Acts 7 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Acts chapter 7. So, we are in the middle
2. 0:03of Stephen's trial.
3. 0:05This is the second formal inquiry by the
4. 0:09Sanhedrin against the Christian movement
5. 0:12after Jesus' ascension.
6. 0:14And they are accusing Stephen of
7. 0:17blasphemy and claiming that Jesus is
8. 0:20going to destroy the temple.
9. 0:22This Jesus, they claim, isn't
10. 0:23resurrected. So, what threat would that
11. 0:25be?
12. 0:27Acts chapter 7 verse 1. The high priest
13. 0:30said, "Are these things so?" These false
14. 0:34accusations that they've just brought
15. 0:35against Stephen.
16. 0:38And he, Stephen, said,
17. 0:40"Hear me,
18. 0:42brethren and fathers.
19. 0:45The God of glory
20. 0:47appeared to our father Abraham when he
21. 0:51was in Mesopotamia before he lived in
22. 0:54Haran.
23. 0:55And he said to him,
24. 0:57'Leave your country and your relatives
25. 1:00and come into the land that I will show
26. 1:03you.'
27. 1:04Then, he left the land of the Chaldeans
28. 1:08and settled in Haran.
29. 1:10From there, after his father died, God
30. 1:14had him move into this country in which
31. 1:17you are now living.
32. 1:19Stephen is going to recount their
33. 1:21history to them to help them see that
34. 1:24Jesus is the continuation
35. 1:27of what began with Abraham.
36. 1:30This is critical because in his telling,
37. 1:34we have a condensed narration that
38. 1:37stitches together everything from the
39. 1:39Old Testament into the New Testament.
40. 1:42This is a critical insight into how the
41. 1:45early Christians saw themselves not as a
42. 1:48new religion, but as the continuation
43. 1:51and the faithful branch of the Old
44. 1:54Covenant. Now that it has become the new
45. 1:57covenant.
46. 2:00Stephen goes on.
47. 2:02But he gave him no inheritance in it in
48. 2:05this land.
49. 2:06Not even a foot of ground. And yet, even
50. 2:10when he had no child, he promised that
51. 2:13he would give it to him as a possession
52. 2:16and to his descendants after them.
53. 2:19But God spoke to this effect that his
54. 2:22descendants would be aliens in a foreign
55. 2:25land and that they would be enslaved and
56. 2:29mistreated for 400 years.
57. 2:32And whatever nation to which they will
58. 2:34be in bondage, I myself will judge, said
59. 2:37God. And after that, they will come out
60. 2:41and serve me in this place.
61. 2:45So he's saying, God saw the hardship. He
62. 2:49saw the oppression.
63. 2:51The oppression that you're under now,
64. 2:53the oppression that occurred in Egypt.
65. 2:55He saw it beforehand. But he said we
66. 2:57would serve him in this place.
67. 3:00Stephen goes on, verse 8.
68. 3:02And he, God, gave him, Abraham, the
69. 3:05covenant of circumcision.
70. 3:08And so Abraham became the father of
71. 3:10Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth
72. 3:13day. And Isaac became the father of
73. 3:16Jacob and Jacob, the 12 patriarchs.
74. 3:20The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph
75. 3:24and sold him into Egypt.
76. 3:27Yet God was with him.
77. 3:30How much did the
78. 3:32brothers of Joseph sell Joseph for?
79. 3:3630 pieces of silver.
80. 3:39His brothers betrayed him
81. 3:42to Gentiles thinking they were putting
82. 3:45him to death for 30 pieces of silver.
83. 3:49But in the end, he married a Gentile
84. 3:51bride
85. 3:53and provided a context for those same
86. 3:55brothers to eventually find life in a
87. 3:58time of hunger and famine.
88. 4:00So, Joseph is a type of Jesus who was
89. 4:02also betrayed by his brothers, the
90. 4:05Jewish people, and sold for 30 pieces of
91. 4:08silver by the man whose name was Judah,
92. 4:11meaning Jewish,
93. 4:13and he was given over to the Gentiles
94. 4:17and put to death, but he came back and
95. 4:19he also married a Gentile bride
96. 4:22and is creating a hope and a salvation
97. 4:25for the end of time.
