WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.219 Good morning, everyone. It is wonderful to be gathering with you again at St. Paul's in person 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:12.700 and also online. If you've not met me before, my name is Steve Jeffrey. I'm a senior pastor here 00:00:12.700 --> 00:00:19.219 at St. Paul's, and it's my joy to continue our series in the book of Acts. And for the first 00:00:19.219 --> 00:00:25.500 time in ministry of nearly 30 years, I'm preaching on my namesake. And so I don't know how I've 00:00:25.500 --> 00:00:32.060 missed it, but I have no record of ever preaching on this passage before. So if you've got your 00:00:32.060 --> 00:00:38.579 Bibles there, it'd be wonderful if you open it up and follow it along with me. But as we begin, 00:00:38.659 --> 00:00:47.879 I want you to imagine two soldiers on a front line of battle in a moment of quietness as they sit in 00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:55.800 their trench late at night, gazing at the stars. They discuss why it is that they volunteered. 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:07.300 One says, I've got no job. I've got no wife, got no children, and I love adventure. And so I signed up. 00:01:07.299 --> 00:01:36.179 There is a world of difference between those two motives. 00:01:36.180 --> 00:01:44.040 One is a daredevil who chooses to risk his life because he has nothing to live for in that moment. 00:01:44.160 --> 00:01:49.980 So hey, why not? The other risks his life because he has something so precious. 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:58.840 It's not only worth living for, but also dying for. When you've got something worth living for, 00:01:58.840 --> 00:02:05.460 you discover it's also worth dying for. And Acts chapter 6 verse 8 through to chapter 7, 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:12.960 60, this whole chunk, what we read here is the final day in the life of a man named Stephen. 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:21.620 And Stephen's death revealed him to a man whose heart beat with Christ's heart to the very last. 00:02:21.620 --> 00:02:31.099 The name Stephen means a crown or a garland. The Greek word was used for the reward of a, 00:02:31.480 --> 00:02:38.780 given to a civic leader or to someone whose crown of glory was received because he was a victor at the 00:02:38.780 --> 00:02:48.099 Olympic Games. What a perfect name for a one who stood so tall on his final day and was crowned as the 00:02:48.099 --> 00:02:59.139 very first Christian martyr. Stephen shows us not only how to live well, but also how to die well. 00:03:00.019 --> 00:03:06.900 Now, the length of this passage, I intend on exercising the gift of superficiality today. 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:12.199 I'm not going to go through the whole text and replay the whole thing for you. 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:17.280 I plan to summarize it. I would encourage you to go away by the end of the day and read it. It's a 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:22.719 great read, but I just want to just pick up three things really. So if you've got the St. Paul's app 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:26.979 in front of you, I'd encourage you to open that up and you'll see the three things I want to get to. 00:03:27.459 --> 00:03:34.979 I want to see what Stephen said. I want to see where his hope was placed and I want us to see 00:03:34.979 --> 00:03:40.939 what his death accomplished. They're the three things. So first of all, Stephen's speech, 00:03:40.939 --> 00:03:49.400 let's see what he said. Stephen was one of the seven chosen to distribute the food earlier on in 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:55.939 chapter six to the widows. He's described there as a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit and full 00:03:55.939 --> 00:04:02.500 of God's grace and power in verse six. So this is, you don't just pick meaningless, you know, task if you 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:08.560 like. For everyone in the church, we want people with godly, godly character involved in all kinds of 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:14.780 activities around the church. But here he is, he is hauled up in front of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish 00:04:14.780 --> 00:04:22.840 ruling council, and he's been accused of wrongdoing. The accusations are laid for us back in chapter six, 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:32.139 verse 13 and 14. They produce false witnesses who testified, this fellow never stops speaking 00:04:32.139 --> 00:04:40.419 against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy 00:04:40.419 --> 00:04:49.979 this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us. And in chapter seven, verse one, the high priest 00:04:49.979 --> 00:05:01.639 asked Stephen if the charges that have been laid at him are true. And then Steve launches into this lengthy speech. 