Sermons from Galatians - Justified by Faith: The Faith of Abraham (Galatians. 3:6-9)

Justified by Faith: The Faith of Abraham

(Galatians. 3:6-9)

6/7/09

The theme of Galatians might be summed up this way: we are justified by faith in Christ. Because Paul over and over again tells us in Galatians it is by faith we are saved and not by works. We are saved, justified, reconciled and redeemed by faith in Christ alone. There is no religious works, good deeds, or any human effort that can save us. In this passage today we will see from the scriptures how that we are saved through faith in Christ and not through any external works of the flesh. We will see that the Old Testament saints were saved and justified through faith just as the New Testament saints were. Today we will see that we are only justified by faith.

I. Spiritual Children of Abraham (Gal. 3:6-7 – “just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”) – Paul uses Abraham as an example of a relationship with God through faith. The Judaizers were trying to use Abraham as an example that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised, to take this outward sign, to share in the blessings of Abraham. They were in effect saying that unless they were participating in the religious rituals of the Jews then they were not of the “sons of Abraham”, that they did not have a relationship with God and not truly saved. Just what was the promised blessing God made to Abraham? Genesis 12:2-3 – “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” and Gen. 22:18 – “"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed”, through the promised seed, Christ, will all peoples, all tribes, all tongues, and nationalities can be blessed. The Bible says in Gen. 15:6 that Abraham “believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness”, this verse is what Paul is quoting to the Galatians 3:6 to refute the false teaching of the Judaizers. Paul was saying that Abraham wasn’t seen as right standing with God because he was circumcised, but that Abraham was justified by his faith in God. It was 14 years after Gen. 15:6 that Abraham was circumcised and that just shows that the external sign of circumcision was not what justified Abraham in the sight of God. Paul in Romans 4:3, 7-10 says this about Abraham being found righteous, 3- “What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."; 7-10- "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!” From the O.T. scriptures Paul shows us that Abraham was found righteous before God because of his faith in God. The Judaizers, like many of the Jews, confused the outward mark of circumcision as a means of salvation. Circumcision was only a sign established by God to identify His chosen people with Him and show their separation from the pagan and idolatrous world around them. Circumcision was only an outward sign and had nothing to do with the spiritual work of salvation and justification. It is almost the same with water baptism is only an outward sign of identification of believers with Christ and not a means of salvation. It only has meaning if you have a salvation relationship with God. The Jews were very proud of that they were the racial offspring of Abraham and because of their physical descent it made them acceptable to God. When the Pharisees made claim that they were the offspring of Abraham to Christ in John 8, He told them that they were of their father the Devil. They had put their trust in the racial heritage and the religious works of Judaism and did not put their faith in God. Jesus put it into perspective just like Paul did, it’s not the result of your physical lineage (family or race or nationality you’re born to) or your religious works, if your faith is not in God then you’re not in the spiritual family of Abraham. Abraham is the spiritual father to anyone who by faith receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior that’s what Paul is saying here in Galatians 3:7. Just as Abraham was the example for justification by faith (Rom. 4:3 – "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness”), so we must be like Abraham and believe God by faith to be justified (Rom. 4:5 - But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness).

II. Gospel to Abraham (Galatian 3:8-9, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”) Let’s look at verse 8, it says that the Gospel was preached by God unto Abraham. That’s an unusual statement that Abraham heard the gospel. You see when God revealed Himself to Abraham, He revealed to Abraham the complete fulfillment of that promised blessing, Jesus Christ. For we see that in Gal. 3:16 it says, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.” God revealed Christ, the crucified Savior, to Abraham and he believed God. If that is hard to believe then let’s look at the very words of Christ in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”. You see the O.T. saints and the N.T. saints all had to put their faith in Christ. The promise God made in His covenant to Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus Christ and one can only be a partaker of those promised blessings by putting their faith in the One who fulfilled the covenant. If you look at Heb. 11 you will see that all the O.T. saints put their faith in Christ, 11:4- By faith Abel, 11: 5- By faith Enoch, 11: 7- By faith Noah, 11: 8- By faith Abraham, 11: 20- By faith Isaac, 11: 21- By faith Jacob, 11:22- By faith Joseph, 11: 23- By faith Moses, etc., we see all these O.T. saints were justified by faith, Heb. 11: 6 sums it up nicely- “But without faith it is impossible to please him (God)”. It doesn’t matter which side of the cross we are on even if it’s before or after Christ came to earth, salvation is found only in the Cross of Calvary. Even though the O.T. saints might not have known the specifics about Jesus, there was enough revealed to them to put their faith in the future sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The O.T. covenant looked forward to the cross while the N.T. covenant proceeds from the cross. Their faith pointed to the cross while ours points back to the cross. It was said of the O.T. saints in Heb. 11:13, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises (fulfillment in their lifetime), but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them (believed what God revealed and promised in Christ), and embraced them(faith in Christ produced salvation)”, this verse speaks of their faith in the promise of Christ’s work of salvation and because of this they were justified. We who are under the New Covenant it is said of us in Eph. 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast”. We are saved, justified, reconciled, and redeemed only through faith in Christ alone. Whether it is from the perspective of looking forward to the cross or whether looking back to the cross, the only thing that matters is that there is the finished work of Christ on the cross. The shed blood of Jesus Christ covers both sides of the Cross. That is what saves us and nothing else.

By looking at the accomplished work of Christ on the cross we that no matter if it was Abraham by faith looking forward in anticipation of Christ or all of us looking back in faith to the Cross, it doesn’t matter where we are at but that we by faith believed in the only One who can save us. Because of Christ being the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and Abraham believing and putting his faith in God for the future fulfillment by his obedience to the command and word of God we can share in the same spiritual blessing with Abraham. That blessing is a personal relationship with God through Christ. And just like Abraham, we are justified by faith.

Sermons from Galatians - Truth Positive (Galatians 3:1-5)

Truth Positive

(Gal. 3:1-5)

May 31, 2009

Paul continues the defensive argument of the gospel message to the Galatians.  Here in Chapter 3, Paul’s reaction is still of bewilderment why they would leave the truth of the Gospel for the Judaizers’ false teachings of religious works.  Today we’ll look at how Paul deals with their abandonment of the truth by him asking key rhetorical questions to make them remember the truths he had taught them.   

