Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Acts: Enlarging Our Vision

By keeping in step with the spirit 11/16/08

Sermon Series: Acts: Enlarging our Vision

Title: ‘By keeping in step with the Spirit’     Text: Acts 6:8-8:1

Introduction: 

ILL: Speaking to a large audience, evangelist D.L. Moody held up a glass and asked, "How can I get the air out of this glass?" One man shouted, "Suck it out with a pump!" Moody replied, "That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass." After numerous other suggestions Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass. "There," he said, "all the air is now removed." He then went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by "sucking out a sin here and there," but by being filled with the Holy Spirit. (Today in the Word, September, 1991, p. 30.)

Sometimes I think we spend so much time focusing on sin, in our lives and in the lives of others, so we don’t trip over it, that we fail to walk in the Spirit who’s purpose it is to direct our path.

Read: Gal. 5:25 ‘Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.’

To do that, we need to intentionally look to the Holy Spirit to lead us each day.

Transition: Open your Bibles to Acts 6:8 (pg. 835 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you.) For it’s there we’ll discover we enlarge our vision of God by keeping in step with the Spirit.

I. Acts 6:8-15  Stephen: walking with the Holy Spirit

Read: Acts 6:8-15

Wait a minute, Stephen wasn’t an Apostle, he was just some guy who made sure all the widows got fed at meal times. Yet, the text tells us he did ‘great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.’ And there is no mention in this whole section of the text of his waiting on tables ministry.

Why? Because Stephen was a man full of God’s grace and power. Regardless of his official ministry position in the church, he walked with God, he kept in step with the Holy Spirit and God used him in amazing ways.

·       This tells me that even when we’re not performing our service to God here at CBC through some ministry activity, our dependence upon the Holy Spirit is not over.

·       This tells me we can’t separate the ‘sacred’ from the ‘secular’ in our lives. Everything in life for the Christian is ‘sacred’.  We are never ‘off duty’ as Christians.

·       This also tells me that when we live like that, when we keep in step with the Spirit, people will take notice. And Stephen got noticed.

Sidebar: Note that in this Synagogue of the Freedmen, there were Jews from Cilicia…the capitol of Cilicia was Tarsus….Who was from Tarsus? Yes..Saul, later to be called Paul.

I don’t think it a stretch to say that the mighty Saul, the Hebrew of Hebrews, the wiz-kid student of Gamaliel, was involved in the argument with Stephen. It’s also interesting that before the Holy Spirit came upon Saul and he gave his life to Jesus Christ, Saul was no match for Stephen when it came to wisdom and understanding of God’s Word.

Why do I think Paul was present arguing with Stephen? Because he is mentioned later in the text.

Well, back to the text. The members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen got nowhere so they do what so many do when they’re desperate….

they cheat. They got people to lie, or at least, exaggerate the truth so that Stephen is brought up on charges and taken to the religious leaders in Jerusalem.

On final observation from the text.

Read: Acts 6:15

Stephen was at perfect peace. His face was not filled with terror or fear. He knew the words he spoke came from the Holy Spirit and were therefore the very words of God. Just like the words Moses spoke (with glowing face) were the words God had given to him on the mountain.

Can you see the irony of the situation?

·       Stephen was being accused of declaring Moses’ words from God ineffective

·       while at the same time his face shined like the face of Moses when he spoke God’s word to the people.

Transition: I can imagine the members of the4 Sanhedrin were a bit confused…but they were still set on killing Stephen.

II. Acts 7:1-8 Abraham: walking with the Holy Spirit

Read: Acts 7:1-8

What are the charges against Stephen?

·       He spoke against the Temple in Jerusalem.

·       He spoke that Jesus would change the teachings of Moses.

Stephen’s sermon/speech (the longest in the Book of Acts, by the way) is not so much a defense as it is a setting straight the wrong theology of the religious leaders. They were equating God’s presence with the temple. And that is false teaching. To show that, Stephen begins with father Abraham.

·       He says that God was with Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, Haran, Canaan, and Egypt. God was present with Abraham no matter where Abraham was.

·       He wanted to make it clear that God appeared to Abraham, guided Abraham and blessed Abraham…even before there  was a Temple.

·       His point, Abraham didn’t need the Temple to honor God.

Transition: Stephen’s correction of their bad theology is continued as he speaks of Joseph.

III. Acts 7:9-19  Joseph: walking with the Holy Spirit

Read: Acts 7:9-19

God was with Joseph…over and over again in the Book of Genesis we can see it. It’s clear from the Scriptures concerning Joseph, that God resides with His people, not in a building. And God doesn’t need a building to work through those who keep in step with His Spirit.

Transition: Abraham, Joseph…now Stephen pulls out his first big gun and speaks directly about Moses.

IV. Acts 7:20-43          The people rejected the Holy Spirit

Read: Acts 7:20-43

Bottom line is, even Moses himself, said that things were going to change. That God would raise up another prophet who, like himself, would speak to the people and give then a whole new way of life.

And Stephen tells the religious leaders that the people of Moses’ day rejected him, just as they had rejected Jesus.

