381: John Carter – Stephen’s Speech

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Welcome to Good Christophian
Talks.

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Thank you for joining us this
week on this podcast.

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We select one talk a week to
help us get the Bible in our

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Daily News feed.
Each week we post a talk that we

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previewed from suggestions sent
in by listeners from around the

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world.
Then we record a short intro

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beforehand as a personalized
recommendation to you on why we

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are sharing the talk.
And now let’s talk more about

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this week’s talk.
Hello, this is brother Chris.

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For this week, I picked a talk
that was from a series that

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brother John Carter gave at the
Wilbraham Bible School all the

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way back in 1952, talking about
the speeches and acts.

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Now, this entire series was a
really fun listen.

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We’ll have it up on the good
Chris Delphine Talks extended

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podcast with a disclaimer that
the audio with the first class

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is a little rough, something to
be expected with a 70 year old

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recording.
But this came as a secondary

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recommendation from listening to
some of the podcast that we did

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for the podcast showcase back in
August.

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This was from episode 63 of the
Wilderness Conversations podcast

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where Brother Des Mansur was
talking with Steven Dotson and

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he talked about listening to
these talks when he was younger.

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And I found it to be really
heartwarming to hear how

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impactful these were and then
made me want to go out and

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listen to him.
And so by listening to him, I, I

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can agree with whether does
that.

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These were really spectacular
classes and it was really fun to

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hear Brother John Carter’s
perspective on it.

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The specific class that we’re
looking at here is class #4 from

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that series, and it’s looking
specifically at Stevens speech.

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Part of why I picked it is this
is one of the speeches where

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Brother John Carter is putting
together a lot of the

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foundational work that he’s been
laying in the first couple

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classes where he is looking into
how Luke was writing the book of

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Acts and talks about that.
But he makes mention of it in

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this class.
But then really puts all

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together to add a whole bunch of
additional depth and detail into

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Steven’s speech, which is
already a very comprehensive

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speech that he gave and is one
that I’ve heard classes before

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on.
But I never heard some of the

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detail and some of the things
that Brother John brings out

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talking about Steven.
And I found it to be a really

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eye opening way to view Steven’s
speech and sort of the

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progression that Steven goes
through as he’s giving the

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speech to the people that are
before him.

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I hope that you find this to be
as thought provoking and

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interesting as I did and that
you are able to find some new

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Nuggets about Steven’s speech in
the book of Acts.

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So with that, I will turn it
over to our brother John Carter

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coming to you all the way from
1952 from the Wilbraham Bible

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School for his fourth class on a
series on the speeches and Acts.

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This is Class 4 entitled Stevens
Speech.

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It is evident, dear brethren and
sisters, from the length of the

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speech which has been read, that
it must occupy an important

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place in the scheme of Luke’s
history.

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He has told us of the beginning
of Christian life at Pentecost.

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He traces for us the Jerusalem
ministry, the opposition of

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Jewish authorities, the arrest
of Peter and John.

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He narrates Peter’s defence and
then tells us of the origin of

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the internal difficulties in the
case of Ananias and Sapphira.

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At the same time great progress
was made and many that heard

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these things were added to the
Lord.

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He then has told us in his
history how Jewish toleration

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was established after the
imprisonment of the apostles,

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firstly by their dismissal, and
secondly through the council

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which was accepted, which was
given unto them by Gamaliel.

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And yet those who knew anything
about Christian life in its

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relation to Judaism in the 1st
century knew that there was a

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sharp antagonism existing.
What was the origin of that

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antagonism?
We shall see before we are

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through with this book of Acts
the reason why Luke traces out

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this antagonism.
It has a particular bearing upon

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the legal questions that he will
discuss in the book.

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This speech begins really the
important legal issues for a

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question was being decided by
the Jewish authorities whether

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the distinctively characteristic
teaching of the apostles

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concerning Jesus Christ, with
all its implications, should be

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tolerated by them.
And it happened that Stephen,

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who was a man mighty in the
world, as is very evident, who

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had a power of presentation in
his defence, was the one who was

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arraigned before them.
They were visiting the

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synagogues, of which there were
many in Jerusalem, generally

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devoted to the men from
particular districts who visited

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Jerusalem, a city from those of
those from the province of Asia,

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or from Akaia, as the case may
be, or from Egypt.

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And Stephen, in one of these
defences, had been disputing and

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arguing concerning the Christian
faith, And so he was brought

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before the Jewish authorities
with certain charges preferred

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against him.
Now we must try and see as

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clearly as we can what the
charges were that were made

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against him, For it is only by
seeing the charges that were

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made that we shall see in turn
how Stephen presented his

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apologia, his defence.
Let us look then at the charges

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which are given.
The close of chapter 6, verse

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10, chapter 6.
They were not able to resist the

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wisdom and the spirit by which
He spake.

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Then they suborn men which said,
We have heard him speak

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blasphemous words against Moses
and against God, And they

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stirred up the people, and the
elders and the scribes, and came

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upon him, and caught him, and
brought him to the council, and

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set up false witnesses.
And here there is a remarkable

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parallel between what happened
to the master and to the

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servant.
They set up false witnesses

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which said, This man ceaseth not
to speak blasphemous words

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against this holy place, that is
the temple and the law.

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So the basis of the charge
against Stephen was that he had

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been uttering things which to
them were derogatory to temple

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and to law.
And they explained how his

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contentions were such by saying,
we have heard him say that this

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same Jesus of Nazareth shall
destroy this place and change

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the customs which Moses
delivered us.

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We’ve heard him say that this
Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy

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this place and change the
customs.

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So it is quite evident that
Stephen had been contending that

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the practices of the Mosaic Law
and the worship at the temple

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were not essential to be
acceptable to God.

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But a time had now come when
these things were becoming

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obsolete.
He was in fact putting forward

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what Jesus had said to the woman
at Samaria when she asked Him to

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decide the issue as to whether
Garizim or Zion was the place

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where men ought to worship.
Jesus indicated that

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historically the answer was in
favour of the Jews and of Zion.