00:05:02.139 --> 00:05:09.219 It's the longest in the book of Acts. Last week, we saw Peter's first and greater sermon. I referred to as 00:05:09.219 --> 00:05:19.300 Peter's first. This is Stephen's first and his last. This speech is Stephen answering those two accusations. 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:27.979 That he speaks against the temple and against the law. So firstly, let's pick up those two things, 00:05:27.980 --> 00:05:37.860 the temple. And he responds by saying, in effect, this is my summary of it, the temple's not needed to meet God. 00:05:39.080 --> 00:05:46.460 And he goes through a history of Israel. He says, remember Abraham? Abraham met God and he didn't have a temple. 00:05:46.459 --> 00:05:59.799 God was with Joseph in Egypt and there was no temple. There wasn't a temple when God met with Moses. It was at a burning bush in the wilderness. 00:06:01.639 --> 00:06:07.479 And in verses 48 to 50, he makes a statement and then he quotes from Isaiah 66. 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:37.460 Isaiah 66. 00:06:37.459 --> 00:06:46.519 That, of course, created a problem with the Old Testament law. 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:58.599 No temple means no sacrifices for when you break the law, which means no meeting with God, no relationship with God. 00:06:58.600 --> 00:07:04.600 And so Stephen then turns to the question of law obedience. 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:12.220 And again, he traces through the history of Israel and he says, under Moses, you didn't obey the law. 00:07:14.740 --> 00:07:17.820 Under Aaron, you didn't obey the law. 00:07:17.819 --> 00:07:22.319 The prophet Amos says, you didn't obey the law. 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:27.120 And Stephen declares here in his speech, the law is good. 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:31.159 He believes it is important and you cannot put it aside. 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:33.079 You cannot ignore it in any way. 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:35.920 And he says, the problem is you've never believed it. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:38.399 You've never obeyed it. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:45.859 And he says, there's a problem here. 00:07:47.459 --> 00:07:54.759 There's a problem here for you who think that you are saved by obeying the law. 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:58.560 You've never obeyed it. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:09.939 His answer to his accusers is you don't need a temple to meet with God, but you do need to obey the law to meet with God. 00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:12.279 And you never have. 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:14.459 And you never can. 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:23.899 And then he brings up something that he sees in the history of Israel that's key to everything that he says. 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:30.019 He's launching into something that he's not been asked about. 00:08:30.019 --> 00:08:43.059 Stephen notices that in their history, every single time God sends a deliverer, that deliverer is rejected. 00:08:43.659 --> 00:08:49.519 And they are persecuted by the very people that that deliverer was sent to save. 00:08:51.699 --> 00:08:55.000 From chapter 7, verse 9, he highlights Joseph. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:09:04.139 Joseph was appointed by God to save his family from a severe famine, but his family sold him into slavery. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:08.879 Moses was appointed to deliver God's people from Egypt. 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:14.659 But verses 23 onwards, we read what happened when Moses tried to rescue God's people. 00:09:15.779 --> 00:09:17.220 Israel rejected him. 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:22.220 And he had to flee to the wilderness to save his own life. 00:09:22.220 --> 00:09:29.820 David is appointed king to lead God's people, but most of the time he's in the wilderness as a fugitive. 00:09:30.500 --> 00:09:37.820 Every time God sends a prophet, a deliverer, or a savior, the person is rejected and they are persecuted. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:46.620 And now, with incredible irony, Luke records in the last verse of chapter 6, the Sanhedrin. 00:09:46.620 --> 00:10:01.899 The word angel means messenger. 00:10:01.899 --> 00:10:06.100 And that's what they did. 00:10:06.179 --> 00:10:07.159 That's what angels did. 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:10.439 They relayed the word of God to God's people. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:17.579 And so the Sanhedrin are about to do what their forefathers have always done and rejected the messenger. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:24.860 And then he brings all the threads together. 