ACTS CHAPTERS 6 & 7
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Act 6,1-10
(72d)
Authority >> Transferring authority
>>
Men delegate authority in their position
(80i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Know the word to minister to God >> Know the word to know God
(130c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Being in one accord >> Having one faith – The early church was unquestionably a
commune; no one had private ownership of anything, but all possessions were
property of the group, and they took their meals together. Tables were furnished
and the elderly had waiters who would serve their daily meals. Today,
something like this would never work. First of all, the word “commune” has
a negative connotation, suggesting that society thinks all communes are evil
in motive and would be persecuted from its very onset. Nevertheless, the early
church was able to manage communal living for a season, until the Church was
forced to disperse. It was an ideal setup at the time, in that unity helped
people grow in the Lord quickly, but it was only meant to be temporary, and
then in 70 AD persecution in Jerusalem dispersed the Christians in a state of unity
and joy in the Holy Spirit according to the will of God. Had the commune
continued much longer the people would have eventually run out of resources
and disbanded from poverty and bitterness. Communal living formed through
unity and was disbanded because of persecution, and in the last days communal
living will return, only then it will form through persecution and create
unity. If we tried communal living before it was necessary, there would be nothing but strife and division, and the commune
would unravel from the inside. During the Great Endtime Revival, when the Holy Spirit takes His rightful place in the Church
and corrects the schisms and doctrines of heresy and puts everyone on
the same page, people will share their
inspirations with one another within a framework of truth. See also: Great Endtime Revival (Harvest at the end of the age);
Act 14,1-7; 149d
(158g) Works of the devil >>
Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >>
Division (Cliques) >> Special interest groups – When people get saved, mature Christians
should take them under their wing and mentor them for a season; this is
what was happening to the Church as a whole; it was being discipled by the
Holy Spirit through His twelve apostles. There was strong single-minded faith
and unity, but there were problems too, and this chapter brings out one of
them. The native Hebrews looked with contempt upon Jews who had mixed their
bloodline with other races and were refusing to serve the tables of their
widows. This may have flown in the old covenant, but not in the new age of
grace. By this they were forming classes and divisions, which would soon take
down their communal way of life, being the kind of thing that can destroy any
group, getting its start by forming seemingly innocent factions and then
snowballing and overtaking any virtuous qualities among the people.
(227h) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God
working in you >> Dependence on Jesus >>
Depending on Jesus to impart His gifts into us >> He gives us what we give to each other
Act 6,1-6
(8k)
Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause >>
Preparing for the ministry –
In preparing for a great ministry you
need to assign the right people to the right task so that the job gets done
and no one’s ministry is squelched. You might think that serving tables is a
mundane job, but Steven was in direct contact with people and had a tremendous
opportunity to impart his knowledge and wisdom into those who were like-minded
and would receive his words. The apostles knew this
and sought people who would be committed to helping them build up the body of
Christ during their daily gathering together for dinner.
Act 6,1-5
(14k)
Servant >> Ministry of helps >> Helpers are indirectly in charge of
the word >> They relieve church leaders of
menial duties – The story of Steven is one of the most
concrete examples of the position of a helper, since it encompasses both
elements of the ministry of helps: the anointing and the relieving of menial
duties. This is a prime example of why it is so important for these helpers to
be anointed. They touch so many lives in the course of their work
that to station someone full of grace and truth would provide immeasurable benefit
to the Church.
Act 6,1-4
(112a)
Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Wisdom of the spirit
-- These verses go with verses 8-10. The apostles were concerned about devoting
themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word, because the word of God and
prayer go together like peas and carrots. Prayer without the Scriptures is a
waste of time, and the word of God without prayer has no ability to instill the
truth in our hearts. It is our interaction with the word of God through
prayer, deliberately
placing these facets together in our hearts that God reveals Himself to our
inner man, that we might gain access to the vast treasures of Christ, which dwell
within us.
(142k) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >>
Having a reputation for knowing God >> known as
being intimate with God – There were people serving tables who needed
replacing because they were shirking their duties, and they replaced them with
people who were more competent, synonymous with having a good reputation, and
who could meet the needs of the people, being full of the Spirit and wisdom.
We would think they would reserve people like Steven for the purpose of teaching
the word of God and helping raise up the body of Christ through the so-called
five-fold ministry, discussed in Eph 4-11,12. It seems a misuse of
resources to use people of this caliber to wait on tables, but they already
tried using others of lower order,
and all that came of their ministry were schisms. They needed to find people
who were full of the Spirit and wisdom, who knew better than to make
distinctions among people based on their physical descent. Besides, it turns
out that placing them in a position where they interfaced with such a wide
cross section of believers in the Church was a ministry in itself, for the
responsibility of serving tables meant that Steven had access to people, and
he would talk to them about his faith while they were eating their food, which was a heightened time of thanksgiving
for God’s provision.
