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 A potted gospel, Acts 7:34:

“34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.”NIV 

The rescue (redemption from Egypt) prefigured the deliverance Jesus was to achieve at the cross. It was an anticipation and foreshadowing of it. Here are four statements that encapsulate the gospel – the good news about Jesus:

‘’I have…seen…I have heard…I have come down…I will send…’’

God saw the desperate need of the human race in its estrangement from Him through sin. He heard the audible and silent cries of broken hearts (even though we broke ourselves by breaking his laws). He quite literally came down in Jesus, in the incarnation, to liberate us He went to all that trouble, out of sheer love.. Now He sends His church; His people; His ambassadors, to the world with the message of this rescue operation so that many may enter into its benefits.

When we think of all that God has done to rescue lost mankind, let’s not fail in our part to go and tell.

‘’If not us, who? If not now, when?’’

Getting a closer look, Acts 7:30-33:  

30 ‘After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32 “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.  33 ‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

‘’As he he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say…’’ (31). Sometimes you become acutely aware that God is wanting to get your attention. Initially, you may not know what it’s about, but you sense that there is something you need to understand, even though you can’t quite get a handle on it at the moment. It may literally be a sight in nature that grabs your attention. Every common bush is ablaze with the glory of God, if we can but see it. All creation points to Him (Psalm 19/Romans 1:19, 20). It is, in one sense, all ‘’holy ground’’. I remember a pastor saying that he’d recently put up a bird feeder in the garden opposite where he sat and had his ‘quiet time’. He told how he’d learned so much watching those little birds. As in the title of a John Stott book, the birds had been his teachers.  Then, there can be seasons where you feel that, while it is important to read the whole Bible, you just have to ‘camp out’ for a time in one particular passage. The Lord seems to say so much to you through it every time you turn to it. It could even be a single verse that grabs you forcibly and refuses to let go. For a long time, as I prayed for our church on a Saturday evening, I felt I had to stay in Isaiah 60. The themes in it became the content of my requests. It somehow seemed ‘prophetic’ for us at the time, and in after years I could see at least some of these prayers being answered.

When you come to that place where you sense God has something to say to you, it is important that, like Moses, you position yourself to get a closer look. As Lent approaches, maybe you might consider showing your hunger for God in a material, tangible way: ‘Lord, what are you saying to me?’ ‘What is this change I feel in the air?’ ‘Please speak to me; make your way clear. I am ready to do your will.’ Lent can be just a religious tradition for many, I know. But how powerful might these next few weeks be in the lives of those who genuinely pant after God?  Seek Him with all your heart and you’ll find Him. Draw near to Him and He’ll draw near to you. But never take an encounter with God lightly. He’s truly is ‘awesome’ – a word which is too frequently and lightly used today.

Take a closer look… and remember, this is holy ground.

PRAYER: Lord, make my life like that bush – so ordinary in one way, and yet supernaturally burning, and burning on. May people turn aside to see this miraculous fire you have lit, and meet with you. Please use me for your glory.

What’s the hurry? Acts 7:30: 

30 ‘After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 

It takes time to paint a masterpiece. How long was Leonardo da Vinci at work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? It cost him time, and much more in the process. Great art is not the work of five minutes. In Ephesians 2:10a Paul writes: ‘’For we are God’s workmanship…’’ I believe the word used in the original is ‘poem’. It points to a beautiful composition; a work of art. But God takes time over His ‘originals’.

We see this in the story of Moses. Forty years is a long period, but God will take the time to break His leaders of self-reliance and self-confidence; to purge and to prepare them. They will not be perfect, even after extended and intensive treatment. Reading the full account of Moses shows this. But they will be ready for their work. It seems to me that noise, distraction and hurry are three major weapons our enemy successfully employs today – both in the world and against the church.

The Christian life requires that ‘fruit of the Spirit’ which is ‘patience’. We will regularly find ourselves waiting for God.

I noticed recently that the BBC are showing a remake of the drama series ‘Roots’. When the book was first published, it was phenomenally successfully. Just as the first TV series was about to be shown – probably 40 years or more ago – the book’s author, Alex Haley, was interviewed and asked, ‘What is the secret of its success?’ I seem to remember that he replied like this: ‘I don’t really know, but I do remember something my grandmother said. She said, ‘’You never know when the Lord’s gonna come; but He’s always on time.’’ ‘

PRAYER: Lord, I sometimes inwardly complain about how long I’ve been on this wheel. But I know I need to thank you for the time you are taking over me; for the personal attention you are giving me, as you form me with your own Hands into the vessel you want me to be.