I.  Crystal Clear Picture of Christ (Gal 3:1 - “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?")

A. “O foolish Galatians”- Paul begins speaking to the Galatians with a strong statement, “ You foolish Galatians”, it sounds as if he is claiming these believers have a mental deficit of some sort, but that is not the case.  The problem was not a mental deficiency but a mental laziness, they had been careless with the truth of the Word of God.  They failed to test these teachers with God’s Word.  Paul wasn’t calling them stupid, he was letting them know that they were not applying the true Gospel teaching they had received from him, that they had stopped even believing it, that’s why they had fallen for the Judaizers’ lies.  So, the problem was not just mental, it was spiritual.  It created in them a lack of faith and severely hindered their judgment in regards to God’s truth.  A good example of this is the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, when the resurrected Christ walked with them, they did not know who He was, and because of their lack of faith and knowledge about Him in the scriptures and He began to explain the scriptures about him- Lk. 24:25-27- “Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”  Although they had spent three years with Him, they failed to understand that Christ had to die for their sins and rise from the dead.  Jesus used the same word for foolish in Greek that Paul used for mental carelessness and laziness.  If they had sufficiently studied and believed the prophecies in scripture they would known that Christ’s death was not the end, that He would rise again from the dead.  They believed the modern and popular teachings of some rabbis and not the truths of the word of God.  It seems that the popular false teachings of the Judaizers were also taken for face value instead of believing God’s word.  They had so foolishly fallen for the false teachings of the Judaizers’ legalism that they quit believing and utilizing the Gospel truths that Paul had faithfully taught them.  These were Christians that had failed in staying faithful to and applying in their lives God’s Word of Truth. They  willfully and sinfully neglected these God-given resources found in God’s Word and were foolishly caught into their web of lies.  

B. “Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?”-  Paul continues with the questioning by asking, “who has lured you away from the foundational truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”.  Bewitch here gives the idea of being lead away by flattery or emotional persuasion.  What it means is that they were enticed by the feeling of fleshly pleasing religious works righteousness.  They ‘felt’ there was something else besides faith alone in Christ. They ‘felt’ that something was missing and they had to add to their salvation to make it complete, that faith alone was not enough.  False religious works always appeal directly to the flesh and want you to forsake using your mind to accurately handle the Word of Truth, “2 Tim. 2:15 - “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”.  What was the truth they were “bewitched” from?  The truth was of the Person and work of Jesus Christ, which means that faith alone in the fact that only Jesus Christ can save us and that He saved us through the death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. That’s the truth of the gospel and Paul is saying to them, “remember, Christ was clearly and truthfully preached and taught to you and salvation was clearly seen as being accomplished for us by Christ alone”.  This tells us they were faithfully taught the word of God by Paul and the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ was believed, received, and by faith salvation was wrought out in their hearts by the Holy Spirit of God.  Instead of residing and abiding and staying in that glorious truth they chose to believe a lie.  One thing I learned from my instructor in the study of Cults is that it is always easier to believe a lie than the truth.  This lie caused them to deny the absolute saving power of Jesus Christ and it dishonored His atoning death on the cross.  It is always the truth of the Cross that “sets us free”.

II. Faith Alone (Gal. 3:2-4 - “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain; if indeed it was in vain?") -  Here Paul asks some more rhetorical questions.  These were questions they should have asked of themselves from the beginning these false teachers began to assert themselves into this body of believers.  To answer the first question, to receive the Spirit of God you must be saved by faith in Christ (Acts 2:38 - “Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”).  We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit when we receive Christ by faith.  There are many so-called Christian groups who claim that salvation is earned by religious works and faith like those who believe in baptismal regeneration.  That means they falsely believe that one is saved or “regenerated” only when one is baptized (hard-line Churches of Christ, Catholics, Oneness cults [UPC, Apostolic] etc.).  But the false teachers ignore more than 60 times in the New Testament where it explicitly states that our eternal salvation in Christ is through faith and/or repentance alone with no mention of water baptism or any other religious works associated.  Well, Paul goes on to say, you have begun by the truth of Gospel, you were saved because of the truth of the Gospel, are you now believing that it is by your legalistic works, by your own effort, you are now trying to keep yourselves saved?  They had begun in the truth and the joy of grace but now are grudgingly trying to maintain their salvation.  They went from freedom to bondage.  If we cannot save ourselves then we cannot keep ourselves saved.

   

III. Power Encounter (Gal. 3:5- “Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”) - Paul was appealing not only from a standpoint of the scriptural revelation of Gospel truth but he was also appealing to the genuine experience of the gospel of grace.  The greatest miracle, the greatest demonstration of the power of God ever seen is salvation of a sinful man.  Paul was saying to them, if you remember the day your were saved by putting your faith in Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you’ll remember it was not done by you being baptized, or you joining a church, or receiving communion, or any kind of good deeds or religious works.  It was done by the power of God alone, through the Person and work of Jesus Christ alone, and through faith alone in Christ alone.  It was because you heard the powerful Gospel message, the Spirit of God convicted your heart, and your were given the saving faith needed to receive Christ as Lord (Rom. 10:17- So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God) and not the human works righteousness that was powerless to save you from sin (2 Tim. 3:5 - “…having a form of godliness but denying its power").  

The power of the Gospel is found in the powerful work of salvation in our powerful Lord Jesus Christ.  The gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” and it is found only through faith in Christ alone.  

 

Sermons from Galatians 2: False Teachers of The WoF

False Teachers of The WoF

preached 5/3/09

(Gal. 1:9- “As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”)

Last week we began with Paul speaking to the Galatian church about how false teachers had crept into the church there and had polluted the Gospel message with error. The false teachers and preachers had infiltrated from within and disguised as Christian teachers and preachers had added “improvements” to the gospel message making it not the gospel at all but heresy (grossly false doctrine). Today I want us to look at one of the fastest growing cults within the church. This false movement is called the “Word-Faith Movement” or “Word of Faith Movement” (hereafter will be WoF). You might know some of the names of the false teachers I name today but most importantly we will expose the lies they espouse as gospel.

I. Cultic/Occultic Origins(2 Tim. 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”) - You may not be familiar with the name Word-Faith or Word of Faith movement but you might have heard of some of it’s teachers/preachers: Kenneth & Gloria Copeland, Robert Tilton, Creflo Dollar, John Avanzini, Eddie Long, Marilyn Hickey, T.D. Jakes, Juanita Bynum, Fred Price, Rod Parsley, John Hagee, Joyce Meyer, Jesse Duplantis, Jerry Savelle, Paul Crouch (TBN), Charles Capps, Leroy Thompson, Benny Hinn, Paula White, Joel Osteen, Pat Robinson, R.W. Schambach, Myles Munroe.