00:10:24.860 --> 00:10:34.480 And with no subtlety at all, he lays it home for us in chapter 7, verses 51 to 53. 00:10:34.680 --> 00:10:36.740 You stiff-necked people. 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:41.080 Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. 00:10:41.220 --> 00:10:43.539 You are just like your ancestors. 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:46.259 You always resist the Holy Spirit. 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:48.920 Was there ever a prophet or an ancestor? 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:50.980 Your ancestors did not persecute. 00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:54.740 They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one. 00:10:54.920 --> 00:10:58.600 And now you have betrayed and murdered him. 00:10:58.899 --> 00:11:03.940 And you have received the law that was given through the angels, but not obeyed it. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:08.800 You see, verses 51 to 53 tell us the problem. 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:12.980 Verse 52 is the solution to that problem. 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:16.580 51, he calls them stiff-necked and uncircumcised hearts, 00:11:16.580 --> 00:11:19.779 which simply means that they have got spiritually hard hearts. 00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:27.480 They do all the external compliance of the law as far as they're concerned, the rituals. 00:11:27.740 --> 00:11:28.840 They care about the rituals. 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:31.039 They care about the laws and the traditions. 00:11:31.620 --> 00:11:35.600 But their hearts are filled with fear, with pride, with cruelty. 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:44.399 And none of it's worked because in verse 53, it says they haven't kept the law. 00:11:45.620 --> 00:11:46.860 They haven't kept the law. 00:11:47.139 --> 00:11:48.740 What they need is new hearts. 00:11:48.740 --> 00:11:53.220 They need to be changed on the inside, in the core of their being. 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:58.000 In verse 52, it's the summary of everything that he's been saying. 00:11:59.259 --> 00:12:03.580 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? 00:12:03.580 --> 00:12:09.840 They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one, and now you have betrayed and murdered him. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:23.660 What Stephen has been saying in his speech is that he is all for the law of God, as they claim to be. 00:12:24.660 --> 00:12:30.860 He knows, too, that we cannot be saved without fulfilling the requirements of the law. 00:12:30.860 --> 00:12:36.860 Total obedience to God is what's needed. 00:12:39.340 --> 00:12:40.379 What's the solution? 00:12:40.379 --> 00:12:40.440 What's the solution? 00:12:41.220 --> 00:12:42.139 Verse 52. 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:46.840 The one he refers to as the righteous one. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:52.039 It's pretty unusual for Jesus to be referred to like this. 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:52.759 It's pretty rare. 00:12:54.039 --> 00:13:01.779 The point he is making is that Jesus is the only one who has ever fulfilled the law. 00:13:01.779 --> 00:13:09.919 The only one to whom the law has no demands on. 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:15.600 Let me try and illustrate this a little bit for you. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:22.279 The street behind me here in View Street has signs up on it. 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:30.259 It's got laws that say that you're allowed to park for two hours at a time between Monday and Friday. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:31.159 Two hours. 00:13:31.199 --> 00:13:31.620 That's it. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:41.439 If you park out there on View Street in Monday to Friday for two hours or under two hours, then you have fulfilled the law. 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:53.740 If, however, you park longer than two hours out there, Monday to Friday, then there is a fine associated with it. 00:13:54.280 --> 00:13:56.440 And many people receive that fine. 00:13:58.780 --> 00:14:07.960 That is, if you park longer than two hours and receive the fine associated with that, the law has a hold on you. 00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:25.680 You fulfill the View Street parking law by either obeying the law and not parking for longer than two hours or by paying the penalty for parking for longer than two hours. 00:14:26.220 --> 00:14:32.519 If you do either of those two things, the law has no further claim on you. 