02.23.2025 Acts 6:8-15

I want to turn off hard towards God's word, what it has to say, because it is good for our soul. We need it today. Maybe you came into stract it confused or bewildered and this is an opportunity yet again to turn to the word of the Lord. This morning, we're going to begin our reading and in chapter 6 of Acts verse 8. So I hope you found it and if you have if you're willing and able, please stand with me, as we read God's word together, hear the word, Of the Lord.

and Stephen Full of Grace and power was doing great wonders and signs among the people then some of those who belong to the synagogue of the freedmen as it was called, and of the sirens and all of the alexandrians and all of those from silicea and Asia, rose up and disputed with Steven, But they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men, who said we have heard him speak Blasphemous words against Moses and God and they stirred up the people, and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and sees him and brought him before the council and they set up false Witnesses who said this man, never ceases to speak words against the holy place and the law for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and we'll change the Customs. That Moses delivered to us. And gazing at him. All who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an Angel. Let's pray. Lord God, help us this morning to apply your word. I pray that what would happen to us is we would be mature. Christians are temptation is to not grow and this morning, I pray, we would receive this as one more chance to continue to move forward and chase after your heart, there you are. Conforming us to the image of Christ, even in the places that are hard, even the places in our lives, where we are resisting, you are an overcomer you overcome our heart, and trained us to be the Overcomers that we ought to be in this world. You give us wisdom, you give us power that is not on You by Grace Phyllis, up, to do things that we cannot do on our own. You are amazing God, who not only rescues us, but sets us on fire in front of other people for the sake of your glory. And I pray that our hearts would burn with Earnest desire. As we seek to be those who carry a message to our community, that is full of grace and truth. There's conformis more deeply to the image of Christ. I pray. Amen. If you see that. You know, last week we left off in this story and we talked about this thing that we had to talk about because the elephant was in the room and that was over the Deacon situation in service when it comes to the church, the early church had grown and it had moved itself into a position of struggle. There were people who were not being noticed and underserved and through the execution of developing leaders, the church was better served and continued to multiply and that's where we left off. We left off with a church multiply in fact that it that's the kind of, Paradigm of the Bible. I hope you remember us talking about that, the Paradigm of the Bible is to multiply from the beginning. In Genesis, God said to Adam and Eve fill up the garden. Continue to grow. Expand the boundaries more image. Bears is what I require of you and the world was filled. God's people. In fact, What's Happening Here In the book of Acts as an extension of that as God's people seek to make disciples, they multiply? And as we left off the story, that's where our church wants to be, we want to raise up new leaders. And we want to multiply we want to make disciples but it forces us into the question is everyone making disciples. What's a disciple? How do we know when one gets made or we evangelizing? Are we developing relationships that would, multiply is that our hearts concern? Is that my responsibility or do I just look to the pastor to do that? I'm so glad we have a pastor and he will multiply all and there are many questions that are front and filled with pain when it comes to this. If we're honest and this particular part of the passage is pushing us further and it's giving more to the story. I know sometimes If you were to preach Acts chapter 6, you would kind of close it down and verse 7 and just move right on to chapter 7 and hear the great sermon of Steven. But I think this is a significant passage for us if we pay close attention. So, please pay attention this morning, just like all just like you should always do in fact that this passage, that reminds me of somebody, a conversation I had this week in one that's gone going. I was talking with a person who wasn't a pass, or isn't it a meeting? A discipleship meeting of sorts with other pastors who were there? And in this brother with stern, look on his face with deep concern said, how do you change the culture to get your church to be a disciple, making church power? How do you do it? We get it. Cuz I had celebrated, many of the things that are going on here at Trinity. We we are. We have more and more people coming more and more people connecting and more relationships building within our body. There's a lot Be excited about but damn, how is the discipleship culture going to change? What will you do? How can you change it? And I looked him dead in the face and I'm not kidding. When I said I can't.