(241g) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Obstacles in the way of
the kingdom >> Distractions
Act 6,1-3
(9k) Responsibility
>> Strengthen one
another >> Tend to the widows
(89d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >>
Answers of wisdom -- These verses go with verses 9&10
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Act 6,2-15
(149h) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Authority of the rhema given to evangelism >>
Preaching the gospel by the power of God
Act 6,2-4
(77c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Hunger for the essence of God >> Hunger for His
truth
(148a) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Solemnly testify about the grace of God
Act 6-3
(142c)
Reputation (Key verse)
(230i) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of
godliness >> Mystery of the trinity >>
Anointing is the mystery of godliness -- This verse goes with verse 6
Act 6-5
(210h) Salvation
>>
Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Salvation
is from the Jews >> The Jew first >> Jews lead the world to faith in Jesus
– A Christian proselyte back in those days was
considered a gentile who has come to the Jewish faith in Jesus Christ. Since then, the Jews have ironically rejected their own
faith, and the gentiles throughout the bi-millennial age of grace have managed the
gospel of Christ. All gentiles should, however, consider themselves proselytes
of the Jewish faith, whereas the Jews who believe in Jesus are native to faith
in Jesus, because the gospel primarily belongs to them.
Act 6-6
(115i) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Working the grace of God >> Laying on of hands >>
Ordaining people to the ministry – We have all seen the clergy lay hands on
people and pray, but here it says they prayed and then laid hands on them. It
doesn’t matter either way, but this verse is making the distinction between
prayer and the laying on of hands. Prayer invited the Holy Spirit to join in
ordaining the group to the ministry, and then there is a sanctioned, biblical
process of laying on of hands. God is able to impart certain gifts into people
through this contact ritual. Prayer holds a separate function of ministering
to the heart and soul.
(230i) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery
of godliness >> Mystery of the trinity >>
Anointing is the mystery of godliness -- This verse goes with verses
8-15
Act 6-7
(86a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >>
Believe the word by obeying it – Some of the colleagues of those who earlier
questioned and flogged the apostles were becoming obedient to the faith.
Obviously there are those who are incapable of faith in Jesus, but there were
some priests who had a good heart among the Levites, and they understood their
role as priests for the nation of Israel. They conducted their ministry in the faith they understood about the old
covenant and were able to make the
transition. For a Levitical priest to come to the Lord, the most likely proof
that led them to faith in Jesus was the many testimonials in the Old Testament
alluding to the sacrifice of Christ and the grace He would bring to the world.
Israel throughout the centuries sacrificed the blood of animals on the altar
of their old covenant temple and ate their flesh, all to symbolize the
sacrifice that Jesus would one day make of his own body. The high priest would
take a bowl-full of the animal's blood with him into the Most Holy Place once
a year to atone for the sins of Israel, and the priests realized that Jesus
did this with His own blood. He presented Himself to His Father in heaven, who
accepted Him, which was equivalent to accepting us who believe in Jesus for eternal
life.
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Act 6,8-15
(42d) Judgment
>>
Be like Jesus >> Innocent >>
No evidence against you in a court of law
(121l) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Confidence >> Confidence in God as you
fulfill your ministry
(154i) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> God bears witness
against the world >> Witness that the world is
rebellious against God >> Witness against
hypocrisy –
The religious establishment was totally close-minded, refusing to ponder any
other point of view and considered everything they believed to be right, so if
anyone disagreed with
them, they were automatically wrong. After all the signs and wonders that God
performed through Steven and the words he spoke, sitting there not saying a word, he testified against
them merely by his countenance. Steven earlier testified against their forefathers saying, “You who
received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it,” these were
the sons of those who persecuted the prophets, who treated Steven in the
same manner, whose face was like an angel since he was about to meet
God. In the next fifteen minutes he would be standing on the shores of the heavenly kingdom, Steven’s face already making the transition to the next
life. In the process God was using him to testify against his enemies, that
anyone who would stone a man to death for speaking the truth and performing
miracles in the name of Jesus would pose violence against God Himself if ever
the opportunity arose, even as they killed Jesus. This is an
example of the reprobate mind, people who are utterly unreachable. Nevertheless,
it is important to note that many priests were becoming
obedient to the faith.
(163g) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used
by Satan to destroy the word of God >> Used to
Suppress the truth – There is a kind of people
who are adamant about getting their way and against everything about God,
having no conscience as a requirement to achieving their
goals. They never give preference to others or surrender or submit to anyone, but
use deception, oppression and murder to solve their problems. These are the alpha-males in society, considering themselves men of renown
(description as the Nephilim),
bullies who follow their animal instincts, led-on by elementary principles
of the world. They went behind Steven’s back and made up stories about him and
twisted his words to make him say things contrary to the covenant of Moses.
(166h) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the
world >> Nature Of Man’s Wisdom >>
Man’s wisdom will not allow the righteous to succeed
(175e) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >>
Using religion to persecute the Church – Moses remained the heart of the old covenant
until the days of Christ, and then He replaced the law of commandments with
mercy and grace. Therefore, anyone
speaking against Moses in those days would be seen as an act of treason. No one greater than Moses ever came after him,
not even David who brought the hope of a coming millennial reign, but when Christ came,
He established a new covenant written in His own blood that would last for two
thousand years.
