God Keeps Making a Way
First B Jackson
2025-01-05

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Well, good morning, everybody. Glad y'all are here. Y'all wanna sing them in from the vestibule. Let's stand together and we'll sing Love Lifted Me. How are you feeling?

Everybody? We're all good? That's good. That's what I like to hear.

I was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore, very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more. But the master of the sea heard my despairing cry from the waters lifted me. Now save am I? Love lifted me, love lifted me when nothing else could help. Love lifted me, Love lifted me.

Love lifted me. When nothing else could help love lifted me. All my heart to him I give, ever to him I'll cling. In his blessed presence live, ever his praises sing. Love so mighty and so true, merits my soul's best songs.

Faithful, loving service to to him belongs. Love lifted me. Love lifted me. When nothing else could help love lifted me. Souls in danger look above Jesus completely safe he will lift you by his love out of the angry ways He's the master of the sea, billows his will obey.

He, your savior, wants to be be saved today.

Amen. How about there's power in the blood? Hymn number three twenty nine. There are hymnals up here on top of these big old bass speakers. If you want one, you're always welcome, but we usually just sing off the wall.

So whatever comes up on the wall is what we sing. Alright. Y'all can have a seat. We have a few announcements, not a ton, but a few. Teton Valley, Idaho fellowship.

Teton Valley, Idaho fellowship. We have a lot of folks who come over each Sunday morning from Teton Valley, Idaho and they are getting together for a fellowship on a monthly basis, the second Friday of each month starting in January. For any details, you can contact Emily Anderson. There's her number if you wanna talk to her about it. Sarah, I'm looking around and I don't see a whole lot of folks who have crossed the hill to get here this morning in this service, but there are a bunch of them.

There are different rims and different hills and different valleys that we get through to get here, but Teton Valley Idaho Fellowship is starting second Friday of the month, starting right away. So there. Jackson Hole Men's Alliance. This is the gathering that we do once a month for breakfast. Jackson Hole Men's Alliance, first Wednesday of the month at 06:30AM.

That's this Wednesday, meets January 8, 06:30. We'll gather together and have breakfast and then somebody will be assigned to speak and say, usually a word of testimony, but also we'll have gathered around scripture and around one another. Good time of fellowship. Jackson Hole Men's Alliance, first Wednesday of the month. It's this Wednesday.

Jackson Hole Women's Community Bible Study is starting up also same Wednesday, January 8. It'll be at Gateway Church down in Raptor J from 10AM to twelve noon. JH Women's Bible Study, if you wanted to register ahead of time, but that is Deborah Buckingham and Alyssa and the ladies who usually have been meeting here, we're doing it at a different place this time around. So Nehemiah rebuilding together for the JH Women's Community Study, that's happening. And, I think that's it.

That's actually There's one more that did not get included in the slides, but Awana is happening. We're back on. School's back in session. Awana's back tomorrow night. So, 05:45 gathering to register, 06:00 in this room starting out around the game circle for the opening ceremonies and they'll spread out all over the church after that.

Does anybody have anything to add? I'm talking fast. Yes. Hey, Heidi. 09:00 sharp on Thursday mornings.

The precept study is going and it starts it starts this week. Fantastic. Thank you. We didn't get that slide in there either, but thank you very much. So women's precept study, Thursday morning, 9AM.

Bring your colored pencils and be ready to do a little bit. I don't think it's just for women though. It's not. Okay. Great.

Okay. Precept study is open to all. Wonderful. Would you stand with me? I mentioned this every single time that we sing this song.

The longer I serve him, the sweet eagles reminds me of a blessed, old, older man when I was growing up and whenever we do like senior Sunday, he would sing this as a as a solo and now I'm catching up with him. The longer I serve him, it's just such a beautiful, beautiful thing to think that he's going to keep on getting better the longer we serve him. It's just great. Freeman Coon with the man name and when when I was little, the pastor just call on somebody to pray. You know, it it was a normal thing and we call on Freeman.