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But the hour is coming when
neither here nor there, but

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wherever men may be, those who
worship God in spirit and in

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truth, would be acceptable to
Him, for God’s sake of such to

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worship Him.
The charge against Jesus that He

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had said He would destroy this
temple and raise it up in three

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days was a perversion of His
teaching.

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He had indeed said, You destroy
this temple, and I will raise it

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up in three days.
But he spake of the temple of

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his body.
But it would appear that the

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Jews in their opposition to
Jesus somehow fused the two

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statements.
For we find there was a haunting

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fear about them concerning
something that would happen in

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three days.
For they went to pilot and said,

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this man said three days.
In three days I will rise again.

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Therefore make the tomb secure,
and with the same sensitiveness.

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The Jewish authorities saw a
danger to the practices in which

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they had such vested interests.
And even though they put aside

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their vested interests, to a
patriotic Jew, it would seem

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indeed that the man who was
putting forward such a case of

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Stephen but only be classed as a
renegade, and must therefore be

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arraigned before the
authorities.

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They must have related these
charges to the law of blasphemy,

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so serious did they treat them.
But the man must have recognised

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that just as they had manifested
the bitterness and the hatred

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toward Jesus which had brought
him to the cross, so he in his

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turn must be prepared for a
similar manifestation of evil

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spirit toward him.
So he too, must be prepared for

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a like perversion of the
application of justice as He

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stood before these authorities.
And therefore He must present

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such a case that it is put with
all power and cogency in defence

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of the position that he had
maintained.

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So that he might show that if it
were indeed God’s purpose that

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He had been setting forth in His
contentions, it might be put

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before them in such a way that
it couldn’t be gained.

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Seed for the man who had such
spirit of wisdom and of power,

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and also the quiet confidence
and radiance that comes from

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utter conviction in the truth of
what he believed.

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And they looked upon his face,
and saw, as it were, the face of

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an Angel.
And with such wonder and

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bewilderment they must sit and
listen for so long a time.

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While Stephen presented his
defence in Smith’s Bible

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Dictionary, now 100 years old or
so, Dean Stanley says that there

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are 12 mistakes in Stephen’s
defence.

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Rackham, to whose book we
referred at our in our first

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address, a book in so many
respects, excellent charges.

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Stephen with 15 mistakes.
Now this is serious.

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We might think, indeed, that it
doesn’t impugn the inspiration

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of Scripture or the accuracy of
the record, that under such

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circumstances mistakes might be
possible.

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But we needn’t fall back upon
that.

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For every one of these supposed
mistakes can be satisfactorily

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explained, but not only so, in
the very explanation of them by

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the application of the key upon
which we have insisted in

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previous addresses.
What appears to be a mistake is

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seen to have a marked relevance
to Pete, to Stevens argument,

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and is indeed vital to it.
Now let me sketch to you first

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of all briefly his argument, so
that we might get its outline in

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our minds, so that the outline
is not less lost in the

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multitude of details at which we
shall have to look.

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They said then Stephen is
speaking against the law and

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against the temple, clearly
indicating that they were not

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vital, that they hadn’t the
place now in the purpose of God

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attached to them by the Jews.
How does he meet it?

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Well, this broadly is his
argument.

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Abraham was called of God, but
he was called before the law was

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given, and since Abraham acts
worship God acceptably, the law

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was not essential.
In Abraham’s case, Joseph and

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Moses were both rejected, and
yet in each case the man was

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raised up by God as the
deliverer of his people.

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Therefore, the rejection of
Jesus was only an extension of

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the same attitude to God’s work
that had been manifested by

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their fathers.
And there was all the elements.

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They were all the elements of a
similar mistake having been made

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on their part in the rejection
of Jesus.

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He shows that worship was
offered to God in the wilderness

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before the Tabernacle was made.
Then the Tabernacle was not

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essential for acceptable
worship.

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He shows that before the temple
was built, David offered

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acceptable service to God.
Neither, therefore, was the

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temple necessary for acceptable
service.

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He reminds them that their
fathers had persecuted the

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prophets, and therefore warns
them that their attitude was a

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persistence in the evil of their
Father’s ways.

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He reminds them finally that the
law which they acknowledged had

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not been kept by them and
therefore this persistence on

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their part was but an exhibition
of what was at National Tray

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their refusal to accept Him and
His message that refusal to

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accept Jesus and his message was
not strange.

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And so we can see that this
speech of Stephen as as we would

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expect it to have a marked for
relevance to the charges that

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were made.
Just as a lawyer in court making

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a defence on behalf of a
prisoner must needs deal with

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the charges that were that have
that were made against the

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prisoner, otherwise the judge
would not permit him to

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continue, so also Stephen in
making his defence must present

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a case that has strictly related
to the charges that were made.

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And we suggest that the very
length of it extended as it must

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have been in keeping with what
has been said about the previous

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00:16:00,240 –> 00:16:04,040
speeches recorded here.
It says something for the

222
00:16:04,040 –> 00:16:08,560
impassioned power and the
ability of the men as he reviews

223
00:16:08,560 –> 00:16:11,720
their history and he makes no
mistake.

224
00:16:12,560 –> 00:16:17,600
He builds up his argument with
unerring skill, and Travis has

225
00:16:17,600 –> 00:16:21,120
the whole range of Old Testament
history.

226
00:16:21,400 –> 00:16:24,600
We’ll then try and follow, and
we shall have to be a little

227
00:16:24,600 –> 00:16:28,720
hurried and a little compressed
in what is said, and we shall

228
00:16:28,720 –> 00:16:31,360
have to ask you to attend
closely.

229
00:16:31,960 –> 00:16:36,120
Let us try, then, and follow
Stephen in a little more detail.