(181b) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Rebellion >> Rebelling against the
witness of God
(182h) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >>
Being deceptive with people >> Lying to others
(198a) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Man
withers when he is in control >> Unteachable >>
Resisting the knowledge of God – It is virtually impossible to talk
most people into faith in Christ. Steven, being full of grace and power performed
great signs and wonders among the people, yet some argued with him. How are we supposed to reach
those who refuse to acknowledge miracles performed before their very eyes? They
discounted them, probably accusing Steven of performing black magic
arts through demons as they accused Jesus, an excuse to maintain their own beliefs, so they wouldn’t
have to admit to any wrong doing or thinking. They were clutching doctrines they
didn’t even believe themselves in place of having a genuine faith in Christ.
A person who refuses to see is not committed to the truth but merely a
religion, which should not be confused with a sincere faith. They were proud of their
religion and that was as far as their faith went. These people had no more
faith than their pride and massive egos, and in the eyes of God that is no faith at
all.
(200l) Denying Christ
>>
Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> He
is against Christ who does not receive Him >>
Whoever does not receive the Church is against Christ
(202f) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from the word of God >> Running from the truth
(209d) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with
difficulty >> Righteous saved with hardship >>
Righteous saved with adversity
(230i) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery
of godliness >> Mystery of the trinity >>
Anointing is the mystery of godliness -- These verses go with verse 3
(242e) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecuting God >>
Persecuting the power of God
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Act 6,8-10
(6i) Responsibility
>>
Spiritual >>
Ministering to people by being in the Spirit -- These verses go along
with verse 15
(14j) Servant
>> Ministry of helps >> Helpers Are Indirectly In Charge Of The Word >>
They have the heart of
the one who trained them – Steven was full of grace and power,
chosen to merely serve tables and guarantee that
the widows were properly attended. When the leaders chose the seven, they knew what kind of ministry
it would be, that Steven and the others would be interfacing directly with the people.
His status by that description was below
the title of a deacon, yet he was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit;
therefore, how much more did they expect from their deacons back then?
Nowadays a man like Steven may have risen to become a church pastor, but in
his time there were probably more people like Steven then they could use. You
wouldn’t think it would require such a man as Steven to be a waiter, but he
did more than go from table to table delivering trays and cleaning-up after
meals; people had spiritual needs, and Steven
ministered to them. He became acquainted with their problems and
became personally involved in their lives and became intimate friends with
many of those he served. Had the story of Steven happened
in our time, the majority of both church leaders and parishioners would have
blamed Steven for causing a disturbance and invented a new rule that waiters
were no longer allowed to administer the word of God while waiting on tables. No one stopped Steven from ministering, because he was not the one
causing a ruckus but his opponents, who resisted the Holy Spirit and were
blaspheming.
(71b) Authority
>>
Believer’s authority >> We have authority in
the wisdom of God
(112a) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Wisdom of the spirit
-- These verses go with verses 1-3
(129b) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Bearing the fruit of
evangelism >> Spiritual fruit
(147e) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Divine works of God >>
Signs and wonders
Act 6-8
(115e) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Working the grace of God >> Through your
ministry >> By the word of God
(143c) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >>
The public >> The disciples ministered publicly
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Act 6,9-15
(24g) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Envy >>
Angry at God because of their poverty
(74i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Heart of man is sinful >> It is deceitful and
desperately wicked
(157k) Witness
>>
Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being
hell-bound >> Having a murder spirit
(166n) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >>
Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >>
The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >>
The carnal mind lacks integrity
(170c) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Seeking the glory
of man >> Pursuing the glory of man turns us in
the wrong direction >> Fighting God to keep the
glory of man
(175f) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >>
Dodging the issue (willful ignorance) >> Evading
the word of God
(180e) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >>
Be shrewd as wolves and more innocent than they appear >>
Wolves are clever
(181f) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Lawlessness >>
Having no regard for the law >> Forsaking the
law
(205h) Salvation
>>
Salvation is based on God’s promises >> New
covenant >> The old one is obsolete – While they performed their duties, Steven and
his friends would stop and discuss the word of God with people, which to some
were controversial issues. God’s truth was controversial, perhaps more back
then than today if that were possible, since they were in the process of
pulling away from the old covenant and blazing a trail to the new covenant. On top of that, the Jews were not practicing
old covenant customs according to the manner in which they were dictated to Moses, adding further confusion to the job of
establishing the doctrines of the Church by which Christians would worship God
for the next 2000 years. These changes were virtually impossible to accept
without the guidance of the Holy Spirit; if God did not confirm
His word to them, there was no hope of anyone believing it,
which is still true to this day. These two covenants were adjacent to one another
and a painful tearing away was happening for a new age of grace to be fully
realized.
Act 6-9,10
(89d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >>
Answers of wisdom -- These verses go with verses 1-3
(112e) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Light >> Jesus light in us overcomes darkness >>
The light of His truth
Act 6,11-14
(17i) Sin >>
Unrighteous judgment >>
Ignorance >> Speaking truth without knowing it – Nothing they posited against Steven was a
lie, yet their interpretation and understanding of his words were completely distorted.
Steven deeply respected the life and contribution of Moses. How easy it is to twist a person’s
words;
they didn’t alter what Steven said, but practically quoted him
verbatim and still misconstrued what he said. They could not fathom the gospel; they simply
didn’t understand it, as Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are
mistaken, because you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God”
(Mat 22-29). Steven confounded them simply by telling them the truth,
essentially combining the Holy Spirit with an
accurate depiction of the Scriptures.