Freeman say, bless my husband and I would kind of say, daddy, I can't understand him. I can't hear him. He goes, he ain't talking to you. Here we go. It's a long rest sermon.

What a blessing he was and his wife.

Since I started for the kingdom, since my life he controls. Serve him, the sweeter he grows. The more that I love him, more love he bestows. Each day is like heaven, my

Amen. How about worthy of worship?

You are worthy. Father, creator, you are worthy. Savior, sustainer, all this and added to these. You are worthy. Father, creator, you are worthy.

Savior, sustainer, you are worthy. Worthy and wonderful, worthy

Amen. Y'all can have a seat and I'm gonna invite the ushers to come forward and if you would pray with me as I pray aloud, if y'all just pray silently there with me. God, thank you for the place to gather this morning. Thank you for the time to gather for your people are called by your name to gather and sing your praises lord. There's no small thing.

It's a it's a big deal. So, thank you for the privilege that you've allowed for us at this time. Thank you lord for the way that you keep on spreading your good news of the gospel. I thank you that lord, you have a plan and that we're part of that plan. In fact, we're plan A and there's no plan B.

You are going to build your church by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Lord God almighty, thank you that you are still in the business of saving and redeeming and sanctifying and even glorifying those whom you've called. In Jesus name, I pray that you would bless others lord through your humble and obedient servants here this morning. Would you, Lord, use us the way we use our actions, and the way we use our words, the way we use our resources. In Jesus name, I ask that you'd bless the gift and the giver and that you would, Lord, keep on doing your will and your way among us, Lord, but also through us.

To reach into those who are yet in outward rebellion for those who just don't know, to people who just are walking in darkness. I pray that you would use us lord as instruments to to bring them out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of your marvelous light. In Jesus name, by his blood. Amen. Thank you, Judy.

Oh, beautiful. Here we are. Acts six eight through eight one. That sounds like a lot. That is a lot.

This is the longest, not not the longest sermon I've ever gonna preach, I hope. It's the longest sermon in the book of Acts. So we've already heard multiple sermons from Peter and we've heard some from the apostles but this one is gonna be from Stephen. I introduced it to him last week. We read verses six eight through 15 last week.

I used that as a ramp to get up to speed and we'll go chapter seven and one verse from chapter eight. This is a turning point in the book of Acts and it's also it's something that if I'm being straight up with you, through the week this week, as I was going through it, I was like, where's the controversy here? In his whole sermon, there's not anything in there that should have aggravated anybody until his application points. We're going to go through it and let you get a clear picture of who Stephen is. Although, last week, what we saw was, you know, there were Hellenistic believers who came to the Hebraic Jewish believers to the apostles and said, hey, our widows are being overlooked in the distribution and the apostles, capital A apostles considered the merits of the murmuring from the Hellenistic Jews and they said, choose from among yourselves, seven people who can do this job and they need to be full of the spirit and they need to be trust trustworthy people.

Basically, Steven is the first one named in that list and so we're getting a little bit clearer picture in the latter half of it. Steven, it says, is a man full of God's grace, his unmerited favor. Stephen's man full of God's grace and he was full of God's power and he was performing amazing miracles and signs among the people and one of those days, some folks from the synagogue of freed slaves as it was called started to debate with Stephen. Now, it says, nothing bad about Stephen. Stephen's full of grace, full of spirit, full of wisdom.

It's going to say that multiple times and power and he was as we had already seen the apostles performing amazing miracles and signs among the people but one day, some men from the synagogue of free slaves as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene. Okay. From Alexandria, it's a wide group. And Cilicia and I highlighted Cilicia because Tarsus is in Cilicia.

And Tarsus, it could have very well been the case that Paul being a Jewish, Greek speaking Jewish guy might have been in this crowd. Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia and it says that none of them could stand against the wisdom and the spirit with which Stephen spoke. This kind of reminds me of when they spoke whenever it's written of Christ that he spoke with someone having authority. It was something that they could not stand against his wisdom and the spirit with which Stephen spoke. So, what do we know about him?

