Genuine Faith Obeys God’s Revelation

Transcript

GR 1203
05/27/2001
Genuine Faith Obeys God’s Revelation
Acts 7:1-8
Gil Rugh

We’re studying the book of Acts together on our Sunday mornings and I want to direct your attention to Acts and the seventh chapter. A very significant chapter in the life of the early church. Because it records the death of the first martyr, Stephen, and is a record of the longest sermon recorded in the book of Acts. The sermon that Stephen preached. That concludes with his death. We who are preachers like to study this sermon to try to learn what we can to avoid such outcomes in sermons we might preach. How did Stephen get into such a fix? Here he is a man who was said in the first part of chapter 6 to be of good reputation. Full of wisdom, filled with the Holy Spirit of God. A man who taught the truth of God. And now he’s on trial before the Sanhedrin, the governing body of Israel, and this trial will conclude with his stoning, public execution.
Put it in the context of what Jesus promised his disciples. Turn back to John chapter 16. As Jesus gave his instructions to his disciples on this last night together before his crucifixion. He gave them the promise of a coming helper. In verse 7, one of the blessings and benefits of his ascending to heaven would be he would send the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to earth. And in verse 8 Jesus said, “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness and judgement.” Now in this same context, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth, down in verse 13 of chapter 16, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” Look in chapter 15 verse 26, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth.” Back in chapter 14 in verse 16 Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth.” These two truths together, explain why the word of God is such a powerful and effective tool in accomplishing God’s purposes in the world. The Holy Spirit has come to earth to convict the world concerning sin, concerning righteousness, and concerning judgement. And the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and in John chapter 17 verse 17 as Jesus prays to his Father, he prays “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” The Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of truth takes the word of God, which is the truth of God and uses it to convict the hearts and minds of the people of the world of their sin, of righteousness and of judgement.
That is why the word of God makes such an impact, that’s why the word of God stirs up such intense feelings. When people are confronted with the truth of God there are only two possible responses. Number 1, they can submit to its authority and believe the message, or secondly, they can reject its authority and attempt to suppress its message. Those are the only two responses, one of submission to the authority of the word of God, believing its truth, or a rejection of the authority of the word of God and attempt to suppress the truth. Now Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans chapter 1 verse 18 and said that is a characteristic of fallen sinful human beings that they attempt to suppress the truth in unrighteousness. This rejection of God’s truth and the attempt to suppress the truth in unrighteousness, creates a great conflict when the word of God is preached. Because when the word of God is presented the Spirit of God takes that truth and uses it to convict the hearts and minds of those who hear of sin, righteousness and judgement. This convicting work of the Holy Spirit causes people to respond and if by God’s grace, he draws them and they believe, the response is positive. But in our sinful condition, the natural response is to want to stifle and suppress the truth. Now when this occurs the result is often hostility, manifested toward the messenger of truth. When a person is confronted with the truth of God, their own sin and guilt before God, the demand of a holy God for his perfect righteousness, when they are sure there is a coming judgement in an eternal hell for all who are not cleansed and forgiven, the response is often one of hostility. And the hostility more often than not manifests itself toward the one who tells them the truth.
This is how Stephen got in his present predicament. He told people the truth of God and they did not like it. Turn back to the book of Acts, chapter 6, look at verse 10. And yet “they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.” He was telling them the truth, he was demonstrating to these Jewish listeners, the truth that Jesus was the Messiah, the fulfillment of Old Testament scriptures. He was demonstrating to them their guilt and hopelessness apart from faith in the Savior who had recently suffered and died on the cross and has been raised from the dead. They couldn’t cope, they didn’t have an answer, so what do they do? The attack him personally. He tells lies, he’s blaspheming against Moses. Speaks against the Law that was given through Moses, he’s blaspheming against the temple of God. Now these are serious charges, capital offenses in Israel. The Sanhedrin, supreme court of the nation, comes into session, Stephen is brought before them, charged with blasphemy against Moses and the Law, and against the temple of God. So in chapter 7 verse 1, the high priest who is the chief justice, if you will, of the Sanhedrin, says to Stephen, “Are these things so?” Interestingly the high priest of chapter 7:1 would have been Caiaphas, the man who was high priest and presided at the trial and subsequent execution of Jesus Christ. Caiaphas reigned as high priest in Israel until 36 A.D.