I can't. You do a lot of times we as pastors, this is where we are in places where we can't do anything. And the biggest place that I'm in that position is changing the human heart. I can speak to you all day about your need to make disciples and to be a disciple. I could tell you all the implications that are there in the scriptures about how this is your responsibility. Not just a horde up information, not just to sit in isolation and to continue to build relationships and I could speak about that and and I could just ran and Rail and give all kinds of convicting messages about how important this is, and you can hear it and not change at all. Or be resistant to it, find all kinds of reasons why I'm wrong in a pathetic and bad leader and should be better. And you can find lots of good stuff to tear. It all apart or what it would take is the spirit of God to get inside of our hearts and rattle her cage and make us realize. This is actually for us. it is the responsibility that each one of us can't carries to make disciples to multiply It's not just on some leader or somebody else. It's my responsibility to unite with the body of Christ in joint, effort, to see other people renewed in the faith. And guess what? That's going to be outside of your ability to accomplish to We need a holy dependence on God to change human hearts. Starting with us. The person we look in the mirror. Are temptation is to start by looking elsewhere for somebody to blame for someone if we are going to be the kind of people who take responsibility for once the face, that I look in the mirror each and every day. And it will transform us into the people that were called to be as we seek one another Jill at diligently. So, I can't, but at the same time this morning, I'm going to be talking to you about the need to be mature into grow up and multiply disciples yet again. I think it's important. And I think what we're facing in tandem with this as that what brings on the conservation, release the concern in this group is we don't have enough pastors anymore, and if you've taken a close look, there's not a lot of young pastors moving up in the ranks anymore. That's a weird thing if that guy was kind of surprised by, but there's not many people taking the mantle the way that they used to. And there's a whole book written about calling out the call. And maybe we can talk about all the difficult parts of the job. With the painful job. It's a wonderful opportunity. It's filled with accountable ability where everyone's staring at you in. Like, how good is he doing today? Is this sermon as good as it was last week? I don't know, right? Then there's all kinds of fish bowl examples that everybody gives in and then like okay is that accountability different than the accountability that you sharing this ministry? And it's important for people to take the role of leadership and if you do there will be a greater judgment according to James chapter 3 but aren't you under some greater judgment? Because if you just take God's word to get breached and go and I love that was great. There's so much and there's so much stuff brought with this position and problem that we faced our other people important is it just the pastors that are important. Complications Beyond despair requires that we continue to Focus On Christ his gospel and welcoming others, Into The Fray, and into the difficulty, how do we raise up, L? What do we do to find them? How can you, you transform their life and what what can we do to put in place to make sure they read their Bible and you better start them really hard and get them to pay attention.

It's tough. Jesus is Jesus. And we ain't Jesus. But we are following Jesus and learning to be renewed and the more we follow Jesus, the more we end up looking like him and hear in the book of Acts there. Looking like Jesus, When you look like Jesus, get prepared for all the stuff that comes with looking like Jesus. We want to grow into maturity, in the Conformity, to the image of Christ, it's a golden opportunity as well as a wonderful responsibilities. We pursue this with Reckless abandonment in our hearts Steven, he is walking in this passage in the pattern of a prophet and he will be rejected and yet Vindicated and it is a beautiful passage fraught with tension because of where it's leading us many and Evangelical cervicals may look at Stephens sermon in chapter 7 and said, well you know, he could have done a better job if he was a nicer. He may not have gotten stoned, he really didn't capture their hearts. That well in fact that the end of this passage and when we get into the sermon, what we end up finding is Steven was faith and responsible to preach the word and it ends up like an anti Jonah. You remember what happened with Jonah? He says 40 days and then evil will perish and everybody's like I'm sorry I quit my bow down sack cloth and Ashes. What else you think we should be doing? In this particular passage Stephen ruts and reels about the Disobedience and wickedness of God's Own people from their stories and their book and at the end of it, they go how dare you kill you and you're like, dude,

