Acts 7 - Picking the Right Rejection

Intro

Nothing is scarier than rejection.

I was so scared to ask girls out not because I was afraid of girls but because I was afraid of rejection.

When I was traveling during COVID there was a constant fear of borders being closed.

The idea of a closed door.

So much of what we do is to avoid a rejection of some kind.

We dress in a way to avoid being rejected by man, people work hard at school to avoid being rejected by colleges, I pet my neighbors dog lest he shun me and I be rejected by him.

Throughout every bit of our person is a fear of rejection. Whether that is from people, from animals, the government, employers, or even from the God who made you.

But there is a big issue: it is impossible in this world to be accepted by all.

My acceptance of one thing is often a rejection of another. My marriage to my wife means a rejection of marrying other women.

Illust: You can’t have your cake and eat it too (show picture of Squidward)

Today we are going to read about a guy who rejected something. Because he rejected it, he was rejected. He is killed for it. Whatever he died for, it was worth it.

He was accused of two things he rejected: Moses, and the temple of God. The Old Testament Law, and the place of God’s presence. Those are good things!

Context: A trap is laid.

Acts 6:14 ESV

for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”

Acts 7:1 ESV

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

Illust: The girl in Wales during my bartending job asking me about homosexuality.

That was a trap. Depending on what I said, I was about to get thrown off a balcony accompanied by the singing voices of Beyonce and Jay-Z. I preferred to wait for the Ed Sheeran concert to die.

I prayed for wisdom and I had to make an argument that fit them into a story.

The things we believe are not random rules, they are not sudden changes. They are connected to a system, to a story. They fit in a bigger picture. By themselves, yes, they look absolutely offensive. But when fit into the puzzle of God’s design, something offensive suddenly makes sense.

God wants you to say no to certain things. He wants you to say yes to other things. There are things he wants you to say yes to that will make the world say “no” to you. He wants you to reject some things for the sake of accepting others.

How many of you would say confidence is a cool thing? I remember looking at Wikihow articles on how to be confident in high-school. Steven was a confident guy. He was so confident, he dies confidently. I want to be that kind of confident. When I read stories of people dying, I don’t feel confident. I feel weak, scared, and I hope the same doesn’t happen to me.

Today, I want to show you that there is something so priceless, so precious, so worth it, that it has a huge price. It means there are several things you must lose. Several things you must reject. But that’s what God wants so he can give you this one priceless treasure, and it’s a treasure that will color everything in your life with confidence.

3 Treasures You Must Reject to Receive 1 Priceless Treasure

1. God wants you to reject earthly inheritance (vv. 1-16)

Now the Jews had two things they were accusing him of: rejecting the temple and Moses.

The temple: it’s a big deal. It’s was a building God picked where Heaven could meet earth. It’s the place of God’s presence. If you were in the temple, you are near God’s presence. If you are not near the temple, you are not near him. Easy enough. He is localized.

Moses: The Law and commandments that God says “do these you will live.”

He tells the story of two famous guys: Abraham and Joseph. It’s long, but there are a few details he focuses on.

Emphasis: Mesopotamia, Egypt.

Israel is promised to wander in a land that isn’t theirs.

What’s his point? God’s plan wasn’t always to stay in your little box of Israel. Maybe it wasn’t always to make this little patch.

God asked these people to reject their hometown, to live in lands that weren’t theirs, and to die, waiting to experience promises that they would never see on this earth.

Acts 7:5 (ESV) 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.

Stretch out eternity as if it was a line. Picture it going that way. Now take your life. How long is your life?

Life isn’t about living for the best kingdom on earth. It’s about living for the one after. I can lose anything in this life and be okay because my inheritance is in the next.

Why should you reject an earthly inheritance? Because you will be thinking much more about your heavenly one. And it will be less painful for you when you inevitably lose your earthly inheritance.

2. God wants you to reject earthly approval (vv. 17-38)

Moses: Three stages of 40 years each.