98. 4:27"Yet God was with him," Stephen says of
99. 4:30Joseph,
100. 4:31"and rescued him from all his
101. 4:33afflictions and granted him favor and
102. 4:35wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of
103. 4:38Egypt, and he made him governor over
104. 4:40Egypt and all his household. Now, a
105. 4:43famine came over all Egypt and Canaan,
106. 4:46and great affliction with it, and our
107. 4:49fathers could find no food.
108. 4:52But when Jacob heard that there was
109. 4:54grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers
110. 4:57there
111. 4:58the first time. On the second visit,
112. 5:01Joseph made himself known to his
113. 5:03brothers, and Joseph's family was
114. 5:05disclosed to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent
115. 5:09word and invited Jacob, his father, and
116. 5:11all his relatives to come to him, 75
117. 5:14persons in all.
118. 5:16And Jacob went down to Egypt, and there
119. 5:19he and our fathers died.
120. 5:21From there they were removed to Shechem
121. 5:24and laid in the tomb which Abraham had
122. 5:26purchased for a sum of money from the
123. 5:28sons of Hamor in Shechem.
124. 5:31But as the time of the promise was
125. 5:33approaching, which God had assured to
126. 5:35Abraham, the people increased and
127. 5:37multiplied in Egypt,
128. 5:40until there arose another king over
129. 5:42Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.
130. 5:45It was he who took shrewd advantage of
131. 5:48our race and mistreated our fathers as
132. 5:52they would expose their infants and they
133. 5:55would not survive.
134. 5:57It was at this time that Moses was born
135. 6:00and he was lovely in the sight of God
136. 6:02and he was nurtured three months in his
137. 6:04father's home. And after he had been set
138. 6:08aside, Pharaoh's daughter took him away
139. 6:11and nurtured him as her own son.
140. 6:15So Moses was nurtured by
141. 6:18a woman named Miriam.
142. 6:21But that was the name of Jesus' mother
143. 6:25who nurtured him, Miriam.
144. 6:28The Gentile rendering of that name comes
145. 6:30out as Mary, but the Hebrew would have
146. 6:32been Miriam, the exact same name that
147. 6:35Moses' mother had.
148. 6:37Moses was educated in all the learning
149. 6:40of the Egyptians and he was a man of
150. 6:43power and words and deeds.
151. 6:45But when he was approaching the age of
152. 6:4740, it entered his mind to visit his
153. 6:50brethren, the sons of Israel.
154. 6:52And when he saw one of them being
155. 6:54treated unjustly, he defended him and
156. 6:57took vengeance for the oppressed by
157. 7:00striking down the Egyptian.
158. 7:02And he supposed that his brethren
159. 7:04understood that God was granting them
160. 7:06deliverance through him, but they did
161. 7:08not understand.
162. 7:10On the following day, he appeared to
163. 7:12them as they were fighting together and
164. 7:14he tried to reconcile them in peace
165. 7:17saying, "Men,
166. 7:19you are brethren. Why do you injure one
167. 7:22another?"
168. 7:24But the one who was injuring his
169. 7:26neighbor pushed him away saying, "Who
170. 7:28made you a ruler and judge over us?
171. 7:32You do not mean to kill me as you killed
172. 7:35the Egyptian yesterday, do you?"
173. 7:38At this remark, Moses fled and became an
174. 7:41alien in the land of Midian, where he
175. 7:45became the father of two sons.
176. 7:47After 40 years had passed, an angel
177. 7:50appeared to him in the wilderness of
178. 7:52Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning
179. 7:55thorn bush.
180. 7:57When Moses saw it, he marveled at the
181. 7:59sight, and as he approached to look more
182. 8:02closely, there came the voice of the
183. 8:05Lord, "I am the God of your fathers, the
184. 8:09God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob."
185. 8:12Moses shook with fear and would not
186. 8:15venture to look.
187. 8:17But the Lord said to him, "Take off the
188. 8:19sandals from your feet, for the place on
189. 8:21which you are standing is holy ground.
190. 8:25I have certainly seen the oppression of
191. 8:27my people in Egypt, and have heard their
192. 8:30groans, and I have come down to rescue
193. 8:33them. Come now, and I will send you to
194. 8:36Egypt." This Moses, whom they disowned
195. 8:39saying, "Who made you a ruler and a
196. 8:41judge?" is the one whom God sent to be
197. 8:45both a ruler and a deliverer with the
198. 8:47help of the angel who appeared to him in
199. 8:50the thorn bush.