The question is, are you guilty of blaspheming against the law and against the temple? Stephen’s answer, if you read through chapter 7, it first seems like a strange answer for a man who is charged with such a serious offense. He gives an extended overview of the first thousand years of Israel’s history. You would have thought he might have jumped right in to demonstrate that Jesus of Nazareth was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, was indeed the Messiah of Israel. But that’s not the way that the Spirit of God directs Stephen to respond. He begins with Abraham, at the beginning of Israel’s history and them he overviews Israel’s history down to the time of David and Solomon, with the building of the temple under Solomon. There are going to be two themes that run through this history. The first is that God has revealed himself repeatedly down through Israel’s history. That revelation did not always take place within the confines of the land of Canaan or Palestine. Nor did it always take place in the context of the tabernacle of the temple. Sometimes the revelation of God took place in other areas in other countries. To see that the revelation of God supersedes everything in all else. For the Jews have come to make an idol of the land and the temple and they thought by the very fact that the land was theirs and the temple was where God had revealed his glory that the temple and the land were the secret to it all. They ignored and rejected the God of Israel and worshipped the temple. And that is the second theme that runs through this history, that of rejection or rebellion.
There is revelation from God, but the response of Israel has been one of rejection and rebellion and he’ll build that to a climax until verse 51. He says you are repeating that rejection of God’s revelation. “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit… just as your fathers did.” So this is not just a history lesson, it is the point being made that God has revealed himself, but the pattern of Israel has been to reject his revelation and thus reject him. So he answers the charges of blaspheming. No, I’m not guilty, you are. Your past history and your present practice supports that. The result will be they are so enraged they immediately take him out and execute him. The truth always makes an impact. The impact is that Stephen’s sermon is great. The people can’t take it, they cannot stand it. Yet drives them crazy, they are in a frenzy. They take him out to stone him.
Keeping this in mind helps as appreciate the difficulty that we would experience today in the ministry of the word. Why the simple presentation of God’s truth which is a message of love as well as a message of judgement, to the message of mercy and grace as well as a message of condemnation, is so violently opposed by people. The Spirit of God is convicting and if I am refusing to submit to the authority of God’s truth then I will find myself intensely antagonized by the truth.
Let’s look at Stephen’s response. I struggled with chapter 7 because it is 60 verses and my original intention was to cover this whole sermon in one message. I couldn’t do it so we’re going to look at the first 8 verses and I even struggled to get that in. But that will form the foundation because what this sermon does is cover Israel’s first thousand years of history. Abraham is approximately 2000 years before Christ. David, Solomon, and the temple is about 1000 years before Christ to round it off. You see we have a period of about a 1000 years Stephen is going to overview. He’s going to select 4 key individuals or a place. He’s going to start out with Abraham in the first 8 verses, then we’ll talk about Joseph in verses 9-16. Then he’ll talk about Moses in verses 17-43. Moses will get most of the attention. And then David and Solomon or the temple is the real focus in verses 44-50. So those four periods of time, four key people or a place, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, the temple, and then he gives his application in verses 51 to 53 to his present listeners.
