Cultivating the lifestyle of evangelism by not taking the path of least resistance (Acts 8:26-40)

 

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon April 27, 2008

As I get older, I hit a plateau on my waist size. I’ve been wearing size 34 for number of years. So, I thought I was doing pretty well. Then, I learned that my pants don’t reflect how I am doing here around my waist. I was given a radical different way to measure my middle, to measure around my belly button. That is when I understood that my waist has been steadily inching towards the number that I wasn’t comfortable. Plus, I felt way too sluggish these days, getting sicker easier.

Well, some of you know that I’ve been working out regularly for last couple weeks. I would run for 15 minutes after entering my body weight, 0 incline and 6.0 for speed. And, as I sweat through running, feeling these burning sensations all over my legs, I would watch that number to the far left that tells me how much calories I would burn. And, after just a mile and half, the result shows that I burned less than couple hundred calories.

Now, I look the labels on my favorite snacks and read how much calories they have. Well, before the path of least resistance would have been follow my appetite. But, after running, sweating, burning precious calories, now I think twice about eating 250 calories of empty sugar.

And, this taking the path of least resistance with my health has cost me the ever expanding size of my belly, low energy level, low tolerance for hard and diligent work.

Which is the path of least resistance, to feel the excruciatingly uncomfortable burning pain lifting weights and running or to have that satisfying feeling of being fool with good food?

So, the life lesson I get from getting back to taking care of my body is that taking the path of least resistance is costly for my health. And, many ways, I realize that the path of least resistance I take regard to my physical health reflects my spiritual health as well.

And, the spiritual truth that I gain from my reflection is that taking the path of least resistance is incompatible with cultivating life style of evangelism.

1. Cultivate lifestyle of evangelism by stop demanding to know God’s full plan, but trusting him.

This morning’s account on how Philip got to share the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch would not have been possible if Philip didn’t learn to heed the voice of the Holy Spirit over taking the path of least resistance.

Spiritually speaking the path of least resistance will demand that we know exactly what God is up to with us, today, next week, next month, next year, and ten years and beyond down the road.

Yet, God works with us like in the The Amazing Race on CBS. No contestants are given the full itineraries to the final destination before the race. Instead, what they get are these envelops along the way that explains how to get to the next point.

This is what God did with Philip. In verse 26, an angel of the Lord showed up and told Philip, “Go south to the road- the desert road- that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” God didn’t share with Philip that he had a cool conversion waiting for him. All Philip got from God was to go to the next point.

This is often the way God works. He shows us the path from point A to point B. If Philip brushed off the angel’s detailed prompt to go south to the road- the desert road- that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, he would have forfeited the divine appointment to lead the eunuch to God.

Certainly taking down the desert road isn’t what one might consider the path of least resistance.

And, also remember that our passage comes after the enormous success Philip was having in Samaria; he saw many coming to faith, getting baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit through his ministry. He had something very special going on in Samaria. He was on top of his game. Yet, it was this moment when Philip was doing so well, when people were coming to faith in Jesus that he was called by God to take the desert road without any disclosure to what God had in stored for him.

When he finally got to the point B, he met an Ethiopian eunuch. There, in verse 29, Philip was told by the Spirit, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Imagine being told to run up to the motorcade of Henry M. Paulson, Jr. the Secretary of the Treasury of our nation and stay near it. Well, if I ever try something stupid like that you know what would happen to me. I will get knock down to the ground by the Secret Service before I get even close to the motorcade.

There was always an inherent danger when a commoner like Philip try to approach an important official like this Ethiopian eunuch. And, the common sense would have responded that this was not the path of least resistance.

Yet, what we see in both cases is Philip without question taking the path of resistance to his common sense and need to be in control.

Verse 27, as soon as he was told by the angel to take the desert road, he started out. Verse 30, as soon as he was told by the Spirit to go to the chariot and stay near it, we see him running up to the chariot and staying near enough to hear the Ethiopian reading the scripture.

Because Philip took these two steps of obedience even though he didn’t know what God was up to, Philip was able to have this amazing divine appointment to share the gospel with this man.

Think about how many times you and I might have forfeited the divine appointments to share the gospel because we refuse to listen to the Spirit’s prompting.