From his name and from the context, he's a Hellenistic Jewish believer. Hellenistic just means Greek Jewish believer. He was born Jewish. It appears. He constantly throughout today's dialogue or his monologue is saying our ancestors.

So, it looks like he was of the tribes of Israel. So, born Jewish but probably identified more culturally as Greek from the name and from the picture we get of him. He's well respected in the community. He's full of the Holy Spirit. It says it multiple times.

He's full of wisdom and skilled in debate. He's full of God's grace and his power. He knows what unmerited favor looks like and recognizes that and he seems to extend that to other people too and God has recently used him to do amazing miracles and signs among the people. So, since they couldn't stand up to him in a debate and against him in wisdom, they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen saying, we heard him blaspheme Moses and even God. So, the charge from these lying witnesses, they persuaded them to say that we heard him.

He blasphemed Moses and he even blasphemed God and this blasphemy is a big deal. So, this roused the people. Now, there seems to be an increasing opposition in the book of Acts. We've seen after the day of Pentecost, there was an opposition that that Peter stands and defends what's going on. He allows the word to interpret what's going on and we see that they are arrested, they're flocked, they're beaten, they're let go.

The people in general up to this point, the people have been on the side of the apostles. It's just a religious leadership that has not been. But with these men that persuaded were persuaded to lie about Stephen saying, we've heard him blaspheming Moses and even God. It roused the people. So, now, there's it seems like there's a critical mass that's they're hitting.

The elders too and the teachers of the religious law. So, they arrested Stephen. They brought him before the high council. This is not uncommon in the book of Acts. We've already this high council convened three times.

We've already seen the defense from Peter two different times. The must we must obey God rather than man as a defense. Prayer for boldness that the witness would keep on going forward and he's brought before the high council again and it says, Luke is very emphatic. The lying witnesses. The lying witnesses said, this man is always speaking against the holy temple.

Now, they had really put the temple which is supposed to be the place where heaven and earth meet and they had so deified the temple that this was the charge that the lying witnesses are going to bring against him. This man is always speaking against the holy temple and against the law of Moses and we've heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the temple and change the customs that Moses handed down to us. Now, Jesus, did Jesus say he was going to destroy the temple? He did not. He did say it would be destroyed.

He did say that but he didn't say that he was going do it. He didn't say his people were going to do it. Against the holy temple and against the law of Moses and then to double up on it. It says, to destroy the temple and to change the custom Moses handed down to us. Whenever I see the change of the customs that Moses handed down to us, I immediately go to the song from fiddler fiddler in the roof, fiddler on the roof which is tradition.

We don't want anybody changing our traditions. If I think back about the church that I grew up in, I think that's the right way. That's the way a service ought to go. Exactly that. We tend to get stuck in our traditions.

What's the accusation that was leveled against Stephen? Well, that he blasphemed against Moses. That's one thing and even against God. That he continually speaks against the holy temple and against the law of Moses which they had put in a place of absolute they deified it. The temple and the law of Moses, they had errant views, I'd say.

More specifically, that he said, Jesus would destroy the temple and change the custom. That was the accusation. So, what was the punishment if he was found guilty? It sounds crazy for us because we hear blasphemy every day all the time and nobody does anything about it. There is very little that's ever said or done when somebody says something blasphemous.

What was the punishment if found guilty for blasphemy against God? There's no doubt. It's death. That's stoning. Death by stoning would be the punishment.

So, the next verse 15, closing out chapter six says, at this point, everyone in the high council stared at Stephen. I imagine so. He's the man on trial for his life. It's courtroom drama. You can you can feel the drama but me growing up and being kind of baptist, I didn't ever give a whole lot of credence to this next little phrase.