230
00:16:37,120 –> 00:16:40,640
Let us take account of the
objections that have been made

231
00:16:40,920 –> 00:16:46,560
concerning the accuracy of His
words, and see how, following

232
00:16:46,560 –> 00:16:52,680
Luke’s method, those objections
really become boomerangs against

233
00:16:52,680 –> 00:16:55,160
the critical attack to the
second verse.

234
00:16:55,160 –> 00:16:59,160
Then, men, brethren, and
fathers, hearken.

235
00:16:59,600 –> 00:17:04,040
The God of glory appeared unto
our father Abraham, when he was

236
00:17:04,040 –> 00:17:09,000
in Mesopotamia before he
dwelting Karen, the God of

237
00:17:09,000 –> 00:17:11,680
glory.
What’s the significance of that?

238
00:17:12,720 –> 00:17:17,599
The glory was the mark of the
manifestation of God and the

239
00:17:17,599 –> 00:17:21,640
token of His presence in the
midst of His people.

240
00:17:22,640 –> 00:17:28,119
When, then, Stephen describes
God as the God of glory, he is

241
00:17:28,119 –> 00:17:33,240
saying that the God who revealed
Himself as living in the midst

242
00:17:33,240 –> 00:17:38,640
of His people by His glory was
the One who called Abraham.

243
00:17:39,480 –> 00:17:43,520
But he lived in Mesopotamia, and
it was before even he came to

244
00:17:43,520 –> 00:17:46,520
Karen that the call was made to
him.

245
00:17:46,560 –> 00:17:51,960
So God evidently can call men
independently of either

246
00:17:51,960 –> 00:17:55,960
residence in the land of
Palestine or of worship at the

247
00:17:55,960 –> 00:17:59,000
Temple.
He said to Abraham, Get thee out

248
00:17:59,000 –> 00:18:02,760
of this land into a country that
I will show thee.

249
00:18:03,280 –> 00:18:08,240
And here we come to the first
two objections that are raised

250
00:18:09,320 –> 00:18:15,000
against the accuracy of Stephen.
We’ve caught the words of

251
00:18:15,000 –> 00:18:19,360
Rackham, he says.
Stephen makes appear to Abraham.

252
00:18:19,360 –> 00:18:22,480
Stephen makes God appear to
Abraham for the first time in

253
00:18:22,480 –> 00:18:26,360
the land of the Chaldeans.
That is heard of the Chaldeans,

254
00:18:26,360 –> 00:18:29,200
which was sometimes reckoned by
the Greeks in Mesopotamia.

255
00:18:29,960 –> 00:18:33,280
Genesis is silent about this
appearance and makes the first

256
00:18:33,280 –> 00:18:37,320
call, the words of which are
quoted by Stephen at Heran.

257
00:18:38,240 –> 00:18:42,000
Philo and Jesus, however, agree
with Stephen, and the earlier

258
00:18:42,000 –> 00:18:44,120
appearance is supported by
Joshua.

259
00:18:44,600 –> 00:18:47,760
But this difficulty is created
by making the appearance of God

260
00:18:47,760 –> 00:18:51,360
to Abraham, recorded in Genesis
12, to have occurred after

261
00:18:51,360 –> 00:18:54,760
Tyra’s death, accepting the AV
of Genesis 12.

262
00:18:54,840 –> 00:18:59,720
One now the Lord had said to
Abraham, We are thrown back to

263
00:18:59,720 –> 00:19:05,040
the days of Abraham in earth.
What was it that made Tira and

264
00:19:05,040 –> 00:19:09,600
Abram leave her, unless there
was some divine message that God

265
00:19:09,600 –> 00:19:12,520
had given them?
A divine message is evident from

266
00:19:12,520 –> 00:19:17,440
the fact that it is said through
Joshua later that the fathers of

267
00:19:17,440 –> 00:19:20,840
Israel were called from beyond
the flood, from beyond the

268
00:19:20,840 –> 00:19:23,680
Euphrates.
And he came into this land, says

269
00:19:23,680 –> 00:19:27,400
Stephen, wherein ye now dwell,
and from thence and voting

270
00:19:27,400 –> 00:19:30,480
Karen, And from thence, when his
father was dead, he removed him

271
00:19:30,480 –> 00:19:33,360
into this land.
Objection 2.

272
00:19:33,880 –> 00:19:38,720
Stephen and Philo agrees, says
that Tyra died before Abram left

273
00:19:38,720 –> 00:19:42,000
Heron.
The figures given in Genesis

274
00:19:42,160 –> 00:19:47,720
11/26/32 and 12/4 would imply
that Tyra had yet 60 years to

275
00:19:47,720 –> 00:19:51,320
live.
But that is to mistake the

276
00:19:51,320 –> 00:19:55,680
record in Genesis.
For Abraham’s name comes first,

277
00:19:55,960 –> 00:19:58,280
in keeping with the method of
Moses.

278
00:19:59,000 –> 00:20:02,160
That’s another story.
Just as we’re examining Luke in

279
00:20:02,160 –> 00:20:04,080
keeping with the method of
Moses.

280
00:20:04,080 –> 00:20:08,560
Abraham’s name is name is given
first, before that those of his

281
00:20:08,560 –> 00:20:12,200
two brothers.
But it doesn’t say that he was

282
00:20:12,200 –> 00:20:16,160
the oldest and with a perfect
right to take the figures and

283
00:20:16,160 –> 00:20:22,240
say Abrah Earl lived to Tira
lived to be 230 and Abraham was

284
00:20:22,440 –> 00:20:27,160
so old when Tira died, therefore
Abraham was born.

285
00:20:27,840 –> 00:20:31,880
When Tira was subtracting the
fit one figure from the other,

286
00:20:32,880 –> 00:20:36,880
and there’s nothing in scripture
to forbid that, and that Tira

287
00:20:37,520 –> 00:20:40,040
therefore had Abraham long after
the others.