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:34.420 You are free. 00:14:34.419 --> 00:14:49.240 And what it's saying here is that Jesus fulfills God's law, God's standards and requirements for humanity, first of all, by never breaking them at all. 00:14:50.779 --> 00:14:52.139 Never breaks them. 00:14:53.719 --> 00:14:57.939 Love your neighbors yourself always completely fulfills that. 00:14:58.459 --> 00:15:03.059 Love the Lord your God, put him first, absolutely completely fills that. 00:15:03.059 --> 00:15:05.379 Every other requirement of the law. 00:15:05.459 --> 00:15:07.299 He never broke God's standards. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:12.959 And no other human being has ever lived such a perfect life as Jesus Christ. 00:15:13.539 --> 00:15:14.599 That's historical. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:19.979 Many have tried to pull apart his life to find the flaws, but have come up empty. 00:15:20.239 --> 00:15:25.879 Even in his own time, they question not just who this man is, but who is this man? 00:15:27.179 --> 00:15:28.679 That can live like this. 00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:31.479 He is the righteous one. 00:15:31.479 --> 00:15:37.439 But he also fulfilled God's law in the second sense. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:43.899 As the righteous one, he chose to go to the cross and be rejected. 00:15:44.359 --> 00:15:46.079 He was betrayed and denied. 00:15:46.219 --> 00:15:49.739 He suffered and died for our law breaking. 00:15:49.740 --> 00:15:52.060 He took our penalty. 00:15:52.060 --> 00:15:54.000 He paid our fine. 00:15:54.360 --> 00:16:03.779 He paid our price for our lawlessness and unrighteousness and rejection of him so that the law would have no hold on us if we trust in him. 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:08.559 He took the penalty that we deserve. 00:16:08.659 --> 00:16:12.240 He paid the price for our disobedience. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:26.279 And so instead of judgment and condemnation as law breakers, we are told in Romans chapter 8 that there is now no condemnation for those who trust in Christ Jesus. 00:16:26.419 --> 00:16:29.500 The law of God has no further hold on you. 00:16:29.500 --> 00:16:32.460 There is not a price to be paid. 00:16:32.460 --> 00:16:46.800 And so Jesus fulfilled the law by being the climax to this whole pattern of saviors being rejected that Stephen talks about here in his speech. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:58.059 The difference between Jesus and every other deliverer and saviour that came to Israel is that every other saviour delivered God's people despite the rejection and the suffering. 00:16:58.579 --> 00:17:04.700 But Jesus delivered God's people through the suffering and the rejection and the death. 00:17:06.139 --> 00:17:07.879 And this is the good news of Christianity. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:12.579 It is the foundation of this church here at St. Paul's. 00:17:13.059 --> 00:17:14.559 We refer to it as the gospel. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:24.480 When an individual trusts in Jesus, puts their faith in Jesus, believes in him, then he becomes their righteousness. 00:17:25.679 --> 00:17:32.419 All of our disobedience is given to Jesus and all of his righteousness is given to us. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:37.000 And in that sense, he becomes the temple. 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:40.279 He is the place where we meet with God. 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:43.679 The temple isn't done away with at all. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:47.039 Jesus just fulfills all the requirements and the purpose of the temple. 00:17:49.120 --> 00:17:53.480 In his death on the cross, Jesus becomes the final sacrifice. 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:56.640 He is the bridge between God and humanity. 00:17:57.240 --> 00:17:59.980 And that's why it says in chapter 4 of Acts, 00:18:00.460 --> 00:18:09.340 salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to humanity by which we must be saved. 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:13.559 So that's what Stephen said. 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:16.740 Let's see where his hope was placed. 00:18:17.740 --> 00:18:19.359 Because this is in fact his hope. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:20.959 But let's look at it a bit deeper. 00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:26.980 Stephen's able to approach his suffering and death here like he does, 00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:29.659 not because of just what he knew in his head, 00:18:30.059 --> 00:18:33.399 but what he also saw in this moment. 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:38.620 Have a look at chapter 7, verses 54 to 56. 00:18:38.619 --> 00:18:41.919 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, 00:18:41.979 --> 00:18:44.479 they were furious and they gnashed their teeth at him. 00:18:44.939 --> 00:18:50.439 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God 00:18:50.439 --> 00:18:55.539 and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 00:18:55.539 --> 00:19:04.259 Look, he said, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. 