Grace Chapel Bible Ministries

worship Call 1180 Stephens defense - 2024/11/13

Summary: These passages depict moments of hostility and confrontation faced by Jesus and His followers, highlighting the opposition from authority and the response of faithful witnesses amidst injustice. Application: This sermon can empower Christians to stand firm in their faith when faced with opposition or persecution, reminding them that they are not alone in their struggles and that Christ endured similar hostility. Teaching: The preaching will emphasize the importance of integrity and faithfulness to God’s truth even in the face of accusations and misrepresentation, encouraging believers to reflect Christ's character in their trials.

Duration:: 33m
Broadcast on:: 13 Nov 2024
Audio Format:: other

(light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) (light piano music) [Music] Welcome to "Worship Call" with Bible teacher Buzz Lawbeck. Buzz is the pastor of Grace Chapel Bible Ministries located in Duncan, South Carolina. This ministry is dedicated to the verse by verse teaching of God's word and discipleship programs aimed at strengthening the faith of God's people. Now here's today's message. The lie has been going on for some time now and it is false propaganda by far is that Israel and that land is a Palestinian land. When they call the land Palestine, it is promoting a lie. When it talks about the West Bank, it is promoting a lie. And unfortunately, even secular Christians buy into the lie and they dismiss the fact that Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 that God made a covenant with Abraham. That land, and he ratified it in Genesis chapter 15 and you look at it. And that land stretches all the way from the river Nile to the Euphrates River, a land which they haven't totally occupied yet. But the lie is that they are occupiers of land which they had taken away from peaceful people and that there should be a two-state solution. Well, I don't normally start with news in the morning, but this is very interesting and this is applicable to even our study. This is from War of the News and it dated November 12th Tuesday yesterday. And it's President elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as an ambassador to Israel. The role is among the most important ambassadorships, but now it is even more significant given Israel's near all-out war with Iran and current war with Iran's proxy Hamas. Let me get this. There we go. I am pleased to announce that the highly respected former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, has been nominated to be the United States ambassador to Israel. Trump said in a social media message, Huckabee hosted a show on Fox News after serving as governor and ran for president unsuccessfully. His daughter Sarah Huckabee Sanders served as Trump's White House press secretary before successfully running for governor of Arkansas. Mike has been a great public governor and a leader in faith for many years, Trump said. He loves Israel and people of Israel. Likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East. Trump's announcement is one of the series of announcements with other reported by the media, but not formally announced and even more speculated. Trump has many more picks to name and that goes on. With that, we have another coming down here, which is a comment and Hucklebee. The next series line is that, let me see if I can play this. I think Israel would only be acting on the property it already owns. I think Israel has titled the Judea and Samaria. There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as a West Bank. It's Judea and Samaria. There's no such thing as a settlement. They're communities. They're neighborhoods. They're cities. There's no such thing as an occupation. But they get out of their minds if people are living in lean twos, tents, sleeping in cars, circled around a tree, living in very well designed and beautiful cities and communities. Can't wait to get back. I'm going to take an extra hat. I'm going to get it to president of the light. Trump, build Israel great again. Who knows? We may see him wear this out there in one of his rallies somewhere. I don't know. Can't promise that. I can only promise he will get a copy of the hat. Thank you very much. To reiterate the incoming U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee made clear his perspective. There is no such thing as a West Bank. It's Judea and Samaria. There is no such thing as settlements. They're communities. They're neighborhoods. They're cities. There is no such thing as an occupation. As you might already be looking at Tim, there's no greater time than this and to expedite the building of the temple in Israel. These are exciting times. What is this? This is the fourth day of the week and God's created order. 13th day of the 11th month, 2024th year of our Lord. And this is another fine day in the Lord. Let us pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for the wisdom that you have given to our incoming president. I thank you, Heavenly Father, for the times in which we live. I thank you for the previous administration of this time and it seems so dark. That darkness is going to come again, but there is that support. The most important thing right now is that support of Israel. And we could see the light on light where that temple will be built and that which place will eventually be desecrated by the Antichrist, which will become a board. And it's going to spark out the last days, not the last days of this earth, but the last days of the wickedness that when there's the great showdown between Christ and the Antichrist. Exciting times in which we live and thank you for allowing us to live in it. And I pray, Heavenly Father, to open up our hearts, the study of your Word this morning. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. And we are in Acts, Acts 1, no, Acts, what? Acts 7 coming in. They brought Steven in. Steven is on trial now. You've got, here it is, that the crowd is worked up into a frenzy. And just much, same plain book as it was with, with that it was with Jesus. And let's look at Acts 6, 13 and 14. They put forth, this is coming into it, setting it up for Acts 7 and his defense. They put forth, forth, forward, false witnesses who said this man incessantly speaks against the holy place and the law. But we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us. It worked once before. That is the hatred and the false accusations. And taking one righteous, one's righteous words as it did to Jesus, it took his righteous words, the truth. When it was that Jesus said that, well, let's look at the words of Jesus back in Matthew 26. Those who seized Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, probably the same Caiaphas that's Steven, same high priest that Steven has standing before now are going to be brought before. The high priest where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. But Peter was following him from at a distance as far as the courtyard and the high priest and entered in and sat down with the officers to see the outcome. Now the chief priest and the whole council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death. And they did not find any, even though many of the false witnesses came forward, but later on too came forward and said, this man stated, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. The high priest stood up and said to him, do you have an answer? What is it that these men are testifying against you? But Jesus kept silent and the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ or the Son of God. And Jesus said to him, you've said it yourself. Nevertheless, I tell you here after you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. And the high priest tore his robes and said, he is blaspheming, no further need to have any other witness before you have heard the blaspheming. What do you think? And they answered, he deserves death. This will be the same thing that's going to transpire with Stephen. But this time Stephen is going to be the one he's going to see in heaven. He's going to see the Lord's Son of Man standing at the right hand of Father and he's going to be standing. We're going to get to that exciting time. And yes, before the same high priest, Kipus, and how much blood is going to be on his hand? After the first murder, after murdered Jesus, it wasn't a end of, it was the end of all, well, we're just going to kill this one and we'll be over our problems. How many more is going to die in the name of Jesus? Jesus was just the first one, so I mean, this propelled me to open up, once again, I read it years ago, but open up the Fox's Book of Martyrs and where it chronicles the heroes of the faith who took their faith all the way to the death. And so there's going to be many, that's going to be put together and not just by the unbelieving world, or unless you want to include this church with it. But it's going to be the church itself's going to be put many to death. And we'll see that in history, John 844. You are the father, you are, you are of the father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murder from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. He speaks a lie, he speaks of his own nature, for he is the liar and the father of lies. And so the mob, the mob was whipped up into a frenzy. They were yelling, they were cursing, they, you can imagine, a brow, brow, they sneering, the, the, and the, the, the gnashing of teeth. And all the while here it was that Stephen stood in the midst of them. He, he, he was brought in, he was stood before Caiaphas. And a view of the religious leaders, they saw the mob, they saw the frenzy, they saw the anger, they saw the hatred, they saw all this. But yet before them was a very temperate man by the name of Stephen, he was confident and he, he was poised, he wasn't angry. You know, this kind of, and Acts 6, 19, 6, 15, and what did they see? And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the council saw his face was like a face of an angel. It reminds me two places in scripture that speaks, speaks of this. I think back at the time of Lot, and when the angels came to visit Lot and you had the crowd of, the crowd who sought to do harm to the two angels. And Miss of that angry crowd, and here were the angels, I also remember when this same kind of expression was given when Jacob met up with his brother Esau. And it says, and it was Jacob who said to Esau, seeing you is like looking into the face of an angel. So, so here it was that Stephen had no, he didn't lash out, he didn't defend himself in a situation where I didn't do this, I didn't save that, I didn't, all that. There was no hate, no lashing out as accusers, he was totally calm, in the face of the mayhem, no fear. And so the high priest starts out, we come into verse 7 where we enter into the defense, he is the accused, so he does have a defense. And in this, and there's times when we as believers are going to be brought before an audience, and here's an audience, and we're going to be asked, and it may not be an hostile asking for the hope that's found within us. And we've, I love that, let's bring that out, let me see where that is, I should know, and I'll find it here, yeah, there we go. And it will be Peter, where is that? I didn't find it yet. It will be ready to, and that will be, yeah, 1 Peter 3 15. And at 1 Peter 3 15 it says, but sanctify Christ in your heart, Stephen had the Lord Christ sanctify with his heart, sanctify means, or to