The WoF movement did not start overnight, but began in the early 1900’s with a man named E.W. Kenyon. Kenyon was greatly influenced by New Thought founder Phineas Quimby (his false teachings are the basis for the cult called Christian Science started by Mary Baker Eddy; early New Age beliefs). E.W. Kenyon went to Emerson College of Oratory in Boston which was a breeding ground at the time for the newly emerging New Thought cult. New Thought claimed to have discovered laws of faith, advancing a Christianized version of their occult teaching.

With these cultic/occultic teachings Kenyon would mix and blend it in with orthodox Christian doctrine to create the false, peculiar beliefs that became the WoF. So we see then cultic/occultic roots of WoF and now let’s look who brought into the present. The man who was most influential in spreading this heresy into the 20th and 21st century is Kenneth Hagin. And his disciples and devotees affectionately call him “Dad” Hagin. “Dad” Hagin died in 2003 but the heresy of the WoF keeps rolling on even stronger today. But what do you ask is the false teachings of the WoF.

II. WoF False Doctrines - (1 Tim 4:1- “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils”)- 1. Faith in Faith- The primarily false teaching of the WoF’ers is that a Christian by their faith can make God do anything. In the WoF they put their faith in their ‘faith’. To them faith is a force that we use to make God heal us and keep us healthy or make God make us rich and get us all that we desire. WoF say faith is the stuff God made the earth, the universe, and even humans according to the WoF false teachers. They twist the scripture in Heb. 11:1 (in the KJV)- “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for…”; this proves to them that faith is a substance that allows God to be a slave for you, to make him create the world that you want and desire, to be healthy, wealthy, and master of your own life. The WoF heresy is nothing more than Christianized humanism that we are in control because God is not and that only saved man can allow God to work in the world and we activate God by the law and force of faith but we will get to more of that later. The truth of Hebrew 1:1 is that the archaic terms of the KJV is not very understandable to us, so the better translation of ‘substance’ here is the word ‘assurance’ (NASB). True faith is the assurance that the promises of God never fail, it is human beings trusting in a God they cannot see, to do things that He has promised. To the WoF teachers faith is the substance that we get what we desire, even God has to have faith because faith is the source of God’s power. And this leads us to our next WoF false teaching, positive confession.

2. Positive Confession- This is the WoF belief that we have what we confess because words are the containers of faith. For example, if we speak positive confessions of healing and quote bible verses (even taken out of context) then the force of faith is activated and healing and health will eventually be manifested to you but you must keep on positively confessing in order to stay healed or if your broke it will make you rich if you use the same formula of faith: confess or speak it, believe it, and receive it because God is obligated to do so because we use faith and confession. Because the WoF God used the same formula when He made the universe because to them He spoke (and visualized) it in the beginning when He said, “Let there be…” and of course He had to believe it would happen because it came into existence, for every faith-filled word that He spoke. But there is a drawback to confession because if there is a positive confession there must be a negative confession. Positive confession works off of faith and it attracts God’s power to work on the our behalf to make us rich and well, while negative confession is fear that attracts the Devil to allow him to make us sick and poor. They say our words are so powerful that we attract sickness like cancer and even death if we just accidentally utter a negative confession like “My head is killing me” when we have a headache because it could cause us to die of a brain tumor or a brain hemorrhage. The WoF teacher has the answer to reverse the curse by only having us utter positive things even though our bodies may tell us we’re sick, we are to ignore and deny the symptoms and confess we’re fine, we’re well, we’re healed, and free of pain and to quote over and over “by His stripes we are healed” or twist some other scripture with the word ‘healing’ in it to suit our need of confession. (Side note: If you ignore symptoms of being sick and deny them it won’t make you well no matter how much you confess you are healed, symptoms are God’s built in warning system that something is wrong and needs attention.) Contrary to the beliefs of the WoF movement sickness and poverty is not the individual’s results of each person’s sin. It is a part of this cursed and fallen creation we are born into without choice. It is not sinful to be sick or poor (which is what they teach; K.Copeland: "Poverty is an evil spirit"; J. Hagee: "Poverty is caused by sin and disobeying the Word of God."). They need to be informed that it is sinful to be spiritually sick and spiritually poor believing the heretical teachings of the WoF movement and living selfishly (Rev 3:16,17- “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked”) that is their spiritual state.

3. Little Gods: Man Promoted, God Demoted- A hallmark of any cult is to alter the truth about the Godhead and specifically undermine the person and work of Jesus Christ. The WoF does this as well, not only do they demote God but they promote man to a “little god” (they spell it with a little ‘g’). They promote the same lie as Satan hissed in the Garden, “You will be like God”. How do they get to the place to say that man is a “little god”? Well many of the WoF teachers believe that when God created man in His image and likeness that He made a “little god”. Their flawed reasoning to think this let me quote Joyce Meyer, “If you as human being have a baby, you call it human kind. If cattle have another cattle, they call it cattle-kind. I mean what’s God supposed to call us? Doesn’t the Bible say we’re created in His image? Now, you understand, I’m not saying you are a God with a capital ‘G’” (“Joyce Meyer-Little Gods” a video on YouTube). We are left with no doubt about what she is saying and the rest of the WoF teachers all mirror the same belief like Kenneth Copeland ("You don't have a god in you, you are one!"; "The Force of Love", Audiotape, 1987), Creflo Dollar ("You're not a sinner saved by grace, your sons and daughters of the Most High God. You are gods!"; “Changing Your World", April 17, 2002), and there are too many to quote but say and believe the same thing, they are gods. They believe when God made man (the “little gods”) that He gave man dominion over the earth and their belief about dominion was that man was a god over this world. But when the Devil deceived Adam and Eve well that defaulted man’s title over earth and gave it to Satan who became god of this world. God then was locked out from doing anything on earth and in the affairs of mankind. And God’s avenue back into this earth was through man and He found it in Abraham. The WoF teach that because Abraham and other people of faith gave God permission to act on the earth. They teach that their poor WoF God finally had access to earth and man finally had access to God. How twisted the WoF teachings are, man is deified and God is humanized and the devil is on an equal playing field with God and man is in control and allows God to work. How that false, evil belief is shattered by this verse about the sovereignty of God (Dan 4:35 - All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?"). God is in control and we aren’t, thank God.