And he was successful. Where Jonah had failed? A lot of times our perception of what success looks like. And what it means to be successful is skewed by our constant need to produce and what's being produced in us, that is most significant and important, its Conformity to the image of Christ. Despite the results

Super. There's that there's a Temptation and all of our hearts in the book of Acts is filling this out. Did they have results? Absolutely. It wasn't just about the results because often they didn't get results. Not the results you would hope you would hope that in this moment, the nation of Israel we repent and yet, did they know? And yes, Steven was faithful. Steven was faithful to grow in maturity. We need a complex understanding of the way this works. As we pursue Conformity to the image of Christ. Don't want to talk this morning about four ways where you can become mature Christians and look like Jesus will want to look like Jesus. We do and Conformity, says his image is a priority and responsibilities. And the first thing I want to talk about is we look like Jesus and Grace and power. And it's right here, in the very first verse of this text, Steven looks like that. But what I find amazing about, this particular passage is if you look at verse 8, which let's just look at it together and Stephen Full of Grace and power was doing great wonders, and signs among the people there. Some beautiful stuff right here that I want you to pay close attention to Steven. Now, looks like the apostles He's doing the things that the apostles did, but he was pretty. He was, he was selected in the previous section of scripture to distribute the food. But ask he's Distributing and doing his job of carrying out this daily ration of bread among the widows within his own Community. What ends up happening is signs and wonders? Because God grows us in his in the service of his people. Many of us want to grow apart from the service of God's people but notice right here in the text exactly what it says. Where were these signs done among the people and reminds me of First Peter chapter 5, where the the the pastor is to be a man of your sheep and he serves alongside his people among the flock of God. Right. That's the flaw, you. That's the exact Peter is stresses that had to be a faithful Elder among your flock. A lot of times are temptation is to serve the nebulous people of God. Similar places where that's important and significant. But we're growth happens is often among God's people in a localized situation and that's what Stevens doing and it the question we should ask ourselves is how did we get to this verse 8 where Stephen is doing these signs and wonders. There's some time that has had to have taken place. There's some risk that's gone forward and Steven service I can't help but think about when I first got my opportunity to be a youth pastor and there was no salary. No one. Remember me and Kim are newly married living in married, housing or not American. Got her government house across from the bible college that I was and I was pursuing a job and that what they had to help things work out. Is they had a home that we could live in and they said will pay the water and electricity. You can live in this home and I remember what I was like. Well, that's nice cuz we don't have to pay the rent anymore. That's the benefit of sorts, and it was the past or him right across from the church. I did not know, all the pain that was going to come with that. There was much pain as we walk in, I'll never forget the flying Asian, roaches that we had to kill And in the home, there was a bullet hole where someone had shot through like the roof and you could see like the light come straight all the way through it, right? And we're going to be dead honest in that moment, I was just thrilled to have an opportunity to preach my first sermon. Eventually in that church, I baptized the first bad person I ever baptized. I'm aware 123 years old, I'm just excited to serve God's people. It's a great place to start. Probably be a bad place to end up but that's where we all are, right? Like in this life. What pursuing the Lord and broken ways? We're we're learning to grow by taking risks under the watch in the care of the people of God as the people of God care for us. There's some people in our church today who need to take a step forward in serving a local this local body and it may look like Asian roach infested not on this, but it's another step in your life. You've got to take another step. There's another opportunity. What I love about verse 8, right here, it's like, it's like fast forward and look at Stephen, he's grown up and look what he's doing. In fact, that's the point here. The point of the text is to teach you, not that Steven was awesome. And if he was just had it all, together was awesome in and up his own strength, he would know. Like, by God's grace, Steven grew into looking this way notice. That's what we're talkin about. If we're going to look like Jesus, we're going to have to look like it in Grace and power as Christians. We do not carry the power of God in our pocket for daily distribution use. It, it compels us, it's transformed us and it comes out of us because it does not belong to us. God's grace is not something we deserve or have a right to earn over a. Of time, but as God's grace is at work in our hearts over a. Of time. We start to look like Jesus. When the grace of God grabs your heart. You sense a compelling desire to look more and more like Jesus and to be more and more active among his people. God does amazing things to grow us, the captures, our hearts. And then he takes our hearts and starts to use us. Look. Any good preacher, Pastor, his heart's desire is to be with God's people and be used among them. Many if you've heard the silly and ridiculous adage, that Ministry would be great. Minus the people. And that's just a lie. Ministry is great because of the people. The sinful broken people that you get to see a reflection of yourself, of, in their life and see how God satisfies ultimately their needs and your needs in. Jesus Christ. That's God's grace at work, isn't it? Some of the broken things that we say to one another tear down and rip at the body of Christ. Because we don't notice the grace of God in the power of God at work in the things that you can look at on the outside and go, that's kind of pathetic.

