Veneration: Lift Up

Last Time on Acts

Begin with word of Prayer

Stephen a man full of the holy spirit that has been gifted to do many works of The lord. He has been brought before the Sanhedrin. They lied in court and are seeking to get him killed.

The Sanhedrin in trying to get Stephen killed: Here we hear Stephen’s response. This isn’t a defense in the since of an explanation or apology in order to win acquittal. It is a proclamation of the Christian message in terms of the popular Judaism of the day and an indictment of the Jewish leaders for their failure to recognize Jesus as their Messiah or to appreciate the salvation provided in him.

Before the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 the three great pillars of popular Jewish piety were: Land, Law, Temple.

The Land – Acts 7:1-36

Acts 7:1–36 CSB

1 “Are these things true?” the high priest asked. 2 “Brothers and fathers,” he replied, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, 3 and said to him: Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you. 4 “Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land in which you are now living. 5 He didn’t give him an inheritance in it—not even a foot of ground—but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless. 6 God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for four hundred years. 7 I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship me in this place. 8 And so he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. 9 “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household. 11 Now a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan, and our ancestors could find no food. 12 When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time. 13 The second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all, 15 and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there, 16 were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. 17 “As the time was approaching to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt 18 until a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt. 19 He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them abandon their infants outside so that they wouldn’t survive. 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home for three months. 21 When he was put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son. 22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions. 23 “When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He assumed his people would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. 26 The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’ 27 “But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying: Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me, the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday? 29 “When he heard this, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. 30 After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came: 32 I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look. 33 “The Lord said to him: Take off the sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt. 35 “This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?—this one God sent as a ruler and a deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

Not only does Stephen give a brief history of the origins of the Jewish people found in Genesis and Exodus, which all Jews and Christians should be familiar with (Beginning this way is the traditional Jewish form – the history of Israel), But in doing it this way he argues that God’s significant activities has usually taken place outside of Palestine.

And where ever God meets his people can be called holy ground.

Which takes away the this is THE HOLY GROUND attitude of the Jewish people of the time. Same type of attitude that helped lead to the exile in Mesopotamia. Same type of attitude that lead to the crusades. Not a good attitude.

They have venerated the land as God’s salvation act.

The place where they can rest and be. They have made that that there is no room for God’s salvation any further in Jesus Christ. Remember most of the Sanhedrin are Sadducees and don’t believe in a physical messiah.

Christians today face the same temptation with their possessions. It’s God given. It’s my little salvation. Instead of I will depend on God fully and move forward with him even if I have to give it all up. That’s part of the temptation of health and wealth doctrine. My little salvation in God giving me money, health and stuff.

On The Law – Acts 7:37-43

Acts 7:37–43 LEB

37 “This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’ 38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and who with our fathers received living oracles to give to us, 39 to whom our fathers were not willing to become obedient, but rejected him and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go on before us! For this Moses, who led us out from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him!’ 41 And they manufactured a calf in those days, and offered up a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, just as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘You did not bring offerings and sacrifices to me for forty years in the wilderness, did you, house of Israel? 43 And you took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan, the images that you made, to worship them, and I will deport you beyond Babylon!’

Not only had they venerated (raised up) the land. They had venerated the Law of Moses.

We Christians have this temptation as well, when we put too much emphasis on following the rules. And it isn’t about being with God, And being holy because he made us Holy, And turning our whole life over to him, And works floes out of us because of the Holiness on the Holy Spirit that is in us. It becomes about following those rules or you’re going to hell.

Then we have venerated the Law above its station

When Steven is accused of Blasphemy against Moses and against The Laws

Stephen argues two points:

1. Moses himself spoke of God’s later Raising up a prophet like me from among his people and for his people

Deuteronomy 18:15 LEB

“Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your countrymen, and to him you shall listen.

2. Moses had been rejected by his own people even though he was God’s appointed redeemer, Which parallels the way Jesus was treated

On The Temple – Acts 7:44-50

Acts 7:44–50 LEB

44 The tabernacle of the testimony belonged to our fathers in the wilderness, just as the one who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the design that he had seen, 45 and which, after receiving it in turn, our fathers brought in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out from the presence of our fathers, until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built a house for him. 48 But the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands, just as the prophet says, 49 ‘Heaven is my throne and earth is the footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 50 Did not my hand make all these things?’

Stephen next turns to the charge of blasphemy against the temple. He accuses the Jewish people to venerating the Temple. A common act of Jewish people. To believe that God is only in the Temple. That is his resting place

And many Christians do this too. God is only at church. That’s where I pray. That’s where I worship. That’s where I minister. That’s where he is and when I am there I am with him. And when I am not well. Sunday morning Christian. Maybe Easter, Christmas, and revival too.

Guilty - Acts 7:51-53

Acts 7:51–53 CSB

51 “You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also. 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. 53 You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it.”

This is the kind of Behavior that Stephen Tell them That they are guilty of Putting things out of place. And in Verses 51-53 he flat out accuses them. And this sets them off

They will kill him. Stephen is the first martyr for Jesus, not the last.

This message speaks to us as well. We have look at our lives and our attitudes. Are we venerating (raising up) Things in our lives that don’t belong being venerated. Law, Like the Pharisees. Focused on doing good and obeying rules. Church They only Holy place. The United States The Christian nation. Possessions God gave me So I could be happy and taken care of. And even if we don’t say it, This is my salvation.

Food - Where do you go for comfort

People - Saints or Pastors

Pain and suffering

Martyrdom

Christian work

When We venerate these things out of their position, not that these things are bad but when they are out of position, We leave no room for Jesus and his grace, mercy, relationship. Just as this group had done.

Next steps: Order Your House

Pray that we keep things in proper position and only raise up the Blessed Trinity. The three and one