We’ll start off with Abraham because that lays the right foundation, he’ll talk about revelation from God and the response to that revelation. Abraham will start out as unique and distinct because his response to revelation will be that of faith, believing that truth. Remember Abraham had physical descendants, the Jews, but to be in the line of receiving the promises given to Abraham you not only had to be a physical descendent of Abraham you had to be a spiritual descendent, you had to have the faith like Abraham had as well. So he establishes a foundation here of the revelation that God gave to Abraham and Abraham’s consistent response of submitting to that revelation, believing it, and obeying God. The rest of Israel’s history will be contrary to that in so many ways. Verse 2 Steven begins, “And he said, ‘Hear me brethren and fathers!’ ” So he responds with respect and warmth, brethren and fathers. “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. And said to him, “Leave your country and your relatives and come into the land that I will show you.” It starts out by talking about the God of glory. And these Jews would respond to that, you remember the Shekinah in the Old Testament? The glory of the presence of God? Manifested itself when God would meet with Moses in connection with the tabernacle. Then when Solomon built his glorious temple and the glory of God enveloped it. Well, now Stephen draws their attention to the God of glory and reminds them the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham and all the Jews would agree to that, of course.
But you understand that initial appearance did not occur in Canaan, the land of Palestine. There was no tabernacle, there was no temple. Abraham was in Mesopotamia, that’s further defined in verse 4 as the land of the Chaldeans, where the Babylonians. He was in Ur of the Chaldeans. Ur was the city and what is today modern day Iraq. In fact, Ur was 220 miles southeast of Baghdad. And if you want to know where it is… you know how the Mediterranean Sea is sort of shaped with an inverted C, a backwards C. Well, if you’re at the bottom of the Mediterranean then you went straight on across through the Arabian desert, you would be in Ur of the Chaldeans. In fact you could get into Southern Canaan by crossing directly across through the Arabian deserts. Now there were some problems doing that. That was done on occasion, but it was not the normal route, it was a great desert. So the normal route was to go up and over and down over the Fertile Crescent and down into Palestine from the north, going the normal route. And the trade route, it was about fifteen hundred miles from Ur of the Chaldeans, up and over through Haran and down then into Canaan, which is the route that Abraham will take.
You note first of all here, Stephen making the point that God, the God of glory, appeared to the father of the nation, Abraham, outside the land of Canaan, in Mesopotamia, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Reminding them that God is not limited to this little patch of land or this building. Now God has chosen to manifest his presence in a special way there, but God was not limited to there. The Jews had created a god to fit their purposes, and they had him confined in the temple of Jerusalem. We’ll deal with that in the climax. So he starts out here by laying a foundation that will build to his climax, and that God is not confined to a temple or building, he is not confined by a certain area of land. The God of glory appeared to the father of the nation in another land, in another country, and he gave Abraham instructions, depart from your country, your relatives, come into the land that I will show you. Another point here that the Jews were well aware of that Stephen does not mention…
First turn back to the Old Testament, Genesis chapter 15, Genesis 15 verse 7, this is what Stephen is referring to. God said to Abraham. “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it” and brought Him out of Ur of the Chaldeans in the region known as Mesopotamia. Back up to Genesis chapter 11, the close of chapter 11, verse 31 and “Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai, his daughter- in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Harran, and settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.” You see the pattern here. They leave Ur and they’ll journey going north and west up to the top, if you will, that inverted C, the Mediterranean. There the coast where Canaan is, well, Haran would be getting close to the level to the top there. So Abraham has journeyed up on the trade route perhaps on the Fertile Crescent there and just about where he’ll be ready to start and make his descent down towards the land of Canaan. Now the family left. Abram’s father Terah went with him.
Turn over to Joshua chapter 24. Now let’s fill in a couple of details. You remember the Jews that Stephen is speaking to would have been the leaders of Israel. They’re saturated with the facts of the Old Testament. One thing you note is Stephen gives his presentation, a man filled with the scriptures. His defense is a clear unfolding of the scriptures. Chapter 24 of Joshua, verse 2, “Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel, “From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River.” The river being the Euphrates. Ur of the Chaldeans was by the Euphrates. The Euphrates, that’s the trade route going up north to Haran along the Euphrates. “Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor,” now note this, “and they served other gods.” When the God of glory appeared to Abram in Ur of the Chaldeans, he was part of a family of idol worshippers. Now we’re not given any detail. Why did God pick Abram? What a shock that would have been. Here into a family of idol worshipers the God of glory chooses to make himself known to Abram and to call him from the worship of idols and to leave the city of Ur and journey to Canaan.