288
00:20:40,520 –> 00:20:43,960
In fact, those of you who have
read Blundzum Design

289
00:20:43,960 –> 00:20:49,000
Coincidences will know that the
disparity in the ages of the

290
00:20:49,000 –> 00:20:56,240
generations led to the marriage
of one in one generation to the

291
00:20:56,240 –> 00:21:00,800
wife in the next, all of which
fits in with the differences in

292
00:21:00,800 –> 00:21:03,880
the birth of the children.
The fifth verse, which we so

293
00:21:03,880 –> 00:21:09,040
often quote as showing that the
Abrahamic promises were not

294
00:21:09,040 –> 00:21:13,320
fulfilled, was not spoken in the
first instance for the same

295
00:21:13,320 –> 00:21:17,560
purpose that we use it, although
our use of it is quite

296
00:21:17,560 –> 00:21:20,760
legitimate.
He gave him non inheritance into

297
00:21:20,760 –> 00:21:22,880
it.
In it no not so much as to set

298
00:21:22,880 –> 00:21:26,160
his foot on, yet he promised
that he would give it to him for

299
00:21:26,160 –> 00:21:28,800
a possession, and to his seed
after him, when he has yet he

300
00:21:28,800 –> 00:21:33,920
had no child.
In other words, that while Abram

301
00:21:33,920 –> 00:21:39,640
came into the land, the covenant
of God with Abraham cannot fail,

302
00:21:40,680 –> 00:21:46,000
and therefore God has a purpose
with Abraham which is yet

303
00:21:46,000 –> 00:21:49,200
future.
And the covenant with Abraham

304
00:21:49,200 –> 00:21:52,960
was given before the law, and
therefore that is a purpose of

305
00:21:52,960 –> 00:21:56,760
God to be developed upon the
basis of the Abrahamic covenant,

306
00:21:57,120 –> 00:22:01,840
which is not yet realized.
Now you’ll observe that Luke

307
00:22:02,120 –> 00:22:06,200
records the argument, but he
never gives the inference.

308
00:22:06,360 –> 00:22:12,000
His space required compression,
and he leaves it to the wit of

309
00:22:12,000 –> 00:22:16,720
the reader, whom he expects to
think after him, to make the

310
00:22:16,720 –> 00:22:19,760
inference at every point where
it is required.

311
00:22:19,960 –> 00:22:22,520
Verse 6.
And God spake on this wise, that

312
00:22:22,520 –> 00:22:26,680
his seats should sojourn in a
strange land, that they should

313
00:22:26,680 –> 00:22:30,560
bring them into bondage, and
entreat them 400 years.

314
00:22:31,160 –> 00:22:34,360
And Rackham says, Here’s our
third mistake.

315
00:22:34,520 –> 00:22:40,080
Stephen and Pylo with Genesis
1513, give 400 years to the time

316
00:22:40,080 –> 00:22:46,080
of Israel’s bondage.
Exodus 1240 says 430 years.

317
00:22:46,600 –> 00:22:51,240
Paul gives the number 430 years.
How do we reconcile the Fort

318
00:22:51,240 –> 00:22:57,160
under them, the 430?
Quite simply, thy seed, God said

319
00:22:57,160 –> 00:23:00,520
to Abraham, shall sojourn 400
years.

320
00:23:01,800 –> 00:23:05,120
And it couldn’t.
The promise, the purpose thus

321
00:23:05,120 –> 00:23:07,880
indicated, couldn’t begin till
the seed was born.

322
00:23:09,080 –> 00:23:12,480
The length of time from the
giving of the promises to the

323
00:23:12,480 –> 00:23:17,400
giving of the law was 430 years,
and therefore the promise was

324
00:23:17,400 –> 00:23:22,000
given to Abraham 30 years before
Isaac was born.

325
00:23:23,000 –> 00:23:27,200
And the difficulty is resolved.
The seventh verse says, And the

326
00:23:27,200 –> 00:23:32,120
nation to whom they shall be in
bondage will I judge, and after

327
00:23:32,120 –> 00:23:35,520
that shall they come forth and
serve me in this place?

328
00:23:36,400 –> 00:23:42,480
Brackam says Stephen adds to
Genesis 151314 And serve me in

329
00:23:42,480 –> 00:23:46,080
this place.
Words taken from Exodus 312 and

330
00:23:46,080 –> 00:23:51,280
so understands by the place
Palestine and not Mount Sinai as

331
00:23:51,280 –> 00:23:55,760
is meant in Exodus, A criticism
that is perfectly gratuitous,

332
00:23:56,440 –> 00:23:59,680
but let us apply the method that
we’ve already observed.

333
00:24:00,520 –> 00:24:04,680
God says to Abraham, the nation
to whom they shall be in bondage

334
00:24:04,920 –> 00:24:07,640
will I judge, and then I’ll
bring them forth.

335
00:24:08,440 –> 00:24:14,560
And then, and then Stephen
deliberately quotes from the

336
00:24:14,560 –> 00:24:20,400
words of God to Moses at Horeb,
when Moses was told to go down

337
00:24:20,400 –> 00:24:26,280
and bring out my people and
bring them to this place, and

338
00:24:26,280 –> 00:24:28,880
they shall serve me in this
place.

339
00:24:29,640 –> 00:24:33,360
But why does Stephen quote that
reference?

340
00:24:34,000 –> 00:24:39,320
His point is that the people in
fulfilment of the Abrahamic

341
00:24:39,480 –> 00:24:44,760
promise about their sojourn,
were brought out at the time

342
00:24:44,840 –> 00:24:52,000
indicated, and in fulfilment of
the out at the time indicated,

343
00:24:52,360 –> 00:24:58,440
and in fulfilment of the words
to Moses were led to Sinai, and

344
00:24:58,440 –> 00:25:03,040
there served God.
But that was before the Law was

345
00:25:03,040 –> 00:25:06,600
given.
So even the nation of God, says

346
00:25:06,600 –> 00:25:11,600
Stephen, offered acceptable
service to God before ever the

347
00:25:11,600 –> 00:25:15,200
Law was given.
How then can the Law, and how

348
00:25:15,200 –> 00:25:19,880
can the Tabernacle of the Temple
be in themselves of such

349
00:25:21,160 –> 00:25:28,040
essential purpose in God’s
arrangement there can be worship

350
00:25:28,040 –> 00:25:32,720
is establishing independently of
those things going on.

