You Always Resist The Holy Spirit

Acts 7:1-60

key verses: 51 “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

Happy New Year!

Shepherd Terry Lopez was very satisfied with many spiritual blessings in 2008, but I noticed that  some of us are not really satisfied with the result of 2008.  I was one of them.  Just before the beginning of 2008, somebody asked me to raise up 3 disciples of Jesus in 2008.  But, being inspired by Psalm 1 message “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers” (Psalm 1:3). I thought “Only 3 disciples?  I should raise up 5 disciples, or 10 disciples, or even 70 disciples if I had to.  Lord, just burn my life with the work of the Holy Spirit each and everyday so that I can raise many disciples of Jesus this year.”  But, this did not happen.  There were some good times.  But, a lot of times, I found myself pressured by my full time job or busy cooking and housekeeping for my children and wife on daily basis.  Thank God for giving us an opportunity to live one more year to be happy and successful.  I hope that we may find some solution or at least some encouragement through Stephen’s Bible study today and be happy and satisfied in 2009 and beyond. 

Through last Sunday message, we saw how disciples of Jesus preached the gospel of Jesus.  They worked hard to preach the full message of new life in Jesus all over Jerusalem.  Before daybreak, they came to prayer and daily bread and prepared Bible notes, and as the sun rises, they went out to preach the word of God visiting campuses such as UJJ or JUJ campuses.  

Then, religious leaders and those who are in political power could not stand anymore.  Act 5:33 says that they were furious and wanted to put them to death.  Like hungry wolves, they were looking for a chance to devour disciples of Jesus.  Finally, they captured an opportunity by arresting one committed disciple of Jesus.  His name was Stephen.  They charged him with speaking against the temple and against the law.  They accused him of saying that Jesus would destroy the temple, and that Jesus would change the Law of Moses.  

Let us read the key verse 51 “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!”.  This verse is the conclusion of Stephen’s defense plea.  If he had put this conclusion at the beginning of his sermon, those religious leaders would have not listened to his Bible study and we also would have not had a chance to listen to his message either.  So he prayed and prepared his message carefully ensuring to memorize a few Bible verses as well.  He was like a walking Bible like Jesus, Peter, or other committed disciples were.  Can I ask your favor?  Please say to your next person “Memorize Bible verses”  When we see the way he prepared his Bible study notes with explanation of God’s purpose and historical background, it was not accidental how he was described as a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit (6:5), and a man full of God’s grace and power (6:8).  So let us find out how penetrating his Bible study is.  

 

First,  The purpose of calling Abraham (2-8)

Verses 2-8 show how God called Abraham and established the beginning stage of Israel.  

God called Abraham while he was a nobody and trained him to be a man of faith.  The purpose of calling Abraham was to bless all peoples of all nations through him.  God established the nation Israel based on this purpose and Abraham’s faith.  Stephen, then, talked about an issue of circumcision in verse 8.  God’s purpose of the covenant of circumcision also has the same purpose.  The purpose of the covenant of circumcision was for them to worship God and grow as a source of blessing for all nations (Gen 17:3-7).  But, Israelites forsook God’s purpose and refused to live as shepherds.  They held on to nationalism calling Gentiles as pigs instead of praying for them to grow in the word of God.  Religious leaders did not shepherd over even their own country people.  However, they were proud of keeping their traditions such as the ceremony of circumcision.  If anyone was not circumcised, he would be excluded from their community.  Differently from them, Jesus and his disciples earnestly prayed for God’s sheep and raised disciples of all nations.  Later, early church Christians decided not to enforce the law of circumcision (Acts 15:5, 11, 19), for the sake of salvation of Gentiles.  

Who then fulfilled the purpose of the Covenant of Circumcision as well as the purpose of calling Abraham and the purpose of establishing Israel?  Jesus and his disciples did and obeyed God, but Israelites and those religious leaders did not. 

This message reminds us of why God called each of us to this 1:1 Bible study ministry.  We are privileged to many Bible studies, conferences, & writing Bible testimonies.  Also, we can have daily bread training.  Some studied Genesis and John’s gospel 5 times, 10 times, even 20 times.  Do you think all these are for our own salvation only?  God called each of us to this 1:1 Bible study ministry to grow as a father or a mother of all nations as he did to Abraham.  What does this mean?  It means we should invite college students to be our spiritual children and love them as we love our own children and feed them as we feed our own children.  Although Israelites and their religious leaders forgot, we should not forget the purpose of calling each of us to be a kingdom of priest and holy nation.  Because this is God’s way to bless us.  What good is it to have a nice job, nice house, master degree, or even PhD degree without maintaining this blessing from God daily?  Why daily?  Because the Bible says nobody knows when Jesus comes again and we do not know when we will go to heaven.  These days my reliable 1998 Honda Accord stopped working while running on the 605 Freeway twice.  I felt I was going to die.  So I fixed the transmission paying $1,080, but still I have to fix another problem.  Through this I realized that I can die all of sudden and I must live according to the purpose of his calling each day.   

Second, The Patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, but God was with him (9-16).

Let us read verse 9 and 10a.  

 9"Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10and rescued him from all his troubles.”

Here the word “jealous” might have stricken the hearts of those religious leaders because they too were filled with jealousy of Jesus’ disciples (5:17).  This is Israelites’ deeply rooted sin problem throughout history.  However, God rescued Joseph from all his troubles and used him as a shepherd for many.  Like Joseph, God rescued Jesus from the hands of enemies and uses him as the shepherd for all peoples.  

