God will win, often in ways that you never asked for...

“The Trial and Triumph of Faith”

(Acts 8:1-4, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, September 18, 2011)

1 And Saul approved of his execution.

Two of the most intriguing and important people in the Book of Acts were the preaching Deacon, Stephen, and Saul of Tarsus, who would become the Apostle Paul. They both seemed to have very important ties in the community of Greek-speaking Jews in Jerusalem. One, Stephen, was preaching the Christian message, and the other, Saul, approved of Stephen's execution.

At the beginning of Acts 8 they held completely different positions on the question of Jesus Christ. The question of Jesus was the most important question in Jerusalem in the year when Stephen was stoned to death. Stephen was completely convinced that Jesus was the ascended Messiah, the fulfillment of every Old Testament hope, the King of the Jews, and the Son of God. Saul was completely convinced that this same Jesus of Nazareth was an imposter, and that his followers, men like Stephen, were a scourge upon Judaism that needed to be eliminated.

Saul was watching the coats of those who put Stephen to death. He approved of this execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem,

The power of evil can be very formidable. It can appear to be unstoppable.

Perhaps there were some among Stephen's murderers who began to question their actions after the great man breathed his last. Had Stephen done anything wrong that was actually deserving of death? Had those who cast stones at him followed the right procedures in their mad rage against him? Were the demeanor, words, and actions of this Stephen so dangerous that his heart had to stop beating in order for Jerusalem to be safe?

If there were those who had these qualms of conscience, we have no testimony of their anguish from that day when he was killed. The evidence was contrary to this. The power of evil was not content with the elimination of only Stephen. Evil insisted that all Stephen's kind be stopped. Therefore a great persecution arose against the church of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.

… and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

There were two groups of Jews in Jerusalem at that point. Thousands believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Thousands more believed that He was not. The group that saw what Stephen saw was correct. Stephen had seen Jesus at the right hand of God in heaven's heights. Yet this right group that “saw” their hero Jesus in His position of heavenly power and authority were the ones who would be forced out of Jerusalem and treated like the defeated ones.

This is the trial of faith that has continued down to the present hour. “Jesus shall reign where'er the sun, doth its successive journeys run,” yet right now, we do not see everything in submission to the One who is the King of kings. See Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2. Christian Jews in Jerusalem were right about the power and authority of Jesus, yet thousands of them would be pushed out of the city. How could that be? If Jesus reigned did His people lose?

Yet the very trials that appeared to be our worst losses throughout history were used in our Master's hands in order to show His greatest triumphs. As Saul would later learn, the power of Jesus Christ is made perfect in weakness. See 2 Corinthians 12. The apostle Paul would boast in his weakness, and He would glory in the cross of Christ. The ascended Lord who saved us through the weakness of the cross had determined that his church would triumph in weakness.

2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

The losses that the church faced would be as real as the horror of the cross. Devout men with many tears would bury Stephen, a man full of grace and the holy Spirit who had been put to death by religious zealots who thought that they were serving the God of the Jews. These murderers would not receive the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The man who watched the coats would be spurred forward with more and more evil. He would go after the church, find them where they were worshiping in houses throughout Jerusalem. He would drag people out of those gatherings of worship. Men and women would be committed to prison as Saul plotted against the church and put his evil plans into action.

4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

Where is the victory? Is the Resurrection Man ruling over heaven and earth?

If you have the eyes to see it, you will find evidence of God's power in verse 4. Those who were scattered went about preaching the word. The apostles were left behind in Jerusalem for a time. God had other plans for the proclamation of the gospel. The time had come for the church to begin to do what Jesus had commanded before His ascension.

Remember the words of Christ at the beginning of Acts, words that the church did not understand: “You will be my witnesses.” They would find heaven's strength from heaven's King in the moment of their greatest weakness. They would be kept in the faith. Yes, they would be scattered, but rather than that violence serving the purposes of the persecutors who were trying to snuff out Christian Judaism, the very persecution that was such a trial of faith for the church would be the means that Jesus would use for the triumph of the message of the cross.

The word would not be limited to Jerusalem. “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

They needed a push in order to move forward with the command to make disciples of all nations. God used the enemies of the cross of Christ to give the push that would move the church out of the comfort of a placed that they loved. They would go to the rest of the region, Judea. The Lord would send them north to the Samaritans. Then in the greatest turnabout, he would use the man who hated Stephen, the man who was approving of Stephen's murder, to bring the message of the King of the Jews not only to synagogues all over Turkey and Greece, but even to Gentiles, and even to the capital of the empire in Rome.

The man who was putting everyone in prison would do some of his most important work while under arrest. He would even write these words about the trial and triumph of faith that would inspire the persecuted flock of Jesus throughout the centuries: “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

1. How does Saul respond to the death of Stephen?

2. What is the inclination of the church in Jerusalem after the murder of this great man?

3. How was it that the church was forced to move beyond Jerusalem?

4. What is the meaning and significance of this “preaching the word” that came about at this difficult moment?

OT Passage: Psalm 8

How can I love the unworthy?

