Stephen is Killed for His Faith (Acts 7)

• Share your thoughts and reflections on Ethnic Cultural Racial Differences [between the Hellenistic and Hebraic Jews (Acts 6:1)].

1. Who are the people Stephen referenced in their historical order? What were the important events in each of their lives? [Persons Stephen spoke about in Acts 7]
1. The Patriarchal Period (7:1-16):
1. Ac 7:2 (Genesis 12-25).
2. Ac 7:8a (Genesis 21-28).
3. Ac 7:8b (Genesis 25-50).
4. Ac 7:9 (Genesis 37-50).
2. Moses and the wilderness wanderings (7:17-43):
1. Ac 7:20 (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy).
2. Ac 7:40 (", ", ", ").
3. The Tabernacle and the Temple; the establishment of the monarchy (7:44-50):
1. Ac 7:45a (Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua).
2. Ac 7:45b (1,2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1 Chronicles, Psalms)
3. Ac 7:47 (2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1,2 Chronicles, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song).
2. What was his attitude toward his accusers (Ac 7:2a)? What frames Stephen's sermon (Ac 7:2, 55)?
3. Why is it important for Stephen to review this history in such detail in his "sermon"?  [Can Christians do so today?] Was he primarily defending himself? Was he anti-Law (Ac 7:38, 53)? What was the recurrent pattern of the people of Israel (Ac 7:9, 25-29, 39, 41)? What was his primary point (Ac 7:4, 37-40, 48-49, 51-53)?
4. What was the climax and conclusion of his speech (Ac 7:51-53, 8; Isa 63:10; Heb 11:32-38; 1 Ki 18:4, 13; Jer 26:20-24; Mt 5:10-12; Lk 6:22-23; 11:47-51)? How are Stephen's accusers guilty of the very same thing they are accusing Stephen of doing? Did he have to indict/enrage them by being blunt, direct and provocative?
5. What was Stephen's disposition (Ac 6:3, 5, 10, 15; 7:55; Mt 10:19-20; Lk 21:15)? Why were they so angry at such a God filled man (Ac 7:54, 57; Jn 3:19; 14:15; 16:2)? What basis did they have to stone him (Ac 7:58; Lev 24:11, 14-16)? Who were the ones who stoned him (Ac 6:12-14; Dt 17:7)?
6. What and who did Stephen see (Ac 7:55-56; 2:34-35; Ps 110:1; Dan 7:13)? How were Stephen's last words similar to that of Christ (Ac 7:59-60; Lk 23:34, 46; Ps 31:5)?
7. How did Stephen's death launch the Great Commission (Ac 8:1-3; 1:8; Mt 28:19)? Where were they scattered to and what did they do (Ac 8:4-5, 40; 9:32; 10:32; 11:19)?
8. Who agreed, approved and consented to killing Stephen (Ac 8:1; 6:10)? How did this affect him (Ac 8:3; 22:20; 26:9-12; Gal 1:13; Phil 3:6)? Why was he so determined to destroy the church (Dt 21:22-23)?

Jealousy, Life, Obedience & Joy (Acts 5).

James, Annabelle’s baptism, Sep 5, 2022: Intergenerational blessing/Blessing the next generation

Before becoming a Christian, I had no idea what to do with my empty, boring and meaningless life, even though I became a doctor and came to the U.S. A quote by Henry David Thoreau intrigued me: "The masses of men lead lives of quiet desperation." I thought I was the only miserable person in the world, but this quote assured me that everyone else in the world was just as  inwardly desperate and miserable as I! But by God's mercy and grace I became a Christian at 25 in 1980 when I studied Genesis with Dr. John Lee, a pediatric resident at CCH. I discovered who I was and still am–a sinner condemned unclean, yet so loved by God that He gave His Only Son to die for me! I found my purpose of life: To live for Christ and His kingdom by studying the Bible and raising disciples–the bedrock of UBF ministry; this became what God has enabled me to do for the last 4 decades of my life to this day. During a recent 2 week road trip to 7 east coast UBF churches, an older missionary asked me, "What are you doing now?" I answered, "I'm doing exactly what I've been doing for the last 40 years." Despite the many good and bad, and the many ups and downs, my trajectory of life in Christ has not changed one iota in 4 decades.