sanctify means that you, I mean, you're occupied, this is occupation with the person of the Lord. He is set apart in your heart, and there's nothing greater within your heart. As the Lord in your heart, always being ready to make a defense, and Apologia is the word, make a defense, Lewa Nida here, Apologia, my, to speak on behalf of oneself or others against accusation presumed to be fought to defend oneself. And it's not defending oneself, but it's the defense of the gospel, it's the defense of the truth, and be ready for it. Sometimes people are going to be asking in a sense of, you know, they want to know, why is your countenance? And with the sanctified, it's in the fact that you're going through a trial, you're going through a, and again, in the face of hostility. Again, remember that the face of, they were looking upon Stephen as in looking at a face of an angel. There was calmness, there was serenity, there was, this is not apropos, you know, normally this, somebody like that in this kind of situation would be in a, his countenance would be quite different than what you would expect. And so whether you're in a crowd, hostile crowd, or a friendly crowd, people look and they'll see the things that you're going through and they'll, it will propel them to ask the question, what is the, you know, how can you go through these things and still have the, the, the the, the relaxed mental attitude, as it were, it's because, because the Christian that is properly oriented to the Word of God, his, his or her heart is, is focused upon the right thing that, and, and everything else is peripheral. When your heart is focused upon the right thing, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, everything else, your troubles, the trials that you're going through, they're peripheral. As long as you keep the main thing, the main thing, and that main thing is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But sanctify Christ in your, in your hearts, always being ready to make an opulent year a defense to everyone, not only a friendly crowd, but also to hostile crowds, who ask you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and with reverence. Okay. Both of those are very important. I said gentleness. Let's look at the word for gentleness is pralutace and pralutace is gentleness of attitude and behavior. In contrast with harshness in one's dealings with others, gentleness, meekness, malness. See, you're not there to win a debate. You're not there to win a debate, but you are there to, to stand for the truth. And the other, so with gentleness and with reverence and phobos, that phobos is fear. So you say gentleness and fear. Fear of what? Fear of the people know. Fear, the fear is the, the, not just reverence, but fear that, and I'll call this fear a careful, when there's fear, there's careful observance, careful consideration. That's what I'll say, careful consideration, and that you have one chance, that window of opportunity is open to give a good witness and to bring glory to God. And so the, so here it is that, that he's brought in a trial and who's in control out of all these people, out of the mob, out of the majority here, who's in control, Stephen's in control. Why? Because the Word of God is sanctifying his heart. So in court, the accused has the opportunity to give and to, to state his case. He's the witness. And it is not the, it is not, and this witness is more important than just getting him out of trouble. The witness, I love it. I love it. Whoever had said it in the past, and I love the statement that if you were ever indicted for being a Christian, if you were ever called to come and stand before the courts of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to indict you? So who gave us this Luke who wrote the book of Acts was also the one who wrote the gospel by his name, and, and, and gospel of Luke, remember that it was Luke who told the story of the, the strangers, the stranger on the road to a mess. Where there were the two men going to the city of Meas on, on that first day, the resurrection day, and they were sorrowful because Jesus who was supposed to be the Messiah, a good man was put to death by the leaders, and they encountered a stranger. The stranger was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. And, and it was Jesus who walked with them to comfort them by giving them the, the history of the Old Testament. See here, how important is the Old Testament. This is what, here it is at what's, what Stephen is about the two is to give them the narrative of the history to remind them, even the, even these religious leads who remind them who they are, and what the real issue is. And the real issue is always the, the issue is the plan of God. And God's plan is not going to be thwarted. And in God's plan, we all must have to ask ourselves the question on which side are we on. And this is what Stephen is about to do. So let's look at our passage starting with Acts 7 verse 2. And he said, hear me brethren, call some brothers here. He, he includes them. This includes all of them. This, the words he is about to speak is the, is the mirror of God's word that we, they should be looking into, but they're going to refuse these religious leaders are going to be refusing and all around is going to be refusing to look in the God's word and apply the words to themselves and where they stand. See, that's where situation awareness comes in is that where are we in relation to God's word. Here we go. Hear me brethren and fathers leaders. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Huron. Look at this. All of this is applies to all of them. Hear me brethren and fathers. Okay. The glory appeared to our father Abraham, not just my father, but our father. He was Mesopotamia before he lived in Huron. Going back, all the way back. And here, who is Abraham? Abraham is the, the patriarch. He is the one who received the, the covenant from God again. And, and Genesis chapter 12, one through three, and then ratified in Genesis, Genesis 15. And he's not only the father of Isaac and Jacob. He's also the father of the Arabs. He's the father of the Semitic racist. And he is the, and we spiritually through faith are sons of sons and daughters of Abraham. So he goes on and said to him, here is the promises coming from Genesis chapter 12, verse one. And on, leave your country and your relatives and come into the land which I will show you. Then he, then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Huron. From there after his father died. God had him moved to his country in which you are now living. But he gave him no inheritance in it. Not even a foot on the ground. See, everything that he had comes from God. He left his inheritance. He had nothing when he left. He was totally dependent upon God. Not even a foot on, not even a foot of ground. And yet even when he had no child, he promised that he would give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him. But God spoke to this effect that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for 400 years. And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage, I myself would judge, said God. And after that, they will come out and serve me in this place. And he gave him a covenant of circumcision. I believe that's Genesis 17. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the 8th day. Isaac became the father of Jacob and Jacob of the 12 patriarchs. And the patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with them. And is God with these religious leaders? Are they with the Sanhedrin? And who is God with at this point? And the point is that the covenant is a non-bracing covenant and God is going to fulfill that covenant. And God's plan is a fluent plan. The council, these religious leaders, they were uncomfortable in their positions. And yet God's plan is moving forward, whereas these are comfortable and they wanted to maintain status quo just like they wanted. The very reason why they killed Jesus, because they were comfortable in their status quo. Anybody has set themselves up against God's plan. And again, God's plan for Abraham in that covenant was three things. A land, a blessing, and a people. And that they were going to have a nation. And a nation is going to be theirs. And that nation would not be removed from them after it will be fully established within that covenant. And so while these religious leaders should be asked them a question, everyone around them should be asked them a question. Who side are you on? Because God's plan is going to be executed. The covenant is going to be fulfilled. These are covenant people. And you set yourself up against God's plan. And that's what sin does. And before and throughout God's plan throughout the Old Testament. See, the Testament is a contract. And this is what Stephen is acting like a lawyer. He's not representing himself, but he's representing the truth. And the truth is the word of God. He's not making a defense for himself. Again, he's not trying to get himself out of hot water and saying, "I didn't say this. I didn't say this." He is lifting up the word of God. And so when we come in and when we're asked for the hope that's found in us and we're being attacked for our faith, it's time that we become preachers. Yes, preachers. We should be ready. Peter says to be ready to give an answer. That is, was Stephen ready? Yes, he was. And he takes them through to the Bible. When we are in pulpit, that we are to be preachers, that we bring our congregations to the Bible. Here it is that Stephen deacon, but he is elevated to the preacher level where he proclaims the word of God to the unbelievers. So his defense is the Bible. Now, he may not turn them around with the argument. But how many of those whose hearts are being changed and whose repent, who are being repented when they hear the testimony of Stephen? So the first one is of Abraham. The first exhibit A would be Abraham. The next exhibit is going to be the suffering, servant, and the ruling king in Joseph. And we'll see that Lord Will and Spirit guide in the morning. Father in Heaven, thank you for this opportunity of fellowshiping in your Word. And I pray heavily, Father, that you continue to open our hearts to the things that we continue to study. As we opened up this morning, we spoke of that important position of Mike Huckabee being brought in. brought into the administration as the ambassador to Israel. And the truth that was proclaimed, and finally, we've been waiting for so long of the lies that was been told over and over and over again that this is occupied territory. And Israel is the bad people. And Israel is occupied and somebody else in that place is called Palestine and all of them as lies. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the truth that Mike Huckabee brought to us yesterday and continue to bless this administration and what they're doing for Israel. And I pray, Heavenly Father, that we'll soon see the construction of that temple. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your grace and your mercy and continue to lift up us and open up our eyes to the truth. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen. All right, another fine day in the Lord. Keep your armor on. Keep fighting. Good fight of faith. Lord's will, Spirit, God, and Raptor Penny. We'll be back here in the A.M. Love y'all. For joining us, you can hear this message again as well as previous lessons and get notes by visiting us online at www.gchapel.org. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]