At this point, everyone in the high council stared at Stephen because his face became as bright as an angel's. I I just think of being a pretty dramatic thing. Man's fighting for his life. It's time. But consider this, what was it that everybody they're talking about so much about the law of Moses and he's speaking against Moses and literally, Moses face shown with brightness because he had been with God and he was filled with the glory of God and the reflection off of his face was such that they covered and here we are and Steven's face is glowing.

From the text, that's what it looks like. It's not just he was making impassion points and his eyes burned blue. No. It's his face is becoming as bright as an angel's. I bet everyone was staring at him because his face became as bright as an angel.

In in representing Moses in Renaissance sculpture, Michelangelo's famous picture of Moses that was made for Julius the second's tomb. There's there are two horns that come from right here and they stick out. They look like unicorn horns kinda. When you see them, you go, what in the world? Why does Moses have horns?

That doesn't make any sense. It's not horns. That is the Shekinah glory shining off of Moses's face and that's the representation in the Renaissance. This to me sounds like Luke was referencing that because it was he stood out. And so then, the high priest asked Stephen straight up, are these accusations true?

The Sanhedrin saw it as their responsibility to police the people and to take care of Torah and to take care of the temple and to take care of the position. So they are seeking out what is it. Is this true? And this was Stephen's reply. And this is the longest speech in Acts.

Brothers and fathers, that is a term those are both terms of respect. It's it's saying, I'm one of you. I'm not against you. It's starting off. Brothers and fathers, I have great respect for you.

Listen to me as in an emphatic position. Listen to me. Pay attention. I do have something to say. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham.

That's saying, I'm with you. You're with me. We are a people. We are a people because our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham where? In Mesopotamia.

That's not right there on that holy hill. Right there and there, boxed in place where God lived. He appeared to him in Mesopotamia. Hittite land actually and before he settled in Haran, Haran was closer to what they considered to be their place. God told him, leave your native land and your relatives and come into the land that I will show you and we hear from Paul and further forward in the New Testament and we hear multiple times throughout Genesis that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

So, God told him, leave your father and your native land and your relatives and come into the land that I'll show you and it says, so Abraham left. That shows that he believed God. He trusted him. Basically, what what God was asking for and what God even made a covenant. Steven mentioned the covenant but the covenant was in a Hittite covenant that Abraham would have understood.

The whole split in the bowl and walking among the pieces. He condescended to Abraham. So, Abraham left the land of his Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died and then God brought him here to the land where you now live. Yeah. This was part of the promise.

God gave him no inheritance here. He didn't even own a square foot of land but God did promise, however, that eventually, the whole land would belong to Abraham and to his descendants and even though he had no children yet. You remember how God did this and so far, if you're if it's a dialogue, he's stating this and then everybody in the room is going, uh-huh. Uh-huh. I agree with you.

Yeah. So far, everything you've said. Yep. Yep. Okay.

Abraham, father Abraham. Yep. Yep. That's the way it is. Even though he had no children.

Yep. Oh, yeah. I remember that story about the child of promise. God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land. It says, Genesis 15, where they would be oppressed as slaves for four hundred years.

Yep. That's part of it. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, God said, and in the end, they'll come out and they'll worship me here in this place. Yes, this is a part of what God has promised, but recognize that a lot of the story is happening outside of right here. He's going to mention three names primarily, four really, but three names primarily and he's going back to stuff that all of them would have agreed with.

Abraham. God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. It was at that time. It wasn't right here. So, when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day and he doesn't say, I disagree with that.

I'm contradicting the law of Moses. No. He's fine with that. He's still fine with that. He's saying, nothing but orthodox things that all of them would have believed and the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob and when Jacob became the father of the 12 patriarchs of the Israelite nation, our ancestors, These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt, but God was with him.

Do you recognize that? He was someone who was favored of the father and his brothers couldn't stand him. But God was with him and God rescued Joseph from all his troubles and God gave him a favor before Pharaoh before the king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom such that pharaoh appointed him governor of all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace. Everybody in agreement?