Act 6-11,12
(162b) Works of the devil
>>
Carried away bodily
(179d) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >>
Stir up the crowd >> Stir up the crowd through
jealousy
Act 6-11
(17j) Sin >>
Unrighteous judgment >>
Ignorance >> Distorting the facts
–
There were some crucial adjustments that the apostles needed to make to the Church’s knowledge of the Scriptures as they acclimated from the Old
Testament to the New, which would seriously and inevitably rock the boat of
the Jewish faith. They believed a certain way for fifteen hundred years and now
suddenly everything was changing. During the doctrinal upheaval it was easy to accuse
the apostles of saying something that went directly against the
heart of their ancestral beliefs, and the Hebrew community was highly religious, which did not help the transitional phase.
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Act 6-14
(49a) Judgment
>>
Nations are destroyed >> Israel judged as an
example for us
(55j) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> Condemning prophecy that you help fulfill
– When they put forth false testimony, they
posed an argument they claimed Steven said that came true because of them; so not
only were they incapable of incriminating Steven, turns out their argument was
a prophecy about the fate of their nation that was fulfilled as a direct result of their
own actions, persecuting Steven. Not only did the Jewish persecution expel
Christians from Jerusalem, the Jews themselves were expelled into all the
nations of the world through the dispersion of the Roman Empire perpetrated
against them, because of their defiance and unyielding mindset, the
very attitudes that kept them from God throughout the Old Testament, then from the
gospel. Indeed, God had that place destroyed; indeed Jesus altered the Jewish customs of worship;
indeed they were made obsolete through Christianity.
Act 6-15
(6i) Responsibility
>>
Ministering to people by being in the Spirit -- This verse goes with
verses 8-10
(111i) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Kingdom of God revealed >>
Manifestation of truth
(246a) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Spirit realm
superimposed upon the natural realm >> The
outside is a manifestation of the inside
(246hh)
Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Demonstration of God’s kingdom >> God demonstrates His glory >>
Materializing the inner man –
Why did God reveal Himself to His enemies through Stephen? Did He make an
opportunity for them to repent? No, He
demonstrated His kingdom for an occasion to judge them! God
knew their intension that they were about to stone Stephen, a man
after God’s own heart, a man whom God could have used for many years to
promote His kingdom and bring more converts and disciples to the faith.
Instead, he died that day at the hands of marauding criminals,
religious zealots, who claimed to believe in God but didn’t know the first
thing about Him. God
tried to show those murderers that they were wrong by causing Stephen’s face
to glow with the glory of God, so they would know beyond a shadow of doubt
that they were martyring someone better than themselves. The question comes
to this: did these religious impostors really believe in what they proclaimed so
strongly that they were willing to kill for it, or were their murderous ways
based on something other than faith? Fact is, nobody can believe a lie
stronger than God's children can believe the truth, because God empowers their faith, and the only power unbelievers have to believe a lie is
of the devil. Maybe they believed in their religion through satanic power, but
their faith in deception is weaker than faith in the truth by just so much as
Satan is weaker than God. If they wanted to kill for their religion, they
would have to do it
for a reason other than faith, something that goes beyond the power of
believing a lie, pride and arrogance.
_________________________________
ACTS CHAPTER 7
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Act 7,1-50
(79l) Thy kingdom come
>>
Know the word as a sword in spiritual warfare >>
To defend yourself from religion –
Their level of rage indicated what their Jewish religion meant to them. We should remember that their religion was taken from them 400 years earlier,
and the whole nation of Israel was escorted to Babylon at the command of King
Nebuchadnezzar, and were in bondage to him for seventy years. Afterward, Nehemiah began the
arduous process of rebuilding the wall surrounding
Jerusalem, and then Herod built them an extravagant temple, which was their
pride and joy. Then Christianity came along and tried to take all that away
from them, leaving them with nothing but faith in a man who supposedly
returned from the dead. We happily believe this, but they didn't know how to
believe it, because such things were never taught them, but why weren't they
since it was all written in their ancient manuscripts? Instead, they were
taught to believe in religious busywork, which they thought pleased
God, but it turns out that faith in the truth is the only way to please Him.
(147b) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Remember the Father’s
miracles – Isaac got
married and had children, who became the twelve tribes of Israel. When Stephen
spoke of them and of Joseph and
his experiences with the pharaoh of Egypt, how he became second in command,
these refer to the sovereign hand of God moving among His people. We must view
these events as miracles, because they are the fulfillment of prophecy.
Israel's mistakes represent the cycle of life that has continued throughout human
history: man learns his lesson, and the next generation forgets, who must relearn at a high cost of human lives. There is
always death and destruction along the learning curve, and what is the cause of
this cycle? Look to the succeeding king of Egypt for the answer; the guy was a
total jerk. He could have listened to his elders who personally knew Joseph
and could have judged Israel with kindness, but he didn’t. The motivating
factor behind this cycle repeating from generation to generation is sin and
depravity and the love of violence, but more than anything the king acted from
fear. He was afraid that the Israelites would grow more numerous than the
Egyptians and overtake them. The king could have simply released them, problem solved,
but from fear he treated Israel contemptuously, and God judged Egypt for it.