2. Cultivate the lifestyle of evangelism by listening to others.

When Philip ran up to the chariot and stayed near it, he was able to hear what was going on in it. The Ethiopian eunuch was reading an Old Testament passage from Isaiah.

Here is the principle of listening and engaging from the felt needs of the people. If Philip had a preconceived idea of what he was going to say to Eunuch and ignored what Eunuch was reading, then things might not have gone as well.

Philip didn’t tell the Ethiopian man, “Let me tell you all about Jesus.” Instead, he began from where this man was struggling to understand. This man had a need to understand what he was reading from the scripture; he had a question. And, Philip answered this man’s question and that’s how he shared Jesus as an answer to the man’s question.

This requires us to open our ears and listen to our non-Christians around us. Listening helps us to understand what life questions they are asking. When we know what life questions they are asking, then we can answer them from the scripture and point them to Christ.

3. Cultivate the lifestyle of evangelism expects God at work in other people’s lives.

It was not uncommon for men in old days to be physically emasculated when they were young for the purpose of being in charge of a government function that involve working with women. But, in some cases the term eunuch simply referred to the person’s governmental position. In our text, the Ethiopian was a eunuch working for the queen Candace of the Ethiopians.

If this high official to the queen of Ethiopia was indeed a eunuch who was emasculated, then he would have been prohibited from joining the worship assembly in the temple at Jerusalem. It says in Deuteronomy 23:1, “No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the LORD.”

By the physical nature of this official, he would have been barred from joining the worship in the temple. Yet, there is another prophecy from Isaiah that tells a different fate of those eunuchs who pleases the Lord. Isaiah 56:4-5 says, “Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.” And let not any eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant- to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.”

This Ethiopian eunuch was a God-fearing gentile who wanted to know the God of the Hebrews. He even possessed a scroll of Isaiah which he paid big money. He was a truth seeker; he was seeking God.

But, without knowing this fact of what God was doing in heart, the external appearance would have given good deal of doubt as to his acceptability to God. But, again, God’s plan was that through his Son Jesus Christ, the ancient prophecy of Isaiah would be fulfilled that this man would be saved through Jesus Christ.

This is to say that you can never judge by the skin or any other external and superficial differences that we see in others.

To cultivate the lifestyle of evangelism, we must assume that God is at work in people’ lives regardless of what we think of them.

4. Cultivate the lifestyle of evangelism by knowing your scripture and living the scripture

When Philip listened to the Ethiopian man, he knew that he was reading from Isaiah. The man asked, “How can I [understand]… unless someone explains to me?”

The man was reading from Isaiah 53:7-8 which was a prophecy about the suffering messiah, suffering savior. As God-fearing man, he wanted to know who this person the prophet was talking about.

Now, at this point, if Philip didn’t know his scripture, if he didn’t know what the eunuch was talking about because he wasn’t familiar with God’s word, well the story would have ended very differently.

Philip couldn’t have told the eunuch, “Wait a minute! Hold on, please. I could get someone who can answer your question. Let me get my pastor.”

1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” And, Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

For Philip, he knew the suffering savior of Isaiah prophecy, who was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent… who did not open his mouth. Philip not only knew the scripture, he lived the scripture by having met and known the suffering savior, who was pierced for our transgressions, who was crushed for our iniquities. Philip knew that the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

You cannot explain what you don’t know. Philip explained what he knew of the scripture, what he lived of the scripture.

We too must. Do the same. .

à Apply

A story is told about Arabian horse training in the deserts of the Middle East. The training seeks absolute obedience from the horses. This is how they test if the trained horses are indeed trained for absolute obedience. The trainers have their horses to do without water for some time. Then they let them loose and their instinct kicks and immediate they run to the water. But, just as they get close to the edge and ready to drink, the trainer blows his whistle. Now, at this point there are two kinds of horses the trainers see. One is those that disregard the signals and simply plunge right in to drink water. Then, there are those that are truly trained. They stop upon hearing the whistle and turn around and come back to the trainer. They stand before the trainer quivering, wanting water, yet they wait in perfect obedience. When the trainer is sure of the horses’ obedience, they are signaled to go back to drink.