351
00:25:32,720 –> 00:25:35,320
Verse 8.
And they gave him the covenant

352
00:25:35,320 –> 00:25:38,520
of circumcision.
And so Abraham begat Isaac, and

353
00:25:38,520 –> 00:25:42,840
circumcised in the eighth day,
And Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob

354
00:25:42,840 –> 00:25:47,080
begat the 12th tribes, And the
patriarchs moved with envy, sold

355
00:25:47,080 –> 00:25:51,960
Joseph into Egypt.
So Abraham had the covenant and

356
00:25:51,960 –> 00:25:55,120
even the right of circumcision
before ever the law.

357
00:25:56,000 –> 00:25:59,880
So it is quite evident, just as
Jesus had used the argument

358
00:25:59,880 –> 00:26:04,360
before in contention with the
Jews, that the right was vital,

359
00:26:04,600 –> 00:26:08,000
not because it was of Moses, but
because it was of the fathers.

360
00:26:08,560 –> 00:26:14,680
And so Stephen said even this
essential aspect has its real

361
00:26:14,680 –> 00:26:18,640
roots in the fact of something
anterior to the law.

362
00:26:19,280 –> 00:26:22,680
And so Joseph was taken into
Egypt and God was with him.

363
00:26:23,160 –> 00:26:26,680
And Stephen isn’t moralizing
just he’s something more

364
00:26:26,680 –> 00:26:30,440
important to do than to moralize
when he’s pleading for his life.

365
00:26:30,800 –> 00:26:34,880
Just think of the quickening
effect of a man with power of

366
00:26:34,880 –> 00:26:40,520
speech and the ability to reason
as Stephen had is no time merely

367
00:26:40,520 –> 00:26:44,840
for moralizing.
When he says God was with Joseph

368
00:26:44,840 –> 00:26:49,040
in Egypt, then God can be with a
man outside the land of

369
00:26:49,040 –> 00:26:53,280
Palestine before law or before
temple or before Tabernacle.

370
00:26:53,520 –> 00:26:56,200
God was with him and all the
time.

371
00:26:56,200 –> 00:27:02,760
Stephen is building up his case
that there was evidence of

372
00:27:03,080 –> 00:27:07,960
divine favour for men
independent of law and

373
00:27:07,960 –> 00:27:11,840
independent of Tabernacle Temple
as the place of worship.

374
00:27:12,280 –> 00:27:15,960
He delivered Joseph out of all
his afflictions, and gave him

375
00:27:15,960 –> 00:27:21,040
favour and wisdom, and made him
governor, a rejected man,

376
00:27:21,440 –> 00:27:27,760
exalted by God in his over
ruling Providence to favour and

377
00:27:27,760 –> 00:27:30,680
to rulership.
But rulership where?

378
00:27:30,960 –> 00:27:34,000
In the land of Egypt?
Among the Gentiles.

379
00:27:34,720 –> 00:27:37,640
And what if there’s a parallel
in the case of Jesus?

380
00:27:38,720 –> 00:27:43,960
What if Jesus, whom they have
rejected, should be one of whom

381
00:27:43,960 –> 00:27:47,440
it could be said equally with
Joseph that God was with him?

382
00:27:47,440 –> 00:27:54,720
And what if God had exalted
Jesus even to something higher

383
00:27:55,000 –> 00:28:01,040
than Pharaoh could exalt Joseph?
And what if the divine purpose

384
00:28:01,040 –> 00:28:04,440
in connection with the
exaltation of Jesus was bound up

385
00:28:04,440 –> 00:28:07,640
with Gentiles, just as it was in
the case of Joseph?

386
00:28:08,080 –> 00:28:11,640
That’s the argument that he’s
bringing out as he traces out

387
00:28:11,640 –> 00:28:14,520
this history.
And there came a dearth over all

388
00:28:14,520 –> 00:28:17,680
the land of Egypt and Canaan,
and great affliction.

389
00:28:18,840 –> 00:28:23,800
And even when God’s people were
thus in dire need, where was it

390
00:28:23,800 –> 00:28:27,480
that they found sustenance?
Where was it that they found the

391
00:28:27,480 –> 00:28:30,920
essential nourishment for life?
It was in Egypt.

392
00:28:31,240 –> 00:28:36,400
And when was it that they came
to know of the exaltation of

393
00:28:36,480 –> 00:28:40,920
this brother of theirs whom
they’d sought to destroy?

394
00:28:41,920 –> 00:28:46,560
And at the second time Joseph
was made known unto his

395
00:28:46,560 –> 00:28:50,680
brethren, And thus it was in the
time of crisis there was a

396
00:28:50,680 –> 00:28:55,720
revelation of the divine way in
the exaltation of Joseph.

397
00:28:56,040 –> 00:29:02,120
And it may be, says Stephen,
that there will be a second time

398
00:29:02,520 –> 00:29:08,240
in the history of the nation in
a time of crisis, when Joseph

399
00:29:08,240 –> 00:29:13,280
will be again revealed, or Jesus
to be seen to be the deliverer

400
00:29:13,920 –> 00:29:17,520
exalted of God.
And so he traces the parallel.

401
00:29:17,920 –> 00:29:22,560
And so Joseph kindred was made
known unto Pharaoh, then sent

402
00:29:22,560 –> 00:29:26,200
Joseph, and called his father
Jacob to him, and all his

403
00:29:26,200 –> 00:29:31,880
kindred. 3 score and 15 souls.
And Rackham says here again,

404
00:29:31,880 –> 00:29:37,800
Stephen’s making a mistake.
He says 75 souls, but Genesis

405
00:29:37,800 –> 00:29:43,520
4626, Exodus 1/5, Deuteronomy 10
and 22 all say 70.