Uh-huh. Yep. I'm with you still. So far you've said nothing that would lead to any charges of blasphemy, but a famine came upon Egypt and upon Canaan and there was great misery and our ancestors, people ran out of food and Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt so he sent his sons, our ancestors to buy some of that food and the second time that they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers. The brothers who had sold him into slavery.

And everybody in the room would agree with this story. Everybody in the room knew knew. Yeah. Okay. I recognize this.

What he seems to be playing out though is God has made a way and the people rejected. Your ancestors and my ancestors rejected it over and over. The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers and they were introduced to pharaoh. Can you imagine? Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all of his relatives to come to Egypt, 75 persons in all.

So, Jacob went to Egypt and he died there. He didn't die in this holy little place. He's keeps on pointing out. It's bigger than your thing. I know you've put Abraham in a position that he just believed God.

He just accepted what God said for him. He just trusted him and walked with him. So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there as did our ancestors and their bodies were taken to Shechem. Why did he mention Shechem?

Shechem, he buried him in the tomb of Abraham that he had bought for a certain price from Hamer's sons in Shechem. We all know this story. So, but then a new came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. He had been favored but then new administration comes in and that thought was over. We see in Exodus one eight through 11.

Now, a king arose over Egypt who didn't know Joseph and he said to his people, behold, the people of the sons of Israel, more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them or else they'll multiply in the event in the event of a war. They will also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and depart from the land. So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor and they built for the pharaohs storage cities, Pitham and Ramses. This king exploited our people.

Everything that he's saying, they would agree with but he's throwing in a nuance here. It was in Mesopotamia. His bones are in Shechem. It's you need to think about God's bigger picture than the small picture of just you in charge here in the chamber of hewn stone and you holding on to power. This king exploited our people and oppressed and forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so that they would die.

Yeah, we remember that story. That's horrible. At this time, Moses was born, a beautiful child in God's eyes. Yes. Yes.

We we love Moses. His parents cared for him and at home for three months and when they had to abandon him because it was the decree, they were supposed to kill all of the Hebrew children so that they wouldn't keep on growing but God rescued Moses for a reason when they had to abandon him, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. Moses was taught all the ways of the Egyptians and he was powerful in both speech and action. Do you all think of Moses that way? I tend to think of Moses as the stammering one standing before the bush but this is telling the story that all of them would have known that miss Crystal probably has taught in the last few months, right?

That this is the way Moses was brought up and Moses was taught all the wisdom the Egyptians and he was powerful in both speech and action and one day, when he was 40 years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel and God had been moving on him that he should do something to help the oppression of the people of Israel. He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite and so Moses came to the man's defense and avenged him even killing the Egyptian and Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to the rescue but they didn't. God had made a way for them. He made a leader for him. He named a spokesman for him and he and they didn't want him.

In fact, it goes on. The next day, he visited to those people again and he saw this time two men of Israel fighting each other and he tried to be a peacemaker. Man, he said, y'all are brothers. Why are you fighting each other? But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside.

Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you see a theme emerging here? Maybe not. Y'all don't see it? God keeps on making a way and the people keep on rejecting the way that he's made.

Who made you a ruler and judge over us? And he said, are you going to kill me like you did that Egyptian yesterday? And hearing that, when Moses heard that, I imagine this was one of the places where his being so cool with speech and so great and powerful was kinda dashed because he realized he's a murderer. When Moses heard that he fled the country, he lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian and there his two sons were born and met his wife there, a foreigner. Forty years later in the desert near Mount Sinai, now he's 80 years old.

An angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. Uh-huh. We're with you. Yep. So far, nothing you've said is been disagreeable.

You're right. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight as he went to take a closer look. The voice of the Lord God called out to him, I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look. The brightness was overwhelming and then the Lord said to him, take off your sandals for you are standing on holy ground. Was this in Jerusalem?

No. This was in a foreign land. This is not there. Have I I've certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt, God says and I've heard their groans and I've come down to rescue them. Now, go for I'm sending you back to Egypt.