They rejected Moses and forced Aaron to make an idol for them to worship. By doing so they rejected God Himself. Even though they had the very presence of God with them (seen in the Holy Spirits presence in the pillar of fire and smoke) they did not obey God’s Word and rejected not only Moses’ leadership but the Holy Spirits.

Transition: Stephens’s idea is…don’t you see, you’re doing it again. To further state his point, Stephen pulls out another big gun…the beloved King David.

V. Acts 7:44-50          The Holy Spirit can’t be confined

Read: Acts 7:44-50

You accuse me of saying the Temple will be destroyed, that I am blaspheming the Temple. But the real problem is that you have made the Temple an idol. He was telling them as prominent Jerusalem and the Temple is to your way of thinking, most of our history takes place outside Jerusalem and before the Temple was built…and God was still with us.

Even when we had the Tabernacle and Temple, we still rejected God and His laws. And because of that our ancestors were exiled from the land….but not from God’s presence.

Stephen said God is the Creator of the heavens and earth. The whole earth is his footstool. How can any building, even the great Temple in Jerusalem, house or contain all that Almighty God is.

That was wrong theology and practice in Stephen’s day, and it’s wrong today. The Temple represented a ‘you come to me’ philosophy. The church today is to represent a ‘We will come to you’ philosophy and practice.

That’s why outreach, beyond these 4 walls,  is so important. We must, as the angel told the disciples ‘Go, Stand  and Tell the people the full message of this new life.’ And that’s why I place such an emphasis on asking you to participate in activities that don’t take place here in the church building. So we can reach people who otherwise would not come to church.

Transition: Stephen has corrected the bad theology of the religious leaders, he now boldly addresses their bad practice.

VI. Acts 7:51-53 The people still reject the Holy Spirit

Read: Acts 7:51-53

Wow….Stephen is certainly not pleading for his life here is he? In fact, he’s sealing his fate by speaking the truth to people whose ears are closed to the truth.

The Jews knew and understood the term ‘stiff necked’. They read it over and over again concerning their rebellions ancestors. But rather than repent and turn to God, they rebelled and turned against God and his servants.

Transition: And I believe Stephen knew what was going to happen next. But as he did in life, he would do in death…he would keep in step with the Spirit.

VII. Acts 7:54-8:1          Stephen: dying with the Holy Spirit

Read: Acts 7:54-8:1

How painful it must have been for those who put so much stock in physical circumcision for Stephen to accuse them of being uncircumcised in their hearts and ears.

Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit in his greatest time of need, given grace upon grace sufficient for the moment, looked up to the heavens and saw the glory of God. This gave him strength to keep walking with the Spirit…even though he knew he was about to be killed.

And then Stephen tells us something very unusual…but oh so comforting. ‘I see…Jesus standing at the right hand of God.’ Jesus is always mentioned in Scripture as ‘seated at the right hand of God’ Why is He now standing?

·       Jesus is awaiting the entrance of his faithful servant Stephen into eternal rest.

·       With this vision, Stephen doesn’t cower in fear or plead for his life.

·       He will die looking at the face of God and be welcomed into heaven by his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I pray that’s how I feel, what I see when I die.

The Sanhedrin couldn’t take any more and they drag Stephen outside the city walls and stone him. And I love how Luke compassionately records Stephens’s brutal and painful death… ‘he fell asleep.’ God is gracious to his servants to the very end.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Stephen’s last words, because they were just like Jesus’.

·       ‘Lord, receive my spirit.’

·       ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’

Paul, in Romans 8:29 tell us ‘For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son’.

I believe when Paul wrote that he was thinking of Stephen

·       because he saw and heard what Stephen did and said

·       because Saul of Tarsus, one of the religious leaders, was there when Stephen was killed.

And God did not hold it against them…at least not against one of them. Saul would come to faith in Jesus Christ and do a great work of spreading the Gospel among the gentiles. God heard and answered Stephens’s last prayer request. Isn’t God faithful!

Conclusion

The triumph of the saint over death is the calm and confident prayer, "Jesus, receive my spirit."

ILL: It’s as though you are dying in a small cabin in the woods. The door is death and you are moving toward it inch by inch. As it opens there is a huge, ravenous wolf with bared fangs and furious eyes.

At first you are terrified. But then the Holy Spirit opens your eyes, and behind the wolf you see Jesus shining like the sun. He’s standing with his arm extended to you and his face is smiling. And hanging tight in his other hand there’s a brass chain that leads to an iron collar on the wolf's neck.

You hesitate for a moment. But then the Spirit gives you strength and as you put your foot in the threshold and the mouth of the wolf opens, Jesus flings him with a mighty jerk clear out of sight, and you enter into the presence of the Lord of glory. (John Piper)

Beloved of God…regardless of what you are presently experiencing, regardless of what your future holds, this is the future I want you to place your hope in.

Stephen wasn’t a super Christian. He was a man, like you and I, who kept in step with the Spirit. And the Spirit led him, at the end of his life, into the loving and powerful arms, of his heavenly Father.