 ‘You know what thought did!’ Acts 7:20-29:

20 ‘At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.  For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.  23 ‘When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being ill-treated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defence and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realise that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, “Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?” 27 ‘But the man who was ill-treating the other pushed Moses aside and said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?”  29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.

 There are three give away phrases in this potted biography of Moses. They are:

‘’…he decided…Moses thought…He tried…’’ (23, 25 and 26).

Of course, it is not wrong to make decisions. The Bible is filled with stories of people who decided to do certain things, or to not do other things. The more we read God’s Book, the more we will want to make wise choices; and the greatest decision we all face is whether we will accept or reject the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither is it a bad thing to think. There is a vast array of teaching in Scripture about the proper use of the mind. It is, indeed, possible and necessary that we should endeavour to cultivate a Christian mind.  Nor is God’s Word against trying. For example, the book of Proverbs condemns laziness and commends diligence – as exemplified in the work ethic of the ant.

But…

…to just decide without reference to God…

…to think without seeking His wisdom…

…to try without relying on the power of the Holy Spirit…

This is not the way we’re meant to live. It is possible to be a Christian but live as a practical atheist – just making your own decisions, thinking your own thoughts and trying in your own strength. Think about what happened to Abraham when he tried to do God’s work (produce the child of promise) by his own fleshly efforts. Someone said to me recently that we shouldn’t assume. ‘To assume’ they said, ‘is to make an ass of u and me.’ Moses’ assumptions collided with reality, and He came off worse. Yet God used his failure to make him into the man/leader He wanted him to be. You may be brilliant – gifted and talented – as Moses clearly was (20-22), but if you are to fulfil God’s purpose for your life you will need to be broken of self-reliance and self-confidence. God will see that this happens, even if it takes years.

PRAYER: Lord forgive me for all the things I think and do without reference to you. Help me to submit all my thoughts and plans and ways – my everything – to you. I would not live in my own strength.

 Waiting for God, Acts 7:17:

17 ‘As the time drew near for God to fulfil his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.

Here are 4 things that struck me in this verse:

1. God keeps His promises. Even though a long time may elapse between the giving of the promise and its fulfilment, God is always as good as His Word;

2. Church growth will come about in God’s timing. All of us who are eagerly praying for growth must hold on to the truth that our prayers will be answered in God’s way and time;

3. This great growth – a ‘population explosion’ (Exodus 1) – began small. It started with just one man. The growth continues today. Even if your local church is small, know that you are part of something immeasurably big. You do not belong to a weak and dying organisation, whatever the cynics might say;

4. The growth came out of pain. Think of all that Joseph went through before this could happen; the injustice of his treatment at the hands of his brothers, and later on in Potiphar’s house. Call to mind his time languishing in prison when it seemed he was forgotten. Your suffering may seem senseless, and lonely, but who can say what great purpose God may be working out? One person’s pain may lead to kingdom advancement and church growth.

Always remember: GOD GIVES THE GROWTH!

The key to greatness, Acts 7:9-16:

‘9 ‘Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.  11 ‘Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.’NIV

If God is with you, who can say where life will take you?

There can be no doubt that Joseph was the right man in the right place at the right time. He did not have an easy ride, but everything worked for good in the end (Romans 8:28) He became a great, great man in Egypt, being elevated to the highest position in the land, apart from that of Pharaoh himself. It’s a wonderful story, and has been popularised (although not with total accuracy) by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Nevertheless, the details capture the imagination. But what Stephen’s sermon makes clear (and also the book of Genesis) is that Joseph’s greatness cannot be explained apart from God and His sovereign purposes. He was raised up for God’s glory, to be an instrument of His saving work on behalf of Jews and Gentiles. Ultimately, it was all about God.The Lord was writing his story, and what an adventure it turned out to be!

I would rather have a bit part in God’s drama, than be the star in my own one man show.

Solid ground, Acts 7:1-8: 

‘7Then the high priest asked Stephen, ‘Are these charges true?’  2 To this he replied: ‘Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3 “Leave your country and your people,” God said, “and go to the land I will show you.”  4 ‘So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: “For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and ill-treated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,” God said, “and afterwards they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.”  8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. ‘NIV

F.B. Meyer said something like this: ‘’We stand on concrete whenever we can point to any promise of God and say, ‘Do as you have said.’ ‘’                                                                                            An old hymn contains this verse: ‘’Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, and looks to that alone; laughs at impossibilities, and cries, ‘It shall be done.’ ‘’ We are starting to look at Stephen’s long sermon. It shows a breadth and depth of Biblical knowledge. He had a big picture understanding of God’s purpose to bring the Messiah into the world. The general tenor of his message is that again and again, in their history, the people of Israel rejected their God-sent deliverers and prophets. He appeals to them not to make the same mistake with Jesus. Might not He prove a great blessing in their generation, as Joseph and Moses, for example, had been in their’s?