“The Horrible Moment”

(Acts 7:51-60, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, September 11, 2011)

51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

The Lord spoke through Moses at the dawn of the period in Israel's history when the Law was given, and He called God's beloved people “stiff-necked.” Almost 1000 years later the prophet Jeremiah was used by God to give them the same message. He also said that they were “uncircumcised” in their hearts. Stephen tells us what Moses and the prophets had recorded for centuries in their writings; that Israel would not hear and obey the Lord's voice in His Word. They resisted the Holy Spirit.

In former days when people resisted the words of Moses or the prophets, when they would not receive the truth that ultimately came from heaven and heaven's God, they did not appreciated being confronted by God's messenger. They resented the correction of the Lord through His appointed representative. They persecuted the prophets. When the Messiah came, this very tribunal examining Stephen had plotted to destroy the Righteous One. They accused the Lord Jesus of blasphemy and had determined that the sinless Son of God deserved to be put to death. They were guilty of the murder of Jesus and now they were ready to murder His servant Stephen.

They claimed to love the Law of God. They revered it as a gift delivered to them by heavenly messengers. Yet they did not keep it. This is why Jesus came. If people were so good at receiving God's law, what would have been the need for the cross? But He died for sinners.

54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.

Stephen's indictment of the Sanhedrin and his accusers from the Synagogue of the Freedmen was in the same Spirit as God's words through His earlier prophets. This was not a new message that should have been surprising to those who knew the Law and the prophets.

But now the Messiah had come. Not only had these leaders rejected God in person; they continued to persecute His followers. Even those listening to Stephen that day were enraged. They gnashed their teeth in their anger against this great man. What was it about this typical prophetic message that drove them to murder the messenger? He dared to tell them plainly what the cross tells us today. You have not attained favor with God through law-keeping of any kind. You are law-breakers, and you need another way to be right with God, since no one can be saved through observing the works of the law. This message filled them with a murderous rage.

55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

It is very difficult to love the hateful. Stephen showed us how to live and how to die as followers of Christ. First, he was full of the Holy Spirit. He had God in His soul, filling Him. The heart, mind, and will of God were filling the heart, mind, and will of Stephen. God knows how to love those who hate Him. If we want to learn how to do this, we need Him in us.

Second, Stephen gazed into heaven. He looked to heaven in order to gain the perspective that he needed in order to suffer as a Christian on earth. He knew the connection between heaven and earth according to the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms and the other sacred Hebrew writings. He knew this from the Word and from His experience. Heaven was relevant to Stephen.

Third, Stephen saw the glory of God. He saw that God was far above all the other beings in heaven and on earth. He saw the incomparable greatness of God in the excellence of His being. He saw His brightness as He rested upon His heavenly throne. He saw that God was great.

Fourth, Stephen saw Jesus at the right hand of the most glorious God. He saw the connection between the man of sorrows who died for Him and the God of glory who reigns over all. He saw that the Jesus of the resurrection was the right hand man of the Almighty. He knew that Jesus was with God and with him in this immediate battle to live and die as a Christian.

Finally, Stephen spoke out what he saw. He said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” He gave verbal witness to what he knew to be the source of all His hope. The long expected Son of Man was reigning in the heights of heaven.

57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him.

This record of what Stephen saw and what he said is a pattern for us. It is not the way to be applauded by people. It is the way to find divine strength to love the unworthy. This is the same strength that Jesus had when He came to die for you. He had the strength to love the unworthy. This is how Christians can live with heavenly power. They find the strength to love the unworthy from a place beyond themselves and then, shockingly, from within themselves. God in us...

The horrible moment had come. Stephen had spoken the Word that could direct His enemies heavenward through Christ. But they would not hear his words. They rushed together at him. They cast him out of the city. They stoned him. They killed him.

And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Through it all, a man was watching whose story would fill the great majority of the remainder of Acts. That young man Saul would be the apostle known as Paul. He would be the author of thirteen of the letters in the New Testament, many written when he was a prisoner because of his work in the Lord's service. He would suffer greatly for the cause of Christ, picking up the message that Stephen preached that day, the message that Jesus speaks in your hearing today.

59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen died that day as a man who knew that there was life beyond hatred. He knew Jesus as the resurrection man who could receive his spirit. He said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He prayed for the vicious unworthy mob that killed him as our Lord prayed for you when he died the death that we deserved. “Do not hold this sin against them.” Jesus prayed that for you. Won't you receive God's mercy and love the unworthy? Blessed is the man whose sin is forgiven. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. God calls us to hear His Word now and to receive it. Today, if you hear His voice, do not resist His Holy Spirit.