First 40 years: God’s preparation of Moses

Next 40 years: Man’s Rejection of Moses

Final 40 years: God’s Approval of Moses

Steven is drawing life parallels between Moses and Christ, showing how Jesus is the better Moses and that they have rejected Jesus just like Moses was rejected.

God made you for himself. He didn’t make you, leave you on the earth, and say have fun. He’s right here, saying: “Why do you care so much about what other people think? I prepared you as a child, I am there when you are rejected by men, and I sent my Son to accept you as my child.”

It’s just him and God in the wilderness. All the voices fade, and Moses has a moment to see who it was that loved him all along.

We get upset when people don’t love us like we hope. Let’s stop expecting them to.

What do you receive? As you lose sight of the approval of man the approval of God shines upon you.

3. God wants you to reject earthly idols (vv. 39-53)

Why? Why did they reject him?

v. 39 - Because their hearts turned to Egypt.

They had been living a half-religion. They talk one way to God, and one way to their Egyptian buddies. They like the things Egypt likes, the sin Egypt does, and so they kinda wanted to worship those gods because they weren’t so condemning like the Moses God.

Q: Do you have a halfway religion right now? One where you can have God but at the end of the day there are other things that will make you happier?

So what does God do?

Gives them to their idols.

Then Steven starts talking about the temple again.

He says maybe you misunderstood the temple.

The presence of God is always here.

They have tried to separate the two, localize it to an area that they can go to clean up.

Illust: Nerf night, and one girl said the chapel should be off limits.

He is not against the law and the temple, but he instead understands those things were always meant to be fulfilled in Christ.

Details on Abraham’s Encounter with God’s Presence:

The God of Glory appeared to him (v. 2)

Conclusion on the temple: The temple does not demand that you come to it, it comes to you.

Luke 14:26 ESV

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Israel wants God’s presence and the forgiveness of sin. The issue is that they have rejected the right way to it.

They wanted the presence of God, but the pleasure of foreign gods.

The pleasure of the heavenly God is so much more your joy when he takes up the space once given to your earthly idols.

4. God wants you to receive Himself eternally (vv. 54-60)

These people would rather not reject these things. The treasure Steven had was not worth it.

He was pretty offensive! How dare he say they have to give up the things they love?

You know what’s easier to do than give up something you love? Kill the thing telling you to get rid of it.

What does he show him? I approve of you.

Steven’s last breath was that this God was so good, I just want so badly for the people killing me to taste him. They are missing out. I easily got the better end.

His prayer is answered. A young man, named Saul is there. He becomes a man named Paul.

To Steven, Christ was worth it.

Conclusion

What do you get by rejecting these things?

As you let go of earth your eyes go to heaven more.

As you lose sight of the approval of man the approval of God shines upon you.

The pleasure of the heavenly God is so much more your joy when he takes up the space once given to your earthly idols.

The presence of the heavenly God is so much closer when you realize it requires no earthly temple or holy space. Rather, everything is holy.

Overcome your fear of rejection, by remembering your acceptance by God. God sent his son so you would be acceptable.

Illust: There was a young man, who was expelled from a Christian school. As I was preaching this gospel, he kept saying “why can’t I just have fun now, and then I’ll come to God and then live the boring life where I can’t do the things i want?”

The joy you experience from the approval of God is way better than the joy of a secret dating relationship, the joy of the approval of God is better than any substance use, the joy of the approval of God is better than the pleasure of any game, friendship, or hobby.

The joy of the approval of God is worth dying for.

You are staring at the cake because you want to eat other things too.

You haven’t been too good at rejecting these things, have you?

Christ knows that. That’s why he came to you on your earth, enjoying your earthly inheritance, wanting earthly approval, worshipping earthly idols in your earthly temples.

He is your inheritance, your approval, your person of worship, and your place of worship.

Steven knew this, the same forgiveness he experienced, he still wished for the people who were killing them. That means there was a second chance for them, a love from God for them, and a love from God for you.

Conclusion: Christ is your inheritance, your source of approval, pleasure, and peace. - All the things you lose, you get back and better in Him.