Fullness of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:4-25)

 

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon April 20, 2008

Here is a MasterCard commercial made I want you to see featuring Peyton Manning (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8kMrLx6_aQ).

I have some objects I would like to show you… (Show pictures and the little gifts that my girls drew for me.)

Now, the truth is that I know for sure that none of these pictures would ever be sold for any significant money. Simple reason is no one will find these pictures highly desirable and valuable to them. But, to me these are objects that cannot be priced. They are made by my girls, given to me and I like that very much.

Some time this past week, I came home and my Audrey greeted me. She handed me a tiny, all crumbled up, nail size scrap of paper and told me, “Daddy, this is for you.” Well, I thought she wanted me to throw it away. So, I went and threw it away. Few seconds later, Lyn told me that it was actually a gift from Audrey. I was so touched by it. Really, what I thought was a trash was a gift from my girl!

Thomas A Kempis said, “A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.” We are conditioned to think that money can buy us anything we want. Yet, these examples show that there are things that money simply cannot buy because they are priceless.

Today’s sermon is about experiencing the fullness of the Holy Spirit, from Acts 8:4-25.

1. You can experience the priceless love of the Giver when you know God who is faithful to his promises.

Let me set up a context for you which will help you see how God, the giver was at work behind the scene in Acts 8:1-5. Last week, we learned about life of Steven, one of the seven chosen men to administer the mercy fund to meet the needs of widows in the church. We gleaned how God is not limited by time and space through his message. And, we also saw how he was a man who understood the priceless value of the relationship with Jesus Christ. He would not trade the joy of being known by and knowing his Savior, his Lord for anything, even his own life. And, we see him pay for his conviction with his life.

Acts 8:1-3 records what took place after Steven’s death. Some godly men buried his body and mourned for him. And, on this very day, it says, “a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.” The apostles were either too well known to be persecuted or they simply took risk to stay behind to care for the church.[1]

And, what verse 4 tells us that those who scattered preached the word wherever they went. And, one of those who scattered was Philip. Verse 5, he went down to a city in Samaria. We are not sure exactly which city he went down to; but what was certain was just like the others who scattered preached wherever they went, Philip also proclaimed the Christ in Samaria. Along this message, Philip did miraculous, supernatural things, such as casting demons out of people, healing the severely impaired people. The God Philip believed in through Jesus Christ gave him the spiritual gift to heal, cast out demons.

We see right here our God, the giver of his priceless love operating mightily. Back in Acts 1:8, Jesus promised, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” And, now in chapter 8, we see Jesus’ promise to expand his witnesses beyond the boundary of Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria being fulfilled. What might have appeared as an utter failure, to be driven out of home, neighbor, or to flee for safety was not a failure after all. God was fully in control to advance his promise as his people took the gospel to Samaria.

2. You can experience the priceless love of the Giver only when you subject yourself to the whole counsel of God’s word.

V.9-25 tells a story about a man named Simon, the Samaritans, the apostles from Jerusalem. Verse 9 gives a brief description of this man as having practiced sorcery. Sorcery is “the technique of manipulating supernatural or supernormal forces to attain one’s own ends”[2] according to a theological dictionary. He was quite good at manipulating people that he amazed people. The Samarians were so impressed with what Simon had done that they called him “the Great Power.” When we understand the background story behind Samaritans, it makes sense why they were easily deceived by this false sorcerer.

Back in the days when Israel was separated between the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom, Samaria was the capital city of the Northern Kingdom. And, later Samaria was referred not only as the old capital city, but the whole region occupied by the Northern Kingdom. In 722-721 B.C. the Northern Kingdom’s capital Samaria was destroyed by Assyrians and the Israelites living there were exiled to Assyria. And, during the reign of Sagon II, a king of Assyria (721-705) he began to settle non-Israelites in Samaria. And, these foreigners married the remaining Israelites. So, the people group out of this period was called Samaritans. They were not considered full blooded Jews therefore the Jews looked down on them. Their religion was mixture of Jewish and other religions. The Samaritans believed in the first five books of the Bible, but rejected the rest of the Old Testament scripture. They also rejected the temple in Jerusalem. Although they anticipated the Messiah, they saw no need for connection to Jerusalem, to Judah, to the line of David. Instead, they made their own temple at Mount Gerizim apart from Jerusalem. The Jews and the Samaritans didn’t get alone for these reasons and others.