Come back to Acts chapter 7. A command was given in Ur and it’s repeated again when they leave Haran in Genesis chapter 12 verse 1. That he is to leave his home country, come into the land that I will show you. The scriptures tell us that Abraham left not knowing where he was going. So verse 4 says then he departed from the land of the Chaldeans. So you see what has happened. The God of glory has revealed himself, revealed his will to Abraham, Abraham response in faith. Believing and obeying what God said. Ur was a major city in Abraham’s time. Commercial city, a thriving city. There you have a family of idol worshippers and God says to Abraham, alright, back your bags. Move out. I’ll tell you where you’re going along the way. Abraham packs up and goes. No more to go on then that. What did he have to go on? The word of God. God revealed himself, Abraham believed it and acted accordingly. He’s going up north, he’s not going out of the way when he goes to Haran, and would not have been feasible to take the family and go across the Arabian desert. So he naturally journeys north and west as he goes up over what we called the Fertile Crescent, the city of Haran is up there. So he journeys and stops in Haran. Verse 4 brought that detail in. He journeyed from the land of the Chaldeans, he settled in Haran. How long he settled there we don’t know. Remember God didn’t tell him where he was going. He gets to Haran and for whatever reasons he gets to stop and stay there and it’s in Haran that Abram’s father dies. We don’t know how old Abraham was when he left Ur of the Chaldeans. We know he was seventy-five when he left Haran. When he left Haran most of the families stayed behind in Haran so later when Abram wants wives for his family he sends the servant where? Haran. Because that’s where the relatives are, to get a wife from among the family. So evidently they were there longer than a few days or a few weeks, long enough that part of the problem… that part of the family felt settled and determined they didn’t want to make another move. That they had left Ur of the Chaldeans, now there in Haran long enough, they are not ready to follow the nomadic Abraham on to who knows where, so they stay behind. The father has died.
Verse 4 (Acts 7), the end of the verse, “after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.” Genesis chapter 12 verse 4 says “Abraham went forth as the Lord had spoken to him.” You see is the obedience of faith of Abraham. Leaving Ur, journeying to Haran, leaving Haran, journeying to Canaan. Verse 5 and “He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground.” You understand here’s a man who at great risk to himself and his family, humanly speaking, with nothing more to go on then the promise of God, had left behind everything, journeyed some fifteen hundred miles to come to a new land. Now he’s in Canaan. Where God told him to go. And you know what? Abraham will live and die without owning anything in Canaan. Except eventually one little grave site. “He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground.” Basically in the Promised Land he’ll have nothing.
Why is he stressing this? It’s a constant reminder of the faith of Abraham. What did Abraham have to go on? Nothing, but a promise. That’s why it’s the Promised Land. And that’s all Abraham said was the promise of God. I promise it to you and your descendants. Here I am Lord. I’ve made great sacrifice to leave Ur. Come on, I even left Haran. Here I am in Canaan. God gave him nothing, but he did promise him. Go back to Genesis chapter 12. The promises are repeated. Genesis chapter 12 verse 7. “The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ ” Chapter 13 verse 15 “For all the land which you see, I will give it to you and your descendants forever.” Chapter 15 verse 18. “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.” Chapter 17 verse 8. And “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.”
