Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
I want to ask you this morning, what's your vision of ultimate reality?
What is it do you reckon at the heart of everything is really what makes things tick?
It's interesting that the Islamic world seems much more comfortable with the idea of dying
for their cause than we are,
because at heart one of the things they believe is really real is that if they give up their
lives for the prophet,
they'll be rewarded in the next life with 70 dark-eyed virgins in Paradise.
Here's the picture.
The Prophet Muhammed says in the Hadith, "There is a palace of pearls in Paradise and in it
seventy courts of ruby...
And in each court there are seventy houses of green emerald stone.
In every house, seventy beds.
On every bed, seventy mattresses of every color and on every mattress a woman."
And they're convinced that that's reality.
So much so that when a young Palestinian man is martyred or blows himself up they call
him a bridegroom, and there's a family celebration.
Now I don't know if they've got much evidence for the 70 virgins.
But that's the vision of ultimate reality that sees young Muslim men giving their lives,
suicide bombings, time after time.
The reason the Western world isn't like that is maybe that for most of us our version of
reality is just about stuff.
Materialism.
That the more stuff you get the happier you'll be and if you stuff yourself with enough stuff
it's like paradise on earth.
And you'll get as much sex as you can here on earth, and as much money as you can here
on earth, and as much alcohol as you can here on earth, because the ultimate reality is
that this is all there is.
Life sucks, and then you die.
And so instead of sacrificing yourself in any way for anything, the main goal is to
make yourself as comfortable as you can for as long as you can.
And the motto is, "Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die."
Maybe your view of ultimate reality is just hadrons and quarks;
subatomic particles and a big *** that somehow came from nothing and it's going nowhere.
Just is.
No meaning.
No purpose.
Nothing.
Now the book of Acts puts another vision of ultimate reality in front of us.
And it's the Christian view.
And it's radically different from any of those three views.
And it's a view that actually turned the world upside down.
Because it leads ultimately to an incredible willingness to self sacrifice.
Not to bring others down and get virgins.
But to honour and imitate Jesus.
It leads to an incredible willingness to self-sacrifice, ultimately simply because of a concrete conviction
that Jesus really is in control at the heart of the universe.
The vision is...
that the man Jesus, who lived and died in first century Palestine, really is ruling
at the right hand of God.
And odd as it seems, to the Christian that's the truth that makes everything else tick.
That's what we live life by, in good times and bad.
And that's our message as we call people to bow down to him no matter what the cost.
You saw that last week in chapter 5 with Peter and the other apostles.
Arrested.
Whipped.
And ordered not to speak any more in the name of Jesus.
At which point Peter says this...
"We must obey God rather than men!
The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead-whom you had killed by hanging him on
a tree.
God exalted him to his own right hand as prince and Saviour that he might give repentance
and forgiveness of sins to Israel.
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those
who obey him."
And so now in chapters 6 and 7 we meet Stephen.
The first Christian martyr.
The first of many Christians through the centuries - to go to his death - for holding on to the
ultimate reality that God has exalted Jesus to his right hand as ruler of the world.
And the surprising thing is in a way, Stephen's not actually one of the apostles.
Let's see how it plays out.
You might remember the problem at the start of chapter 6.
With the church growing at such a huge rate that the care system just couldn't keep up.
And the Greek-speaking Jewish widows are complaining that the Jewish widows are getting a better
deal.
So in an incredible act of strategic generosity, the apostles appoint a bunch of Greek guys...
to fix it so they won't be distracted from the main game of preaching and prayer.
And so they choose seven guys, men who are full of the Spirit and wisdom;
and according to verse 5, Stephen is the first.
Now if you're a member of the care team or the management committee, even if you're not,
if you're someone who likes to think of yourself as a practical caring Christian...
I want you to notice what happens next.
You might be thinking that all Stephen and Philip and the five other guys have to do
is to make sure all the widows are getting fed;
that they're buying the bread, organizing the meal rosters.
Maybe the occasional home delivery.
But for Stephen, it's not as if care ministry means he's going to keep his mouth shut about
Jesus.
Just the opposite.
He might be the chief care guy.