We do not carry strength with us. But when a Sunday school teacher or a child care, worker cares for someone by God's grace, the power of God can be seen in the things that they do. That is not going to be recognized by the world's eyes. And as we serve one another and pursue one, another and humility, that's how things grow and happen. Many times what people desire in this day and age is for everything to be in place, right? We can feel the strain of that as a church. It's like we don't have all the programs yet. and a lot of times when someone comes to your church, the Temptation is to be like, hey, if you have this for my kids, I'll come when a lot of times what's happening at a church is we need people to take initiative. We need people to stop waiting around and looking at one another and saying you know what, I'm going to take initiative and I'm going to try to meet this particular need or that particular need rather than make it like well when somebody else does that, I'll be there for you.

We're not sure as the body of Christ to wait on other people to serve us. But to try to figure out how we can use our gifts and skills by God's grace, to do something, amazing rather than sitting on our haunches, waiting on something to happen. If God has come and got you, that's what he did. He took initiative in her life and by the power of the Gospel made us new people. What happens that comes out of us. If we start to pursue others in the same fashion because we feel a sense of compulsion. We are drawn to it, not because of what we can do because we know I can't do it. Steven becomes graceful and Powerful doing signs and wonders, like the apostles, not because that was something he had on his own, but that was something was brought to him. By God's grace, I often wonder sometimes what people think is. I think about my own story and developing in Ministry. Like why do you think this is going to happen for people? Like they're just going to like Zappo like all the sudden things are going to be in place know what happens. Is a long obedience in the same direction. A constant following after Christ and developing trying to grow seeking, how you might be more responsible and trusting the Lord right where you are taking the next step, whatever it may be, rather than waiting for someone to take it for you. People are in massive need in our community. People are massive need in your life. In the biggest place they need to do and they're in need is in God's grace and his giving power. To giving your time and talent investing in others. Is when you look like Jesus,

we look like Jesus in generosity. when we give out of what we've been given you, when it's small and not much Jesus came I didn't call him in a bulletin announcement, didn't sets a message across the size that I am here. He came and embodied way where he existed among people and he live with them.

Any walk with them day today. Speaking them to them about the truce of God and signs and wonders just came out. As he lived among the needs of people. Each one of us live among the needs of people that are so far beyond us that we cannot accomplish them. A lot of times if you go to get advice from a pastor and they know just what to tell you to do in a 12 step process to solve your price problems. I would think such a person as a charlatan and a liar. Because our problems are often and mostly beyond our ability to fix apart from God's power and Grace. God must show up, Trinity Community Church. God must show up. He must this is not going to work because we're crafty.