God has blessed my wife Christy and I with 4 kids in 6 years (1983-1989), and with 7 grandkids with James 13 and Annabelle 11 as the 2 oldest. A few months ago James told his dad that he wanted grandpa to baptize him before going to Whitney Young. I was so happily surprised. Then Annabelle also asked to be baptized, which made me doubly happy. In processing my joy, I thank God that Christy and I are blessed to pass on God's blessing to our oldest son Sam and to our oldest grandson James and to our oldest grand-daughter Annabelle.

 

This is nothing but the mercy and grace of God. I thought of God's desire to bless not only Abraham but also all of his descendants for countless generations. Gen 17:9 says, "Then God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.'" God called Abraham to bless not only him but also to bless "all peoples on earth" through his seed (Gen 12:2-3). The greatest blessing is not what we get, but what we give to others. What a great joy and privilege it is that despite our sins God has given us the blessing to be a blessing to others–including our grandchildren.

 

It was a joy to study the Bible with James the last few months. He loves sports, just like his dad and grandpa. He studies well and plays basketball. He is sincere, thoughtful and intelligent. And he wants to commit his life to Christ by being baptized as he goes to Whitney Young with the verse "The Lord is my shepherd" (Ps 23:1). I told James that if Christy and I live another 20 years, we pray to see him and Annabelle pass their faith in Christ to their son or daughter. May God bless James and Annabelle's baptism as their decision to follow Jesus as Lord all the days of their life and pass it on to subsequent generations. Amen.

Gospel Credit (Rom 4:1-25)

Rom 4:1-25; 4:5

"But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited for righteousness" (Rom 4:5, HCSB). "However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness" (Rom 4:5, NIV).

What are the things that bring you great happiness in life? What are the best things that you have in life? Likely they include persons and things about your life that delight you and bring you love, joy and peace. Good food does that for me, since I am a foodie. I am embarrassed and ashamed to admit that during my latest and current trip to Manila and Malaysia I gained 9 lbs (4 kg) in a month! It seems that I turn into a glutton whenever I go back to eating food that I ate growing up. I also love pets. Thus, I also loathe to hear about cruelty inflicted to animals who are virtually at the mercy of humans. It seems as though I still grieve inwardly whenever I think about losing both my dog and my cat. Surely the best things we have that bring us delight and joy are people close to us. After 33 years of marriage my favorite person is still my wife, who is my best friend and the person I would most rather be with...even if we annoy each other whenever we are together. Usually it is in fun and jest. At other times it is our unintentional highly annoying idiosyncrasies. I wrote this last year after 32 years of marriage. As a grandfather, it is such a delight to just see my grandkids pictures and videos on Facebook and Skype. I've also experienced good heath and success in life. Virtually all the things that brings me happiness and joy are basically free gifts. As Christian I realize that I deserve and earn none of them. If anything, I know that I deserve the opposite. I know that the countless blessings I experience are all entirely God's mercy and grace to me, freely given, especially His Son (Gal 2:20, MSG). God blessed me before I believed in Him. God continues to pour out his blessings upon my life after my conversion in 1980. The key verse Rom 4:5 fully resonates with me in that I did nothing but sin as an ungodly person (Isa 64:6; Gen 6:5), while God only blessed (credited) my life as though I lived a perfect life (2 Cor 5:21), which is anything but the truth.

The "Joy" of Death (Gen 25:1-11)

"...he died at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying life" (Gen 25:8, NLT).

Previous passage: The Lord Will Provide (Gen 22:1-14).
Contrasting passage: Lot's End is God's Judgment (Gen 19:1-38)

Death is gut wrenching and crippling to countless billions, to put it mildly. One of my most vivid memories is that of a successful Chicago lawyer in his mid to late 30s. He was a brilliant confident self-made man. He built up his law firm from the ground up, has dozens of lawyers working for him, lives in a 5 million dollar house (25 years ago), has countless luxury cars, and a stunning wife. I met him as a trainee oncologist. He came to see my mentor oncologist with complaints of mild difficulty in swallowing for 3 weeks. He just had a biopsy taken from his throat and came to the oncology office to discuss the findings. He was jovial as he entered the office with his gorgeous wife. He said jokingly, "Doc, am I gonna live?" But the mood soon changed. After some elaborate explanation by the oncologist, it gradually dawned on him what his biopsy report meant when his diagnosis read "small cell carcinoma of the esophagus." The moment arrived when he suddenly realized that he had inoperable terminal cancer and had about 4 months to live.