Followers of Jesus Christ, be filled and keep in step with the Spirit…and you will see God!

Doesn’t that sound crazy? Really, doesn’t that sound crazy? But it’s what we do. Why? Because there are too many people who are comfortable sitting in the stands, and if asked to serve, they say no. So we ask those who already on the field, already in the game to do more.

·       We need to understand that is not the way God planned his church to work.

·       It’s not what we see here in Acts 6.

And the early Apostles knew it wasn’t right either. They knew they had a responsibility to be faithful to their calling to be ministers of God’s Word to God’s people. It was not a matter of waiting on tables being inferior or lesser in importance than teaching God’s Word. This was not a question of hierarchy but of calling.

The pressures of leadership are mounting and this was all new to the Apostles. Without the HS, this early church would surely have fallen, just like Gamaliel has said. But God’s Church is not a work of men….it is the work of God and with wisdom that surpasses mine, He using men/women to build His Church.

There’s a key principle here. ‘No one can do it all. And no one should have to do it all.’ Remember…We, are God’s church, together.

Transition: Notice the Apostles didn’t shirk their responsibility to do something about the problem. After careful and prayerful consideration, they offered a solution.

III. Acts 6:3, 5-6          The work of the players

Read: Acts 6:3,5-6

It is God who builds His church. Therefore, God knows what His church needs. And God brings people to His church so it can be fully prepared to carry out what God calls His church to do.

·       With that said, CBC will go forward…with or without a keyboard player.

·       When God wants one here, God will provide.

·       I am confident of that.

·       So we can send Gary and his family off to Va. with our love and blessings.

But God also raises people up from within the church to serve in His kingdom. And that’s you…Do you know that you are here, not only to worship God but to serve God through this church?

The Apostles solution? Choose from among you…from those already here in the church, God has already provided for us.

There are a few things we need to notice here.

·       First, there were qualifications for those who would serve. And the church choose servants based on their qualifications.

That tells me not everyone should be involved in every ministry just because they’re asked or because they want to. They should say yes to only those ministries or areas of service where they are gifted.

·       Second, the church didn’t ask for volunteers. They chose specific people to serve. And they said yes. Wow…..that’s all I can say.

·       Third, each servant was brought before the church and commissioned….for serving on the meals on mules program? For serving at Calvary Café? For serving in the nursery? For serving in Children’s Church? For serving at a work day? Yes.

This tells me that no act of service is inferior to any other. All acts of service, all places of ministry here at CBC are important and necessary for helping to build God’s Kingdom. Sounds like it comes right out of the Bibles doesn’t it?

Read: 1 Cor. 12:14-27

Transition: The church needs servants. As we continue to study the Book of Acts, we’ll discover that the unity and growth of the church was dependent upon individuals who had a servant’s heart. 

And the world needs to see a church of servants. When we serve, the people outside these walls will be reached for Jesus Christ. How do I know? I saw the score in verse 7.

IV. Acts 6:7                 The score

Read: Acts 6:7

‘So the Word of God spread.’ Why?

·       Because it was preached better?

·       Because they finally sang the songs I like?

No. Because everyone played their part. God’s plan was realized because people got off the bench, found their positions and got into the game. They took the abilities God had given to them and used them for God’s purposes….and they scored big! The church grew and even many of the hard to reach priests were saved.

It was a team effort. God never intended a handful of people to do all the ministry in the church. He never intended for there to be a bench at all. His intent is for every believer to find their position, get on the field and play…to the glory of God!

Conclusion

You might be wondering why I continued in the Book of Acts this morning rather than speak on a text about persecution? Well, for a couple reasons.

·       First, I spoke on persecution last Sunday.

·       Second, that’s not the example of the early church. When they were persecuted… what does the text tell us they did?

Read: Acts 5:41-42

So, I followed their example and moved forward, teaching God’s Word with boldness.

So, here’s the deal. We, you and I, each of us, can no longer remain spectators or bench warmers. But here’s the rub…

·       I know you all have lives, lives with families, jobs, homes and other responsibilities outside the church.

·       You have a life and your time is precious.

I’m not asking you to do everything here at CBC. The seven men selected to serve in our text weren’t asked to do everything…just one thing, make sure everyone got fed.

And I’m asking you to do something…one thing…so that others who are doing too much here, who also have a life outside these walls, can be faithful to their other responsibilities.

And if you want to know how you can add one more thing to your already busy schedule, come to the Adult SS class…we are talking about that very thing.

What this church needs is men, women, boys and girls

·       Who are surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ!

·       Who have made Jesus’ mission, their  mission.

·       Who see their calling from God as the highest calling in their life.

·       People who see working on a committee, serving as a deacon, ministry leader or usher, volunteering in the sound room or running the PowerPoint as the privilege that it is when it’s done as service to the Lord.

I want to urge you to find some time alone with God this week and allow him to search your heart.

Ask him to show you, how he desires to use you, to bless the lives of others here at CBC, to help build His kingdom and to glorify His name through your service.

Let’s be the church…together! By getting in the game.