406
00:29:43,960 –> 00:29:47,400
But another place in the record
speaks of 66 souls.

407
00:29:48,880 –> 00:29:52,960
Whatever is this man doing
blundering about like that?

408
00:29:52,960 –> 00:29:55,880
Didn’t he know his history,
Although he’s trying to draw out

409
00:29:55,880 –> 00:30:00,600
such inferences from it, He knew
his history, and the very

410
00:30:00,600 –> 00:30:03,920
computation that he’s presenting
to them is a part of his

411
00:30:03,920 –> 00:30:10,040
argument for the 66 mentioned
once in Genesis includes the

412
00:30:10,040 –> 00:30:15,400
eleven sons, Joseph being
accepted and their sons, and

413
00:30:15,400 –> 00:30:18,800
Joseph and his two sons and
Jacob added makes the 70.

414
00:30:18,800 –> 00:30:23,840
But what about the added five?
They’re the sons of Iprim and

415
00:30:23,840 –> 00:30:31,160
Manasseh who were born in Egypt,
and God includes even those born

416
00:30:31,160 –> 00:30:38,440
in Egypt in exile among those
who are associated with the

417
00:30:38,440 –> 00:30:42,040
purpose of God.
And thus what appears to be a

418
00:30:42,040 –> 00:30:46,440
mistake on the part of Stephen,
and he wasn’t content to just

419
00:30:46,440 –> 00:30:48,080
say it.
We may be sure he gives his

420
00:30:48,080 –> 00:30:51,240
reason and his argument, as we
are trying to draw it out in

421
00:30:51,240 –> 00:30:57,600
some sort of a feeble way.
And therefore it wasn’t these

422
00:30:57,600 –> 00:31:02,240
who were thus connected with
Palestine and born there, but it

423
00:31:02,240 –> 00:31:07,320
was even those who were born
outside who were included in the

424
00:31:07,320 –> 00:31:11,200
number enumerated in Scripture.
And so Jacob went down into

425
00:31:11,200 –> 00:31:15,000
Egypt and died.
Verse 15 says he and our fathers

426
00:31:15,000 –> 00:31:18,440
and were carried over into psych
him and laid in the sepulchre

427
00:31:18,440 –> 00:31:22,240
that Abram bought for a sum of
money of the sons of Emma, the

428
00:31:22,240 –> 00:31:28,280
father of Shechem.
And so we get objection 6.

429
00:31:29,200 –> 00:31:33,760
But Joshua tells us that Joseph
was buried at Shechem, and in

430
00:31:33,760 –> 00:31:36,840
adding his brothers our fathers,
Jacob’s 12th sons.

431
00:31:36,840 –> 00:31:41,560
Stephen is probably quoting
contemporary tradition.

432
00:31:41,880 –> 00:31:46,680
It is necessary to notice that
in verse 16, and were carried

433
00:31:46,680 –> 00:31:55,000
over by the very fact that the
Greek includes the pronoun as

434
00:31:55,000 –> 00:31:57,800
part of the verb.
It’s part of the ending of the

435
00:31:57,800 –> 00:32:01,200
verb that we must introduce the
plural.

436
00:32:01,280 –> 00:32:03,720
And they were carried over in
verse 16.

437
00:32:04,080 –> 00:32:08,400
And that refers to our fathers.
And so Stephen says that our

438
00:32:08,400 –> 00:32:12,040
fathers were carried over into
Sycam and laid in the sepulchre,

439
00:32:12,040 –> 00:32:15,240
the Abram board.
But where was Sycam?

440
00:32:16,160 –> 00:32:21,480
In Samaria of all places, the
land of these despised and hated

441
00:32:21,480 –> 00:32:25,000
and accursed Samaritans.
And if there was any virtue at

442
00:32:25,000 –> 00:32:30,920
all in connection with the land
of Judea, then Stephen says,

443
00:32:30,920 –> 00:32:35,760
don’t forget the fathers of the
nations were buried in Samaria.

444
00:32:36,840 –> 00:32:40,000
There’s not the sanctity about
the land that you’re thinking.

445
00:32:40,800 –> 00:32:44,240
And those men are still men in
the purpose of God, although

446
00:32:44,240 –> 00:32:46,520
they’re buried there.
Even in Samaria.

447
00:32:46,880 –> 00:32:51,120
He’s got some pungent, some
pungent things to say, which

448
00:32:51,120 –> 00:32:54,880
must have stung them as he
builds up his case point by

449
00:32:54,880 –> 00:32:57,880
point.
And the next objection is that

450
00:32:57,880 –> 00:33:02,280
Abram didn’t buy a sepulchre of
the sons of EMA.

451
00:33:03,080 –> 00:33:06,440
Now the answer to this is rather
involved, and I don’t know

452
00:33:06,440 –> 00:33:10,840
whether I can put it over in the
short space available, but we do

453
00:33:10,840 –> 00:33:14,000
know that Abraham had an altar
there.

454
00:33:14,880 –> 00:33:19,520
We do know that Jacob recovered
the possession of the land by

455
00:33:19,520 –> 00:33:22,520
the use of his bow and left it
as a special inheritance to

456
00:33:22,520 –> 00:33:25,280
Joseph.
And the word portion that is

457
00:33:25,280 –> 00:33:30,200
used by Jacob in allotting that
to Joseph is the very word

458
00:33:30,400 –> 00:33:36,720
psychum.
And why did Jacob take the land?

459
00:33:37,680 –> 00:33:40,920
Probably because there was some
title to it already vested in

460
00:33:40,920 –> 00:33:44,320
them, For the fathers were
sojourners in the land and never

461
00:33:44,320 –> 00:33:48,640
attempted marauding raids like
that, and so therefore therefore

462
00:33:48,640 –> 00:33:52,240
the inference can be drawn.
But Jacob did think he’d some

463
00:33:52,240 –> 00:33:55,280
title to the land, and the
probabilities are that Abram did

464
00:33:55,280 –> 00:34:00,360
indeed by the land.
So it isn’t after all something

465
00:34:00,360 –> 00:34:02,840
that cannot be reasonably
explained.

