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The Pilgrim Path (2-12-2021)

The Pilgrim Path---Acts 7: 1—8, 54 – 60

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” And Stephen said:

“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into a land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into his land in which you are now living. Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. And God spoke to this effect---that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs…

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “LORD Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “LORD, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

“LORD, do not hold this sin against them.”

The Spirit-filled Deacon, Stephen, will be the first martyr of the Christian Era. He is falsely accused of being a blasphemer---a man who has the most destructive views concerning God’s Law and the worship of the Jewish people. What he possesses is a true understanding of the Messiah---His person and powerful work in Jesus of Nazareth. He must defend himself before the Jewish Ruling Council (Sanhedrin). He will do so without any sacred scrolls of Scripture---he will, from memory---tell the story of redemption in a concise manner. I did not list all the texts form Acts chapter 7---but I will give you an overview of what he covered in his speech:

Verses 2—8---God’s call to Abraham/ Covenant made/ Circumcision established/ 12 Patriarchs

Verses 9—16---God’s favor to Joseph / preservation of the people in Egypt

Verses 17 –22---Moses’ Training (in all the wisdom of Egypt)

Verses 23 –29---Moses’ Departure (the Jews did not understand)

Verses 30 – 36---Moses’ Mission (the burning bush)

Verses 37 – 43—Moses’ Teaching (“A prophet will be raised up”)

Verses 44 – 50—The Tabernacle of Testimony

Verses 51 – 53---Application: “You stiff-necked people” / outside the covenant ---resisting Truth

Astoundingly, Stephen does not mention the LORD Jesus in his history of redemption by name---other than to say that the members of the Religious Elite have (like their forefathers) betrayed and murdered the Righteous One. Like so many of the “religious” people who had gone before them---they have been very stubborn---and have resisted the Holy Spirit. Would they be broken by such an admonition---or would they become more resistant? Dr. Luke tells us: “they became enraged and ground their teeth at him.” When Stephen says he can “see” Jesus at God’s right hand---that is the ultimate “blasphemy” for those who deny the Gospel and the divinity of the LORD Jesus. The stoning of the godly man will commence. His walk with the Savior is sealed by his last words, “LORD, do not hold this sin against them.” My---my, the power of the Holy Spirit of God within His own…

From Charles Haddon Spurgeon: We do not find that the appearance of Jesus stopped the stones. That is the plan of the present dispensation. The LORD Jesus does not come to us to forbid our suffering, nor to remove our griefs, but He sustains us under them. “My grace is sufficient for thee.” How sweetly is Stephen’s triumph pictured in those last words, “He fell asleep.” This is the life of a Christian. When the world has been most in arms against a believer, it is wonderful how he has rested with perfect composure in the sight of his enemies. This shall be the death of the Christian. He shall shut his eyes to earth and open them to heaven. His body shall but sleep, to be awakened by the heavenly trumpet.

From Simon Kistemaker: We shall never learn whether Stephen had planned to say anything else. His lengthy discourse came to an abrupt end when the dignified members of the supreme court lunged at him and dragged him off to kill him. Nevertheless, Stephen had cleared himself of the false accusations the witnesses had brought against him. He did not preach Christ’s gospel as Peter had done on earlier occasions (4: 8 – 12; 5: 29 – 32). But by drawing parallels, he unmistakably pointed to Christ.

From Joseph Parker: When the heart seizes God as an inheritance, it fears not them that kill the body.

From Archdeacon Farrar: Stephen sank in blood, but his place was taken by the young man who stood by to incite the murderers…

HYMN

Hasten on from grace to glory, armed by faith and winged by prayer;

Heaven’s eternal days before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there.

Soon shall close thy earthly mission, swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;

Hope shall change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Henry F. Lyte, 1824, 1833

Grace and Peace in Jesus, the Only Redeemer of broken and wretched souls, Pastor Jason