4. Spiritual Death of Jesus- How could any God-fearing, saved Christian man or woman believe that there is any other redemption or salvation other than the suffering and death of Christ on the cross. Well, the WoF false teachers do it again. According to them, Jesus paid for our sins not on the cross but in the very pit of hell itself they falsely claim Christ had to die spiritually and burn in hell to save us. I will quote one of the popular WoF teachers, “if you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on the cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price.” (Fred Price; ‘Ever Increasing Faith Messenger, pg.120). This is believed and repeated by all the WoF teachers from Kenneth Copeland to Joel Osteen, from Joyce Meyers to Paula White, and Benny Hinn to T.D. Jakes. But Galatians 6:14 gladly says this, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”. We can boast only in the suffering, shed blood, and death of Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of sins and nothing else.

III. Things to Consider- This is just a small part of the false, cultic teachings of the WoF. It seems that I’m making this up and surely Christians don’t believe this fractured fairytale. They push these false teachings anywhere and through any outlet they can where they can make a buck and fleece the sheep. Irregardless if their false promises for healing kill someone because going to the doctor or taking medicine is sneered at for a “lack of faith” or if people have fallen on hard times or born into poverty their seen as sinful by these false brethren and tell those who have been deceived by them that if there sick or poor, it is because it’s their fault. These false teachers will have a fearful end. The Apostle Paul pronounced upon them anathema, destruction, false teachers will face the wrath of God and will receive their reward at the Great White Throne Judgment.

Remember Jesus’ warning, Matt. 24:4, “Take heed that no one deceives you.” Stay true to the truth of God’s word and false teachers will easily be seen.

Sermons from Galatians- part1: Another Gospel?

Another Gospel?

(Galatians 1:6-9)

04/26/09

   We are going to begin a study of the book of Galatians.  Paul wrote this letter to the church of Galatia and this is the local church Paul started and discipled.  This church had the privilege of having the greatest teacher of the church, besides Christ, to learn the fundamental and foundational teachings of Christianity.  But from these few verses we read that false teachers had crept in and began to teach “another gospel”.  Today, we will see from these verses: Paul’s wonder, Paul’s wisdom, and Paul’s warning about the deception and false teachers in Galatia.

I.  Paul’s Wonder of Their Deception (v. 6- I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel) - The believer’s at Galatia were taught by the Apostle Paul himself.  He lead many of the believers there to Christ, discipled, and preached the foundational truths of doctrine to them directly and yet there had been false teachers gain a foothold in this local body that had led them into gross error and deceived them into believing they were teaching another gospel.  

A. These people were believers- they were Christians, according to passages to them by Paul in chapter 3 and 4 describing their coming to faith in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and Paul calling them Christian brothers (brethren) in this book and yet they had become seriously confused and led into deception.  They knew Christ and had heard the true message of the gospel and were led into this error.  The amazement of Paul was that they were deserting the truth of the gospel that led them to Christ, actually deserting like soldiers desert their fellow soldiers, their general, and their allegiances to their Supreme Commander and country.  The KJV says that they were removing themselves from the gospel truth and the grace that they were called to in Christ.  Not that they were deserting the gospel of Paul but the gospel of Christ and the very One (Jesus) that had called them into grace.  Understand they didn’t lose their salvation in Christ but they had lost their fellowship with Christ because they had put this false gospel before Christ.    

B. The False Gospel Infection- What exactly the false gospel that caused their defection was that of the Judaizers.  They were false teachers that had become part of that local body after Paul had left to go on to build other bodies of believers (churches) in different countries.  

   The Judaizers taught that for the Gentile believers in Christ had to become physically and ritually like the Jews to continue being Christians by being circumcised and keep the dietary laws, religious days and festivals, and Sabbaths.  You’ve got to understand they taught that Christ died and rose again from the dead for their sins but they taught you must do all the Jewish religious laws and regulations in order to stay saved.  They did not deny Christ as Messiah or death for our sins on the cross.  If they had denied the work and person of Christ they would not had been accepted by the Galatian church.  The way they introduced error into this church was to “improve” on the gospel of Christ by adding religious ceremonies, requirements, rituals, and standards of the Old Covenant (side note: the WoF also supposedly “improves” on the Gospel and doctrine).  

   When you add anything to the grace of God, even the Old Covenant Law, then you destroy grace.  It did not matter that even though they added the Law to grace, then grace ceased being grace (NASB Rom. 11:6- But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace).  You see the only gospel of Christ is grace, (“God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone”).  Eph. 2:8-10a says it best, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship…”; the work of salvation is not through the power, abilities, or merits of man in any way but only through the grace and mercy of God through what Christ has done for us.  We as mankind cannot individually or corporately by what we are or what we do attain salvation for ourselves or even sustain the salvation that Christ provides for us.  It is all by God’s grace we are saved and are kept saved unto glorification.  It is a foolish idea to believe that such a gracious salvation can be kept by any human effort on our part by religious ritual or ceremony.  It says in Romans 5:2 that only in Jesus, “we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand”, it is only on this grace we stand in salvation and by and through nothing else.  

   Because the Judaizers promoted works with grace then it put the focus of salvation off of the Cross of Christ and onto the works of flesh.  When this is taught then people are putting faith into their works instead of Christ.  Then instead of them preaching the grace through faith in Christ the emphasis is then on the human works to save thus having not only false teachers in a church but a body of false believers.  

   When a church places an emphasis on baptism to save (Church of Christ, UPC, Church of Jesus Christ) or an evidence of an experience to save (speaking in tongues; UPC, Church of Jesus Christ), participation to receive a sacrament (ex. communion, Eucharist; like the RCC), or church on Sabbath proves true believers (SDA) then it is a false teaching because it is dependant on a work based salvation and not God’s grace. Remember anything added to God’s grace is not ever grace.  Just because it was a little error added to mostly truth don’t think it wasn’t deadly.  Even if you add a little drop of poison to a glass of pure water it is still deadly.

II. Paul’s Wisdom Concerning the Deception (v. 7- Which is not another; but there be some that trouble (disturb) you, and would pervert (distort) the gospel of Christ)- Is there another Gospel? To answer like the Apostle Paul the answer is an emphatic no.  Paul says it best there is no other gospel of salvation than what was preached to you concerning Christ.  That gospel message says that God alone saves through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  The message of works maintaining salvation destroys the powerful message of the true gospel message by falsely proclaiming to mankind the false belief that we can save ourselves.  And if it is by our works and efforts then Christ died for nothing (Gal. 2:21- for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain). 

   If it had been in our ability to keep the moral law and standards of God then the death of Christ would have been needless because not only did Christ die for our sins but also fulfilled the Law in our behalf (Rom. 8:2-4a, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us). The truth of scripture shows us that it is not by our efforts or strength but by the powerful work of salvation made possible for us solely through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:6- For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly).  