This is to where Philip and other early Christians scattered. With their mixed religious practices and deficient biblical understanding, it is easy to see why they easily embraced Simon. The Samaritans really didn’t know the scripture. They just read the first five books and rejected the rest. So, they didn’t know much concerning the prophecies that anticipated coming of Jesus Christ. By God’s grace the Philip’s preaching pointed out to them Jesus Christ, in the line of David, from the tribe of Judah, was truly the Son of God, the true Messiah they had waited for long time.

à Apply… this is one reason why I wholeheartedly believe that as believers we need to read the Bible through and through. The Samaritans didn’t have the solid biblical foundation to reject Simon the sorcerer. We too will face the same risk of being susceptible to the false teachings if we only read few verses here and there, and never finish any book in the Bible, not alone read through the whole Bible.

3. You can experience the priceless love of the Giver when you put your root down in the biblical Jesus.

Verse 14-17, we see a unique account regard to conversion and receiving the Holy Spirit. It was not until the apostles from Jerusalem, specifically Peter and John, not until they put their hands on the Samaritans that they received the Holy Spirit. They already believed the gospel; they were baptized, yet they didn’t receive the Holy Spirit.

David Gooding explains it this way. God “refused to authenticate their profession of repentance and of faith in the Lord Jesus until they submitted to, and identified themselves with the apostle from Jerusalem.”[3]

Their rejection of the temple in Jerusalem meant the rejection of God’s plan to bring the Messiah through the line of David, the tribe of Judah who was prophesied through and through in the Old Testament. Their insistence on diverging worship in Mount Garizim, rejection of the Messiah from the line of David, Judah, they needed to reject these and accept the biblical Jesus.

To believe Jesus other than Jesus of the whole counsel of the Bible is to risk in false Jesus.

4. You can experience the priceless love of the giver when you stop trying to manipulate God, instead submit to him.

Now, going back to the story of Simon, it says in verse 13 he along with other Samaritans believed and was baptized. And, that he followed Philip everywhere astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

And, verse 18, when he saw the Holy Spirit was given when Peter and John put their hands on the Samaritans, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

What was he thinking? He was thinking that the work of the Holy Spirit can be bought by mere money. His understanding of the Holy Spirit was really not much different than the demonic spirits he was working with as a sorcerer. Only thing that he seemed to care was harnessing the Holy Spirit’s power so that he could be the one who usher the Holy Spirit on others.

Listen to how Peter answered in verse 20-23, “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

From what Peter said, we can reasonably say that Simon’s purported conversion was fake. Conversion without submitting one’s life to the author of life, the creator of the life, the Almighty God, the Savior for his way is no conversion at all. His professed faith and baptism didn’t reflect regeneration of his heart, change of direction and actions. He used the demonic spirits to be known as the Great Power. Having witnessed the power of God, he now thought that he could subject God to his use with money.

à Apply

How about us? Do we do that? Again, Thomas A Kempis said, “A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.”

• When we read a verse or two verses a day and think that we’ve heard from the Lord…. devalues God’s prophetic voice.
• When we try to minister to people out of our own strength… devalue God who works through us.
• When we are preoccupied with what God can do for us, how he can come through for us, how he can make our lives easier, more comfortable…. Devalues God’s Lordship

Relationship! Relationship!

---

[1] Darrel L. Bock, Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2008, p.318.

[2] NIDNTT, G3404, mageuvw.

[3] David Gooding, True to the Fatih: Chartin the Course through the Acts of the Apostles, Gospel Folio Press, 1995, P. 132.

God who is not limited by space and rejection (Acts 7:1-53)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon April 13, 2008

Here is a story about following tradition.

