ACTS 7:44

In Acts 7:44-47 we are told about two of the greatest material things that were given to the children of Israel in the Old Testament that had to do with the true worship of God: the tabernacle and the temple. It says, “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; Who found favor before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him an house.”

In the Old Testament the temple symbolized the presence of God. Inside the temple was the holiest of holies, and only the high priest could enter that room; and he could only enter it once a year to make propitiation for the sins of the people. There was a veil that covered the entrance to that holy room, but when Jesus died on the cross, the veil was rent in two. This symbolized the fact that God had established a new way to approach unto Him. Because of Jesus there is no longer a need for a priesthood and no longer a need for the temple worship. But even when the temple was in effect, those who were believers should have understood that God is not limited to a building made by the hands of man. Just as Jesus said to the woman of Samaria, “God is a Spirit, and they that worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

The natural man and the carnal man will always make too much of an emphasis on religious buildings and will be too much impressed by the beauty or the grandeur of such buildings. The martyr Stephen made this point to the Jewish religious leaders and Stephen said in Acts 7:48-50, “Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as sayeth the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool; what house will you build me? Saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?” This entire teaching is based upon the one attribute of God that says that God is everywhere present. Any place that you go on this earth or in the whole universe for that matter: God is already there. The Holy God is everywhere. Based upon this fact, there is no building more holy than another building because God is in all of them. Based upon this fact, there is no place where you must go to be closer to God. You can get closer to God right where you are, because God is there to the same degree that He is anywhere. This is about the eternal and everywhere present God. How foolish humans have been over the ages of history. Even today people are dying and fighting over parcels of ground based primarily upon the concept that their God is in that holy place and they must protect it and fight for it because God is there. Many people involved in organized religion make a similar mistake. They think that some great building that they have built contains the presence of God to a greater degree than some other place. Buildings have functional purposes such as providing a meeting place for the people of God, but a particular building does not have any more of God’s presence than any other building.

The reason that people do not understand these basic spiritual principles about God and His Spirit is because of their own spiritual problems. That certainly was the case of those to whom Stephen was speaking. Stephen said in Acts 7:51-53, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and the murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.” Why is it that some people believe and others do not? The answer is found in these verses. Stephen described the ones to whom he was speaking. He said they were stiffnecked, they were uncircumcised in heart and ears, and they always resist the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit works in the hearts of all human beings on the earth because God loves everyone and wants to bring everyone to repentance. But it always comes down to the human will. You can resist God or you can surrender to Him and to His working in your heart.

Those who resist God are setting a terrible direction not only for their eternal destiny but also for the course of their lives on this earth. Look what happened to these religious people. They became betrayers and murderers. When you see the horrible crimes that some people commit, and you ask yourself how did they get to that point in their lives where they were capable of such things? The real answer is often because earlier in their lives they had turned away from God when God was working in their hearts. Do not ever turn from God when He is working in your heart. You will be condemning yourself to some horrible consequences.

The last verse in this group of verses, Acts 7:53, states the problem that everyone has who depends upon the law. It says of the religious leaders, “Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.” No one can keep the law. The religious leaders of the first century could not keep it and neither can you. There are only two ways to be righteous before God: one way is to keep the law without fail. But there is none that doeth good and sinneth not. The other way to obtain righteousness is to obtain the gift of righteousness through faith in Christ. That is how Abraham obtained righteousness and Moses and David and all the other believers of the Old Testament. They believed God and it was accounted unto them for righteousness.

Stephen told the truth about God and about Christ in a situation that was ripe for persecution. Stephen was very brave, honest, and dedicated to the Lord. He was one of the great heroes of the faith. He was the first believer to die simply for speaking the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. What an example he was to us all. The death of Stephen was probably used as an important factor in the salvation of the Apostle Paul. Concerning Stephen’s death, the Bible says in Acts 7:54-60, “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

How was Stephen able to be such a good witness in the face of death? The answer to that is found in the phrase about him that says, “being full of the Holy Ghost.” Every believer can be a witness, but only by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives us power, the Spirit gives us courage, and the Spirit gives an effect to our witness. Without the filling of the Spirit we cannot be witnesses for Christ in this world. One of the most important teachings of Jesus and perhaps the most difficult to put into practice was when Jesus said to love your enemies. It is easy to love those that love you, but if you can love your enemies, then you will know that you are filled with the Spirit. You cannot manufacture that kind of compassion, but if you have it you will be a great witness for Christ.

Stephen said about those who were killing him, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Basically, he said the same thing that Jesus said when Jesus was crucified. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” If you want to be a soul-winner like the great soul-winners of Christian centuries past, then you must love the souls unto whom the Lord has sent you. Nothing will prove your love for them as much as how much you pray for them, especially when they do things against you. It may very well be that Stephen, dying the death that he died and praying the prayer that he prayed, was the key testimony that contributed to the Apostle Paul eventually getting saved. And we know what Paul accomplished. The death of Stephen was not in vain. Whatever it accomplished, it accomplished exactly what the Lord wanted it to. That is true of every life and death. Each one fits into the great plan.

We are told more about the Apostle Paul before he was saved in Acts 8:1-3. It says, “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.” It appears as though the persecutions were increased greatly against the believers in Jerusalem. Evidently the Jewish leaders were very determined to stamp out belief in Jesus as Messiah. From a human standpoint it was a horrible time for those who were believers. Could you imagine sitting in your own home, and someone coming and knocking the door down, and taking you and your wife to prison? It was a horrible time of persecution in the city of Jerusalem. No wonder that Paul called himself the worst of all sinners. He never forgot his part in this cruelty and injustice. But after he became converted, he also never forgot the believers of Jerusalem and he did what he could to help them even as he traveled to the far regions of the Roman Empire. Paul always took up collections for them. Paul wrote in First Corinthians 16:1, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order for the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.” And he wrote in First Corinthians 16:3, “And when I come, whomsoever you shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.”

And so there was a great persecution in Jerusalem, but notice the effects that God caused those persecutions to accomplish. Acts 8:4 says, “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the Word.” Even though it appears that human beings made the decisions that caused these things to happen, God is the One who shuts the door and no man opens it or opens the door and no man shuts it. Through the persecutors God permitted the door to be shut in Jerusalem, but by sending the believers elsewhere, God opened a door elsewhere. These believers were very wise. They took the Word of God with them wherever they went, and they proclaimed it publicly wherever they went. Follow their example. Wherever you go in this world, do not just take your suitcases. Make sure you also take the Word of God and have it in your heart and on your lips.

Perhaps as a result of those who were dispersed because of the persecution, we are told of the results that Philip had when he went to the city of Samaria with the gospel. The Lord had been to Samaria and it was there that Jesus had the conversation with the woman at the well. So we know that the gospel had already been sown there before, and now Philip came and added to it and reaped the results of it. It says in Acts 8:5-8, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city.”

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