But Stephen's going to keep on telling people the gospel.
And that's going to get him in trouble.
I don't know if you've caught up with the fact we've got a new little logo for next
year with three growing leaves on it.
Reach and Teach and Care.
And it's actually important that you notice they all very deliberately overlap each other.
And that the magenta coloured care leaf.
It's not out there on its own, but it's overlapping into the blue and green areas of reaching,
and teaching.
If you can remember your high-school maths class, our logo's like a little Venn diagram.
That's how we want care at MPC to be.
And Stephen's a great model of that.
The guy in charge of care ministry just won't stop telling people about Jesus.
Because Jesus is at the centre of the universe.
And that's why we care.
And so 6 verse 9, it's no surprise there's opposition from the Jewish synagogue;
and he's called up to give an explanation for fact he won't stop talking about Jesus
when the Sanhedrin has said to.
And there's an argument.
And Verse 10 says they couldn't stand up against Stephen's wisdom, or the Spirit by which he
spoke.
Which is no surprise.
I don't know if you can remember back to the promise of Jesus, but it's exactly what he
said: that they Holy Spirit would give them words when they needed them most.
And the holy spirit's still doing that today.
If you think you could never say a word about Jesus, if you think it's beyond you, it probably
is.
But it's not beyond the spirit who'll give you the words.
And with Stephen he has.
And the Jews can't stand up against it.
So they play dirty instead.
Verse 10;
they line up a couple of false witnesses;
they charge him with blasphemy, and they drag him off to the Sanhedrin Council and they
accuse him again.
Verse 13.
And you need to notice carefully what the charges are, because Stephen's going to go
on to answer them.
Follow it while I read it.
They say "This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place - the temple - and
against the law.
For we've heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change
the customs Moses handed down to us."
Now do you see that?
Two big charges.
Number 1, he's speaking against the temple.
Number 2, he's speaking against Moses;
who gave the law, which in their eyes is the same as speaking against God himself.
So here he is.
Stephen.
Up in front of the Jewish ruling council.
The same Sanhedrin that had put Jesus to death on the basis of false witnesses on pretty
much the same trumped up charges.
This is only going to go one way, isn't it?
Stephen's face is glowing like an angel;
the high priest asks him to speak in his own defence.
And in chapter 7, you've got a record of exactly what he says.
At first glance it looks a bit complex.
It's kind of a brief history of Israel...
a summary of the Old Testament;
from Genesis 12 through to 1 Kings chapter 7.
But the essence of it is, he's answering those two accusations that he's been speaking against
Moses and that he's speaking against the temple.
And his answer in the end isn't all that tactful.
His answer is, it's not me rejecting Moses and the temple.
It's you guys.
Moses - Who Really Rejected Him, Anyway?
Which as Stephen sees it, is all part of a trend that goes right back to the start.
Let's recap.
And follow it through.
Now Israel's history starts out with a promise from God to Abraham.
A promise that his descendants are going to have a land of their own;
and a few generations down the track if you read through Genesis you can see the promises
actually taking place.
Abraham's great-grandsons;
12 guys who become the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel.
The patriarchs.
And that's the story Stephen starts tracing out in verses 2 to 9.
And Joseph is one of them.
If you remember the story of the technicolour coat, Joseph is the one God's chosen to bring
blessing.
But the rest of his brothers are jealous.
See how Stephen tells it in chapter 7 verse 9;
he's building his case.
When God wants to bring blessing, the track record is, the rest of the Israelites are
jealous.
Verse 9.
"Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph they sold him as a slave into Egypt."
But you know who's side God is on?
Keep reading...
"but God was with him and rescued him from his troubles."
And if you read the next few verses Stephen goes on to talk about how Joseph is the one
who ends up saving the rest of them from a famine.
See the trend: Joseph;
Israel rejects him but he ends up their saviour.
Sound familiar?
Let's keep moving.
Moses.
It's four hundred years later, the Israelites are slaves in Egypt.
Verse 20, Moses is born - no ordinary child.
Because he too - has been singled out by God as their saviour.
Moses is brought up in the court of the King of Egypt.