A very poor holy man lived in a remote part of China. Every day before his time of meditation in order to show his devotion, he put a dish of butter up on the window sill as an offering to God, since food was so scarce. One day his cat came in and ate the butter. To remedy this, he began tying the cat to the bedpost each day before the quiet time. This man was so revered for his piety that others joined him as disciples and worshipped as he did. Generations later, long after the holy man was dead, his followers placed an offering of butter on the window sill during their time of prayer and meditation. Furthermore, each one bought a cat and tied it to the bedpost.¹

The cat wasn’t a part of this poor holy man’s devotion. But, it became an act of devotion for the followers. This story illustrates what happens when one looses the true meaning behind one’s tradition.

This is sort of what Steven was trying to do with the Jews who charged him for “speaking against this holy place and against the law.” The Jews were so stuck in the tradition of the way things were, they couldn’t see God at work in any other way beyond the boundary of the Promised Land, and the temple wall and the law.

The gospel message of Jesus Christ that Stephen proclaimed was like confronting the practice of tying up a cat to the bedpost. When Jesus entered into the history of salvation, he had done away with the need to worship God within the confines of the land, the temple walls, the tradition. The Jews either accepted or rejected the gospel. For those who accepted the gospel, Jesus was the fulfillment of the temple worship and the law. For those who rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ, they remained blind unable to see what was a plain and simple fact. They charged Stephen of blaspheming God. Blasphemy is the act of cursing, slandering, showing contempt or lack of reverence for God in violation of the 3^rd commandment which prohibits misusing the name of the Lord.¹

Chapter 7 begins with the high priest’s question to Stephen. “Are these charges true?” The rest of chapter 7 is Stephen’s attempt to clarify and defend himself against this false charge by the Jews and to show them it was not he, but they who were committing blasphemy.

He tried to counteract the false accusation by revisiting the history of the Old Testament. He talked about Abraham, Joseph, Moses, tabernacle and temple and a history of rejecting the Spirit of God in order to prove that he wasn’t against the temple or the law or against God as they accused him. The truth was that the accusers were the guilty ones who rejected God by rejecting Jesus.

1. God isn’t bound by space (v. 2-8)

Somehow the Jews began to believe that God’s activity was confined in the land of Israel. In verse 2, Stephen recounted how God showed up to Abraham. It was not in the Promised Land of Israel, but it was while Abraham was still living in Mesopotamia that is now the modern Iraq that God showed up.

When Joseph, Abraham’s great grandson was sold as a slave by his jealous brothers who betrayed him, verse 9-10 shows how God showed up in Egypt; God was with him… rescued him from all his troubles. In Egypt, God gave Joseph wisdom and established him a ruler over Egypt only second to Pharaoh.

It was there in Egypt God saved the families of Joseph, the descendants of Abraham. The great famine that lasted seven years would have destroyed Joseph’s families in the Promised Land. It was in Egypt in a foreign land God gave saved them from the devastating famine. And, it was in Egypt God multiplied exponentially this families of seventy five as stated in verse 17.

There in Egypt God was with Moses. When he was forty years old, he took matters into his own hand and killed an Egyptian and became a fugitive. And, forty years later, again not in the Promised Land, but in the desolate desert near Mount Sinai God met Moses. The holy ground was where God met Moses (30-34). In it was in Egypt, God demonstrated his miraculous power and delivered them out of Egypt through the Red Sea and through the desert. He led them during the day in a pillar of cloud; by nights he gave them light in a pillar of fire as recorded in Exodus 13:21. And, again there in the desert at Mount Sinai God gave Moses the law to his people (38).

In contrary to what the Jews thought of God as one who was bound by the space, the land of Israel, their own history points to the obvious reality that God wasn’t bound by the space limitation.

2. God isn’t bound by the physical temple.

The Jews who accused Stephen was even more limited in their understanding of God’s presence. To them, it wasn’t just the land, but the temple that limited God’s presence. They believed that God’s presence was bound by the walls of the temple.

As pointed out already, for Moses God’s holy presence was not experienced in the temple. Before there was a temple, before there was a tabernacle, God met Moses at Mount Sinai. And, it was at Mount Sinai where God met Moses that became holy ground.

And, in the wilderness of the desert, God met Moses and his people at the tent of meeting. Exodus 33:7-11 talks about this, God meeting them at the tent of meeting. Before the tabernacle was built, Moses would take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And, when Moses entered into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses.

