ACTS 7:1-53
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Chapter 7 is the longest sermon recorded in Acts..
Stephen’s sermon was a response.
In verse 1 we read
1 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
HE was responding to the accusation that he was teaching against the law and the temple which we talked about last week which was punishable by death..
What is great about this sermon is he responds to the argumentation of the accusations against him. Its not just a basic response its very detailed. We are going to take some time going over these details together.
And its a reminder to us that we need to know the Word so we can respond using all of it, and Stephen uses a great deal of scripture with the argument he is about to make.
As I was studying for this Stephens response is essentially. You guys are the ones actually teaching against the law.
So he goes to explain this to them through the scriptures..
So instead of answering yes or no he goes the long way and so are we…
2 And Stephen said:
“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.
This first section Stephen focuses on Abraham..
The first mentioning of Abraham comes all the way back in Genesis chapter 11. So lets have a history lesson tonight… But ill move into chapter 12 to start of Genesis
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
We get the promise of a great inheritance in verse 2-3. These verses are essential in the Jewish faith.
Because what Abraham is promised is a land, a nation, and a blessing.
Lets go back to acts.
5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. 7 ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
V 5 is best explained by Gen 17:8
8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
So we know eventually Abraham would have a physical child, Issac who would carry on his physical line.
But we also see that these people who were promised to Abraham would come under the captivity.
This prophecy comes from Gen…
13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
This is how they end up in Egypt and have to be rescued by God later on.
This captivity would come to an end, and a new way of life would start forming and a nation and blessing would come from it…
12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
So with the promise he calls for circumcision. and to Establish a covenant…
This is the third convent we see in the bible, Adam, Noah, and now Abraham..
9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
What is different about this covenant is it now becomes more global where more than just the individuals can be saved. Up into this point in history God picked out people to do what he wanted but through Abraham this changes.
Why does any of this matter in Stephens speech? God identifies with Abraham and his offspring, just look he does with Moses, and Stephen is connecting this all to Christ.
One Scholar said...
The Acts of the Apostles 1. The Foundational Promises to Abraham (7:2–8)
So the first section of Stephen’s speech concludes by affirming the establishment of Israel and its worship on the basis of divine revelation and divine providence. ‘Long before there was a holy place, there was a holy people, to whom God had pledged himself.’26
How does this tie into Christ? We could spend weeks on how it tied into Christ.
Let me just share a few things…
We become children of Abraham by having faith in Christ.
Jesus himself evokes this tradition when he claims to be the "true vine," a vivid biblical metaphor always used in reference to the people of God. John 15:1-17; cf. Ps. 80:8; Isa. 5:1-7; Jer. 2:21; Hos. 9:10; Matt. 21:33-46).
The apostle Paul contends that Jesus Christ is, in actuality, the singular offspring to whom the covenant with Abraham points
16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.
This is how smart people put it. Paul is refuting the notion that the covenant with Moses could annul the covenant with Abraham by exchanging the faith principle of Abraham with a works principle of the Mosaic law. For Paul, this distinction creates a false dichotomy- a division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities
something with seemingly contradictory qualities between Moses and Abraham that is untenable (Gal. 3:21).
21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.
Neither the Mosaic law nor the Abrahamic circumcision can give life, but rather both were expressions of faithfulness in the promises of God fulfilled in Jesus Christ, "for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. . .. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise" (Gal. 3:26, 29).
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
In Christ, the promise to Abraham that his offspring would bless the world Gen 12:3
3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,
This is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.
He is the righteous seed through whom the nations are brought into the divine program of redemption through saving faith.
In Christ, the nations are being gathered into the inheritance of Abraham, a work that is being accomplished even now through the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20), and the apostles are empowered by the great solution to Babel at Pentecost (Acts 2).
The inclusion of the nations will be completed in the new heavens and new earth.
What will all of Abraham’s children look like?
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
One man said.. The global scope of the promises to Abraham imply that the divine work of redemption was never meant to stop at the borders of the land of Israel, nor was it ever limited to biological descendants of Abraham.
Abraham and his offspring, by faith, were always meant to be "heir(s] of the world"
13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
Stephen brings this up to him with this understanding.