Or we can outsmart the know. We need the transforming power of the gospel, of Christ, impact, the human heart, and change people's lives. when we realized that, that's when we end up looking more like Jesus,

we end up looking more like Jesus. And that's honestly, what Steven ends up looking like, where's the backstory here? How did these signs and wonders? What's this, a reference to its the reference to Jesus his own Ministry that the apostles were carrying out as he signs and wonders draw a horse attention, back to the Exodus. We read about in Sunday school where all of these amazing things, we've even gave reference to it. I think it's poppycock and hilarious the way, a lot of times you'll see a TV program, they're going to explain the 10 signs of the plagues of Egypt in and they've got a way of working all of that. I was like, what was all natural phenomenon? Like yeah, go tell Pharaoh that. I think there's a way that this is happening, but should be beyond our ability to explain it. And that's the same way that it happens with us. A lot of times in the church, you're not going to sit down and said, well, what ended up happening is, is I started taking initiative because I'm so very smart and clever. Oh, my goodness. The gospel of God comes breaks into our heart and gives us the ability to do things that we could not otherwise do and he's been doing that for a long. Of time. And he's done it all to mately in Jesus Christ who rose from the dead. That's what Steven story is referencing. So, how are we going to change the discipleship culture of our church? I can't. God sure can I wonder if he's breaking hearts today. And at the same time, healing them. And it's power and Grace. We look like Jesus. Grayson power when we've been transformed by Christ Jesus, by growing in wisdom and I think this is a good one, you know, the development of looking like Christ is a, is a way of growing an understanding the wisdom that you need to have to live in a world. We talked about wisdom last week and I think wisdom's important. Sure it's installed. It's right, actions and right application of information. And sometimes the world is filled now, with more information that we can put our brains around. And a lot of times we live in stupidity, and Common Sense is not so common and we we Spirits the world, a certain kind of way. And it's like where are the people who are wise today in and what we see coming out of Steven's, life is a wisdom that couldn't be sorted. SS Beyond awesome exciting. But I say this to you as a way of thinking

A doctor with a good education and no experience is sketchy and scary eye doctor with no education. And just experienced is probably just as scary and sketchy, but a doctor with education and experience is someone we would want to see with it when we can track his track record. And I'm here to say that, that's what it's like when we follow Jesus. Many of us are prone, especially in theological circles, two things called cage stage, have you heard such a thing? Maybe not, maybe. So but what this is describing especially within certain reform circles as someone who's finally come across the doctrines of Grace and they are very upset and angry about it because they lack wisdom about what it's actually saying. Wisdom is a gross thing that happens in our life. Many of us are apart of discovering things. In once, we tried things for the first time boy, we start the process of banging and bulking our heads, right? Bang in both my head. Several times in Ministry and will probably do it again. When you try to follow the lord, it's going to take growth and your faults and failures were failures. Will start the surface and you'll get a better glimpse of yourself. And what you can be is humiliating or even devastating too many people who still want to hold on to their righteousness. This thing that's going on in Steven's life as he can bats. These other people, these the synagogue, which were fixing to talk about a second. They are filled with animosity and the Rage of all that we've seen before and we'll be continuing to see until Jesus comes back. They're ready to engage and hold on to their positions and what they have and their self-righteousness because of the preaching of Christ in wisdom will unveil it for people. And when they begin to see themselves, they might get very upset. They might decide that you need to eat it. Even when you have proclaimed, it truthfully handled it rightly done it confidently with all the nuance and care that you were supposed to, it may end up not doing well. Look, I love this because in wisdom, Stephen also found his mission field. He developed his relational skills and his ability to just perfectly call out the idols of his own community and point them to Jesus. That's what he's doing. He has an imagination because as he steps into these people's lives, he has a hope that what's going to happen to them if they be transformed by the gospel. But what's on the end up happening to him? Is he's going to be arrested, which ends up looking just like the apostles and ultimately Jesus, he's found a place that have you found your place yet? Do you have an imagination and a hope for people? Are you willing to engage and make the attempt? Do do you ask yourself questions? Is it? Should I go after the people who are, more like me, or should I just go cross-cultural and go after the people are not like me at all? Do you have a heart for pursuing people with the gospel of Christ? And is that happening in a place? Where is your place? Who are the people you're going after? So that you might share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because if you don't have a place that's outside, you might still be this. Like you're not connected to the inside and then this is devastate, you're not looking like Jesus notices to both and right here, Steven. That's he served among the people who believe the truth about Jesus, he's grown and now he's going to serve among people who don't believe in Jesus and that's going to grow him and he's going to grow to the point of getting in trouble.