And, when more permanent tabernacle was built, Exodus 40:38 says that the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.

During this time, God met the Israelites wherever he led them. And, wherever God met them became the holy place. It was God’s presence in meeting his people that made any specific location holy.

If this wasn’t enough to prove that God wasn’t bound by the temple, Stephen went on talking about the temple specifically in v.47-50. Solomon built the house for God. But, it was very clear from the beginning that the Most High does not live in houses made by men. The logic doesn’t work, for God who calls heaven his throne and the earth his footstool be confined by the walls of the temple. It just doesn’t work. Yet, this is what the Jews believed.

Apply…

Do you think it is possible that we too are guilty of believing that God is bound by space, by the church building? Can you think of how this might be the case? When we leave this worship space, the church building, and this two hours of service, how much of our thoughts, our actions, our decisions, our existence would be immersed in the knowledge God who is not bound by time and space? When we come back next week to Sunday service, would this knowledge of God who is not bound by space and time make any impact in the way do our life?

Think of sound effect. Have you ever visited Abt store, an electronic store located in Glenview? I took my girls there when I needed to get a stereo headphone. There is this room with leather couches and a huge HD TV screen with huge speakers all around. When we were there, HD TV showed this surreal and animated musical concert. Wow, I am not much of an audiophile, but goodness, the sound effect was so way too cool. I felt as though I was at a concert listening to the live performance. I don’t know how many sound channels they had going in that room, but I could tell you this much. It wasn’t coming from a mono speaker.

The way God wants us to experience him is not through an old, static prone, mono speaker that doesn’t seem to work most of the time. He wants us to experience him through ultra high fidelity system. He wants us to be immersed in him not just these two hours, but every moment. That’s what God who is not bound by time and space wants to do with us.

3. God’s isn’t bound by the rejection (v. 51-53)

Stephen turned things around from verse 51. He likened the accusers to their forefathers who displayed the propensity to reject God’s messengers.

It was through Joseph God delivered the seventy of his people out of the certain death under the severe famine. Yet, before this deliverance could take place, Joseph had to be rejected, betrayed and sold as a slave by his own brothers (7:9).

Moses was the great messenger, God’s ambassador to bring the Israelites out of the slavery under Egypt. But, when Moses tried to intervene on behalf of his people, they rejected him as ruler and judge (7:35). They refused to obey him Moses spoke directly with God. They rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

And, while he was receiving the law from God at Mount Sinai, they made an idol in the form of a calf. And, when you read through the history of Israel in the Old Testament, you begin to understand what Stephen was saying. Time after time, when God sent his messengers, the prophets to turn from the idols to the true God, the Jews rejected them, killed them.

It was Moses who prophesized, “God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.” It wasn’t Stephen who rejected this prophet, but they did. So, was Stephen’s indictment in Acts 7:51-53, “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One [that is Jesus Christ]. And now you have betrayed and murdered him- you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.”

Apply…

However, God’s plan has never been thwarted by human rejection. Yes, Joseph’s brothers betrayed and rejected him, but it was through Joseph, the rejected one that God deliver his family. Yes, it was Moses who was rejected by the people, but it was this rejected Moses that God sent back to the people who rejected him for the exodus. Yes, it was Jesus who was rejected by the people he came to save, but again it was Jesus who suffered, died and raised from the dead to save those who reject him. Case in point, consider apostle Paul’s life. He was the persecutor; he went after Christians most vigorously and zealously to destroy them, to prove them they were dead wrong. He rejected Christianity completely. Yet, God chose this person, the persecutor of the name of Jesus to become the persecuted for the name of Jesus.

As we serve God who isn’t bound by rejection of mankind, we too are called to be not bound by human rejection. We see this in Stephen. He was not a man who feared the Jews and their false accusations. He only feared God who is not bound by time and space; he only loved God who sent his One and only Son to rescue him from his sins.

Let us pray that this will be true of us as well.

1Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., Harrison, R. K., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary. Rev. ed. of: Nelson's illustrated Bible dictionary.

