No Compromise

Bottom line

You must actively seek to reduce compromises in your devotion to Christ.

Opening Line

If you walked up to someone on the street, or even in this room, and asked them if they are religious, many will say no.

Introduction

In 2023, Pew Research Centre found that 22% of adults surveyed in the States identified themselves as “Spiritual but not Religious.” The research went even further. 42% of those surveyed said that religion causes division and intolerance.

Main Point

This negative cultural perception of religion and being religious actually starts to obstruct our ability to read scripture for all its worth.

Why it matters

See when we get to a passage like Acts 7, with Stephen standing before the council, who would be considered the religious elite. It is easier or more comfortable, to read ourselves in the story as Stephen, and see these religious individuals as the enemy. But remember, the Pharisees and these leaders would have been considered as the pastors of the day. So we’re not talking about actual evil people here; we are talking about the leaders of the equivalent of the church.

I have to keep this mind when I read Acts 7 or Matthew 23. Matthew 23 is Jesus calling out the religious leaders for their misconduct as leaders. It would be easy to point fingers and say, ‘Ya your should be better,’ instead of looking at the things Jesus is calling out and reflect on my own life and make sure I’m not doing the same things as a leader.

This is the invitation I want to make to you this morning. We are going to finish going through Acts 7, as Stephen makes his defense to the council. I want you imagine yourself sitting among the council and ask yourself, “Are there things in my own life that Stephen is calling out?”

Scripture

So we are going to pick things up a verse 17. Just a quick recap, Stephen gave a quick overview of the book of Genesis, with a focus on the promises of God. One of the other things that Stephen said was that our ancestors rejected Joseph, who eventually ruled over them and saved them. This theme of rejection is going to a major part of Stephen’s defense.

Acts 7:17–22 NLT

“As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die. “At that time Moses was born—a beautiful child in God’s eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.

So this is essentially the beginning of the book of Exodus. 400 years has passed, and the time for Abraham’s descendents to come back to the promised land has come. So the Pharaoh of Egypt is scared of Israel’s strength and has started eliminating the baby boys. Moses is left in the river and found by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised in the palace.

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Pop quiz: For those familiar with the story of Moses. When Moses meets God at the burning bush, what is one of Moses’ objections to going back to lead the Israelites?

he is slow of speech

Right. He tells God he can’t speak well. So why does Stephen say that Moses could speak well? Couple of possible explanations.

a) It had been 40 years

This is a viable argument. The era that Stephen is refering to, Moses is 40 years old and everything he has learned his whole life is still fresh. By the time the burning bush comes, Moses is 80 years old and been living in a foreign land shepherding. Those skills probably faded a tad and he had good reason to question his abilities.

b) He’s just making excuses

One of the arguments against the time argument is that when you read some of the prayers that Moses prayed, they are quite eloquent. The man cleary still possessed a strong understanding of speech and wisdom.

So the more likely argument is he is just trying to discredit himself before God. The first 2 arguments failed, so he’s just grasping at straws. It also explains God’s response, “Who gave man the ability to speak?” aka, I know what you can do because I have given you the ability.

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Stephen’s explanation also shines a new light one why God chose Moses. His depth of understanding of Egyptian conduct and his ability to speak made him the obvious person to go between Pharaoh and the Israelites.

Acts 7:23–29 NLT

“One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t. “The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?’ “But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. ‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.

So the big thing to point out that Stephen is drawing out is that Moses never lost sight of his roots. Being brought up in the palace never caused him to reject his heritage.

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However, it might be safe to assume that his upbringing may have brought some tension between himself and his family. Imagine being treated as a slave your whole life, and his young man who claims to be one of you but has never known a day of slavery in his life. It is no wonder that his attempt to protect his fellow man got twisted to the degree it did. You who eats at Pharaoh’s table, are you going to rule over me too? So he runs.

Acts 7:30–36 NLT

“Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him, ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look. “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’ “So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.

You see what Stephen did there? He used the same logic he just used with Joseph. The brother his ancestors rejected became the very person who would same them from famine. Now Moses, the very man the Israelites rejected is now the very one God sent back to lead them out of slavery.

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The big thing that Stephen points out is that it wasn’t Moses’ strength of wisdom and speech that brought the people out of Egypt. It was wonders and miraculous signs, what we call the 10 plagues of Egypt. Interesting little side note. Each plague targeted a specific god within Egyptian worship. If their gods were so powerful, why is everything going sideways on them? Because the God of the Israelites is greater; in fact, he is the only true God!

So the people reject Joseph, and they reject Moses.

Acts 7:37–43 NLT

“Moses himself told the people of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.’ Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us. “But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. They told Aaron, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don’t know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made. Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written, ‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel? No, you carried your pagan gods— the shrine of Molech, the star of your god Rephan, and the images you made to worship them. So I will send you into exile as far away as Babylon.’

Moses says that a prophet like him would rise up from among the people. What does Moses mean by that? Moses had a unique relationship with God, a relationship that only one person has shared. Moses spoke to God face to face. When God spoke to Moses, it wasn’t in riddles. It was clear, direct, and the very truth of God.

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Who is the prophet that Moses is refering to? Who would speak to God face to face and speak the very words of God to his people? Jesus. Moses is telling the Israelites that a great prophet would one day come, and he in fact has come. Stephen is building towards that, and so he throws in this reference to help build his case.