Many of us are not attempting to grow at a point where we would get in any trouble whatsoever. We've made peace with our life, And we're not saying anything to anyone that would rock their boat.

So we need to grow in wisdom. He's grown, obviously in his gospel speaking ability. He, he knows where these people eating shop, he knows where they celebrate and have fun. He knows where they sing their songs and tell their stories. He's embedded himself in such a situation that all of the Nations have come to him and he's proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In this particular setting know what setting is this, Dan? What are we speaking about back to verse 9 Then some of those who belong to the synagogue of the freedmen. What I found out was interesting about this as you can go and look and look up the archaeological evidence and find something that looks like this exact same place. It could be that they have found this synagogue in the South End of Jerusalem. It's kind of cool, right? That's kind of cool. So who's there at this place where he's been engaging since some of those who belong to the synagogue of the freedmen? I think this is important and I found it interesting Beyond Compare, as it was called Luke writes that so you would go find it. You do get that right when this is in the Bible, like this is like, you can go find this. And of the sirens and all of the alexandrians and all those from cilicia and a Zsa, Zsa to stop right here for a second. These people are the people being engaged right here their diets for a juice. Wrld Hellenistic situation. This is where he can't, he come from this. Where Steven come from, he's committed his life to Christ. Has been raised up in the church who serve them and got people and he's made it his mission point of contact to go to the synagogue and talk to the people there, whom he would have relationship with. So just think about that for a second. This is what's going down. He's engaging with these guys in the synagogue. What do they do? They rose up and disputed with Stephen. That's right. They're disputing with him. They're having arguments and I never can remember A Day Made, probably not today. I bet it still is today. Did if you're arguing about Jesus, that's not cool. Like you give Jesus a bad witness. If you argue with other people, what are you getting the whole Bible? The giant argument. It really is and it's arguing with you. Are you willing to be that kind of vulnerable where you put yourself out there. I'm telling you that's how we grow in mission is by putting ourselves out there and you may say something that's completely wrong and you go back to the church lab and work on it and get the gospel rise like a little bit of subject. Let's steer back to get into the gospel and I bet that's what we're here to do. Train you permission And we need to grow in wisdom. Now, I want I want to mention this before we move on. Do you know about silicia? Like we got a bunch of different places mentioned here, three different places at the dice for G's. It would have been in the freedmen Senegal Senegal. There's a capital or chief city of Silesia, you guys know what the what it is. Starts with a T rhymes with arsis. It's the place for hats that Paul was from Tarsus in cilicia. So perhaps Luke is dropping a little tiny hint. That's all of Tarsus was arguing in the synagogue. With Steven. If that's true then because what part of going to spend the rest of his life doing is going to the synagogue's first and proclaiming the gospel and arguing with them cats to the point where they stoned him and throw him out and do all kinds of stuff with him. That's amazing. Where does, where does, where does the Apostle Paul learn to be a missionary from dead, Stephen? If that's true. That's absolutely amazing. In fact, it's going to impact the Steve is going to impact Paul story later. I find that fascinating. Could it be the in this situation? Paul is speaking and fighting and wrestling with God as Stevens, proclaiming The Gospel, I'm a dad so much color to that unveiled faces business or with read, Romans 9, the way we do the way Paul's heart. Yearns for his people. Is broken for them and their hard-heartedness and always willing to suffer and look like Jesus is sometimes we develop wisdom schemes that are all of our own initiative that say this is how you were successful. Maybe how were successful is by not being known that much at all but just being faithful.