200. 8:52Do you see what Stephen is implying?
201. 8:54He's trying to say, "It's been a theme
202. 8:57of our people since the days of Moses
203. 9:00that they didn't recognize their
204. 9:02deliverer, just like you didn't
205. 9:03recognize Jesus."
206. 9:06He's stitching it all together, and boy,
207. 9:08does he know their scriptures.
208. 9:10He's a deacon, but he knows everything
209. 9:12about the Bible. He can quote it fresh,
210. 9:16just standing there in front of them off
211. 9:17the top of his head.
212. 9:20"This man led them out, performing
213. 9:22wonders and signs in the land of Egypt
214. 9:24and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness
215. 9:27for 40 years. This is the Moses who said
216. 9:30to the sons of Israel, 'God will raise
217. 9:33up for you a prophet like me from your
218. 9:36brethren.'"
219. 9:39In this, he's suggesting that they need
220. 9:41another Exodus, that they need another
221. 9:43deliverance, not from the hand of Rome,
222. 9:46but from the power of the devil through
223. 9:49fear and pride and sin. That they need
224. 9:52to take a journey and cross the Red Sea
225. 9:54of baptism and enter into the pillar of
226. 9:57fire and the cloud of glory through the
227. 9:59Holy Spirit. This is the one who was in
228. 10:02the congregation in the wilderness
229. 10:04together with the angel who was speaking
230. 10:07to him on Mount Sinai and who was with
231. 10:09our fathers. And he received living
232. 10:12oracles to pass on to you, Moses did.
233. 10:16Our fathers were unwilling to be
234. 10:17obedient to him, to Moses.
235. 10:21But repudiated him and in their hearts
236. 10:24turned back to Egypt, just like the Jews
237. 10:28did when they said, "We have no king but
238. 10:30Caesar."
239. 10:32Stephen goes on,
240. 10:34they were saying to Aaron, "Make for us
241. 10:36gods who will go before us.
242. 10:39For this Moses who led us out of the
243. 10:41land of Egypt, we do not know what
244. 10:43happened to him."
245. 10:46So, he's saying, "What you did to Jesus
246. 10:48is exactly what they did to Moses."
247. 10:52At that time they made a calf and
248. 10:53brought a sacrifice to the idol
249. 10:56and were rejoicing in the works of their
250. 10:59hands.
251. 11:01Their idolatry amounted to trusting in
252. 11:03and following the things they made,
253. 11:06their man-made religion, their
254. 11:08manufactured religion, as if it were
255. 11:11given by God.
256. 11:13But God turned away and delivered them
257. 11:15up to serve the hosts of heaven.
258. 11:18As it is written in the book of the
259. 11:20prophets, it was not to me that you
260. 11:23offered victims and sacrifices 40 years
261. 11:26in the wilderness, was it, O house of
262. 11:28Israel? You also took along the
263. 11:31tabernacle of Moloch
264. 11:33and the star of the god Rompha, the
265. 11:37images which you made to worship. I also
266. 11:40will remove you beyond Babylon.
267. 11:44So, he's saying they were always trying
268. 11:46to go back and worship the idols they
269. 11:48had crafted. The works that they could
270. 11:51create of their own energy and strength
271. 11:53and wisdom.
272. 11:55And God confronted them for that in the
273. 11:58Old Testament. That's what Stephen is
274. 12:00quoting there.
275. 12:02Our fathers had the tabernacle of
276. 12:04testimony in the wilderness, just as he
277. 12:06spoke to Moses directing him to make it
278. 12:09according to the pattern which he had
279. 12:11seen. And having received it in their
280. 12:13turn, our fathers brought it in with
281. 12:16Joshua upon dispossessing the nations
282. 12:19from whom God drove out before our
283. 12:22fathers until the time of David.
284. 12:24David found favor in God's sight,
285. 12:27meaning grace, and asked that he might
286. 12:30find a dwelling place for the God of
287. 12:32Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a
288. 12:35house for him.
289. 12:37However, the Most High does not dwell in
290. 12:39houses made by human hands, as the
291. 12:42prophet says, "Heaven is my throne and
292. 12:45earth is the footstool of my feet. What
293. 12:48kind of house will you build for me?"
294. 12:50says the Lord, "or what place is there
295. 12:53for my repose? Was it not my hands which
296. 12:56made all these things?"