So, God sent back the same man. His people had previously rejected when they demanded, who made you a ruler and judge over us? Well, it was God. Though the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. God is making a way when there is no way and by means of many wonders and by many miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt where they were in slavery through the Red Sea which is unthinkable and through the wilderness for forty years.

Now, these guys had heard this story and had presided over this story in their family and in the temple and had told this so many times, probably very close to the way that Stephen's telling it right now. Moses himself told the people of Israel, God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people. Now, this is Stephen saying this. Peter has already said this in chapter three to this same body. Moses himself told the people Israel, God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people.

That's Deuteronomy eighteen fifteen. Restatement of the law and the speech that Moses has given before they go into the land of promise under Joshua and Caleb. Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen and to him, you shall listen. Listen to him. Now, Peter said it in Acts three to the same body for Moses said, the Lord your God will raise up for you, a prophet like me from among your own people.

You must listen to everything he tells you. The implication is Jesus is this guy. He is the capital p prophet that he is gonna raise up and anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people. That's Peter's speech. Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God's people in the wilderness when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai and there Moses received those life giving words, Torah to pass on to us.

God gave us there the law but our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and they wanted to return to Egypt. Do you remember this? Yeah. Nothing he's saying.

All of these guys believed exactly what he's saying. Yeah, that's true. It's such a shame. Those guys had to die off. They wander for forty years not because they were lost just because they're waiting for those guys to die off.

But our ancestors refused to listen. They rejected. They wanted to return to Egypt and they told Aaron while literally while Moses was receiving the law. They told Aaron, make us some gods who can lead us. We don't know what's become of this Moses, the one who brought us out of Egypt.

We had food in Egypt. So, they made an idol shaped like a calf and they sacrificed to it and they celebrated over this thing that they had made. This thing that they had made. This man made thing. Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods.

In the book of the prophets, it's written. Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during those forty years in the wilderness of Israel? Really? Think about it. Remember how it really was.

No. You carried your pagan gods, you carried the shrine of Molech, you carried the star of your God, Raphan, and the images that you made made with human hands to worship them. You weren't really mine. So, I'll send you into exile as far away as Babylon, the prophet. Now, our ancestors carried the tabernacle with them through the wilderness and it was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses.

His spirit was present. Actually, first time it ever says anybody was filled with the spirit. It is one of the ones in charge of building the tabernacle. Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that drove, that God drove out of this land. This one where y'all now live.

The tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory and it stayed there until the time of king David. So, he's mentioned already now. Abraham, uh-huh. Joseph, yep, rejected by his brothers but God still used what they meant for evil, he meant for good, save them from the famine, they stayed in Egypt and got built up until he sent for them and delivered that they rebelled against over and over again, stayed there until the time of king David and David found favor with God. He was a man after God's own heart and he asked for the privilege of building a permanent temple for the God of Jacob.

But God said, you know what, you're a man of war. I'll allow that Solomon. Your son will do it. Actually built it. However, the most high does not live in temples made by human hands.

Is he speaking against the temple right now? No, he's saying God is bigger than the temple. The most high doesn't live in temples made by human hands as the prophet says, Isaiah 66, I think it is. He, is my throne and earth is my footstool and could you build me a temple as good as that? Asked the Lord.

Could you build me such a resting place? Didn't my hands make both heaven and earth? Yeah, that's Isaiah sixty six one and two. My hands have made both heaven and earth. They and everything in them are mine.

I, the Lord have spoken. I'll bless those who have a humble and contrite hearts. I'll bless those who tremble at my word. Not the ones who have all everything already figured out. But will God really live on earth?

This is from first Kings, Solomon is speaking before the consecration of the temple, but will God really live on earth? Why even the highest heavens cannot contain you, Lord, how much less this temple that I have built? Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and hear my plea. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making a day. May you watch over this temple night and day, this place where you've said my name will be there.

May you always hear the prayers I make towards this place. This is Solomon realizing that it's a small thing, not a big thing. It's not the only thing. It's not this is not a temple that's made by God. This is a temple that's made by human hands.

