Text: Acts 7:1-53, Title: Defense or Offense? Date/Place: NRBC, 10/21/07, AM
A. Opening illustration: Martin Luther writes “(Christians) must be warriors, always equipped with their armor and weapons, and that the lot of a Christian is no leisurely existence, nor one of peace and security; rather he is always on campaign, attacking and defending his positions. . . ‘(you) are in my army and under my flag; see to it that you are on the look-out for the enemy, ready to defend yourselves against his angels, for he is never far away from you.’ As long as you do that, you need have no fear.”
B. Background to passage: The last few weeks we have see the young church fend off attacks from various avenues as it continues to reach people for Christ. And the last installment of defense came after the church had chosen seven men to serve as deacons, one of which was a man named Stephen. And last week we saw his impeccable character through his communion, commitment, and conviction to Jesus that landed him in custody. Today he gets his chance to defend himself. And most of us if we are honest, we would admit that there are times when we fit the profile of “stiff-necked.” And so our present text serves as a reminder of God’s graciousness, but also as a warning against rebellion and unbelief toward Him.
C. Main thought: Stephen gives us three great truths about this “stiff-necked” people in his defense/offense.
A. Confining God is Blasphemy (v. 44-50)
1. Stephen doesn’t argue with their accusation that he spoke against the temple (although he did not). Instead he shows them that the temple should not be equated with the presence of God. He reminds them that God met Abraham in Ur, and in Haran. He met with Joseph in Egypt. He met with Moses in Midian, in Egypt, and at Sinai. And he met with Israel in the Tabernacle for 440 years outside Jerusalem. But the Jews over-reverenced the temple, and confined God to it. By doing this that had reduced the God of the universe to a territorial spirit, and were engaging in Idolatry by worshiping the building, not the God that they were to meet there. They forgot that it was God who instructed the building of the temple, the writing of the law, and it was God who could at anytime He wanted destroy or transform His institutions. They had created a God small enough for them to manage and confine to the temple. They were just like the delivered Egyptian captives in v. 41, rejoicing in the work of their own hands.
2. 1 Kings 8:27, Jer 23:24, Isa 64:1-2, Psa 71:19, Rom 11:33,
3. Illustration: “God is not a celestial vending machine that gives what we ask, when we put money in the offering box. God is not a heavenly genie who grants us three wishes when we rub Him in the right direction.” “We don’t seem to want to worship a God who’s too big, too authoritative. We seem more comfortable with a deity who’s more manageable.” When John Piper prays you can hear fear and reverence in his voice, and that alone gives the impression that His God is awesome and fearful,
4. Sometimes we are guilty of making God small enough to contain. If we can keep Him in a lamp like a genie, and just get him to come out when we need something, or something breaks in our lives, that is nice. We don’t want Him to really take control of our lives, mess up the works of our hands, and the plans of our minds, and embarrass us. Our God is uncontainable, incomprehensible, and bigger than most of our puny conceptions of Him. Do all that you can to expand your view of God biblically, so you’re your perspective on Him is more honoring to Him. Sometime we like to create a god in our minds of our own design to suit our needs and reflect our glory back to us. And this is idolatry—worshipping anything other than God, and anything less that all that He really is. And sometimes we hold things that are tradition for us (buildings, orders of worship, structures, governments, and ideas) so tightly that we make the mistake of attributing worship to them. We must be cautious not to deify created things. But really every tradition is simply a means to knowing, worshipping, and honoring God, and when they cease to do that, they are expendable. Or if we see that a different way better suits the biblical evidence, then we willingly discard the old way. Every building is simply a place to carry out the kingdom agenda without getting rained on. Every idea is held up to the Living Word of God, scrutinized, and kept or discarded.
B. Rejecting God’s Man is Treason (v. 9, 31-39)
1. Stephen also outlined a pattern of rejection in his History of Israel. Joseph was rejected, Moses was rejected, and according the Jesus, Israel had a history of killing the prophets of God. And for a people who seemed to be “holier than thou” now, they revered the prophets much more now than did the prophets’ contemporaries. God’s man spoke for God, represented God, interceded with God, and delivered his will and directives to the people. To disdain God’s man is to disdain God. The whole point is to say that they have done it so much that they don’t even realize that they have just done it again and this time far worse—they killed the Messiah.
2. Matt 23:37, 12:41-42, Neh 9:26, 1 Thess 2:15,
3. Illustration: the murder of Thomas Becket by Henry II,
4. And how often are we still guilty of this charge. Congregations and pastors get used to the darkness of people ignoring the prophet’s words. And I think our practice of changing pastors so often, and forcing a congregation to get used to a new man every couple of years adds to the problem. People view the next pastor as just the next one in line at our church. And they hear new thoughts or visions, or they hear sin clearly renounced, and then they just go on doing what they have made up their minds to do anyway. This is not to say that you are to heed my words without thought. We must test the spirits, and see that they line up with the word. But if they do, God has anointed a man to lead, and he should be followed. This is His design, not mine. This is another reason that you don’t forsake worship. That is the primary time that God speaks through his man to you.
C. Rebellion Indicates Lostness (v. 51-53)
1. Stephen cuts to the chase here with three accusations. First they were called “stiff-necked.” The word means stubborn and rebellious. The word was used of animals and people who didn’t do what they were told, especially by a higher authority. Stephen tells them they are rebelling against God’s promised Messiah. Next Stephen says that they are uncircumcised in their hearts and ears. The ears part we already knew because of their constant rejection of the prophets. But the heart indicates the reality of their innermost condition. He says that they do not have the mark of God where it counts. This spoke volumes to the councilmen. Finally he says that they are continually resisting the Spirit of God. The picture is of one standing up to God and telling Him “no.” It is the opposite of yielding. And these are the people that are supposed to be serving God.
2. Ex 33:3-5, Joel 2:13, Deut 10:16, 30:6, John 16:8,
3. Illustration: Someone has defined rebellion this way: “Reserving for myself the right to make the final decision” "Revolt is revolt whether it is militant, blatant rebellion or quiet, respectable indifference." D.A. Carson once said, “Hell is not a place where people are consigned because they were pretty good blokes, but they just didn’t believe the right stuff. They’re consigned there, first and foremost, because they defy their maker and want to be at the center of the universe…and who persist in their God-defying rebellion….What is God to do?” The Bible itself teaches that there are persons who profess the faith and yet are not of the faith, Romans 9:6; 1 John 2:9, Revelation 3:1. John says of some: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us," 1 John 2:19.
4. Rebellion against God-established authority (except when that authority requires sin) is not the characteristic of those who know God. Part of becoming a Christian is acknowledging Jesus as Lord, Master, and King. Therefore, as a Christian, we constantly yield ourselves to Christ. And thus the converse is that if we are constantly willfully rebelling against what we know God had called us to do, we may not truly be Christian. It would indicate that Jesus is not our Lord. We must remember that a lot of things make us appear to be a Christian, but it is only the circumcision of the heart that truly indicates a persons relationship with Christ. Do you emotions, your desires, your hungers testify that you are truly a transformed person? Many of us put on well, even join the church, but sometime we realize that we really don’t know Christ like we put on. And it is so hard to overcome pride and come to Him. But don’t harden your heart and stiffen your neck and defy the Holy Spirit of God. This will bring about your damnation.
A. Closing illustration: "A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself."--Tozer
B. Mark 12:1-11, remember his patience and mercy, but be warned of his judgment.