What does Abraham have? Those promises. He started buying up real estate, building some cities, No. As we’ll see in a moment Abraham lived and died a tent man, traveling around setting up his tent, taking down his tent, setting up his tent, taking down his tent. He didn’t have anything, just the promise of God. Look in verse 5 of Acts 7 again. Not only did he not have the land that God had promised him, “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,” forever. Lord that’s a great promise, you know I have no offspring. Have you noticed Sarah and I have no children. He’s getting up there in years. When he leaves Haran he’s seventy five. You know how that is. Lord, don’t you think we ought to move things along a little more quickly. Lord, you’ve promised me the land, I own none of it. Lord, you’ve promised my descendants, Lord, we have none. You see why Abraham is the example of faith in the New Testament? All he has is the promise of God and that is enough. He believes the God who has revealed himself. Turn back to Hebrews chapter 11, towards the back of your New Testament, Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11 is a record of great men and women of faith from Israel’s history. Verse 8 of Hebrews 11, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance.” Now note this, “and he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
When the God of glory revealed himself to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldeans all he told him was, I want you to leave Ur of the Chaldeans, to go to a new land that I will give you for an inheritance. He didn’t know where he was going. He did it by faith and you note the connection, this is through the chapter, verse 8, by faith Abraham obeyed by going out. When you truly believe the word of God that you respond in obedience to it. That’s the mark of genuine faith. “By faith,” verse 9, “he lived as an alien in the land of the promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents.” I mean you might live in a tent when you first get there. You might live in a tent when they’re building your house. But that was his life. As in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise.” “The same promise, for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” It goes on to tell how he did get a descendent by faith. Sarah was enabled to conceive. A child does come.
Come back to Acts chapter 7. Stephen is giving the highlights. The Jews are well aware of all the details that he does admit as well as the ones he’s bringing to bear on the situation. Verse 6, “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 four hundred years.” Now you see God has removed him from his own land and country, brought him into the land of Canaan and not given him even a foot in the land. He has promised to give this land to Abraham’s descendants, but he hasn’t even given him one descendent yet. Now before he owns any of the land, before he has any children who can carry out the promise, God also says, oh yes, by the way, I should tell you, your descendants are going to be taken out of this land before they own any of this land and they’re going to go and live in another land and be enslaved there for four hundred years. Now stop and think if you’re Abraham. So Lord, this story is not getting any better. If you had talked to me earlier, Lord, I might have suggested why don’t you leave us in Ur of the Chaldeans. And then my descendants will just stay here for the next four hundred years. Then when you want to give them Canaan bring them on over. Saves a lot of trouble.
That wasn’t God’s plan. His plan was to take Abraham out of Ur. Bring him to Canaan, give him nothing in Canaan, make him wait till he’s a shriveled up old man with a shriveled old woman for a wife, then miraculously give them a son, one son. You talk about your future hanging on a thread. All the promises hang on this little baby. With the enfant tally rates and so on, not good prospects for this promise. Now you tell me when I finally do get some descendants you’re going to uproot them from this land before they have it, take them to a foreign land and make them slaves for four hundred years. So the revelation God gives.
What does Abraham do? He believes it. Interesting, the truth about the four hundred year slavery in Egypt is in chapter 15 of Genesis. That’s the same chapter where we’re told Abraham believed God and God credited to him as righteousness. You see what you have in the context of Abraham’s life. You have revelation from God, you have response from Abraham, but the response of Abraham is I believe God and thus I obey Him. They’re going to be there for four hundred years. There are… if you read some commentary there’s a lot of discussion. I’m amazed at the commentators who say, well, you know Stephen was under a lot of emotional pressure, so he wasn’t as accurate as he could have been. You think the Sanhedrin is going to sit there and listen to Stephen tear up the Old Testament scriptures and make all kinds of mistakes? Not likely. There’s no interruption here.
So there are things that need worked out at the four hundred years. There are a couple of passages of scripture that tell us that the sojourn of Israel lasted four hundred and thirty years, it even says 400 years. Genesis 15:13 says four hundred years. Exodus 12:30 says four hundred and thirty years. Galatians 3:17 says four hundred and thirty years. Is it four hundred and thirty or is it four hundred? Now we’re aren’t going to take the time and walk through. It could be a round number, four hundred, as we do round things off. I think probably though it is an accurate, precise figure of the Egyptian bondage. The actual time of slavery for Israel. But the sojourn of Israel lasted longer than that, so just that note on that. And there are other similar kinds of details that people try to find fault with but I take it Stephen is speaking here under the direction of the Spirit, that is recorded under the inspiration of the scripture and it is an accurate record.