Act 7,1-8
(151a) New Testament Bears Witness
Of The Old (Key verse)
(151bb) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears
witness of the Old >> The Patriarchs >>
Abraham >> Story of Abraham –
Stephen
spoke in length about Abraham, who was the father of their nation and the father
of our faith, saying
that God called him and made great promises to him, yet not even a foot of
ground did he personally inherit. Plus, he was without child; his wife
was barren, yet God promised this land as a possession to his descendants. All
this Abraham believed by following the voice of the One who would make it
happen, and for this reason he was “the father of us all” Steven made his defense
to the council saying that God commanded Abraham to leave his relatives
in Mesopotamia and sojourn to another country that God would show him. Before
God spoke to Abraham, he was just another man in the world, but after Abraham
heard and obeyed the voice that was speaking with him, his wife gave birth to a
nation, Israel being the only nation that was ever conceived by faith. This is why Israel's religion defines
them.
Nevertheless, it says in Heb 11-39,40, “These were all commended for their
faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned
something better for us so that only together with us would they be made
perfect.” Therefore,
how much more are the patriarchs of old an example of faith, who believed God
without receiving what was promised? God’s purpose for Israel was twofold: to
create a nation that He would call His own, who would create a city where He
would establish His name, subsequently giving them a lineage, so when He sent His Son born of a woman, he would have an
identity in the flesh. God also had a second purpose for Israel; the people who
were living in the land of plenty were not worthy of it, and since God had given
man the rainbow, promising He would not destroy the world again by flood, He sent Israel to evict the inhabitants of the land that flows with
milk and honey and take ownership of some of the best real estate in the
known world.
Act 7,9-50
(151d) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears
witness of the Old >> The Patriarchs >>
Moses –
God
prophesied to the sons of Abraham that they would be aliens in a foreign
land, and they would be mistreated for 400 years, promising that God Himself
would judge their enemies, “and afterward they will come out with many
possessions” (Genesis 15-14). That is a very specific prophecy regarding
their enslavement to Egypt. The purpose of prophecy is to increase our
confidence in God, for if He knows the future, He certainly knows our
present. When we don’t know if God is watching, and when we wonder if He
knows what to do, He prophesies the future long before it happens so we can
trust Him with our circumstances. Steven spoke of Moses, the deliverer of
Israel, mentioning a burning thorn bush. The Bible
teaches that God’s natural habitat is fire, so this thorn bush is
depicting the nature of God’s existence, but it also gives us a picture of hell. The book of Revelation says that God will
throw the constituents of the second resurrection into the lake of fire, and
this burning thorn bush shows us how something can be on fire
but not be consumed. It is
interesting that the thorn bush has a way of keeping people and animals at
arms length even when it is not on fire, so when God was speaking to Moses,
the burning thorn bush was doubly repellent of mankind, and this is the kind
of relationship that God had with man before He sent His Son to be the
Savior of the world.
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Act 7,29-37
(105lb)
Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Led by the Spirit into the wilderness >>
Wilderness is the true nature of this world –
The wilderness is the place where we go to learn what we cannot learn anywhere
else. The wilderness is always painful to the flesh, undesirable, virtually
devoid of pleasure and happiness, but it hones the man to a sharp edge who
submits to it, so his tongue cuts like a razor after God has invested His word
into him. The wilderness is a place of revelation; Moses already had knowledge
given to him by the Egyptians in their schools of learning but knowledge that
was meant only for this world, whereas God's revelation knowledge is useful to
our understanding of Him. Moses was an educated man of great faith, who was given the
testimony by God Himself to be the most humble of all men, suggesting that education
never made anyone haughty. Moses knew that God would one day use him to
deliver Israel, but God gave him a revelation of that fact in the wilderness when
he stood before the burning bush and heard the voice of God. Now he was ready,
but until then none of his previous knowledge could deliverer anyone. When God spoke to
him, all his knowledge about God became a revelation to him; then he could
discern all things
by the Spirit. What he had known for decades he suddenly understood in a whole
new light. The things God spoke to him specifically after he removed the sandals
from his feet on that holy ground would lead him for the rest of his life, by which he
led Israel, and by that voice he would succeed in whatever God
called him to do. Suddenly the obstacles were irrelevant; they weren’t
metallic; they weren’t obstructions; they weren’t material; they were just
shadows. All he had to do was follow the voice of God and all the obstacles
would melt from his path in
order to accomplish the will that God had given him.