Because you never know if there's a saw that, the little kid sitting in this room is going to be transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and be a Paul and change hundreds of people's lives. We we do not know how God does this. It's beyond our ability to wrap our head around, God changes lives notice. As we continue to go on, Verse 10, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which, which he was speaking. I find this fascinating because in this giant argument that Stevens having they could not crafting the couldn't outsmart him, they couldn't tell him. He was wrong, they could not withstand his wisdom and they end up the same way. The people at the temple were before Jesus, and the same way, the Sanhedrin was before the apostles, they could not answer him, he could shut their mouth, but he could not stop their schemes.

God was at work, even in their Defiance of the truth, the mission that you're called to, is it in may not be necessarily for the sake of somebody, coming to the gospel out of that Community. But to sharpen you and prepare you for yet another mission field.

When we grow in wisdom, we pursue the things of the Lord, and the, the mission field that he set before us in wisdom, with the knowledge that it may not work, but I don't go there for that. Say, I'm going there because Christ came and got me. And I have no idea where the way the Lord will use it. I have no idea. But I'm willing to go. That's how you develop maturity. That's maturity. All right, I love this passage because it highlights something, it would bring something to the surface. This exegesis of the good news, if you will with in a synagogue system reminds us also of what Jesus did in. Luke chapter 4 when what happened in that Don in that situation. And Luke chapter 4, Jesus says he'll know that Isaiah passage about me. And they're like, oh yeah why don't we throw you off a cliff? And Jesus find his way out of the middle of it that this is happening right after and Lucifer for the Temptation area or sometime after, it's close enough to hear what's going on. It's Satan has tempted Jesus in the wilderness and all kinds of ways to escape the cross. To escape accusation and being ridiculed and look down on Jesus. You could show out a certain way and not by the cross. You can show up in the temple and cast yourself down, worship, me, and I'll give you the whole world. Come on, here's my conquering scheme, and in all of this, Jesus shows up at a synagogue, they open the book of Isaiah. It's a very big in time, sort of Passage and you said that's about me. And they're like, I will kill you for that. You're not Dead and Bloated. What's wrong with you? Who do you think you are? Are you not Joseph, son? I get a break. Give me a break. In all of this, what we realize is if we're going to look like Jesus number 3, we're going to face accusations and lies. We're going to face. We're going to face the attack of the world. The ridicule of the world. We're going to face Temptations. To sell out and scheme and find another way around being crucified looking like Jesus. And we are temptation to consistently and constantly vindicate. Our self in the face of every single thing than scheme that comes across our plate. In every context of gospel contact, it's going to be a place of spiritual warfare. Did you get what I'm saying? When you preached, the gospel living light of the Gospel, expect spiritual warfare and the screaming of demons expect it everywhere. As Luther says God establishes his church, he has Satan plants, a chapel there is conflict in this world. Text Steven is going to have to undergo and do it. Well expect and a horrifying attack. What I love about what's displayed for us in the spiritual attack. Of the scripture is happening with a Bible firmly in hand.

Satan doesn't show up to tempt Jesus by saying, let's do something else. Now he says, doesn't the Bible say and Jesus stands up in the synagogue and says, the Bible says, this is about me and they're like, no. And here we have happening in the synagogue is Stephen standing out and he saying, hey, did you know that Old Testament story and points to Jesus and they're like, no.

And the ready with massive accusations to tear him down, if you're going to Proclaim Christ, as the centerpiece of the story, get ready to be removed from the people will come after you. Not here. Let's look at in the Bible. Let's see if watch it happen verse 11, then they secretly instigated man. What's happening? There's an investigation they're going to do it secretly behind. They can't they can't get him in public and it's the one who's this? Look like who it's is. Reminding us up. They did that to Jesus.

We've heard him speak Blasphemous words against Moses and God. It's as if what they're saying, is he blasphemes the Bible? That's exactly what somebody would think. If you point to them, that Jesus is the centerpiece of it and they said, no, he's not. He is not the Messiah and that Jesus himself, shows up saying and then some of them out, I've not come to abolish, this book, flip through it and it even has John's gospel goes on. What, what did he tell them? In that particular story. If you believe, Moses, you would believe me. Jesus was the Fulfillment of Moses. And Steven has continued the tradition of preaching that and they're bringing the accusation that you're throwing Moses out altogether. And what Stephen is saying, if you don't see Jesus, you don't believe Moses. This is highly Comfort a tional. Notice as it goes on and they stirred up the people, and the elders and the scribes and they came upon him and sees him and brought him before the council. Here we go. Back to jail again. Back to jail one more time.