So, Stephen goes from there. Everything he said so far is absolutely orthodox. Nobody has anything to argue with in the room, I don't think. So, his summation and application takes a hard turn. You stubborn people.

It's so emphatic. He's just stomping his foot at him. You stubborn people. Can you not see throughout your whole history? Everything that I've said so far.

Uh-huh. Yep, father Abraham, Moses, Joseph, yep, all of that. You're not the heroes in this story. You are the people that are rejecting the people I've sent you in the story. You stubborn people.

You are hidden at heart and you are deaf to the truth. The capital p prophet that God said through Moses, he would raise up was Jesus and you killed him. Okay. Sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself.

You're heathen at heart. You're deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That's what your ancestor did and that's what you're doing right now. Name one prophet.

Your answer your ancestors didn't persecute. They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the righteous one, The Messiah, whom you betrayed and you murdered, Jesus. You deliberately disobey God's law. Even though you received it from the hands of angels. You always talk about this is what sets us apart from everybody else.

We've got God's law. Yeah, but you're ignoring it. So, this is a summation application right here. You people are resisting the Holy Spirit just like you always have. Boy, there's a place in missionary service.

Tanya calls it the you people place. It's the place where you go from all these precious people lord that you've sent me to and they're so great and they're they deserve to have the gospel and I'm thankful that you're using me in such a small part and then you get there and you just get frustrated and eventually, you just go, you people. This is where he is. You people are resisting the Holy Spirit. He poured it out right here.

You're persecuting the prophets. What I'm saying, you all agree with the facts of it but you don't see that you're still resisting it. You're breaking the law of Moses right now. Jesus was the fulfillment of that law and you killed him. The Jewish later leaders of course were infuriated by Stephen's accusation and they shook their fist at him in rage.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, it says. Stephen gazed steadily into heaven. And he saw the glory of God directly. He had done what was necessary. He stood and he saw the glory of God and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand.

Everywhere else in the New Testament says that he seated at God's right hand. We always say, he is seated because his work is done and Jesus' session, we know that everything has been accomplished but then, when Stephen is confessing Jesus before these men, Jesus is standing up and confessing him before the father. Standing up in the place of honor at God's right hand and he told him, look, I see the heavens open and I see the son of man that's standing in the place of honor at God's right hand. I see him And with that, they put their hands over their ears so that they wouldn't hear anything else he was saying and they began shouting and they rushed him and they dragged him out of the city and they began to stone him. This is not the normal procedure right here.

This is not the normal procedure for stoning. This is a lynch mob. This is not the normal procedure. His accusers took off their coats. Normally, they would strip the accused and drag them in their shame outside of the city wall, and then they would dump them over a cliff and pour put a big stone over off the cliff onto the top of them to try to do it as immediately as possible, but this says, they dragged him out of the city.

They began to throw stones personally themselves. Each Adam and his accusers took off their coats, laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. Woah. And they stoned him, and Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Most commentators that read this see in this a bedtime prayer from Psalm 31.

I entrust my spirit into your hand. Little little kids that we still teach little kids to say, now, let me down to sleep, right? I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake. Right?

Pray the Lord my soul to take. I entrust my spirit into your hand. Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God. No matter what happens on this earth, you are a faithful God. I put my spirit into your hands.

It also sounds a lot like what Jesus said on the cross. When he says, father, into thy hands, commit my spirit. So, lord, he adds, Jesus received my spirit and he fell to his knees and when he fell to his knees, he shouted, lord, do not charge them with this sin and it was definitely sin. But that sounds just like Jesus. He is echoing Jesus right there.

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. He just told them, I agree with everything that you agree with up to the point where I'm not resisting the one that God has made. I'm listening to him. He was giving them the chance to listen to him too. Lord, don't charge them with this sin and with that, it says he died.