1. How did Israel treat the Old Testament prophets?

2. How did Israel treat the Messiah, the Righteous One?

3. Why were they enraged at Stephen?

4. Consider Saul, Stephen, and Jesus as presented in these verses.

OT Passage: Psalm 31:5 and Psalm 32

A New Temple

“Listening to Stephen Preach About the Temple”

(Acts 7:44-50, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, September 4, 2011)

44 “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers.

Stephen was one of the first Christian preachers. Like all of the apostles, and so many of the first Christians, Stephen was a Jew who considered other Jews his brothers. He wanted the best for them. He wanted them to receive the Jewish Messiah, Jesus, as their Savior and Lord. He wanted them to be a part of a new resurrection community in Jesus Christ.

But the Jews who were against Stephen were also against Jesus. They accused Stephen of being a radical who was against the temple. In Acts 7, Stephen responded to their charges by teaching them about the temple.

What was the temple? Are we in a temple right now? People who worship at a church like ours do not come here for the building. If you come here for the building it is only in this sense, that you want to be a part of a church that is not overly dedicated to a building. You know that you do not need a building to worship God. You would rather not see this congregation spend millions of dollars on a cathedral.

But what about the Old Testament temple in Jerusalem? Wasn't that a special place to go and meet with God which was built according to God's command? Before the temple in Jerusalem was built, God gave very detailed instructions to Moses about the construction of a sacred place that could move with the Israelites on their way from Egypt and into the promised land. He told them to build a tent, a tabernacle. Skim Exodus 25 through Exodus 40. There is nothing like this level of detailed instruction for the building of a permanent structure until you get to the visionary building described in Ezekiel 40-48 which has never been built to this day.

The Israelites had this movable tent of witness in the wilderness. God had given Moses a vision of the plan for this tabernacle in heaven. Moses saw it, and he heard the Lord's very specific and extensive commands to build this tent, commands which he put down in writing for Israel, and which he personally saw that they carefully followed. There was no inherent problem with that tent that was solved by the later construction of the stationary temple building. God was able to be powerful when His people worshiped Him in that tent. He was present with them, and He defeated and dispossessed their enemies.

So it was until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

Why then was a temple built? David, the great king who lived 500 years after Moses had a desire within his heart for a better place for God to live. David lived in his own house. What about God? God lived in a tent... David wanted to fix this situation. But God would not allow David to be the one who would build the temple. His son Solomon would build a house for God.

God insisted on this. He also insisted that He Himself would build a house from David, not a temple made with stones, but an eternal dynasty that would come from David's descendants. God would build up the “house” of David, and would provide a special individual who would reign forever. See 2 Samuel 7. From that one person would come a different kind of temple, a temple made up of people connected to that eternal King. God would live in people. This is what the church is now, a moving tabernacle, a people filled with God, united in the Son of David.

48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

49 “Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool.

What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,

or what is the place of my rest?

50 Did not my hand make all these things?”

God is the Most High. Have you considered His greatness as the uncaused Cause of everything else? He does not dwell in houses made by our hands. The temple building in Jerusalem that people had come to love so much could not really contain the God who has promised to renew and reunite all of heaven and earth in His Son Jesus Christ, a promise you are called to believe.

Jesus had a zeal for the temple of God. He was offended by the way that people had taken what He called “My Father's house,” and had made it a den of robbers. That's why He drove the money changers out of the temple courts. He knew what Isaiah had written about a bigger temple than that, a new heaven and earth temple where God would dwell forever. He also knew that He was the very center of that new temple, and that a new age was now here when people would be called to Him as the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that in Him they would become a dwelling place for the Almighty. He knew that He would die and live again to establish that new living temple.

Stephen was not an enemy of the temple in Jerusalem any more than Jesus was an enemy of that same temple building. It was a picture of something much bigger that was to come. What both Jesus and Stephen knew and preached was that the reality that the building stood for was now coming and the picture was going away. Stephen, just before he died at the hands of his enemies was calling the leaders of the Jews into the true temple of God, the resurrected Jesus Christ.

As an ambassador of this same living Temple, I urge you and all who would hear the voice of Christ, to come to Him. He is the Temple. He is the building. He is the resurrection. He is the new heavens and the new earth. Come to Him and be united to a community of faith and love.

The New Testament era is a time for people to see Jesus, and to enter the new temple. If there is something new in Christ, there is also something old in the present creation that is fading away. The people who would pick up stones and murder Stephen loved the old much more than the new. Jesus calls you and all people everywhere to enter a temple that is not made by human hands, a temple that will be a place of peace and righteousness forever.

1. What was the importance of the tent of witness?

2. How did tabernacle eventually become temple?

3. How could God dwell in any temple?

4. What is the Lord's eternal plan for His temple?

OT Passage: Isaiah 65:17-66:2