466
00:34:02,840 –> 00:34:06,160
And when the time of the promise
grew nigh, which God has sworn

467
00:34:06,160 –> 00:34:12,679
to Abram, the people grew and
multiplied in Egypt, for God

468
00:34:12,679 –> 00:34:16,760
bless the people, and the
multiplication was in Egypt.

469
00:34:17,400 –> 00:34:20,320
God isn’t dependent upon the
land of Palestine.

470
00:34:20,760 –> 00:34:25,120
He isn’t dependent upon the set
up upon which the Jews placed

471
00:34:25,120 –> 00:34:27,600
such store for the working out
of his purpose.

472
00:34:28,080 –> 00:34:31,280
Even their forefathers
multiplied when they were in

473
00:34:31,280 –> 00:34:34,800
Egypt, until another king arose
which knew not Joseph.

474
00:34:35,239 –> 00:34:39,040
And then came the time of
affliction, the time of such

475
00:34:39,120 –> 00:34:44,239
oppression that it was an effort
to exterminate the people.

476
00:34:45,159 –> 00:34:50,639
And then Moses was born.
But where was the leader born in

477
00:34:50,639 –> 00:34:52,719
Egypt?
Where was he brought up?

478
00:34:53,080 –> 00:34:57,400
In Pharaoh’s household?
Did they think that all the

479
00:34:57,400 –> 00:35:02,040
skill that he had could be used
by them when he thought that

480
00:35:02,600 –> 00:35:05,800
with all the training that had
gone to the making of him, he

481
00:35:05,800 –> 00:35:11,320
was their leader?
Now, says Stevie, they rejected

482
00:35:11,320 –> 00:35:13,480
him.
An objection is raised that

483
00:35:13,480 –> 00:35:16,560
Moses was learned in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians and

484
00:35:16,560 –> 00:35:20,520
mighty words and deeds, but
isn’t so serious the difficulty

485
00:35:20,520 –> 00:35:24,240
and can easily be answered.
And when he was full 40 years

486
00:35:24,240 –> 00:35:26,360
old.
And another objection is raised

487
00:35:26,720 –> 00:35:29,960
that there’s no record of him
being 40 years, but there is an

488
00:35:29,960 –> 00:35:32,760
expression in Exodus which
indicates so.

489
00:35:32,760 –> 00:35:35,160
Chronologists tell us that he
was 40.

490
00:35:35,800 –> 00:35:38,560
We say someone’s coming of age
and we know at once that they’re

491
00:35:38,560 –> 00:35:43,960
21, and the expression is used
in the record concerning Moses

492
00:35:43,960 –> 00:35:49,240
that indicates that he was 40.
He saw one of the Israelites

493
00:35:49,240 –> 00:35:54,160
suffering and he took an action
by which he burned his boats.

494
00:35:55,360 –> 00:35:57,880
It’s long time been thinking
that he was the deliverer.

495
00:35:57,880 –> 00:36:02,560
Why such remarkable
circumstances in his life that

496
00:36:02,560 –> 00:36:05,280
he should first of all be
preserved, and then brought up

497
00:36:05,280 –> 00:36:10,280
in Pharaoh’s house, and then
equipped with all the skill in

498
00:36:10,280 –> 00:36:12,640
military arts and political
economy?

499
00:36:12,880 –> 00:36:15,240
Why, it just seemed as though he
was the leader.

500
00:36:15,960 –> 00:36:18,840
He supposed his brethren would
have understood how that God by

501
00:36:18,840 –> 00:36:24,640
his hand would deliver them, but
they understood not.

502
00:36:25,400 –> 00:36:31,560
And Rackham says objection 10,
The deeper motive, the desire to

503
00:36:31,560 –> 00:36:34,240
give deliverance to his people,
which is important in the

504
00:36:34,240 –> 00:36:40,520
parallel with the Christ.
You see, Rackham catches the

505
00:36:40,520 –> 00:36:44,600
argument of Stephen or what he’s
getting at, but he says the

506
00:36:44,600 –> 00:36:47,320
desire to give deliverance to
his people, which is important

507
00:36:47,320 –> 00:36:52,720
to the parallel with Christ, is
ascribed by to Moses, by Philo

508
00:36:52,720 –> 00:36:56,160
as well as by Stephen.
Exodus is silent on this.

509
00:36:56,280 –> 00:36:59,360
What is the answer?
Exodus tells us, as Stephen

510
00:36:59,360 –> 00:37:02,120
quotes that the Israelite who
strove with his fellow said to

511
00:37:02,120 –> 00:37:05,280
Moses, who made their Prince and
the judge over us.

512
00:37:06,120 –> 00:37:09,480
This shows that Moses is acting,
saying the Egyptian was regarded

513
00:37:09,480 –> 00:37:13,480
as an indication on his part
that he was willing to lead a

514
00:37:13,480 –> 00:37:18,320
revolt of the slave people.
And it is implicit in that and

515
00:37:18,320 –> 00:37:21,480
other statements in the
narrative that Moses was

516
00:37:21,480 –> 00:37:24,400
contemplating acting as
deliverer.

517
00:37:25,200 –> 00:37:29,040
And the influence of Stephen is
therefore quite legitimate, when

518
00:37:29,040 –> 00:37:34,720
he showed himself to the
Israelites the next day, and it

519
00:37:34,720 –> 00:37:37,440
became evident that what he had
done was known.

520
00:37:38,680 –> 00:37:41,520
And when it was said, Who made
the ruler over us?

521
00:37:42,040 –> 00:37:46,120
Wilt thou kill me?
That Moses fled into exile?

522
00:37:46,680 –> 00:37:51,920
And what if another leader that
has gone away from them as Moses

523
00:37:51,920 –> 00:37:54,000
was to come back and be their
deliverer?