Cataclysmic and Gradual Judgment (Gen 19:1-38)

"So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out..." (Gen 19:29).

Previous passages: Friendship and Intimacy (Gen 18:1-16); The Wonder of Laughter (Gen 18:9-15; 21:1-7); Why God Choose Abraham (Gen 18:19); The Prayer of a True Friend (Gen 18:17-33).
Next passage: Abraham Offers Isaac (Gen 22:1-14).
Contrasting passage: A Full and Satisfying Life (Gen 25:1-11)

God's judgment on Sodom is the 3rd major judgment in Genesis after God's judgment on Adam and Eve (Gen 3:1-24) and the flood (Gen 6:1ff). God's judgment infuriates man and rubs them in reverse. Though they are convinced that God's judgment does not exist, yet their resentment, hostility and anger toward God's judgment often seems out of proportion to its "non-existence." Is Santa Claus sending people to hell upsetting? We laugh. But replace Santa with God and the response is intensified.

The Prayer of a True Friend (Gen 18:17-33)

Previous text: Friendship and Intimacy (Gen 18:1-16); Why God Choose Abraham (Gen 18:19).

Abraham is known in the Bible as God's friend (2 Chron 20:7; Isa 41:8; James 2:23). What is a friend? Tim Keller says, "A true friend always lets you in, but never lets you down." True friends share their hearts with you, hiding nothing, as God did with Abraham (Gen 18:17,20-21), and as Jesus did with his disciples (Jn 15:15). True friends are also faithfully committed to their friends, regardless. Prov 18:24 says, "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" (ESV).

We often think that Christians should be totally submissive to God. Of course this is true. But in this breathtaking passage (Gen 18:17-33), Abraham comes before God in prayer not as a "Yes man." Rather, as God's friend, he "bargains" and "pushes" God boldly, almost unashamedly, and yet with the utmost of humility, respect and awe (Gen 18:27,31).

What 7 things can we learn from Gen 18:17-33 about the prayer of a friend of God (often known as intercessory prayer)?

Friendship and Intimacy (Gen 18:1-33)

"Then the LORD said, 'Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?'" (Gen 18:17)

Previous passage: "Walk Before God Blamelessly" (Gen 17:1-27)
Related passages: "The Wonder of Laughter" (Gen 18:9-15; 21:1-7)
Why Did God Chose Abraham? (Gen 18:19)
The Prayer of a True Friend (Gen 18:17-33)

What do we really want in life? What do we need? We need money. We need a career. We need to have fun. On a more basic and foundational level we need some meaning and purpose to our own existence. (Theology or Me-ology.) Perhaps more than anything else, we need a good friend. If one is married, their best and most intimate friend should be their spouse. As the saying goes, "A happy wife is a happy life." Also, the more true friends one has, the better their "quality of life." Sadly and tragically, when one has no friends, their lives become a living hell. On Christmas and Thanksgiving day, the suicide rate spikes each year without fail, likely because of the absence of a loving and caring friend. Why might friendship be so foundational to a happy life?

Why did God Call/Chose Abraham? (Gen 18:19)

Previous passage: "Walk Before God Blamelessly" (Gen 17:1-27)
Next passage: "The Wonder of Laughter" (Gen 18:9-15; 21:1-7)

Christians often inadvertently think that they choose God, because they accepted the invitation to study the Bible, or to attend church, or to repent and accept Christ as Savior and Lord, or to go overseas as a missionary. But Jesus said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide..." (Jn 15:16, ESV). This is the doctrine of election. Likewise, Gen 18:19 says, "For I have chosen him (Abraham)..." It is confounding and humbling. Why would a holy God humble himself to chose a proud sinner who thinks he knows better than God?

The God who chose Abraham gives us a clue as to why God chooses and calls proud sinners to be his humble servants. Consider these questions: How does God summarize Abraham's call (Gen 18:18-19)? How does Grace and Law, Calling and Obedience, relate to each other (Gen 18:19)?

Walk Before God Blamelessly (Gen 17:1-27)

“I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless” (Gen 17:1).

"Walk before (God) faithfully and blamelessly." Bible verses like this scare the living daylights out of people. They think that the Bible demands too much of them, that the Christian life is a straight-jacket, and too restrictive, and that there is no freedom and no fun at all in the Christian life. I once trembled at the thought of being a full time Christian minister, thinking that I can't watch any more movies for the rest of my life. So I completely gave up the thought of ever being a full time pastor! My own guilt caused my own ascetic thinking. Let's look at this verse in the context of Abram's life.