Act 7-37,38
(141a) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears
witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >>
Prophesy about Jesus’ ministry >> Jesus as the
great shepherd –
Why was this summary of the Old Testament provided? Its purpose was to show
Stephen's enemies that he knew the Old Testament, but why was that important? He
defended himself by proving to the high priest that he was
knowledgeable about his heritage (and incidentally for us it proved that anyone who wields
the Spirit also knows the Word, Eph 6-17). Had the high
priest encountered a man who was ignorant of Israel's illustrious past, it
would have proven to him that Stephen was
involved in a religious sect that was unrelated to Israel and would have
justified him in stoning
Stephen to death. Stephen proved them wrong, though, not only knowing the Old Testament
backward and forward, but also proving that it was the basis of the new
covenant. After
Stephen proved his knowledge of Israel’s experience with God, it
showed that he was very zealous for his Jewish faith, which was in the
process of transformation into a new covenant before their very eyes in a manner similar to
Stephen's face transforming into the likeness of an angel. In this way Stephen
drew a definitive line
from the old to the new covenant. Stephen made his point when he quoted Moses in
one of the greatest prophecies of the Old
Testament (Deuteronomy 18-15), which referred to Jesus. Note that Stephen called God an angel that spoke to Moses on
Mount Sinai (see also verse 53), though Scripture is clear that it was God
Himself who spoke face-to-face with Moses. Who was this angel, then?
Perhaps it is the one that led Israel into the promise land (Ex 23,20-23 and
Ex 33,1-5). In fact, the angel was Jesus! That Scripture calls Him an angel
doesn't make Him any less the Son of God.
Act 7,47-53
(135j) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the
body >> Abortion >>
God loves the fetus >> The human body is the
work of God
Act 7,47-50
(76a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Hidden motives >> Based on selfish ambition –
There are many motives by which we can build structures in pretense for God,
such as King Solomon, who had personal motives for building his colossal empire. Many articles of the temple
God instructed, such as the Ark of the Covenant, the Golden
Altar of Incense, the table of showbread, the Menorah and pans and saucers used in ceremonies, but
Solomon gold-plated nearly everything. People came from all around the world
to see Solomon’s temple and his palace and city, including the Queen of Sheba,
who was very impressed by all that he had done. He attributed his success to his
superior wisdom, but it was later revealed in 1King 12,3-15 that the people were tired
of working for Solomon, and they wanted their next king to give them a break.
They were disgusted and disillusioned by Solomon’s quest for glory.
(140b) Temple
>>
Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >>
Worshipping God in His temple –
God is not impressed by our ability to reform what He has made. He would be
impressed if we could create matter, but we can't, so there is no way to impress
God by the structures we build. Steven was saying that Solomon’s temple really
didn’t mean anything to God, though everybody in Israel was proud of
their edifice and thought it should impress Him, after all, didn't the elaborate
building indicate how much they thought of Him? Not necessarily, had Solomon
built Him a modest temple and obeyed His commands, God would have been more
pleased than what he did; Solomon built Him a cathedral and broke His commandments. The fact that Israel failed to please God suggests that
Israel did not believe in Him; they believed He existed and believed He
communicated with them, but didn't believe in what He said. Heb 11-6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.”
This means faith impresses God, only if our faith revolves around a humble and
contrite heart and makes us tremble at His word (Isaiah
66-1,2).
The answer to Steven’s question about how to please God isn’t by building
extravagant temples, but living and walking by faith.
Act 7,48-53
(135j) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the
body >> Abortion >>
God loves the fetus >> The human body is the
work of God
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Act 7,51-60
(25d) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Murder >>
Persecution to the death >> Murder is the way of
the world
(42d) Judgment
>>
Be like Jesus >> Innocent >>
No evidence against you in a court of law
(110h) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Born of the Spirit by the
truth >> Hearing the Spirit
(154i) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> God bears witness
against the world >> Witness that the world is
rebellious against God >> Witness against
hypocrisy
(163k) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Entertaining demons >> Disciplined by the devil
as a son
(180g) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >>
Wolves steal, kill and destroy >> Wolves have a
killer instinct
(189h) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Martyr >>
Dying to self through persecution
(200l) Denying Christ
>>
Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> He
is against Christ who does not receive Him >>
Whoever does not receive the Church is against Christ
(209g) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with
difficulty >> Righteous saved with casualties
Act 7,51-53
(72a) Authority >>
Ordained by God >>
We are ordained to walk in His authority
(155f) Witness
>>
Validity of the believer >> Witness of the
believer >> Conscience >>
An evil conscience keeps us from believing God >>
Knowledge of evil testifies against our ways
– Most Jews did not believe, not even in their Old Testament, which caused
them to be the most lost people on earth, who
came into being through the faith of Abraham by the voice of God, yet now
don't believe in Abraham’s God. They have cut the umbilical cord to their
own life source, yet they still hold to the promise that God
would never leave them or forsake them. They are still His people according to
the flesh, but now that the new covenant has come, they must also become His
people according to the Spirit. They don’t know how or what to hope,
since their old covenant is obsolete and the new covenant they don’t
believe. They are the Bible’s example of people living against their
conscience, knowing the right thing to do but not doing it. It is not good
enough to know that the law was given by angels; it only means something
if we do what it says, and they were not doers of the law. They
didn’t love the Lord their God with all their hearts, and they didn’t love their neighbor as
themselves. Had they religiously kept the law, they would have had right
standing with God to this day, but the law meant something to them only as
their religion.