Stephen says, when Moses steps in to help one of his fellow Israelites who's been beaten
by an Egyptian;
what thanks does he get?
Verse 25.
Moses thinks his own people will realise that God is using him to rescue them.
Well, think again Moses.
They don't.
Verse 27, they turn on him.
They push him aside.
They say "Who made you ruler and judge over us?"
See, it's not Stephen who's rejected Moses.
The Israelites have done that already.
Right from the start.
Verse 35;
this is the same Moses who they'd rejected with the words who made you ruler and judge.
Well, God made him ruler and judge.
And so he leads them out of Egypt, and he does miraculous signs and wonders.
And yet again, what happens?
Verse 39.
See, here's Israel's tradition with God appointed leaders.
Here's how they treat their Saviours.
Time after time.
A tradition of their Fathers that the Sanhedrin has been following exactly.
Stephen says, "Moses saved them from Egypt, Moses brought them to freedom, Moses did great
signs and wonders."
But what?
Verse 39: "but our fathers refused to obey him."
Instead, in their hearts they rejected him - and turned back to Egypt.
See the trend?
You don't need to be smart to read between the lines, do you?
Because it's exactly what this same Sanhedrin did with Jesus.
Verse 37, Stephen reminds them;
Moses said God will send you a prophet like me from among your own people.
Speaking of Jesus.
And now they've rejected him;
exactly the same way.
Remember the charges against Stephen?
Speaking against Moses.
Well, if anyone's been against Moses it's these guys.
And their forefathers who have put him on trial.
Now very briefly, the other charge is that Stephen's been speaking against the temple,
that he's saying Jesus will destroy it and rebuild it.
Stephen picks up the temple issue in verse 44 to 48.
And I guess one problem is that Jesus did actually say the temple's days were numbered.
Mark 13.
That not one stone would be left on another.
That the temple's days were numbered because of Israel's unfaithfulness;
because they were rejecting their messiah.
And now that's being thrown at Stephen.
And here's his defence.
First;
that if you look back in history, Israel got on fine before there was any temple...
and there was just a tent.
The tabernacle of the testimony, verse 44, which they had with them in the desert.
And second, even when Solomon finally built the temple, everyone knew God didn't actually
live in it anyway.
That it was just a symbol.
Verse 49.
You're not going to lock God up in a building.
It's not as if God's in a temple any more than he's everywhere else.
And we need to always keep it in mind when we talk about our church buildings as well.
God doesn't live in houses built by men.
Do you get that?
God's not actually here in our church building so we can only meet with him on a Sunday.
There's no way we could build a building for that.
You see it?
Verse 48?
The most high does not live in houses made by men!
As the prophet says, "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?"
I mean, who'd think they could make a house for the maker of the universe?
The temple never was that.
And now, like Jesus says, it's days are numbered.
So as Stephen brings his case to a close, verse 51 to 53, he's not so much being judged
by the Sanhedrin but delivering God's verdict on them.
Now can I point out that this isn't particularly tactful.
He's on trial for his life...
and he knows it.
And he says stuff like this.
Verse 51, he says, "You stiff-necked people,
with uncircumcised hearts
and ears!
You are just like your fathers: You always resist the holy spirit!"
Verse 52: "Was there ever a prophet your Fathers didn't persecute?
Time after time after time.
They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous one...
Jesus.
And now you've betrayed and murdered him - you who've received the law alright.
But you haven't obeyed it."
I mean, that's the problem, isn't it?
They're mighty religious.
They've got the law of Moses they're so proud of.
But they've forgotten to take it to heart.
The law itself that points time after time after time to the way God raises up saviours
for his people.
They've missed the point.
Just like their forefathers.
And just like their forefathers, these leaders of Israel are furious.
They grind their teeth;
at which point Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looks up to heaven snd sees an incredible
scene that puts everything else in perspective.
See, this is Stephen's vision of ultimate reality.
Absolutely confirmed.
He's been acting as if Jesus is in charge and now he sees it with his own eyes.
It's a scene that absolutely confirms what the apostles saw back in chapter 1.