Intro: (Genesis 17 is arguably the hinge pin of all ministry, for it is quoted 10 times in Hebrews, 8 times in Galatians, and 8 times in Romans.) God comes to Abram to renew his covenant 13 years after Abram committed an illegitimate act built upon illegitimate thinking because of the acceptance of illegitimate cultural norms that have given rise to an illegitimate relationship that produces an illegitimate son (Gen 16:1-16). All of this is to actually attempt to "do" God's will in accord with God's covenant. One might expect Gen 17:1 to begin with "You're fired. You messed up too royally." Instead, the calling of God on Abraham is freshly declared in Gen 17:1ff.

In Gen 17:1, God reveals himself in a new way as "God Almighty" (Hebrew El-Shaddai)--the 5th name for God so far in Genesis. God's names so far are:

How can a Holy God "Credit" Sinners with Righteousness? (Gen 15:1-6)

"Abram believed the LORD, and he (God) credited it to him as righteousness" (Gen 15:6). "Credited" has also been translated "counted" or "reckoned." 

How can a holy God "credit" a sinner with righteousness? This seems to contradict the Bible, which says that God "does not leave the guilty unpunished" (Exo 34:7), and that God's "eyes are too pure to look on evil" (Hab 1:13). 

Yet, through out the OT, God rescues his people and establishes personal relationships with those who continually fail to meet his standard of righteousness (Gen 15:1-6). Also, God refuses to credit sin to sinners (Ps 32:1-2; Rom 4:7-8). On what basis can a just and holy God do such things?

The LORD Will Provide (Gen 22:1-14)

"The LORD will provide" (Gen 22:14).

Theme: The Lord provides a sacrificial lamb so that his people may live. When I reviewed Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller, I shared how I used to teach Gen 22: "Offer your Isaac to God, you sinner!" and how Keller, in his book, explained the narrative by pointing to Christ.

Goal: To assure God's people that their faithful covenant Lord can be trusted to provide their redemption.

Application: Do we trust the Lord to provide, or do we go after what we want?

The Wonder of Laughter (Gen 18:9-15; 21:1-7)

"Is anything too hard (wonderful) for the Lord?" (Gen 18:14)
"Sarah says, 'God has brought me laughter...'" (Gen 21:6)

Ty Cobb (1886-1961), the 1st man inducted into the baseball hall of fame, was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. At the close of his life, he reportedly said, "Life sucks!" Pictures of him in his old age is that of a very dark, angry, irritable, unapproachable, misanthropic (dislike of the human species) unhappy man with no trace of joy or laughter on his face. All of his fame, popularity, success and wealth did not generate any laughter in his soul. In his old age, perhaps progressively through out his life, he lost the ability to laugh. Can any man live without laughter?

Theme: Laughter. When God fulfilled his purpose for Sarah, God brought laughter to her. God transformed her previous laughter of skepticism/cynicism to "real" laughter from the grace of God.

Goal: When God fulfills his purpose/gives grace, God brings laughter to our soul.

Application: Do you experience the deep wonder of the grace of laughter?

How the Divine Deals with our Doubts (Gen 15:1-21)

"...how can I know...?" (Gen 15:8)

In response to people’s delight in his failure to win the 2011 NBA finals, LeBron James said this after he lost (June 12, 2011): ““All the people that was rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day, they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today. They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But they have to get back to the real world at some point.”

He's not going to win any friends or fans by his careless defensive remarks as the loser. But what he says is true. Similarly, Henry Thoreau observed, "The masses of men lead lives of quiet desperation." From Genesis 15, we will see how God helped Abram face life in the real world of personal problems and quiet desperation.


Theme: God gives real confidence to Abram when he had humanly irresolvable doubts about God and about himself.


Goal: To plant confidence in God’s people when they are filled with their own doubts, sorrows and fears.


Application: Only the bloody cross of Jesus taking our sins upon himself enables us to live with real confidence in the real world, despite all of our doubts that are inevitable.

See The God Who Sees You (Gen 16:1-16)

"You are the God who sees me" (Gen 16:13).

What is a major theme of Genesis and of the entire Bible? Is it that good people do good things and God blesses and rewards them? Or is it something else?