Verse 7, “whatever nation to which they shall be in bondage I myself will judge.” And that’s taken from Genesis 15:14. God would after four hundred years judge the nation that enslaved them. We know from the carrying out of the history that it happened when God delivered them from the Egyptian bondage and devastated the Egyptians with the plagues. Then at the end of verse 7, “after that they will come out and serve Me in this place.” That’s a quote from Exodus 3:12. And you see how saturated with the scripture Stephen is. He takes and connects the scripture because he’s giving an overview. And you see the preparation for representing God and standing before the opponents of God is to be saturated with the word of God. Then the Spirit of God directs you on those occasions. Well, Stephen is well prepared because he’s a man filled with the scripture.
And though God would after four hundred years, then he’ll bring them back into Canaan and they’ll worship God in Canaan. Got to be stretching Abraham’s faith. But we’re not done. Verse 8, “And he gave them the covenant of circumcision.” You have to go back to Genesis 17. The covenant of circumcision. God reiterates the covenant to Abraham when he’s 99 years old. The Abrahamic Covenant. All the promises to Abraham. That’s the first part of chapter 17 of Genesis, “When Abram was 99 years old the Lord, appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty.’ ” Verse 2 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiple you exceedingly… you will be the father of a multitude of nations,” and so on. It’s going to be an everlasting covenant.
Then down in verse 10, there’s a mark of the covenant, a sign of the covenant. “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised… it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.” The end of verse 13, “thus My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.” Now here we are. All these promises that have been building up, repeated. Abraham is 99 years old. You realize it’s been almost 2 years since he left Haran. And he left Ur of the Chaldeans before he left Haran. Then 25, 30 years of this man’s life and he hasn’t got anything. Doesn’t own any of the land, doesn’t have any kids yet, that could fulfill the promise. Now he knows they’re going to go 400 years and live in a foreign land. And how you’re ever going to keep my descendants together for 400 years in a foreign land? And now God says, let’s be sure that this covenant is secured and physically identified for you and your physical descendants. The mark of circumcision. Lord, I’m 99, I believed You, I left Haran, I left Ur. Lord, I believe what You said but Lord, I’m 99. Now You want me to have circumcision as a mark of the covenant which you’re going to do for me and my physical decedents. Lord, I’m 99, do I have to go through this? You don’t find Abraham arguing.
Down in verse 23. Verse 22 “When He finished talking with him. God went up from Abraham.” What did Abraham do? “Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house…” and circumcised them as God has said to him. Look at the end of verse 23. He did what God told him to do. Now he has had Ishmael now with Hagar, the servant girl, but Ishmael doesn’t qualify to fulfill the promises of the covenant. It had to be the son of Abraham and Sarah. It’s amazing to me. God speaks to Abraham, circumcision will be the physical sign in your flesh of what I’m going to do for you and your physical descendants. God leaves and Abraham gets up and does it.
Verse 24, in case you forgotten his age, it started back in verse 1 of chapter 17, you’re reminded, “Abraham was 99 years old.” He hasn’t been able to have any children with Sarah, during the most fertile time of their lives. What makes you think this old shriveled couple are going to have a kid? Still got another year to wait. When you get over to chapter 21 verse 2, “Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age.” That’s an understatement. What did Abraham have to go on? Promises? Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, promises. Promises. Promises. Promises. How much of the land of Canaan do you own now, Abraham? None. How long have you been here? 25 years. Well, it’s probably your kids that are going to gobble up the land. How many of them do you have? I had a little affair on the side, I got one, but he’s not eligible to fulfill the provisions of the promise. How old is you wife? You’re one of those old geezers that married a young woman, huh? No, she’s 89. Well, how many children has she had? Maybe she’s one of these exceptionally fertile ladies that can’t quit having children, huh? Oh no, she never had any. She’s barren. Now Abraham, I think you ought to pack it in, you ought to go back to Ur, at least back to Haran. I don’t think there’s a chance in the world that this promise would ever by fulfilled. What did Abraham do? We’re going to have circumcision. What for? Well, that will be the sign that God has promised to me and my physical descendants that He’ll give this land. Abraham, that’s an exercise in pain for nothing, you know.