297. 12:58All of this is Stephen quoting from the
298. 13:01Old Testament scriptures that his
299. 13:03audience in the Sanhedrin are going to
300. 13:06remember.
301. 13:07I want you to picture he's standing in
302. 13:09the middle of a circle and they're all
303. 13:11staring at him. And he has an anointing
304. 13:14on him where his face is transfixed as
305. 13:17if it were glowing.
306. 13:18And he's preaching to them this
307. 13:22history of what they've done and how God
308. 13:25has dealt with Israel.
309. 13:27And then he begins to speak to them,
310. 13:29"You men who are stiff-necked
311. 13:33and uncircumcised in hearts and ears are
312. 13:36always resisting the Holy Spirit.
313. 13:40You are doing just as your fathers did.
314. 13:45Which one of the prophets did your
315. 13:47fathers not persecute?
316. 13:50They killed those who had previously
317. 13:52announced the coming of the righteous
318. 13:54one whose betrayers and murderers you
319. 13:58have now become.
320. 14:00You who received the law as ordained by
321. 14:03angels and yet
322. 14:06did not keep it."
323. 14:08Now, when they heard this,
324. 14:11they were cut to the quick and they
325. 14:14began gnashing their teeth at him.
326. 14:18But being full of the Holy Spirit, he
327. 14:21gazed intently into heaven and saw the
328. 14:24glory of God and Jesus standing at the
329. 14:26right hand of God. And he said, "Behold,
330. 14:29I see the heavens opened up and the Son
331. 14:32of Man standing at the right hand of
332. 14:34God."
333. 14:35But they cried out with a loud voice and
334. 14:38covered their ears and rushed at him
335. 14:41with one impulse.
336. 14:44Stephen's whole preaching here
337. 14:47is to bring home one central point
338. 14:52that when God leads his people, he does
339. 14:55so through men whom the people rebel
340. 14:59against.
341. 15:01The people hate the authority of Moses
342. 15:05and they hated the authority of Jesus.
343. 15:08But he sums it all up by saying,
344. 15:11"You men are stiff-necked
345. 15:15and uncircumcised in your hearts.
346. 15:19The flesh of your affections has not
347. 15:23been cut off of your emotions, your
348. 15:25affections, your heart.
349. 15:29And you always resist the Holy Spirit.
350. 15:34What was happening in those days of the
351. 15:36early church was the power of the Holy
352. 15:39Spirit.
353. 15:40It was the words of the Holy Spirit. It
354. 15:43was the people of the Holy Spirit. It
355. 15:45was the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
356. 15:47It was the miracles from the Holy
357. 15:49Spirit. And that's what they didn't like
358. 15:52because the Holy Spirit represented an
359. 15:54authority. And they wanted no authority
360. 15:57other than their own.
361. 16:00So, Stephen is full of the Holy Spirit.
362. 16:03Being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed
363. 16:05intently into heaven.
364. 16:07And he saw the glory of God.
365. 16:11And Jesus standing at the right hand of
366. 16:14God.
367. 16:15Now, I want to ask you, what did Stephen
368. 16:17see? Did he see an older man with a
369. 16:20younger man standing next to him?
370. 16:23No.
371. 16:24Because the Bible says unequivocally
372. 16:26that no man can see God.
373. 16:29John says that in John 1.
374. 16:31Paul says that he is the image of the
375. 16:33invisible God. And John in his epistle
376. 16:37says, "No one has seen God at any time."
377. 16:41Okay? So, Stephen did not see two people
378. 16:45up there.
379. 16:46Stephen saw the glory of God. Which
380. 16:51translated means Stephen saw the
381. 16:54almighty presence completely inhabiting
382. 17:00the human being of Jesus.
383. 17:04And he saw Jesus at the right hand of
384. 17:07the throne of God.
385. 17:09This is a figure of speech to say that
386. 17:12Jesus was in the place of inherited
387. 17:15power.
388. 17:17He was in the place that
389. 17:20inherits the former role or mode by
390. 17:24which God was relating to man, only
391. 17:27through his spirit. Now, that spirit is
392. 17:30relating to us through the human being
393. 17:33of Jesus Christ, who is fully man and
394. 17:36fully God.