00:19:05.940 --> 00:19:09.519 And so the right hand of God is the divine courtroom. 00:19:11.019 --> 00:19:13.079 This is a little different, however. 00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:15.460 Did you notice when I was reading it, the emphasis I put in there, 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:19.440 there's a little different here in terms of description of what Stephen saw 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.079 and what you will see generally in the New Testament. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:27.599 In other places, we are told that the resurrected, ascended Jesus, Lord Jesus Christ, 00:19:27.919 --> 00:19:30.559 is seated at the right hand of God 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:34.319 because his work of reconciling humanity with God is finished. 00:19:34.500 --> 00:19:35.439 The job's done. 00:19:36.899 --> 00:19:38.359 Here he is standing. 00:19:39.819 --> 00:19:44.099 When someone is standing in a courtroom, like in this sense, 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:47.119 they are making an appeal of some description. 00:19:47.980 --> 00:19:48.799 They're an advocate. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:55.180 In his commentary on Acts, FF Bruce makes this comment about this verse. 00:19:56.180 --> 00:19:56.480 He says, 00:19:56.579 --> 00:19:59.240 While Stephen was confessing Christ before men, 00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:05.980 he sees Christ confessing Stephen before God. 00:20:08.639 --> 00:20:14.940 Stephen sees Jesus advocating for him in the divine courtroom. 00:20:14.940 --> 00:20:20.200 Jesus, the righteous one, has already paid the penalty for his unrighteousness. 00:20:20.460 --> 00:20:24.640 He knows that he will never, ever from this moment ever be condemned, 00:20:24.980 --> 00:20:27.400 even as the Sanhedrin is condemning him. 00:20:29.340 --> 00:20:33.880 Imagine all of us, every single one of us here online, 00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:36.640 we've got this device attached to us. 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:41.380 And this device records how you live your life. 00:20:41.380 --> 00:20:50.960 Every time, especially every time that we have looked down and ridiculed or put someone down 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:55.660 because they have not lived up to our standards of living. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:57.480 Imagine it recorded that. 00:20:58.560 --> 00:21:01.940 Every judgmental moment we have in life. 00:21:01.940 --> 00:21:06.559 And at the end of your life, just imagine that we all stand in a courtroom. 00:21:07.980 --> 00:21:12.140 And the courtroom is judging us by our own standards. 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:13.380 Just our own. 00:21:13.460 --> 00:21:15.680 Not society's standards, not God's standards. 00:21:15.740 --> 00:21:16.960 Just our own standards. 00:21:17.620 --> 00:21:20.100 And that device was removed and played. 00:21:20.099 --> 00:21:27.480 Do you think it would reveal that we were guilty or innocent? 00:21:29.879 --> 00:21:35.980 The reality is, there's not a single person who even in that courtroom would be declared innocent. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:42.019 Not a single person is able to live by their own standards of righteousness, 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:43.859 let alone societies, let alone gods. 00:21:43.859 --> 00:21:49.419 All of us, every single human being, lower our standards faster than we can break them. 00:21:52.179 --> 00:21:53.879 Not a single person is innocent. 00:21:54.979 --> 00:21:59.139 And here is Stephen at the moment of his death, being condemned by the Sanhedrin, 00:21:59.500 --> 00:22:04.199 and he knew that in the divine courtroom he was being commended. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:06.679 Commended. 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:11.299 Just something he knew in his head, but something he saw in his heart as well. 00:22:11.299 --> 00:22:16.899 While one took his life, the other granted him life forever. 00:22:18.159 --> 00:22:24.919 Jesus was the only one speaking up for him on that day, but that's all that mattered. 00:22:27.220 --> 00:22:29.759 In Jesus, he's innocent, guilt-free. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:33.759 No one, no law could have any other claim on his life. 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:38.180 This is not something he just knew as a logical fact. 00:22:38.180 --> 00:22:44.080 It's something that the Holy Spirit allowed him to see and to sense it, to savour it, to treasure it deep in his heart. 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:47.860 And as such, he approached his end with joy. 00:22:49.360 --> 00:22:58.779 So lastly, what did his life, his speech, his death accomplish? 00:22:59.460 --> 00:23:01.400 Have a look at chapter 8, verse 1. 