Abraham did it. He believed God. And so you have back in Acts chapter 7, the transition to the next stage in the history as Stephen unfolds it. Verse 8 becomes a transition, “Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day.” You see the connection, now we’ve got the promise moved forward even a half step. You have one son, that’s all you need. If God can just keep him alive you’ve got a start. Isaac became the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of the twelve patriarchs, the twelve tribes of Israel, which comprise the nation. Now (Stephen) has their heads, things moving along rapidly in this overview. What has he established? Not just to remind them of Israel’s history. To remind them of the great truths in the phase of Israel’s history. God revealed Himself to Abraham. He’s sovereign in His dealings with the nation. The God of glory called Abraham in Ur of the Chaldeans. They’re living in Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, called him to come. He was a pagan idol worshiper. Abraham believed God and obeyed Him, left Ur. Believed God and obeyed Him, he left Haran. He believed the promises of God when he owned none of the land, he had no heir. He believed the promises of God when God told him, by the way, your descendants are going to spend four hundred years in a foreign land before these promises really begin to take hold. Abraham believed God and was circumcised and circumcised his family, when there were no physical descendants to fulfill the promise.
That’s why the New Testament uses Abraham as an example, you know, similarities. Abraham believed God and God credited it to him as righteousness. What we have to offer to people today is the word of God, the promises of God. He that believes in the Son has life. He who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him. I have never seen heaven. I have never seen hell. I have never seen a heart cleansed from sin. I have seen the effects of a heart cleansed from sin, but I have never seen a heart forgiven and cleansed, made white before God. I have never seen the righteousness of God credited to the account of a person. I have seen the righteous character of God manifest in the life of a person whose life has been changed, but I haven’t seen that. You realize we have based our whole hope for eternity on what God has promised. That’s all we have. I haven’t entered into glory yet, I have yet to stand before the Judge of all the earth and have Him declare me righteous. Someday I will stand before Him, literally, physically, and I believe on the basis of His promises and my faith in those promises. I will be declared righteous, but it hasn’t happened yet. All that has happened is I have heard the truth of the promises: if you believe you will be saved, if you do not believe you will be dead. And I believe the promises.
That’s what Stephen is driving home to these Jews. God has revealed Himself. The problem is you don’t believe what He has said. And that is the same issue for us today. Without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Not enough to have the promise, not enough to know what the promise is. The Jews have the promises, the Jews knew what the promises contained. They did not believe. They were stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart. Not enough that you know what God has promised to those who believe in Christ. Have you believed in Christ yourself? That is all the difference in the world. That’s all the difference for time and eternity.
Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the man Abraham and Your grace and mercy in dealing with him. Calling him to Yourself, out of a life of paganism and idol worship. Thank you, Lord, in your grace he believed the truth that You brought to him and his life is a testimony, thousands of years later to the faithfulness of the God of Abraham. Thank you, Lord, for the promises given to us today. That Your word is truth because You are the true God. You are faithful to the promises of Your Word. Lord, may we take this truth to heart. Even as Stephen was preaching to the religious people of his day. That the travesty was that they heard the truth, they possess the truth, but they did not believe the truth. Pray for those who are here today, who have heard the truth, who know what the truth is, but have refused to believe, may this be a day of salvation. We pray in Chris’st name. Amen.