395. 17:37Do you understand? So, he did not see an
396. 17:39old man, cuz no one can see God. And he
397. 17:42did not see a young man, he saw the
398. 17:44glory of God, and he saw Jesus in the
399. 17:47place of the right hand. The right hand
400. 17:50refers to power. The right hand refers
401. 17:52to deliverance. The right hand refers to
402. 17:55God acting in the human affairs, okay?
403. 17:58That's the right hand that led the
404. 18:00children of Israel out of Egypt, and
405. 18:01he's saying, Jesus has that right hand
406. 18:04now. Jesus is in that function that
407. 18:07Moses was once in, and so much more,
408. 18:10because he is in the glory of God. He is
409. 18:13the outshining of his very essence, the
410. 18:16exact representation of his being.
411. 18:19But when they hear this, when they see
412. 18:21that Stephen is getting this vision of
413. 18:24the glory of God,
414. 18:26and of Jesus in this place of inherited
415. 18:28power, they are livid. They plug their
416. 18:31ears, they believe they're hearing
417. 18:33blasphemy,
418. 18:35and they rush at him with one impulse.
419. 18:38Stephen is operating by the impulse of
420. 18:41the Holy Spirit. He's operating in the
421. 18:43anointing. They are also operating under
422. 18:46one impulse. They are of one mind and
423. 18:48one accord, and it is the impulse that
424. 18:51despises the authority of the Holy
425. 18:54Spirit.
426. 18:55That's a unifying mechanism in the false
427. 18:58church,
428. 18:59to rush at and put out anything
429. 19:03that is not the manufactured religion of
430. 19:06man's ideas and man's ways and man's
431. 19:09faith,
432. 19:11and is instead the power of the Holy
433. 19:13Spirit.
434. 19:15When they had driven him, Stephen, out
435. 19:17of the city,
436. 19:19they began stoning him.
437. 19:22And the witnesses laid aside their robes
438. 19:27at the feet of a young man
439. 19:29named Saul.
440. 19:32They went on stoning Stephen
441. 19:35as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord
442. 19:38Jesus, receive my spirit."
443. 19:42Then falling on his knees, he cried out
444. 19:46with a loud voice,
445. 19:47"Lord, do not hold this sin against
446. 19:51them."
447. 19:53Having said this,
448. 19:55he fell asleep.
449. 19:59This is the first martyr, the first
450. 20:02death after Jesus.
451. 20:04And it's the deacon, Stephen.
452. 20:10These people are in such a frenzy.
453. 20:14And it all begins when they are cut to
454. 20:16the heart. That's the same thing that
455. 20:18happened two chapters earlier
456. 20:21in chapter 5. It's the same thing that
457. 20:23happened in Acts 2 when 3,000 were
458. 20:26added. It's the feeling of conviction.
459. 20:30The Holy Spirit is speaking so directly
460. 20:32that we cannot deny it. It's exposing
461. 20:35us. It's convicting us.
462. 20:38And we can't deny it.
463. 20:40And
464. 20:42we're cut to the heart. And we're either
465. 20:43going to be cut free from our sin, cut
466. 20:46free from our excuses, our complacency,
467. 20:49ourselves. We're going to let our our
468. 20:51hearts be circumcised, which is to have
469. 20:54the flesh cut off,
470. 20:56or we're going to take action to kill
471. 21:00the messenger, the mouthpiece
472. 21:03that God is using to convict us.
473. 21:06And that's what they did.
474. 21:07And
475. 21:09they're in such a frenzy that they can't
476. 21:12throw their stones with their robes on.
477. 21:15So, they take their robes off so that
478. 21:17they have more freedom of movement to
479. 21:20hurl their stones
480. 21:22at Stephen. And while they're doing
481. 21:24this, they lay their robes
482. 21:27at the feet of a young man.
483. 21:30And Stephen prays, "Don't hold this sin
484. 21:34against them."
485. 21:36And at least for one young man, that
486. 21:39prayer came true.
487. 21:41Now, if the disciples had been violent,
488. 21:44if they had taken swords
489. 21:47and had a battle with these evil people
490. 21:49and killed them all,
491. 21:51who would they have killed
492. 21:53but the Apostle Paul,
493. 21:56who right at this point is likely a
494. 21:57teenager
495. 21:58and not understanding what's going on.
496. 22:01Instead,
497. 22:03like Jesus from the cross, Stephen prays
498. 22:08for those who are persecuting him.