00:23:01.400 --> 00:23:06.060 On that day, a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, 00:23:06.360 --> 00:23:11.120 and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:18.340 Jesus had told his disciples on a number of occasions that the good news of salvation is not just for them, 00:23:18.380 --> 00:23:19.840 it's in fact for all of humanity. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:25.299 From here, centuries on, across every culture across the globe. 00:23:25.399 --> 00:23:26.779 This is news for all people. 00:23:26.959 --> 00:23:31.799 In fact, in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, we have the agenda for the book of Acts. 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:35.039 In Jesus' last words to his disciples, he says, 00:23:35.159 --> 00:23:38.299 You'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, 00:23:38.379 --> 00:23:43.579 and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 00:23:43.579 --> 00:23:48.319 And up until chapter 8, they're still in Jerusalem. 00:23:50.460 --> 00:23:54.339 They hadn't taken the good news to different cultures and places, 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:59.439 and God uses the death of Steve and the persecution that followed 00:23:59.439 --> 00:24:02.579 to push them out for his global agenda. 00:24:06.199 --> 00:24:07.740 That's what it accomplished. 00:24:07.740 --> 00:24:15.620 But there's one really significant way that it was accomplished. 00:24:16.259 --> 00:24:17.920 Because there's one big question here. 00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:24.259 Where did Luke get the details of Stephen's lengthy speech from? 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:27.900 Where did that information come from? 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:32.000 Because he wasn't there himself. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:40.319 Many commentators reckon it's the young man we're introduced to in verse 58. 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:43.259 A man named Saul. 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:53.019 Saul is given his consent to the stoning of Stephen. 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:57.299 And in fact, we'll be one of the leaders as we look into chapter 8. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:00.720 Leaders in persecuting the early church. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:04.519 Later in the book of Acts, he's called Paul. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:10.880 We will see his dramatic conversion to the Christian faith in a couple of chapters. 00:25:11.360 --> 00:25:15.799 And scholars have pointed out that all the themes of Stephen's speech 00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:18.240 are the themes of Paul's theology. 00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:28.500 What Stephen said and how he died must have sunk deep into Saul's heart somewhere. 00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:31.980 It didn't change him right away. 00:25:31.980 --> 00:25:33.920 But something got under his skin. 00:25:34.059 --> 00:25:39.799 In fact, in Acts 26, when Paul is on trial himself for the Christian faith, 00:25:40.059 --> 00:25:46.359 he recounts how Jesus appeared to him on the Damascus road and said to him, 00:25:46.359 --> 00:25:50.899 It is hard for you to kick against the goats. 00:25:52.719 --> 00:25:59.879 It was an expression in his time that meant you cannot keep resisting a deity. 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:03.320 Jesus comes and says, 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:07.580 Paul, you cannot keep resisting me. 00:26:08.100 --> 00:26:10.340 You cannot keep putting me off. 00:26:10.339 --> 00:26:19.359 For some time, Paul had been trying to hold Jesus at arm's length. 00:26:19.859 --> 00:26:24.639 Something got under his skin that was working its way in his heart. 00:26:24.980 --> 00:26:26.459 And he was resisting it. 00:26:27.299 --> 00:26:33.319 And scholars are in agreement that many scholars agree that it was here at this speech it began. 00:26:33.319 --> 00:26:36.839 The seed was planted. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:43.500 Stephen did not have a very long life and didn't serve long in the early church. 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:47.779 But his speech, his death changed the world. 00:26:48.359 --> 00:26:50.740 Not just his speech, but the way he suffered. 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:53.220 He wasn't trembling in fear. 00:26:53.339 --> 00:26:55.460 He wasn't grinding his teeth with anger. 00:26:55.899 --> 00:26:58.720 His calmness, his boldness are just incredible. 00:26:59.179 --> 00:27:01.159 He is praying for his murderers. 00:27:01.160 --> 00:27:05.920 Paul had never seen anyone die like this before. 00:27:08.019 --> 00:27:09.960 And it must have cut him heart. 00:27:11.380 --> 00:27:15.680 And eventually through him, the history of the world is changed. 