Theme: Grace comes to those who do not deserve it, who do not seek it, who continually resist it, and who do not appreciate it even after they receive it.

Goal: Reflect upon our understanding of grace.

Application: Does the depth of sheer grace inform and touch and transform your heart and life?

3 major world religions look at Abraham as the model for courageous living, for authentic living, and for faithful living. Why did Abraham triumph? Gen 16:1-16, which is like a soap opera, shows that it is not because he is made of better stuff than we are. It shows Abraham to be a deeply flawed and very fallible human being, which is putting it mildly. Also, the English translations do not show the rawness and the brutality that is conveyed in the Hebrew. It beautifies, sanitizes and makes it PG or G that which was conveyed in Hebrew as R or even X rated.

3 Paramount Biblical Themes from God's Covenant with Abraham (Gen 12:1-3)

These 3 doctrines--grace, election, faith--may be among the most misunderstood, misconstrued and even maligned teachings in the Bible. This is what Graeme Goldsworthy, a highly respected Australian Anglican theologian specializing in the Old Testament and Biblical Theology, says.

1st, GRACE. As with Noah there is nothing special about Abraham that deserves the goodness of God in calling him into these blessings. He lived among pagans and responds with faith and obedience to the call of God. There is no hint that God was responding to Abraham's goodness. In fact, he lied about his wife twice, in order, so he thought, to preserve his life (Gen 12:11-20; 20:1-18). He showed lack of faith in God's promises and worked to undermine the promise that Sarah would be the mother of the promised descendants. It is clear from the biblical narrative that we cannot see God's goodness to Abraham as deserved. Rather, the biblical picture of God's free and sovereign grace is developed in God's call to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3).

2nd, ELECTION. Whenever God acts for the good of the people he is acting against what they deserve as rebellious sinners, and that action is grace. Election means that God chooses some and not others as objects of his grace. Rom 9:19-24 tells us that election works for God's glory, for it demonstrates divine sovereignty.

Man's Heart and Center (Gen 13:1-17)

Link to previous Genesis passages: The God Who Made Everything (Gen 1-2)  The Fall (Gen 3:1-24)  Sin, Grace and Salvation (Gen 4:1-16) Sin, Faith and Salvation (Gen 6:1-14)  Divine Judgment (Gen 6:5-13)  The Call of God (Gen 12:1-9)

My Story: I thought that graduating from medical school in Malaysia at age 22 in 1978 would validate my young life, and give me the happiness I desperately wanted for the rest of my life. But when I woke up on the 3rd day after graduation, expecting to still feel happy, the euphoria was gone. It really baffled me that my happiness lasted only 2 days! In light of Lot desiring the well-watered plain of the Jordan in this text, I was expecting that becoming a doctor would be my "garden of Eden," my "paradise," like "the garden of the Lord" to Lot (Gen 13:10). But I did not know that. So I thought I needed to be a physician in the U.S., the Mecca of Medicine. After 2 years of bone crushing effort, I made it to Chicago in 1980 with a sense of accomplishment and success. But again my joy was short lived. Painfully, I learned that becoming a doctor and coming to the U.S. could not fulfill my deepest inner longing beyond a few days. Next, I thought, "I need a woman!" All of this were my ever feeble attempts at getting back to "the garden of the Lord" without the Lord.

What does the account of Abram and Lot in Gen 13:1-17 teach about what can and cannot fulfill us human beings?

The Call of God (Genesis 11:27-12:9)

Theme: God calls his people to claim all nations as his kingdom (as Abraham did).

Goal: Soften and sensitize our hearts to the call of God.

Application: The call of God makes all the difference in the world in any man's life. Have you heard the call of God?

What made Abraham great was the call of God. What makes one's life great is the call of God. What makes one a Christian is the call of God. The call of God is what truly shapes a Christian life.

Some challenges in teaching/preaching this biblical narrative:

1. Avoid superficial "character-imitation" preaching.
2. Turning this text into a moral tale: God's call to Abram becomes God's call to everyone, and they, like Abram, must respond with unquestioning obedience. They apply God's unique call of Abram directly to everyone in the congregation, thus committing the error of generalizing and universalizing.
3. Spiritualizing the text: People must leave their "country," their old way of life, and go to the new life God will show them. This is not unbiblical, but it is not the message of this particular text. It fails to ask first what was the message the narrator intended to convey to Israel.