1 http://www.bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=1581

Are you a person of Character, Courage, and radiance? (Acts 6:8-15)

 

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon April 6, 2008

When I was just a kid, there were few times when it was okay to light up a match at home without getting into trouble. Lighting up birthday candles on cakes were those rare sanctioned moments. Have you ever tried to see how many candles you could light up with just one match? You light up the candles with just one match that is until your brain begins to register pain from your fingers. I used to love playing with matches. Well, I am glad to report to you that I haven’t turned out a pyromaniac by God’s grace.

This is an analogy of Christian life. Consider your life as a match and your purpose in life as lighting up as many candles as you can. “How many candles, how many lives can you light up with your one match, your one life? There is a cost to light up as many candles as you can. It takes certain amount of pain tolerance to be able to light up as many candles as you can. And, ultimately it will cost your match, your life.

To shine brightly in darkness is what Jesus desires of us. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” And, this call to be the shining light is really about God has done for us through his Son Jesus Christ. The prophesy by Zechariah in Luke 1:78-79 speaks to this reality. “because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Jesus comes to our lives and shines on us. And, we who live in darkness, in the shadow of death, by the light of Christ, we are given the liberty, healing from diseases, peace out of chaos.

Today’s passage Acts 6:8-15 speaks to what happened to Stephen, how Jesus shone his light on him, and how Stephen responded to Jesus light and became the light of the world. It is not an overstatement to say that there is none of us whose life is not affected and influenced by how Stephen lived and died. The flame of his life was snuffed out long ago by facing a violent death, but his death was not in vain. It was who he was, what he did, how he lived and died that enable Christianity to move beyond the boundary of Jerusalem, the Jewish circle. Here was a man whose life and death was not wasted. How many lives, candles did he light up with his one life, one match? The answer is countless lives. He did this by helping Christianity break away from the Jewish mold defined by the law and the temple. Stephen experienced God’s grace that enabled him to fulfill God’s law from his heart and he experienced God’s Spirit who is not bound by the physical limitation.

To be able to do this, he had to be a man of character, courage and radiance. This is what we are going to see from Acts 6:8-15. And, his character, his courage, and his radiance are what made him shine like a star in the universe to borrow the expression Paul in Philippians 2:15.

And, your and my job is to open our hearts to the ministry of the Holy Spirit who wants to fashion us after Stephen, to be men and women of character, courage and radiance, who experience the light of Jesus Christ so that we move out of darkness and destruction into the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is what God wants to do.

1. A person of character.

We learned from last week that Stephen was one of the seven men chosen by the church of Jerusalem, commissioned by the apostles.

The non-negotiable quality common to all seven was that they were known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom in 6:3. And, in 6:5, Stephen is specifically noted for being a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. And, in 6:8 he is described as a man full of God’s grace and power.

Wisdom for Stephen meant knowing that God is God, and he is not, that God is his Maker, and he is God’s workmanship, creation, that God is untamable one who demands utmost reverence from his creation, his people. In C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, when Lucy one of the children in Narnia asked Mr. Beaver about Aslan if Aslan is safe. Now, Aslan is not just any lion, but a great Lion, the King of the Beasts and the real ruler of Narnia who illustrates Jesus Christ. Mr. Beaver answered, “Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” And, wisdom knows that this King, unsafe, yet good King is Jesus Christ who dwells in us among us through his suffering, his death and resurrection. Wisdom is to know we belong to our Maker, to our King, to our Lord and Savior.

And, with this wisdom of knowing where one belongs, Stephen placed his faith, his trust in God. But, his faith was not a partial or flickering deal. He was known as a man full of faith, meaning he was a person of deep conviction who took God at his word. To him, the Word of God wasn’t an optional thing to be considered or ignored at his convenience or circumstance. Full of faith is abiding faith, abiding trust in the person of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. Full of faith knows no other way than Jesus as truly the way, the truth, and the life. And, these are non-negotiable, definitive, uncompromising qualities of Christ that demands full trust.

It is like this. You have this fever, soaring temperature, causing you to feel weak, chill, and even body aches all over. You go to your medicine cabinet. You pick up a medicine bottle and start reading the direction. You know what it says, you believe what it says, how effective this medicine is to treat your problems. But, then, you put the bottle back in the medicine cabinet. And, you walk away and don’t loose the fever, chill, weakness and body aches. Many of us approach faith in this way. Yah, I know Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Well, I believe it. Yet, I turn around and walk in my way, believe in how I feel about things, and try to build my life with my effort. And, I continue believing that I am smarter than Jesus to know what the way, the truth and the life is.