00:27:17.900 --> 00:27:25.480 Stephen's death leads to an explosion of resurrection life to the ends of the earth through the centuries, 00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:34.539 across cultures as the sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ is held out as the hope of humanity. 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:42.680 And so I have to ask you before we go on any further, are you like Saul right now? 00:27:43.620 --> 00:27:45.420 Are you keeping Jesus at arm's length? 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:46.460 Maybe you've heard about him. 00:27:46.460 --> 00:27:50.600 Maybe you wrestle with the truth of this, but you just keep holding them out there. 00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:54.140 You cannot kick against the goats. 00:27:56.140 --> 00:28:00.779 Come to Jesus and resist him no more and find life forever. 00:28:00.779 --> 00:28:05.720 Jesus' suffering led to life. 00:28:07.319 --> 00:28:08.819 Stephen's suffering led to life. 00:28:08.920 --> 00:28:14.599 And so the suffering of everyone who trusts in Jesus leads to resurrection life and joy. 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:20.000 If we know and do what Stephen knew and did. 00:28:22.819 --> 00:28:26.079 Stephen looked to Jesus and what Jesus had accomplished for him. 00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:40.679 And we can have the same triumphant in life and death if we allow the Holy Spirit to get what we know to be true about Jesus 00:28:40.679 --> 00:28:44.899 and to push it down into our hearts and our affections. 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:49.619 We cannot find this kind of confidence in the world in which we live. 00:28:49.619 --> 00:28:56.279 Our society cannot provide a solution to handle death like Stephen has handled his in this moment. 00:28:56.719 --> 00:29:03.079 In our society, the meaning of life is to have the freedom to live as you see fit. 00:29:05.379 --> 00:29:11.159 But if your ultimate meaning in life is God treasuring Jesus and his glory, 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:15.959 then suffering and death cannot take that away from you. 00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:20.120 It cannot get to your meaning of life. 00:29:21.960 --> 00:29:30.779 If, however, your meaning in life is to be free to live how you want to live and to pursue your own happiness, 00:29:31.539 --> 00:29:35.740 then suffering and death destroys your meaning of life. 00:29:38.539 --> 00:29:43.120 St. Augustine said that life is about ordering your loves properly. 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:52.079 We all love things and we all love them in disordered ways. 00:29:53.299 --> 00:29:57.939 He said our problem comes from the disordering of our loves. 00:29:58.699 --> 00:30:01.559 Someone once summarised Augustine on this by saying, 00:30:02.359 --> 00:30:07.079 only love of the immutable can bring tranquility. 00:30:07.679 --> 00:30:11.399 Only love of the immutable can bring tranquility. 00:30:11.400 --> 00:30:20.060 Only when our highest love in life is something that can never, ever be taken away from you, 00:30:20.440 --> 00:30:25.019 will you ever find true tranquility, true peace. 00:30:28.220 --> 00:30:30.480 Every single one of us left our own devices, 00:30:30.680 --> 00:30:33.380 sets our hearts on things that suffering and death will destroy. 00:30:34.140 --> 00:30:35.500 It's what our society does. 00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:37.519 Suffering and death will destroy them. 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:40.759 And our meaning of life is destroyed. 00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:42.599 There is no peace. 00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:44.420 There is no tranquility when that happens. 00:30:44.779 --> 00:30:45.759 Only despair. 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:49.220 And we must set our hearts on that which can never be taken away. 00:30:51.319 --> 00:30:56.859 Stephen's speech changed the world and it changed it for Paul and through Paul to the world. 00:30:56.859 --> 00:31:05.939 And Paul, known as Saul here, the same man who gave his consent to the murder of Stephen, 00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:12.179 later on in life, having met Jesus, wrote this to the church in Rome. 00:31:12.180 --> 00:31:18.120 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, 00:31:18.779 --> 00:31:20.660 neither angels nor demons, 00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:23.100 neither present nor the future, 00:31:23.900 --> 00:31:25.240 nor any powers, 00:31:25.820 --> 00:31:27.140 neither height nor depth, 00:31:27.259 --> 00:31:30.000 nor anything else in all of creation 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:35.960 will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:39.840 Come to the immutable Jesus, 00:31:40.700 --> 00:31:43.180 the unchanging, permanent Jesus, 00:31:43.579 --> 00:31:47.420 and find tranquility in life and death.