   The false teaching was troubling and disturbing to the church here in Galatia.  We see the word for trouble here meant a great disturbance and distress.  It was tearing this church apart and it was tearing families apart.  It was causing all of this because it perverted the true gospel message making it into something entirely opposite of what it really was.  Whenever the gospel message or any biblical doctrine perverted it will cause that church to become unsettled and destroy people, families, and maybe a once thriving congregation (Titus 1:10-11- For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain) and the main reasons usually are for power and monetary gain.  

   There are many supposed Christian ministries on TV and radio that fall under the title of false teachers.  Many who preach “another gospel” of health/wealth varieties (prosperity, WoF), positive confession, and experience centered groups (signs and blunders, I mean wonders) that supposedly are preaching a message that has been hidden or suppressed until God has revealed it to them.  I’m not going to be able to go into them this time but needless to say they preach a false gospel that is destroying churches and families and causing them to fall into unbelief.  But Paul wants to be aware of them and the wisdom he shares is that although they do not openly contradict the Bible and denounce Christ but these demonic teachers so subtly distort and undermine the word of God, that they gradually lead people into error.  Never compromise the truths of the Word of God irregardless of how Christian it sounds because false teachers have an excellent teacher of deception, Satan (2 Co. 11:13-14- For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light).  Deception is one of the greatest tools that Satan uses.

III. Paul’s Final Warnings (Gal. 1:8-9- But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.  As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed)- There are so many false teachers and ministries out there that use every avenues of media to push their false doctrines of devils.  There was a so-called Christian revival meeting in Florida recently by a young man named Todd Bentley saying that God was going to use him to bring a world-wide revival. In fact he said that an angel had come to him named “winds of change” and that God was going to usher in this great revival through him.  I listened to some of his messages and what I noticed was a great emphasis on himself, his visions, his words from God, and his supposed healings.  But another thing I noticed was a lack of biblical preaching, lack of reading from the Bible, false experiences, and an emphasis on a sideshow performance of faith healing.  It was all emotional, all experienced based (truth dependent on false experiences rather than Biblical truth), and little if any preaching from the Bible (Mt. 7:20 - Therefore by their fruits you will know them).  I knew he was a false teacher first from his false teaching and preaching (angels giving him messages, erroneous and retarded doctrines) and false allegations of great healings (no evidence of these healings provided or proved) and later it became evident from the life he lived in private that became very public (he left his wife for another younger woman that was one of his assistants and this happened during this false revival). Paul has not only warned the church at Galatia this time but even before of false teachers but this is the warning that he speaks twice that if anyone preaches anything other than the powerful truth of salvation alone through Jesus  let them accursed.  This word accursed in Greek is anathema which means that which is devoted to destruction.  So what Paul is saying is if they are so devoted to destroying the gospel message and destroying lives by their false teaching let them go to their destruction and feel the wrath of God.  Strong words but that is the false teachers’ end.  

We will explore the false teachers and teachings next time but let’s leave with this.  Keep in God’s word, study God’s word, and know His truth because through this it will keep you from the troubling of false teachers and error. 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”.

Sermons from Acts: Nameless Proclaimers

Nameless Proclaimers
Acts11:19-21

In this passage that we are going to look at this morning, we are seeing a great event in the early church.  The preaching of the Gospel to a completely heathen and pagan group that has no background at all in the knowledge of the one true God.  These unknown preachers who went to Antioch and boldly preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to these godless Gentiles and witnessed first hand the awesome saving power of God.  This was the first fully Gentile church body and they have the honor and challenge of teaching and discipling these new Gentile believers in Antioch.

