Hear Me…
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Review ALL IN series. Purpose for the series: how where we are as The Shed is where they were then…
Review Last Week: Empowered (choosing pre-deacons, implementing systems, adjusting to growth)
Acts 6:8–7:2 (NASB95)
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.
9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen.
10 But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.
11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
12 And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council.
13 They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law;
14 for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.”
15 And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel.
1 The high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, “Hear me…”
Title: Hear Me…
Pray
Introduction to concept: Hear Me…
“As I read through this text and came to the last verse we read, where Stephen says, “Hear me…”
I hear the sound of so many voices crying out the same thing through the chaos of confusion surrounding popular culture…
HEAR ME…
We live in a world of constant information, constant competition for your attention…
(elaborate)
There’s a constant pull from every direction and all are saying the same thing… “HEAR ME!”
But through it all, floating in as a familiar whisper, as a voice drawing at the heart of every person is the voice of the Father, calling…
“Hear Me!”
By the time Stephen articulates the words, God had already been drawing at the hearts of those who were in the argument with Stephen…
We often think of the post-truth post-modern ideology as being a new idea, but what we see in this passage of scripture is something eerily similar to the way the culture of today would have us to think.
Stephen is described as a man full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit… and here in verse 8 we see another description of Stephen:
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.
Stephen full of grace and power… God is using Stephen… This man who is one of the first deacons… to call to those around him… “Hear Me!”
Even the miracles at the hands of Stephen are called “wonders and SIGNS” through the works of supernatural, God is calling, “HEAR ME!”
But then the very ones God is calling out to through Stephen rise up to argue against that call…
10 But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.
This is a fulfillment of Jesus’ words to the disciples:
11 “When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say;
12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
It’s not that Stephen wasn’t prepared.. He was chosen because of his qualifications, but it wasn’t his education that supported him in this moment, it was the very Spirit of God!
When they wouldn’t listen to the signs, didn’t accept the preaching, God reached out through the Spirit of Wisdom, again calling to those arguing with Stephen, “HEAR ME”
But They used their zeal for God as an excuse to ignore the call of God…
When people are so in love with their way of life, they will do anything to protect it…
11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
They stirred up the people, stirred up the elders, stirred up the scribes…
Not because what he was saying was wrong, but that he was right and they couldn’t refute the truth…
As if God hasn’t done enough already, when they arrest him and gather in the council…
15 And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel.
And they STILL have to ask…
1 The high priest said, “Are these things so?”
They are hearing all the voices, just like we hear all the voices…
The voices of the liars… the voices of the arguers… the voices of the people… the voices of the popular culture… the voices of the scribes, whose purpose is to protect the scriptures… all saying, “HEAR ME!”
But Stephen stands as a messenger from God and finally articulates what God has been saying all along…
Acts 7:2 (NASB95)
2 And he said, “Hear me, brethren and fathers!
And for the next 52 verses Stephen takes their own Jewish history and points out how God has called through the generations… “HEAR ME!”
God called to Abraham… He Called to Isaac… He called to and wrestled with Jacob… He called Joseph… He even called to Pharoah… He called to Israel while they were in Egypt… He called Moses from a burning bush… He called His people from up on mount Sinai… He called to Joshua to cross the Jordan… He called David… He called Solomon… He called from the mercy seat… He called from the temple… He called through the angels… He called when He sent Jesus… He called when He died on the cross… He called when He was raised on the 3rd day… He called through the apostles… and He called through Stephen…
Each time, in every generation calling as He calls today… “HEAR ME!”
Altar Call
Hear Me…
There are two questions about God’s call to you today that I want to ask:
What do you hear?
What do you listen to? What report will you heed? What is God saying to you? Are you listening to the voice of God or the voice of fear?
2. What do you say for others to hear?
Stephen was able to say, “Hear me” and preached the truth of the gospel while his opponents spread lies. What do you spread? Hope and truth and uplifting? Or lies and slander and gossip, negativity and anger and strife?