And brought him before, the council notice, what else? Happens is still sounding more like what they did to Jesus and they set up false Witnesses and said this man, never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law. He's attacking the temple and Israelites, if you didn't know, have a huge investment in the temple, in fact we should too but not like that. See what come along is Jesus in? His people is building a new Temple and Steven most likely is highlighting that reality that one day, the temple is going to be destroyed because that's exactly what Jesus says. And Matthew 24 that not one stone will be left on another. So what they've taken that to mean is, is Jesus, is anti Temple, know, he's not. Do you not know that you are the temple of God? We, as God's people are being built up into his house, and we are taking over the world with his Temple presents. We are conquering in Jesus's name. We are the people of God now. And as we watch this of you speaking against this, holy place and the law know, he's fulfilling both as the new and greater Solomon.

For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and we'll change the custom of that. Moses delivered to us. You can see how this sounds closed to what Jesus would be preaching and teaching close to, what Stephen would be preaching and teaching their highlight, but it's not what they're saying. but isn't that the satanic way to take one part of what's said obscure it accordingly and put away the rest fit disability that we have to walk in this world. We're going to face people who are going to obscure and change. What we said by tiny degrees places out of context and make us into the vilest of things. We can withstand it by God's grace.

I think we need this kind of wisdom. We need this kind of maturity that isn't this kind of wimpy and ability to State what we're staying and actually said the same time face accusations and lies. They come to us. I really do believe that what we're called to other people, is to take the things that were sensing that are wrong and say them to one another to help provide correction and at the same time, Know how to do that. Well and know how to listen to one another, all of those things are built up in there together. We're what we're not trying to do is provide accusation and live but to grow Burn notice that that was. The thing is for chapter 6, on was a complaint that a rose wasn't a lie or a useless accusation, it was a genuine concern and there's a big difference isn't there? 1, propels. The mission in one, just puts it on hold. Every time by this week and I think it's true. Come to our church or we will disappoint you and you will disappoint us. Let's be disappointed together.

No I know it sounds completely harsh and devastating but there's something to it. That's true. That's begging for something else. You want to know where you will find? A lot of disappointment in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are here intentionally to be in some ways disappointing to one another. We are because we are not here to satisfy one another's needs in the ultimate fashion. We have a savior that does that and everyone here is bought into the notion that the thing that will satisfy your soul is Jesus. And because of that, we're not looking for you to satisfy us and you shouldn't be looking for us to satisfy you. If you believe the gospel of Christ, we're turning your attention towards Jesus. And out of that were asking you to grow in Grace, and power. We're asking you to grow in wisdom, we're teaching and training you to face accusations and lies and actually listen to careful criticism, which is a training opportunity, as we conform to the image of Christ.

Paul is going to throw his lot in with those attacking Steven. Even if it's not in this already, eventually he will And we have the same opportunity to Steven to give a christ-centered talk explanation of all that's going on in people's lives. That he's the true Apex, and Capstone of their story that he is something that will ultimately satisfy.

Paul's going to carry this Mission all over the bed. That's what he's going to do is going to go to synagogues all over the bed and do the thing that Stephen did. So, what we have finally is a mandated message. You know, sometimes I think we would like to have a message that we could craft and change and mold in our own image, but we just don't this last verse is very powerful, so let's look at it together. And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw his face was like the face of an Angel. Maybe you're reading that and going, what does that mean? And I was like that too. Cuz like what does that mean? You know, there is one Temptation that you can have when you're seeing this is like that doesn't mean that anything happened because Angel just means messenger. And so his face was like that of a messenger.