I.  Faithful Witnesses (vv.19-20) – these two verses show us two differing witnesses of the Gospel message. 
A. The Jewish Christians(v. 19)- they were still locked into the evangelism of Jews because there was no precedent for Gentile evangelism.  They would go into the different towns and find the Greek speaking (and influenced) Jews and share the gospel with them.  The first time that Gentiles were led to Christ was Peter going to the household of Cornelius and even then God had to reveal it to Peter that it was ok to do this.  And Peter was questioned by the Jerusalem church as to why he went to the house of a Gentile.  Just like Peter, God had to break them out of their religiosity and prejudice when it came to proclaiming the gospel message.  The church at Antioch began about seven years after the beginning of the church at Jerusalem. 
B. The Unnamed Proclaimers (v. 21)- At around the same time that Peter was preaching to the household of Cornelius, we have these ‘men of Cyprus and Cyrene’ preaching the Lord Jesus to the pagans of Antioch.  These men had the gift of preaching and obviously saved and the founders of the first Gentile church.  But there is something missing about these men in this passage.  The passage doesn’t give their names. Their names were omitted but it was a positive omission by the Spirit of God.  It shows that these men, who were Jews (probably Hellenistic Jews) that were more concerned that people (all people) find out about the name and message of Jesus Christ.  This group of Christian men (Jewish Christians) was not held back by Jewish prejudices.  They had a better understanding about the Gospel message and the Jesus’ command in the Great Commission to go, baptize, and teach all nations (means all people) better than the original twelve.  They didn’t have to be given a vision to tell all people.  These were remarkable men of God that preached Jesus to all people without prejudice because all people are lost and need Jesus (Rom. 3:23-For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God), that means that white people, black people, oriental people, middle eastern people, Jewish people, Hispanic people, Indian people, Eskimo people, Samoan people, and even people from west Tennessee are lost in their sins and need Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.  We don’t know their name or what they looked like; just their commitment to tell the lost and dying sinner there is a Savior.  And verse 20 says that there message was they “preached the Lord Jesus”.  There is no other message you can give to the lost.  Notice that they didn’t preach Christ, which is the Greek word for Messiah.  Remember, to the Jew it had great meaning and part of the theology and prophecies and promises of God in the Old Testament but to the pagan Gentiles it didn’t mean anything.  So they preached to them ‘the Lord Jesus’ that He was Savior and Lord.  The Gospel message is a universal message that can be understood and taught to all people and culture. How do we know this, because it has gone to almost all people and the Word of God translated into many different languages.  The gospel message is clear, the sinless Son of God suffered and died on the cross bearing our sins and on the third day He physically rose from the grave bearing our eternal life in Himself.
II. The Results of the Gospel Message (v.21- And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.) – What does it take to lead people to Jesus?  The pure gospel message, a Christian who is willing to be used of God, and the Spirit of God who convicts the heart and draws the sinner to the cleansing crimson stream of Calvary. 
A. The Message- Rom. 10:9-13 – “9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  - That universal message of the mercy, love, and grace of God in Jesus Christ communicated to sinners is what gives them the understanding that they are sinners in need of salvation from eternal judgment in hell and the only One that can save them from their sins and the judgment of sin is by faith receiving Jesus as their personal savior and Lord.  The pagans in Antioch heard the message of the Gospel and believed and most importantly turned to the Lord.  There are probably many who believe in Jesus but haven’t turned to the Lord to be saved.  As it says in these verses in Romans, we must believe in our hearts and put our faith in Jesus for our salvation.  Verses 12 and 13 says it best ‘whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’, irregardless of our background, race, color, or social standing for ‘the same Lord over all is rich (rich in grace) unto all that call upon him’.  Any who has heard the message of the Gospel, repents and believes He is the only Lord and Savior and puts their faith in Him alone will be saved.  The object of the Gospel message is that Jesus alone saves and simple faith in His salvation that He purchased for us through the suffering and death on the cross.  Salvation that only comes through faith in Jesus (Eph. 2:8,9 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast).  The pure message of the Gospel is faith in Jesus Christ alone; nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else.  It is not faith plus good works, nor faith plus baptism, anything added to the gospel message perverts the message.  Faith in anything else besides Jesus will not save. 
B. The Gospel must be communicated – God has called all of His children to share the Gospel message.  The message is ineffective if we don’t tell the lost about our Lord Jesus.  Romans 10:14 – “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? ”.  This sinful world will never learn of the love of Jesus if they don’t hear the message and won’t believe if they have never heard.  The word ‘preacher’ doesn’t mean only a pastor or missionary or an evangelist is the only one who can tell someone about Jesus, it means all of us.  All of us have been called and sent by Christ Himself in Mt28:19 and Acts 1:8 to be witness of Jesus and to proclaim the Gospel message to this lost world around us.  We share the message of Jesus Christ because we love our Lord Jesus.  Don’t be ashamed of the Gospel or use some excuse not to tell someone about Jesus.  (Rom. 1:16- For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes).  God uses us to share the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ and He works in the heart of the sinner. It is not by our power of persuasion that a heart of a sinner is saved but by the Spirit of God.  We are the messengers but we should be willing messengers of this powerful Gospel that has also changed our lives.
C.  The Power Behind the Powerful Message – (Romans 10:17- So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.)
The saving faith that is needed to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior comes by hearing the Gospel message and the conviction and drawing of the sinner to faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the power behind the gospel message and the Father will draw those whose hearts are ready to believe and receive Christ (John 6:44-No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him). A person who thinks that they can live like the devil all their life and reject the Spirit of God and His convicting power and the offer of the free gift of salvation and try to make a death bed confession might be surprised.  That person who rejects God time and time again might find himself rejected of God.  We see the wonder working power of God’s grace at work because it says of these pagans that many believed in Jesus Christ and they started the Gentile church body right there in Antioch.
   These nameless proclaimers of Christ, first of all was willing to be used of God and with the love of Christ shared Jesus with those who needed salvation and that was all people.  They understood that the Gospel crosses all barriers: color, race, social classes.  It crosses all boundaries and nations shining forth the Light of the World to those who are lost in the spiritual darkness of this world.  They understood whatever limitations they had that the Spirit of God overcame them and effected salvation in the hearts of the people.  Are we willing to be used of God like these nameless servants of Jesus Christ?

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Sermons from Acts: Paul at Athens

Paul at Athens

(Acts 17:16,17)

As we continue in the book of Acts, we come to Paul in the famous city of Athens.  We see Paul looking at the city of Athens, seeing the city full of idols of false gods, and the Bible says that his ‘spirit was stirred within him’ because it seemed every place he looked were these idols.  Because of this Paul began preaching Jesus in that city and he again used the strategy of going to the synagogues first preaching to the Jews and the ‘God-fearers’ (God-fearing Gentiles) then to the heathen of that city.  Today, we will discuss what Paul saw, what he felt, and what he did to reach that pagan city.

I. What Paul saw. (v. 16- “…he was beholding the city full of idols.)

   Paul was in the philosophical and educational center of the world at that time and it greatly influenced the Roman Empire. There waiting on his friends and fellow workers in Christ, Paul looked around him and saw in every corner, nook and cranny, anywhere someone could put an idol there was an idol.  Temples to false gods, huge statues, groves, and towering above it all was the Parthenon, which was the one of the greatest buildings of architecture that housed the massive statue of the patron goddess Athena.  It was the epitome of paganism and idolatry and here Paul is witnessing this massive city that is supposed to be the most educated and enlightened city in the world and it is one of the spiritually dark places in the world full of people that are spiritually blind to the true light of the Gospel.  

   Athens was the center of the world for it’s culture, art, intellect, and ideas.  This city influenced the whole Roman Empire in every area of life, politics, philosophy, and religion.  But in all its educational and cultural achievements it was a place of great spiritual blindness.  Could there have been places of worse condition than Athens? Probably so, but it was one of better examples of paganism and spiritual corruption.  One thing we can learn about this place is that it shows that without a doubt it is a place that is in absolute need of Divine revelation. Leave a man in society without a Bible and he will make a religion of some kind to try and fill the great void in their soul but it will be a corrupt religion that usually worships the creation rather than the Creator.  We see that Athens worshipped the works of their own hands.  They had a religion without peace, without light and without hope.  Something we can learn from what Paul saw at Athens is that irregardless of the highest intellectual minds and the highest excellence in the material arts that these things will not reveal  the true light of God’s love or salvation from sin.

   If you were to ask the greatest philosopher’s in the world and the most intellectual minds the question ‘What must I do to be saved?’, they could give no answer that could cleanse a soul from sin.  Of all the great artistic and architectural wonders of Athens although it may be pleasing to the eye it could not bring the joy and peace that comes from knowing the love of Christ.  Only through the Word of God proclaimed by the Spirit filled Christians can may know and see the glorious light of God’s love in Christ.  This is a picture of the modern western world today. Though we may not have all the idols of stone, wood, and metal we have the idols of worldly success, wealth, political power, fame or pleasure.  This is what Paul saw then and it is what we see now.