(175e) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >>
Using religion to persecute the Church
Act 7-51,52
(242a) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the
death >> Killing God’s prophets –
Stephen said something to the religious
leaders of Israel that Jesus said in Mat 23-31,32, “So you testify against
yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!” Their fathers killed the prophets who announced the coming
of the righteous one; they killed Jesus, and now they were about to kill
Stephen. Had they received Christ, God would have given them their heart’s desire,
but they
rejected Him. Had Israel
repented and believed in the gospel after His resurrection, we would be living
in a different world today; the Jews would have been the rightful managers of
the gospel and who knows what would have resulted? Nevertheless, they had stones
in their hands, gathered around Steven about to destroy him because they still
hadn’t repented of their unbelief. The Jewish people resisted the gospel until it was finally given into the hands of the gentiles, and the
gentiles have had it to this day, and all of human history was written because
of it.
Act 7-51
(74l) Thy kingdom come
>>
Let not your heart be hardened >> Insensitive to
the things of God
(157i) Witness
>>
Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being
hell-bound >> Having a reprobate mind
(168j) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world has
deaf ears to God >> Deaf from a hardened heart --
This verse goes with verse 57
(180h) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Rebellion >>
Rebelling against God’s narrow way >>
Rebelling against the word of God –
This is a testimony of Stephen’s rebuke against his enemies, and afterward
they killed him for arguing with them, because he won the argument. Everything
they said in their defense Stephen shredded to reveal their sin. They were reprobates and murderers; they hated
God and the truth and were highly religious people. They weren’t
secular atheists, but claimed to believe very strongly in their Old Testament
laws, but over the centuries their Mosaic teachings became convoluted, until
they completely lost touch with the intent of the Law, which was written in
great detail by the prophets, who also mostly were martyred by the same
caliber of people. So there was murder and rejection of all that was good and
right in God’s chosen nation, who were supposed to represent Him in the
world. When the new covenant came, they
spilled Jesus’ blood, God raised Him from the dead, and now the apostles
were proclaiming salvation through Jesus Christ, seated at the right-hand of
God. Stephen told them these things, and they killed him for it. The truth has
been maligned over the centuries as the very last thing man is willing to
believe. Actually the leadership of the Church today is not much better than
the leadership of Israel in the days of Stephen; they may not be a lot of
marauding murderers, but neither do they much believe the truth; if
they did, they would be the salt of the earth. Had they obeyed the Lord, people would
have known
the difference between right and wrong, and it would have given them pause to some of
the most wicked atrocities committed in an age of grace. Many would have changed their
ways and been converted and joined forces with them and added to
the social conscience with the result that the world would not be in the mess we
are today.
(185h) Works of the devil
>>
The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >>
Responding with contempt to the Holy Spirit >>
Resisting the Holy Spirit – Resisting the Holy Spirit is the very essence
of evil. There are all kinds of sins that we commit, but they are all
byproducts of the one sin: omitting righteousness. Obeying the Holy Spirit is the basis of bearing the
fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5-22,23), which is our righteousness before men that we must have if we are ever going to see
heaven (Mat
5-20). Stevens’s enemies
were guilty of resisting the Holy Spirit, who testified to his enemies that Jesus Christ was the propitiation for the sins of the
world. We cannot be saved without obeying the Holy Spirit, for He
leads us to believe in Jesus.
Act 7-53
(15h) Servant
>>
Angels have authority >> They have the power to decree an order
(71k) Authority
>> Ordained by God >>
We have His seal
(90g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Keeping the law >> Law is our tutor >>
Had they kept the law, they would not have persecuted the Church
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Act 7,54-60
(48m) Judgment
>>
Jesus’ enemies are destroyed >> Enemies of His
grace – It seems
that what Steven said in the ears of his
enemies was the vilest of all blasphemies. They hated Jesus because He
completely defeated them on every level and in the most insidious ways. He ran
them through with the sword of His mouth and destroyed their conscience, and
then they killed Him and He rose from the dead to finish the job. In killing Him,
they destroyed themselves.
(146f) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Deliverance from demon
possession >> Casting out
violent demons –
What
we see in this passage is that the spiritual realm is divided between God and
Satan. With Satan there are a myriad religions, but with God there is only one
Truth. When the truth of the gospel is revealed in the word of God and
clarified by the Spirit, the contrast between light and darkness is so intense
that it often brings about a violent clash between spiritual forces
representing opposing kingdoms. What Steven told the Jewish zealots was so offensive that the only thought that came to
mind was murder. It wasn’t a thought they determined in themselves, but one that came to them by
impulse. Note that the violent demons that resided
within the Jewish zealots could not be exorcized because they were
willing hosts who were happy to do the devil's bidding.
(194d) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Turn from sin to God >>
Run to God from your enemies
(201e) Denying Christ
>>
Jesus is an offense >> Truth offends error >>
The gospel offends the religious establishment –
The Jewish zealots would have disagreed and debated with a person who tried to
show them where they were wrong, but the gospel of Jesus Christ that Steven had
in His mouth was something they could not dispute. It stood diametrically opposed
to them in such a manner that they could not argue
with Steven’s wisdom. Some people can argue the point, but eventually their
argument disintegrates in light of God’s truth that points out
the error in everything that is of this world. People who get saved accept the
correction, but most are too proud to accept being corrected,
especially when people have believed a certain religion for as long as these
Jewish zealots who have fashioned their lives around their beliefs. When we
tell them that their beliefs are false, that there is a truth from God that
far exceeds what they believe, those are fighting words to most
religious people.