It says actually he fell asleep and other translations you'll see he fell asleep. Maybe I'll come back to that next week. It's a euphemism for death. Those who rest in Jesus. Saul was one of the witnesses, the coats there at his feet and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.

There was no doubt in his mind that that was the right thing to do. And a great wave of persecution began that day and it swept over the church in Jerusalem and all the believers except the apostles were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. So we see the turning point is they had clumped up even those who had come from outside Cilicia and Alexandria and the different places had kind of clumped up in Jerusalem during this time. But Jesus said, you're gonna be my my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts. And this, the stoning of Stephen is what started the great persecution where especially the Hellenistic Jewish believers in Christ were sent out into Judea and Samaria in the other most part.

I think that's my last slide and this this might seem like, Ray. This is the first Sunday of the year and you're starting with martyrdom. We're turning to a time of communion right now and when Jesus was in that upper room where he instituted communion, he had told them that in this world, you will have trouble but take heart, I've overcome the world, Right? And he he had told them a lot of the way things were going to go and people who killed you thought they were doing God a favor, right? He he had forecast that.

He gave them a sort of a sign for going forward. He instituted this Lord's Supper and this was representative of his body which he walked out in perfection, a sinless life. He had a perfect record to offer and his blood. Since he had that perfect record offer, he was the final, all sufficient sacrifice. Everything, all the blood of bulls and goats, everything had pointed towards this one all sufficient sacrifice.

Jesus' shed atoning blood sacrificially, voluntarily given. That's what we celebrate right here, now. I'm gonna invite the ushers, elders to come forward. Thank you. Also, by the way, I have forgotten this every time that I have ever done the we've done communion here.

These little cups that say g f on them are gluten free. Okay? They're gluten free wafers and it's on top of its own little plastic cup. It has two tabs to pull off. If you're gluten free, take one of those but wait on us to drink the juice, please.

It's just been confusing for a long time. If not, you just take a cracker as representation of his body. Lord Jesus, thank you for walking it out in perfection. Thank you that you are completely submitted to the spirit. We ask lord that you would allow us the power of the Holy Spirit that we'd be able to walk after your example.

Thank you. Thank you. Amen.

Your gift of love, they crucified. They laughed and scorned him as he died.

Amen. And on the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread after supper and after he had given thanks, he said to his disciples who were there. He said, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat of it and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Jesus, I thank you for that perfect record, for the humility to by the spirit fulfill the law of God.

Thank you. Thank you for the grace involved in laying down your life as a ransom for many, for all who would put their faith in you. We ask that you'd bless this little representation of your blood, this plastic container full of grape juice Lord as a representation of the sacrificial atoning blood once for all time. Lord God almighty, thank you for the grace available in Christ's blood. Amen.

I was so lost I should have died, but you have brought me to your side to be led by

In the same way that he had taken the bread, it says, he also took the cup. For them as a common cup of wine. And he said to them, he said, this is the new covenant in my blood. Wow. They've been waiting for it.

Jeremiah forecast it, Joel forecast it and we're rejected for forecasting it. Jesus said, this is the new covenant in my blood. Take this and drink of it. Do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Paul says it as often as we do this, we proclaim his death until he comes again.

So, salvation in Jesus name, we're proclaiming. I think we just wanna do the doxology, Judah. Is that fine? Would you all stand with me? And hit a g maybe.

Praise sorry. Oh, here we are.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above, ye heavenly host. Praise father, son, and holy ghost.

Amen. That was further from a g than anything I've ever sung. Sorry. Isaiah 57, I love this. It says, for thus says the one who is high and lifted up.

The one who inhabits eternity whose name is actually holy. I dwell in the high and holy place. Yes, and I also dwell with him who is of contrite and lowly spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. May we ever be humble before God. May we ever be humble before God almighty because God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble.

Lord, would you allow us to understand in an unusual way like Joseph and an unusual way like Abraham and in an unusual way like Stephen. Exactly the words that you would have for us. Lord, may we be humble and obedient witnesses to Jesus. Amen.