II. What Paul felt (v.16- his spirit was stirred in him…).

   In verse 16 we see that the sight of this city provoked Paul’s soul.  What does that mean?  It shows that the gross idolatry angered and grieved Paul.  This was a place of pagan worship and it usually involved perverted sexual practices, mutilation, drunkenness, or mind altering drugs.  Of course, any worship of a false god or goddess has a demonic spiritual involvement of some kind (basically worship of a demon).  The gross perversions and pagan idol worship angered and sickened Paul.  We must be like Paul when it comes to our society and be angered and sickened at the perversions that are going on around us.  Drug and alcohol abuse at an all time high, the party lifestyle of the rich and famous in Hollywood being played out all over the T.V.; the Paris Hilton’s and Lindsey Lohan’s addictions and immorality glamorized by the media.  The homosexuals parading around and flaunting their perverted lives out in front of the cameras and those who speak out and condemn their actions are shouted down by saying they are hate mongers.  Couples living together and thumbing their noses at God who has ordained marriage and marriages dissolving in divorce because of spouses who can’t obey the vow of fidelity commanded by God.  Young men and women who have children out of wedlock and don’t have fathers and being raised by grandma and grandpa because mom and dad refuse to raise them.  Sexual immorality destroying lives and STD’s at an all time high and the world thinks the problem can be fixed with a condom or a birth control pill.  

   Are we like Paul? Is there something stirring in your soul that is sick and tired of all the sin and perversion that is flooding our world and damaging our society.  Does it still anger you that this sewage of sin is flooding our homes through the TV, radio, internet, and other media outlets.  We were once a society that cared about our neighbors and cared about the people in our cities and towns and the condition of peoples souls.  Today, we don’t care who lives next door, if they stay out my business then I’ll stay out of theirs. A good neighbor was once someone we could depend on and help out if they needed help, today a good neighbor is someone who minds their own business and stays out of mine.  We once got up in arms if stores opened on Sunday and now they sell beer and liquor on Sunday.  Today, people would rather speak down on the church and Jesus and if the church openly condemns anything sinful we are told not to judge.   

   Do we still get provoked in our souls at the unrighteousness around us.  But most of all, are we burdened by the souls of the lost around us.  To see our neighbors and fellow citizens walk down the path of destruction blinded by sin and Satan does it stir our soul to tell them about Jesus (Mt. 7:13 ‘…wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.”).  This world and the god of this world wants to keep the lost in spiritual darkness and keep them blind to the glorious truth of the Gospel (2 Co. 4:3-4, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.)  We should be stirred by the same love and compassion of Christ that He has showed and given to us, because many are on that road to destruction.  It is true that we must guard our hearts and homes from the evil around us by the power and the word of God but we must also change our society by proclaiming the truth of God’s word and reaching mankind one soul at a time.  This sinful, idolatrous city provoked Paul to action and now we will discuss what Paul did.

III. What Paul did (v. 17)

   You have heard what Paul saw and you were told what Paul felt and now we will see that Paul did. He was active with his faith in Christ.  He just didn’t sit around and moan about the condition of the world around him.  He went and began to change his world around him and the way he did that was by the powerful, world changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Paul had a plan that he knew could change the lives and souls of that sinful city. It involved teaching, preaching, discussing, and sharing the gospel message.  It always had an impact on whatever city he went to.  We see it in Acts 17:4-6, we see Paul was teaching and preaching the Word of God and preaching Jesus is the Christ and Savior of mankind and we see the impact, “4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. 5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

6 but when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too”.  

   We see two things that happened when the word of God is preached: 1. People are saved and 2. People are offended.  This glorious gospel is what Romans 1:16 says is “the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”, but it will offend the reprobate and sinful society.  When we tell people about Jesus it condemns the sinner because it shows he needs a Savior.  Those who reject the message of Christ will usually hate us for Christ’s sake.  Remember what Paul did and what he preached Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected, we see that in verse 18.

   Remember, God uses His children to reach the lost.  When the early church here in Acts was persecuted, His children went into different countries and lands taking the message of the Savior with them and changing the world.

   We must see and follow the example of the Apostle Paul.  When we see the sinful and idolatrous world around us openly defying God and His word, we must allow the Holy Spirit in us to stir our hearts and souls to action.  God can use all of us to change the world around us by His power; all we have to do is allow God to use us to accomplish His will through us.

Sermons from Acts: The Stoning of Stephen

The Stoning of Stephen

(Acts 7:51-8:1a)

We all know of Stephen, how he was the first martyr of the Church. We often read this passage and think about the seeming tragedy of his death. But, I want us to look at this passage in a different light. The tragedy that day wasn’t the death of Stephen but the crowd that stoned him. Stephen was not the victim that day, in fact he is not the victim at all, he wins. In death he is the victor, and though they live, they became the losers. Today, we will see that Stephen was a man who had grace to live and grace to die.

I. Stephen Before the Accusers- (Acts 6:9-7:1)

A. What we know about Stephen- Acts 6 tells of Stephen that he was one the seven men (of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom) chosen by the Apostles as the first deacons of the church. It goes on to tell us that Stephen was one who was “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit”, and that there were signs and wonders done among the people through Stephen. Stephen was a witness for Christ by sharing the Gospel and the life he lived before others. Stephen evidently went and taught and preached in some of the synagogues because certain leaders of the synagogues tried to debate with Stephen (many against one) but they were not successful, we see this in Acts 6:10, “And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke”; they could not handle his wisdom or his spirit. All their minds put together were no match for one Spirit-controlled mind. So we see that Stephen was a man of God who was full of the Spirit, full of faith, and wisdom and knew scripture and was able to effectively communicate it and was a Christian man that was held in high esteem by the church and the Apostles.

B. The False Accusations- We talked how the Jewish religious leaders lost a debate to Stephen and they did what many people do when they lose a debate and a confrontation with the truth, they slander and lie on Stephen (Acts 6:11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God”). They accuse him of blasphemy by hiring false witnesses against him to say so. When telling them about Jesus, Stephen does so with great courage and does not water down the Gospel message. But they falsely accuse him of blasphemy and have to hire false witnesses because they could not dispute truth, so they determine to silence the proclaimer of truth.

C. The Council- just like Jesus we see that they have falsely accused Stephen of blasphemy and not only that they seize him (false arrest-sound familiar) and they have convened a Council (kangaroo court) (Acts 6:12 And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council).