(202f) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from the word of God >> Running from the truth
– Instead of humbling themselves, they gnashed
their teeth at Steven. A more proper response would have been to say something like
this: ‘You’re right; that was a good assessment of us; we are really
wicked.' Their modus operandi was that if they didn’t like the message,
they would kill the messenger, but they can’t destroy the truth, which is
impervious to human will. They were just taking out their anger on Steven,
angry that they were so religious but still strangers to the truth, angry that the law was given by
angels but they didn’t keep it.
(242b) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the
death >> Martyrs
Act 7,55-60
(29g) Gift of God
>>
God is on our side >> He stands beside us
through hardship
(30l) Gift of God
>>
God favors you through your prayers – Steven’s response was contrary to the old
covenant that reads ‘eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth.’ Had Steven
been living in the days of the old covenant, he would have said something
like, ‘Lord, vindicate me against my enemies; let their houses become a heap
of rubble and their children fatherless,’ but the new covenant says,
‘Do not hold this sin against them,’ just like Jesus said on the cross,
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” God heard
Steven’s prayer, and Saul was standing there and received his blessing of
forgiveness through the blood of Christ. God answered Steven's prayer when the
grace of God came to Paul on the road to Damascus (Act 9,1-6) in a vision that
he both saw and heard, and it changed his life forever, along with the lives
of many millions of people. This is the righteousness of God’s grace and
the calling of every Christian, not only to live but also to walk in the grace
of God, as Paul said in Gal 5-25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also
walk by the Spirit” by showing grace particularly to our enemies.
(111e) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
(221a) Kingdom of God
>>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden
behind the veil from the world >> God hides from
man’s ignorance >> God hides from those who
are not looking for Him
(230i) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery
of godliness >> Mystery of the trinity >>
Anointing is the mystery of godliness
(233k) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seek His glory without wavering
>>
Seek His glory through hardship
Act 7-55,56
(67d) Authority
>>
Jesus at the right hand of the father >> He
delegates authority
Act 7-56,57
(65g) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Satan unites the world for the
cause of persecution
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Act 7-57,58
(162b) Works of the devil
>>
Carried away bodily
(246c) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Literally unable to
acknowledge the presence of God
Act 7-57
(55da) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> Darkness exposes itself by its own reaction –
The Jewish zealots covered their ears and rushed on Steven with one impulse,
not by response but by reaction. Response is based on the exercise of our
will, whereas reaction bypasses the will, like two chemicals that are highly
reactive to each other, they don’t choose to react, they just do. This spells the
difference between operant conditioning and classical conditioning. Operant
conditioning is the pigeon pecking at the green light to get the pellet, while
classical conditioning is the dog salivating at the tone of the bell, coupled
with food. Whenever a dog is given food a bell is rung, until it associates
the bell with food, so all the experimenter has to do is ring the bell and the
dog automatically salivates. Therefore, classical conditioning is a subconscious
reaction to a stimulus. These religious people who hated God and the teaching
of the resurrection rushed on Steven with an impulse that was animalistic in
nature. They knew what they were doing but didn’t have to think about
it. A skill is essentially the process of training our body to do a certain
thing (muscle memory) so we don’t have to think about what we are doing, and
this is what these Jewish zealots did; they trained themselves with a killer
instinct to hate everything that did not correspond with their religion.
(157a) Witness
>>
Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being
hell-bound >> Rejecting God >>
Rejecting the truth
(168j) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world has
deaf ears to God >> Deaf from a hardened heart --
This verse goes with verse 51
Act 7,58-60
(124h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Love your enemies >>
Loving your enemies leaves room for God to Work >>
Leave room for the salvation of God – Saul was the apostle Paul prior to His
conversion to Christianity, this being the first mention of him in the Bible,
who attended Steven’s martyr as the coordinator of it. The others laid their
coats at his feet, signifying that he was the ringleader of Christian bloodshed. He
was making sure that this sect would be silenced, though it was constantly
growing in momentum and influence throughout all Jerusalem and their efforts
were proving in vain. Had Jesus not appeared to him, it is highly unlikely
that Paul would have ever seen the light, but God saw something in Paul and
knew he would not only be converted at the revelation of Jesus Christ
but also become the greatest evangelist Christianity would ever
know. The man was absolutely driven, and what was special about Paul that made
him different from many of his colleagues was that he actually sought the
truth with a clear conscience. What Paul believed was not a
religion to him; he had a real faith in God, though he was wrong in nearly everything he
believed, yet he was sincere about it, sincerely wrong. Steven in the
forgiveness of his killers planted a seed that sprouted in Paul after his
conversion to Christianity. Grace makes a lot of sense when we are not on the
bloody end of it, but when it is our turn to show grace, it is
incomprehensible to the flesh. Fortunately, Steven didn't believe in his flesh
but in God and forgave his enemies, setting up the moment when God Himself
would visit Paul and show him just how far off the mark his religion had led him.
Act 7-60
(120d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Forgiveness >>
Forgiving your brother >> As God has forgiven
you
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