That the risen Lord Jesus who they saw going in the clouds to be crowned in heaven, that
he actually got there;
that he actually does rule;
that he actually is in control at the right hand of God even when you're in front of an
angry Sanhedrin.
Verse 55.
Take a look.
Ultimate reality.
"But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and
Jesus...
standing at the right hand of God.
"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the son of man standing at the right hand of God.""
It's not the Sanhedrin in charge.
It's Jesus, the son of man.
Now you'd need to go back and listen to talk 1 in this series and go back and read the
prophet Daniel.
But that's the picture.
One like a son of man who'd rule with God over all the nations.
Stephen says, it's Jesus of Nazareth who you crucified.
He's ruling with God!
I can see him there.
Which means you Sanhedrin guys and your verdict isn't what matters.
You're not in charge here.
He is.
And so they rush at him in their fury, they drag him out the city gates and they pound
him with rocks.
Some as big as your fist, some as big as they can lift.
Until finally, Stephen's body lies there crushed and lifeless under a pile of rubble.
Now to you that might sound crazy.
You might be saying, if Jesus is really in charge, we doesn't he just save Stephen like
he's saved all the other guys so far, and smash the Sanhedrin instead?
Why doesn't he fix things for me now?
And yet this is the King who says you're most glorified by giving up yourself.
That meekness...
and majesty are partners, not opposites.
This is the suffering servant.
The servant king who says humble service is true greatness.
That self sacrifice in the service of others rather than in the harming of others, it isn't
defeat.
But in this kingdom, it's the ultimate win.
See, it's significant, isn't it?
Ultimate reality for a suicide bomber is the dream of bringing a last act of earthly vengeance
- followed by a marriage to seventy virgins.
If you're convinced Jesus is in charge, it's very different.
See, Stephen knows that.
You can see it in his final words.
It's no co-incidence.
Remember the last words of Jesus on the cross?
Jesus said, father forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing.
And then he says to the Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
Stephen says, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
And then as he falls to his knees, verse 60, perfectly reflecting the final prayer of Jesus...
Stephen says, "Lord...
don't hold this sin against them."
Father forgive them.
Now that's radical, isn't it?
So convinced that ultimate reality is that Jesus who gave up his life for others is now
ruling at the right hand of God...
that he doesn't want punishment for his enemies.
He wants grace.
Is it like that with you?
Or do you just want to get even?
It's kind of revealing of your world view, isn't it, of your view of ultimate reality?
So convinced the ultimate reality is that Jesus rules...
that Stephen and the first Christians are prepared to say "I don't care what they're
going to say to me or do to me, I'm going to keep on talking about Jesus."
Because he's right there at the centre.
It's not being popular here that counts.
It's Jesus that counts.
It's not my life and comfort that counts.
It's Jesus that counts.
I'm not sure how it is with you, but this stuff challenges me at almost every level.
It's so easy to live for the wrong ultimate reality.
Stephen's death is like the starter's gun for persecution to sweep out against the whole
church in Jerusalem;
Christians driven out of their homes, out of their jobs, out of the city - a frenzy
of hatred.
And particularly, you can see in verse 3 of chapter 8, this young man Saul who's been
holding the robes while they're stoning Stephen makes it his business to destroy the church.
House to house, knocking on doors, dragging off men and women who hold to their faith
in Jesus.
Throwing them in prison.
They're terrible times.
And it's a scene that's been played out countless times down through the generations.
But a funny thing happens.
As they're scattered, the gospel spreads.
By the end of the second century, a Christian leader named Tertullian writes to the Roman
Emperor calling on him to stop the false charges being laid against Christians.
And he says this: "Kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust;
your injustice is the proof that we are innocent.
Therefore God allows that we thus suffer."
He says, "The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow;
the blood of Christians is seed."
And here's the start of it.
Chapter 8, verse 4.
Those who had been scattered, preached the word wherever they went.
Philip goes to Samaria and preaches the gospel and does miraculous signs.
And in Samaria, there's great joy.
While back in Jerusalem, more persecution.
But still great joy.
With a trail of faithful men and women right through to today...
who took a stand and wouldn't step back.
Because they know the ultimate reality:
that at the heart of the universe, Jesus rules.