And here at this council they, just like they did Jesus, bring in the false witnesses (had to be two) and they tell their lies against him. These Jews mean to kill Stephen, because if they pronounce him guilty of blasphemy they can stone him. They bring the false accusations against him and they have this mockery of a trial and after all the false statements and lies of accusing him of being an evil blasphemer they look at Stephen and as they behold his face verse 15 says, “And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel”. Facing this fake trial and false accusations and the possibility of death, we see Stephen full of the Holy Spirit with the glory of God shining on his face. God rebukes them through his servant Stephen by allowing the manifest glory of God to shine on his face.

II. Stephen Answers and Defends the Gospel (Acts 7)

Acts 7 stars out with this verse, “7:1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so?”, they so ‘graciously’ let Stephen answer and address his accusers, to defend himself. By the time he is done defending himself, they become the ones on trial for blasphemy. In his sermon, he says, in effect, "I believe in God, but you put God in a box. I believe in Moses, but you continually break the law that he gave us from God. I believe in the Temple, but if your forefathers hadn't desecrated it with worshiping idols, it wouldn't have been destroyed by pagan, godless peoples. This now in your third Temple, and guess who doesn't believe in Herod's temple?...God, who has had to keep wiping them out." So he turns the tables on them completely and indicts and condemns them. This sermon builds until it climaxes with the confrontation in verses 51-53, "51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it". He tells them the truth about the condition of their heart and how they failed to recognize the Messiah was in their midst, performed sign and wonders and miracles and they were so spiritually blinded they did not recognize their salvation, Jesus Christ. And they killed him just as they had killed the prophets sent to them from God before Him. He again tells them that they again are resisting the Holy Spirit and refuse to believe in the word of God and the Son of God, in fact he calls them betrayers and murderers. Stephen courageously speaks the Word of God boldly and proclaims the only Lord and Savior of all, he does so knowing full well of the consequences and still he does not flinch or apologize for the message of truth.

III. From Death To Life (Acts 7:54-8:1a)

A. Rejection- So what was the result of them hearing this message of truth? Where they convicted by the Spirit? Verse 54 says that, “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth”; it seems they heard the message and fully understood what he was saying. But the reaction was one who was convicted but not repentant. The ‘cut to the heart’ shows that the saw of conviction had ripped them through the middle. They knew that everything he had said was true. The ‘gnashed on him with their teeth’ shows the great rage and frustration they felt. They could not verbalize their hatred and anger and just ground their teeth in fury. Instead of repenting and yielding to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit they ground their teeth in fury at Stephen and at God. It reminds me of the verse in Matt. 24:51- And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In there spiritual blindness they chose to reject the glorious light of salvation. They hardened their hearts time and time again to the revelation of God’s salvation found only in Christ. They had rejected the Savior Jesus and now again they rejected the Gospel of Christ. Just like Pharaoh they hardened their hearts and rejected the word of God and just like Pharaoh God now hardened their hearts and rejected them. After the death of Stephen you see that the Gospel being preached to the Samaritans and Gentiles away from the Jews.

B. Full of Anger or Full of the Spirit- As Stephen is facing this hatred and anger, the Bible says that he was ‘full of the Spirit and looked into heaven’. He faced evil just like any Christian, through the power of the Spirit and looking unto Jesus for his help and strength. We can face life challenges and problems the way Stephen did or the way the Sanhedrin did (angry and blaming God), it’s up to you. Looking at these couple of chapters that describe Stephen, it’s clear that whenever it’s talks of him it said that he was ‘full of the Spirit’; it shows that he yielded every part of his life to the control of the Spirit of God. We need to heed the example of Stephen.

C. Vision of Christ and Derision of the Mob - now what was it that really pushed them over the edge to kill Stephen. (Acts 7:55-58, 55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him). The situation was getting tense and Stephen looked to the Lord, the only place to look at such times and he beheld a sight that only very few had seen, the glory of God and Jesus at the right hand of the Father. The Bible says in Hebrews that after Christ had accomplished redemption, He went to heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. Well, what is He doing standing up here? He sat down in terms of redemption (finished) but always stands up when His children are in trouble. It shows a wonderful truth, that Jesus has an active interest in His servants, it was as if Jesus was saying, “Stephen, I’m coming to your rescue!”. The proclamation of that vision to the Sanhedrin, pushed them over the edge. To proclaim that Jesus was at the right hand of the Father shows that He was the Messiah and risen from the dead and that He was God in the flesh. Maybe they remembered what Jesus had said at His mock trial, Mk. 14:61b- Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. They saw this as blasphemy and pronounced the death sentence for Stephen. It says that they, “57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him”, this really showed the condition of their hearts, they so resisted the Gospel message that they put their hands over their ears so as not to hear Stephen. They all ran upon him as a mob and took him outside the city to be stoned.

D. Stoning and Death of Stephen- Acts 7: 59 And they stoned Stephen- In Lev. 24:14, it says that stoning to take place outside the city and 24:16, says that stoning is the punishment for blasphemy. They also had to have the testimony of two witnesses for an execution to take place. Deut. 17:7 states that “The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people”. That what was needed by Law to stone a person. In the Rabbinical tradition of Jewish law, it tells us that drop from the stoning place was twice the height of a man. A precipice of ten feet with rocks below and one of the witnesses would push the criminal off into the stoning place from behind so that he would fall face first. Then, he would be turned over on his back. If he died from the fall, that was sufficient. If not, the second witness was to take a large stone and drop it on his heart. If this caused death, that would be the end, but if not, then the accused would be stoned by all the congregation of Israel. We see from the account they laid their garments at the feet of Saul, they did this so they didn’t have anything to hinder them from throwing the stones.

Verse 59, says that as they were stoning him, he called upon God to receive his spirit. He knew to be ‘absent from the body is to be present with the Lord’, and in verse 60 we read the Stephen’s forgiving farewell. So much of the love of Jesus was in him that he said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”, he asked Jesus to be merciful to them. He said in effect, Father forgive them; only a Christian could love like that, because the love of Jesus is shed abroad in his heart (Rom. 5:5). Lastly, we see what a peaceful passing Stephen had, “And when he had said this, he fell asleep”, fell asleep and awoke in the arms of Jesus in those hallowed halls of Heaven. Stephen faced evil and death and won the victory because he faced it with Jesus. He didn’t return evil for evil, but he faced it with the truth, forgiveness and grace of God. He is a great example for us as Christians.

The Apostle Paul said in 1 Co. 11:1 to “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ”; we see the example of Stephen as he followed Jesus and he did plant the seed of salvation in one heart that day (read 8:1a), Saul. From Stephen’s uncomprising stand and death came Paul. St. Augustine said, “The church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen. From Stephen came Paul, and from Paul came the world. What will come from us, what will we do for God?