It is true, as someone observed, that popularity may be purchased at the cost of Biblical truth; but Stephen was not trying to appear on any human honours’ list. For this great sermon he got stoned. (There is more than one way to stone a preacher by the way.) Like Peter and John on an earlier occasion, Stephen spoke with courtesy to those who were out to get him (1, 2a). However hostile people may be towards us, there is no place for rudeness on our part. ‘’By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you…’’ (2 Corinthians 10:1).

We think of Abraham as the father of the faithful. When God called him, he had to leave behind what, for that time, was a highly civilised culture with wonderful ‘modern’ amenities. There was sacrifice involved in following God. There always will be. Abraham had nothing to go on but the bare word of God (5), but that was enough. ‘’God’s people live on promises, not on explanations’’ Warren W. Wiersbe. What God told Abraham about the future was remarkably fulfilled (6,7). We are on solid ground when we trust the promises of God. Meyer points out that the promises of God lit up the weary years of Egyptian bondage. Stephen’s sermon causes me to think about Psalm 29:3:  ‘’The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.’’

Mighty waters were rising up against Stephen, but the voice of God in and through him thundered over those mighty waters. The voice of the Lord must ultimately prevail – whatever men may say or do. ‘’The God of glory’’ (2), who called Abraham, was calling again through His servant Stephen.

PRAYER: Lord increase our faith!

Radiance under fire, Acts 6:8-15:

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called) – Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia – who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke. 11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, ‘We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.’ 12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, ‘This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.’ 15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

‘’All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel’’ (15). Stephen was one of the seven men chosen to help the church get back on an even keel (5).

 I can’t help but think about Moses who, when he came down from the mountain after meeting with God, had a shining face. But he himself was not aware of it. So it is that there can be a certain undefinable ‘something’ about a person who walks with Jesus; an aroma, a fragrance. They walk in the light of the Light of the world. They reflect His light and shine brightly and beautifully amid the darkness of this world, reflecting the rays of the Son.

I remember being in the country one night recently. There was minimal street lighting, but there was a full moon, and the night was brilliantly lit up. Stephen was like a full moon. There were no half measures with him. His commitment to Jesus was total and unquestionable and how he shone in his day!  But Stephen also reminds me of Jesus. He was falsely accused like His Master (11). At least one of the charges was similar (13, 14). He was tried, and as we will see, he was put to death.

Stephen, exemplifies the Spirit filled life (5, 8, 10).But if you want a powerful ministry, don’t expect an easy life. You will ruffle feathers.

Prayer: Lord, I want to be as filled with the Holy Spirit as any person can be. Please strengthen me to face all the consequences.

Moving towards the problem.Acts 6:1-7: 

‘In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.’ 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.’NIV

As we saw yesterday, when the church is growing, and in particular when this growth is unusually prolific, you can EXPECT PROBLEMS. These difficulties will take different forms from church to church, context to context, and age to age. But they will arise. Good leadership moves towards problems and not away from them. Today, we will look at two essential moves made by the apostles in this time of tension, and we can learn from what they did:

ESTABLISH PRIORITIES (2, 4): The apostles had a clear sense of what they needed to be concentrating on and they would not be diverted. Neither, though, were they willing to bury their heads in the sand and just hope the problem would go away. You can only sweep things under the carpet for so long. There had to be a way to keep their own focus, and yet deal with this potentially harmful eruption at the same time, and they figured it out. I believe all pastors should be committed to the twin priorities of prayer and Bible study. Many other (necessary) administrative tasks will devour these precious and delightful duties if we allow them to. So we have to carefully guard our time against all the urgent demands that would steal away our best hours for prayerful study. Churches should also do their utmost to help their pastors remain true to their essential calling. The church loses  when its shepherds neglect the Word and prayer.

ENGAGE THE CONGREGATION (3- 6): The leaders did not abdicate their responsibilities. They thought through the parameters and presented them to the church, entrusting the congregation with the significant task of choosing the right men for the job. Thus leaders and led moved forward in a respectful, trust-filled atmosphere, and the result was even more growth. I was thinking about this as I lay back in the hygienist’s chair this afternoon. My only real fear when at the dentist’s (or hygienists) is of inhaling the water being sprayed into my mouth. The thought forcibly hit me this afternoon that I am afraid because I don’t sufficiently trust the suction instrument. I thought, ‘Yes, and how many leaders in the church don’t really trust the wisdom God has placed in the body of Christ?’ We will find many wonderful ideas and solutions within the local church. May God forgive us that we don’t always realise this and act on it.