We desperately needs to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We are like “Sleeper” who needs to be awakened from the dead. It says in Ephesians 5:14, “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Pause and think through. Do you have the understanding that you belong to God? Do you have the kind of faith that takes steps to take Jesus, be taken by him because you are convinced he is truly the healing medicine? And, do you know that you suffer terminal disease apart from Jesus? To be people of character, we need to wake up. We need to rise from the dead and walk to Jesus. He will shine on us. He will heal us. Really, Jesus is the only who can transform our character, to be people of wisdom, faith. If you want it, if you want it enough, the Spirit will do it. But, you got to want it and ask for it. It is the Holy Spirit who bears witness to our souls through God’s word that our ways are somehow utterly deficient to deal with life’s fevers, diseases, issues and complexities. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us that Jesus is truly the life saving medicine we must take in order to be cure of the all emotional disease, sins, and destructive habits.

2. A person of courage.

As a person of character in his wisdom, faith, he was also a person of courage. It says that Stephen was a man full of God’s grace and power in 6:8, which allowed him to do great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.

And, being full of God’s grace and power he met the opposition arose from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen. Synagogues were meeting places where the Jewish community assembled to read the Scriptures and worship. It started during the Babylonian captivity when the exiles didn’t have means to worship God in the temple.

Among those who met in the synagogues were Freedmen. These were basically the Jews who had been freed from slavery. Some of the descendants of Jewish slaves who were captured by Pompey in 63 B.C. were taken to Rome but later granted freedom. Cyrenians and Alexandrians: from two major cities of North Africa – Cyrene was the home of Simon who carried Jesus’ cross (Luke 23:26). Cilicia and Asia were in Roman provinces in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey.

It says in verse 9 that they began to argue with Stephen, but verse 10, they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.

Here is the reality. When you and I grow in character and courage, the natural thing that will happen is opposition.

African Impala has this amazing ability to jump high as 10 feet and 30 feet apart. But, when it cannot see where its feet will land, it doesn’t jump. So, a simple 3-foot enclosures that obstruct its view from seeing where its feet can land if it were to jump, the enclosures can effectively limit Impala from simply jumping over them.

Stephen’s faith and wisdom, being full of the Holy Spirit allowed him to see what’s behind the three feel enclosures, not with the physical eyes, but with the spiritual eyes. This is how he became a man of courage. He didn’t have the fear that he couldn’t see beyond the obstructing wall. With God’s help, he knew he could jump over the enclosures and land on his feel on the solid ground. These Jews, the Freedmen who opposed him could have been easily the 3 foot enclosures that would have pacified Stephen.

How about you? Are you suffering from ‘African Impala syndrome’? Are you lacking courage and are you fearful that you won’t land on the solid ground that you will fall on your face, and that things will not work out. Do you shy away from the oppositions and the obstacles?

3. Radiance

It says in verse 15, all those who looked intently at Stephen… saw that his face was like the face of an angel. It means that somehow Stephen’s face had this glow about him. It was radiance of God’s glory.

In Exodus 34, you read about when Moses had his encounters with God in Mount Sinai. Moses also had this glow about him every time he met God; the radiance of God’s glory was on him so much that he put a veil to cover his face.

Radiance is simply the result of spending time with God. When you are before the Lord, when God bathes you with his glory, his presence, you become a spiritual sponge that soaks up God’s radiance, his glory, his presence and slowly release it as you go through the day.

Cogency of thinking- Jesus said so and meant then it matters – Jesus’ validity

Conviction of the word and the Spirit

- mastered by the word

Cost of the stance- rejection

Consequence – beyond his death – life that rippled through the landmark of Christianity. He sunk deep into water, but his impact felt.

- The church that fled, yet it was the very thing that propelled the greater movement of the church. The gospel was released beyond the boundaries of time and space.

- Conversion of the apostle Paul

The God on the move, expansion,

God is institution shaking God.

God is idol shattering God.