Third, God appointed Moses as a shepherd and a witness of Jesus (17-43)

In this part, Stephen’s story starts with how the baby Moses was saved, and educated as a prince of Egypt, but rejected by his own people when he tried to help them out.  So Moses fled to Midian and 40 years had passed.  At that time he had a full time job which was to take care of the flock of his father-in-law.  You know a full-time job is a full-time job no matter who the employer is.  Also, he had settled down with his wife and two sons.  But, one day God showed up to surprise Moses with a new life of mission.  God loves to surprise his servants with a new life of mission.  He really loves to challenge us with a life of mission.  Who knows God wants to surprise each of us with a new life of mission through this message!  Anyway, the first thing God had to do with Moses was to fix Moses’ attitude problem.  Dealing with smelly sheep, goats, seven daughters of Jethro, Moses could be too much casual, liberal, democratic, persistent, and ignorant without fear of God.  With this kind of attitude, he could not carry out God’s mission properly. 

Let us read verse 33. (Picture).

33"Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground.   

If somebody is with God, he is in God’s holy place, so he has to learn how to cut off his old life style and learn to treat the word of God with due respect.  He had to learn how to deny selfish  desires and put priority in God’s direction.  This story reminds Israelites and religious leaders of their attitude problem.   They were serious about ritual things, but superficial and ignorant in honoring God and in following God’s words.  Stephen, highlighting this story probably, shook them up.

This part of the message urges each of us as well to have a right attitude toward God.  If we recognize ourselves as Christians, we are living in God’s holy ground, and we have to respect Jesus and take his words to heart.  If Jesus said “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness”, we must seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, although we may feel that we have to sacrifice something important such as graduate school, CPA exam, or children’s after school programs such as piano lesson, violin lesson, Tae Kwon Do, soccer, etc.  When anyone hears Jesus’ voice personally such as “feed my sheep”, then he or she must strive to feed sheep without raising many excuses.  Who knows?  Jesus asked us to feed his sheep because it can make us  pretty, handsome, healthy, and importantly spiritually alive.  This is how to revere God and his words.  Then, as Jesus promised, all these things will be given to him as well. 

Also, Stephen urges that Jesus is the prophet to whom Moses asked the Israelites to listen.  

Let us read verse 37-38.   

37"This is that Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.' 38He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.”  

Here Stephen explains how the Israelites and religious leaders broke the law of Moses by not listening to Jesus or to Moses. 

Moses met God on Mount Sinai and received the living word of God to pass on to the people.  – however, the Israelites rejected Moses.  They built and worshiped a golden calf.  Their idolatry paralyzed Israel throughout her history and caused God’s punishment.  They were sent into exile beyond Babylon.  God sent Jesus as a prophet like Moses.  As Moses led Israelites out of Egypt with wonders and miraculous signs, Jesus also led people with many wonders, miraculous signs, especially living words of life.  However, like Moses, Jesus also was rejected by his own people.  Rejecting Jesus is rejecting Moses.

Fourth, God’s temple, a house of prayer for all nations (44-50).   

Stephen explains how the temple of God originated.  The primary purpose of the temple is to contain the word of God.  Also, it is a house of prayer for all nations.  The religious leaders worshiped the gorgeous looking temple building itself.  They made God’s temple as a profitable marketplace, so Jesus had to rebuke them saying “You have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” (Mk 11:17).  But, Jesus taught the word of God and his disciples stood in the temple courts delivering the full message of a new life.  Jesus and his disciples used God’s temple according to God’s purpose, but religious leaders did not use God’s temple according to God’s will and purpose.  

Fifth, “You always resist the Holy Spirit” (51-59)

Stephen addressed the conclusion of his Bible study in these verses.  Let us read verses 51-53.   

51"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."

Stephen provided them with an opportunity to review God’s purpose for his people and how Israelites resisted God in history.  Most importantly, he explained that the Bible supports God’s anointed servant Jesus.  It was a time for them to change their mind and change their mind and turn to God.  So did they repent and appreciate Stephen’s labor of love?  No!  

54 says “When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.”

Through this message, we learn that we should not resist Jesus and his words over and over again. Like Abraham, Moses, or disciples of Jesus, we also have many weaknesses and mistakes, but we must grow and follow Jesus and obey his words.  Why did the religious leaders and associates resist the Holy Spirit?  In short, they loved the world.  They were too greedy for money, secure job, political power, and comfortable life to change their life style.  Things they loved can be compared to an advanced education, a high paying job, a nice health insurance, or a good retirement plan, etc. in our generation.  The devil deceives us we may lose these things if we first seek God and his kingdom.  But, Jesus said differently.  He promised that we would be blessed with all these things as well when we first seek God and his kingdom.  He encourages us first to peach the word of God.  We must preach the word of God faithfully and diligently because it gives eternal value to everyone.  Then, we can work harder for a master program or a PhD program, or to take care of our children’ after school programs.  Through this message, I learn that I must serve fishing and 1:1s everyday as a grateful servant of God, and then do something else such as taking my daughters to piano lessons or to soccer practices.  What a shameful if my children say in the future “Dad, you were just crazy for taking your children to piano lessons, violin lessons, Tae Kwon Do, Soccer, without serving fishing and 1:1s first as a missionary”.  The point is not removing such opportunities from children, but seeking first God’s kingdom and do something else.  

Let us read verses 55-56.

55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."  

These verses show that Stephen had a fantastic moment with Jesus, which any servant of God could ever experience.  What a great welcome he received from our Lord Jesus!  Someday we all have to go back to God and our bodies will be buried at a tomb site or cremated.  The only thing that matters is the kind of welcome we will receive from our Lord Jesus.  May God help us to grow as excellent & committed Bible teachers like Stephen and receive a great welcome from Jesus when we return home in heaven.  

One word: Take God’s words to Heart

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