But even after the 10 plagues, after the miraculous feeding by manna and quail, and even drinking water from a rock, the people turned on Moses. Moses was up on the mountain for 40 days, receiving the law that would govern the people, and in that time they made themselves an idol. Even worse, as the people wondered for the 40 years, they never let go of their idols. They continued to worship Molech and Rephan. Stephen is quoting the prophet Amos. No wonder the people remained so rebellious all throughout the wandering; they were never fully committed to following God in the first place.

Acts 7:44–50 NLT

“Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses. Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David. “David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who actually built it. However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that?’ asks the Lord. ‘Could you build me such a resting place? Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’

What is Stephen’s point here? He acknowledges that God had given Moses instructions on how to build the tabernacle. It was meant to be the answer to the idol worship that was happening. Get rid of your idols and come to the tabernacle to worship the one true God.

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But the temple was not God’s idea. David wanted to build a temple, but because of the bloodshed over his lifetime, God wouldn’t allow it. So Solomon built it. The problem was that worship at the Temple had almost become more important than the person they were supposed to be worshipping. Which is why Stephen quotes Isaiah in saying that nothing on earth can contain the glory and presence of God. The earth is God’s footstool, heaven his throne, and both were formed by his hands.

I don’t know about anyone else, but you can almost feel the anger rising within the council at this point. Stephen has repeatedly pointed out that their ancestors had rejected Joseph, rejected Moses, rejected God himself by worshipping idols in the desert, and rejected God by putting too much emphasis on the Temple. They could probably sense where he was going they didn’t like it!

Acts 7:51–53 NLT

“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”

That language that Stephen starts with, stubborn people, heathen at heart, and deaf to the truth. This is the same language that the prophets would use towards the Israelites prior to them going into exile. They had turned their back on God, and even though God had tried through discipline and the prophets, they refused to turn back to him. Stephen used the same language of this crowd.

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Now there is something significant that Stephen doesn’t say here. The same way that Joseph is rejected but would later save his family; the way Moses was rejected and would later save and rule over the Israelites; Jesus is going to be the same for the Israelites. They have rejected him for now, but he is still the means of salvation for those who believe. As Jesus himself said, the stone the builders rejected has now become the chief cornerstone.

Acts 7:54–60 NLT

The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!” Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.

The first thing that stood out to me in this story is that nothing has changed. Stephen’s defense is flawless, his logic impeccible, and instead of engaging in further debate and dialogue, his opponents get mad and just start yelling. I still see this today. How many shorts are there of Christians trying to have a calm debate and their opponent just keeps getting louder and louder. I even think of clips of Charlie Kirk when he was on university campuses. His opponents would just become louder and more beligerent the more sound his argument was.

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There are two other really important things to note. The significance of Jesus standing in Stephen’s vision. In almost every other vision of Jesus, he is seated at the right hand of God, the place of highest power. But here Stephen sees him standing. Why? It is a posture of honor. Stephen has faithfully testified about Jesus and his goodness, and as he gives his life as the first martyr for the church, Jesus stands to welcome him into eternity.

The other thing is what Stephen says as he dies. Lord don’t charge them with this sin! It sounds a lot like the words Jesus said as he died on the cross. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Even as he is dying, Stephen is forgiving, just as Jesus taught his disciples to be.

Transition to Application

Stephen stood before the council and gave them a masterclass on theological understanding and logic. But his challenge towards them needs to be taken note. He is accusing the council of rejecting God in their own way, and it is a call to a self awareness that each of you should take note of.

Main To Do

At the beginning, I brought up the idea of being religious and the typical response to such an idea. But there was another study that I want you to be aware of.

Barna, a prominent Christian research group, surveyed pastors about their congregants. The average pastor said that about 70% of their church made Jesus a priority in their life. Those same churches were surveyed, and they found only 15% of those in the congregation actually made Jesus a priority.

The one word that keeps coming up in the Acts series is devoted. Devoted insinuates that you are all in on Jesus. Even the word religious has that definition. Religious literally means to be scrupulously bound to a vow, a duty, or a set of practices. Scrupulously bound.

Are there things in your life that try to steal away your complete devotion to God? The Israelites still worshipped idols while they followed God through the wilderness.

Why it matters

I know I have referenced his book a few times, but I think it fits well with we’re talking about. Kyle Idleman’s book gods at war talks about how idols have taken new form. Now they look like sex, food, entertainment. In temple of ______ you find success, money. In the temple of ______ you find family, self. This list is not exhaustive but it still paints the important picture. What are the things that are competing for the throne of your life? What are the things that are trying to steal away your devotion? What are you going to do about it?

Closing Line

Discussion Questions

What stood out from the message?

In what ways can we actively reduce compromises in our devotion to Christ?

What idols might we be inadvertently worshipping in our lives today?

How can we ensure that our worship does not become more about the act than the one we are worshiping?

How do cultural perceptions of religion influence how we express our faith?

In what areas of your life do you feel you might be compromising your devotion to Christ?

What are some practical steps you can take to keep Jesus as a priority in your life?

What does it look like to stand up for your faith like Stephen did, even in the face of opposition?