And it's frustrating. It's frustrating when you look at all the Christians and you say, why is no one doing anything about it? It's no new thing. It's the same cancer culture. You know what would fix this? If everyone got up and everyone's saying the same thing and everyone's chanting, then they start fearing everybody. But when it's just one voice, they feel all bold and they try and attack him. You know, and it's sometimes hard to stand by yourself. And Stephen here, he's standing by himself. But you know what? He wasn't standing alone because someone else was standing with him, Jesus. This is one of the few times you actually see a picture in heaven and look at verse 56, the son of man standing on the right hand of God. Usually the Bible's talking about Jesus sitting at the right hand of God. We have one time where he's standing. And you know what? He's standing with Stephen there in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation against all these wicked, evil, reprobate Jews resisting him and resisting this word. You know, some of them could have gotten saved, but a lot of them are wicked. Saul is going to be redeemed out of this pile of mess. But a lot of them are going to be reprobated. A lot of them are going to be rejected. And think about Stephen's attitude, though. Even though he's amidst a lot of reprobates and evil people, there's some that are not. And he makes this great proclamation. He says, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Can you imagine? I mean, you just preach this great message. They hated it. They're gnashing their teeth. They're going to stone you to death. They're killing you. So unjust. I mean, is there anything good about this? From Stephen's perspective, no. They're killing him. And he's still saying, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Seeing the heart, seeing the compassion of Stephen and of these men. And I think that Stephen had a great impact on Saul's life because Saul has the same attitude in a lot of ways. Saul also talks about how at my first answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I wonder if when he was in some of his darkest moments he thought about Stephen. And I've said this before, but I like to repeat it, is a lot of us are a lot of Christians. When we read the Bible, some of our heroes, obviously Jesus, but I'm just saying humanly speaking, a lot of people's hero is Paul. But you know who's Paul's hero? Stephen. Think about that. It's like, we're all excited to see Paul. And Paul's like, but Stephen. I mean, man, because Saul's just a young man. Paul's just a young man and he saw Stephen. Stephen was Paul's hero. And you know, you could be some young man's hero today. You could be your child's hero today. You could influence the next Paul, the next generation. You could be the Ananias that wins Paul to Christ. You could be the next Stephen. And look, Stephen, his life may have been shortened. It may have been ended. He may have not even been mentioned that much in the Bible. And nobody had a huge impact on one of the most influential Christians of all time. I guarantee he's greatly rewarded. I mean, he has Jesus Christ standing for him. And we see the impact of one person. We see the impact of one person willing to stand for the truth. And even though he's fighting against great opposition, you know what? Bring it on. And we need more people to be like Stephen today. We need more people to say, you know what? I'll stand up even if it's just me. Hey, I'll do it if it's just by myself. Hey, I'll fight them by myself. I'll preach the right sermon. Hey, I'd even die for the cause of Christ. Because you never know who you may impact. There may be a Saul there who's going to later be Paul and do great works. Jesus Christ, he only trained 12 people. I mean, think about it. And one of them was a devil from the beginning. He did, obviously, commission 70 other also. But it was a very small group that he started with, and they took the gospel across the whole world. And if every Christian, every person that was saved started not resisting the Holy Ghost, they started listening to the Holy Ghost, getting into church, going soul winning, we could probably give the gospel to everybody by the end of the year. If every saved person just started going out, I mean, it wouldn't take very long if you started realizing. I mean, if we had a million, just think about it. I bet there's probably at least seven million saved people. How many people would they have to talk to to reach the entire world? Well, there's what, seven billion? So if there's seven million, you times that by 10. Seven, what is that, 70 million. You times it by 100, that's 700 million. Times that by one more 10. And then you would get to about seven billion. So basically, a thousand. A thousand doors. If all seven million Christians knocked a thousand doors, we would literally reach the entire world of the gospel. And when you go out soul winning, you can knock like 20 or 40 doors a single time. You probably knock more than a few thousand doors if you go soul winning on a regular basis, on a weekly basis. If you knock doors one hour a week in a year's time, you're going to knock over a thousand doors. So realize, if every Christian preached the gospel for one year, one hour a day, we would reach the entire world in a year. You could then get through every year. Every year, you're just talking to every single person. That's without any overlap. That's not counting the people that go soul winning more than that or do more works or talk to other people or other interactions. I mean, it's not like spreading the gospel is hard. You know what's hard is the fact that no one's doing it, that the labors be few today. People are resisting the Holy Ghost. And let me tell you this. Our nation's going to hell in a hand basket, and you know what would save them? Christianity. But people don't want to do it. People don't want to go out and spread the gospel. People don't want to spread the truth. They want to complain about how the world's falling apart, but they themselves do nothing about it. They don't go to church. They're not serving God. They're not going soul winning. They know what's right, but they won't do it. And the reality is we're not going to fix it. We're not going to fix America. Sorry to tell you. We're not going to fix this. I would love to. If I believed that we could, I would try it. But I don't believe we can. But what I do believe is that I believe I can serve God. I do believe that I can go out soul winning and I can have a great impact. And here's the thing. Even though the majority of Christians aren't going to do what I just said, the only person you can influence is you. You can do it. You can go soul winning. You can serve God. You can go to church. Why don't you take stories like this and say, you know what, I want to be like the guy that's not resisting the Holy Ghost. I want to be the person that's going to church, reading my Bible, praying, going out and preaching the gospel, and potentially influencing a soul in my life. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for your word. Thank you for our church. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you. I pray that you would just use this story and then use our church to influence people, that we could have more Stevens and we could have more Sauls and more Pauls in our lives, that you could raise up more men that would be zealous of good works, that they would be willing and they would be able to stand alone if necessary, to preach the word of God to a resistant and to a rebellious and to an uncircumcised heart and ear people, and that we wouldn't forsake the calling because it may be difficult or because we may be alone, but rather we realize that Jesus is there with us. I pray that you would strengthen and encourage all of us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's go to our final song of the evening. In our hymnal, let's do song 129, Rock of Ages. Song 129, Rock of Ages. Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee, Let the water and the blood From thy wounded side which flowed Be of sin the double cure, Save from wrath and make me pure, Could my tears forever flow, Could my zeal no languor know, These for sin could not atone, Thou must save and thou alone, In my hand no price I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling, While I draw this fleeting breath, When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown, And behold the online throne, Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee. Thank you so much for coming. God bless you. Have a good night. Wait, mama? Thank you.