524
00:37:54,520 –> 00:37:57,680
If there’s to be a prophet like
unto Moses, what’s the parallel

525
00:37:57,680 –> 00:38:00,800
in Moses’s life that has to come
in the life of the deliverer?

526
00:38:00,800 –> 00:38:03,600
Says Stephen.
If the one is rejected at his

527
00:38:03,600 –> 00:38:07,520
first appearing, and yet he’s
sent back by God to achieve the

528
00:38:07,520 –> 00:38:12,720
work, what’s the corollary which
comes from your rejection of

529
00:38:12,760 –> 00:38:15,160
Jesus?
Will God send him back?

530
00:38:15,720 –> 00:38:17,360
That is what Stephen is saying
to them.

531
00:38:17,360 –> 00:38:20,840
And then when 40 years were
expired, there appeared to him

532
00:38:20,840 –> 00:38:25,120
in the wilderness of Mount Sinai
an Angel of the Lord, in a flame

533
00:38:25,120 –> 00:38:30,560
of fire in the Bush.
So God made himself, made of

534
00:38:30,560 –> 00:38:36,760
himself, one of the most
striking revelations in all Old

535
00:38:36,760 –> 00:38:40,640
Testament history.
And it was made in and through

536
00:38:40,640 –> 00:38:45,080
Moses, when he was in exile from
his own people.

537
00:38:45,440 –> 00:38:48,480
Isn’t there a point in that?
What if, after all, the

538
00:38:48,480 –> 00:38:52,160
mightiest manifestation of God
has been revealed through Jesus,

539
00:38:52,160 –> 00:38:54,160
who had been taken away from
them?

540
00:38:54,800 –> 00:38:59,600
Rackham’s objection 11 concerns
a matter of angiology, angiology

541
00:38:59,600 –> 00:39:04,920
which we need not go into.
So Moses wondered at the sight

542
00:39:04,920 –> 00:39:09,120
as he drew near and beheld it.
And he heard God saying, I am

543
00:39:09,440 –> 00:39:12,640
the God of the father of the God
of Abram, the God of Isaac, and

544
00:39:12,640 –> 00:39:16,800
the God of Jacob.
You remember how that was used

545
00:39:16,800 –> 00:39:21,000
by Peter, as we saw the other
day, and what the significance

546
00:39:21,000 –> 00:39:26,400
of it was as Luke narrates it.
And so here the one who revealed

547
00:39:26,400 –> 00:39:31,240
himself to Moses, that Sinai was
the one who had further

548
00:39:31,240 –> 00:39:33,560
intentions than the Mosaic
covenant.

549
00:39:33,840 –> 00:39:38,760
And Stephen link’s the divine
claim to be the God of Abraham

550
00:39:39,480 –> 00:39:44,880
with that revelation through
Moses, and links the antitype

551
00:39:44,880 –> 00:39:47,480
with the fulfilment of the
Abrahamic covenant.

552
00:39:47,800 –> 00:39:52,320
And so it passes in review a
little more fully the things

553
00:39:52,320 –> 00:39:55,960
that are concerned with Moses,
the sending back of the leader

554
00:39:55,960 –> 00:40:00,520
whom they had rejected by God.
And then he brought them out.

555
00:40:01,040 –> 00:40:03,720
Moses brought Israel out.
After that he had showed wonders

556
00:40:03,720 –> 00:40:07,640
and signs in the land of Egypt
and in the Red Sea and in the

557
00:40:07,640 –> 00:40:11,920
wilderness 40 years.
And if God could preserve his

558
00:40:11,920 –> 00:40:14,840
people for 40.
Years in the wilderness, God’s

559
00:40:14,840 –> 00:40:19,360
protecting and preserving care
was not dependent upon land or

560
00:40:19,360 –> 00:40:22,080
upon people.
And you’ll notice how in this

561
00:40:22,080 –> 00:40:26,120
recapitulation from their
history, there is a constant

562
00:40:26,200 –> 00:40:30,960
hammering home of this point.
Stephen isn’t basing his case

563
00:40:30,960 –> 00:40:35,360
upon one incident.
He says the the whole range of

564
00:40:35,360 –> 00:40:40,360
our history is eloquent of the
fact from which I’m claiming

565
00:40:41,120 –> 00:40:44,920
which I’m stating my case.
It’s a question of the divine

566
00:40:44,920 –> 00:40:48,160
purpose at any time.
And if God could do all these

567
00:40:48,160 –> 00:40:52,200
things before whatever the law
was formulated, isn’t it within

568
00:40:52,200 –> 00:40:57,120
the range of possibility that
the law can have run its course?

569
00:40:57,120 –> 00:41:01,640
And God introduced another
dispensation, wound up with the

570
00:41:01,640 –> 00:41:05,280
anti type of Moses, and
therefore because it was the

571
00:41:05,280 –> 00:41:08,880
fulfillment of all the typical
features of the law, something

572
00:41:08,880 –> 00:41:13,720
that is independent of them.
That this is the case is clear

573
00:41:13,720 –> 00:41:18,680
because the argument moves on.
This is that Moses which said

574
00:41:18,680 –> 00:41:21,600
unto the children of Israel, a
prophet, shall the Lord your God

575
00:41:21,600 –> 00:41:26,040
raise up unto you.
Stephen said I’m not dreaming

576
00:41:26,040 –> 00:41:29,160
dreams or putting over to you
mere speculations.

577
00:41:29,840 –> 00:41:33,120
Here’s the testimony that there
has to be a prophet like unto

578
00:41:33,120 –> 00:41:37,640
Moses, There has to be 1 to come
to whom in whose life there is a

579
00:41:37,640 –> 00:41:41,680
parallel with the life of Moses?
In whose experiences there is a

580
00:41:41,680 –> 00:41:44,200
parallel with the experiences of
Moses?

581
00:41:44,440 –> 00:41:48,160
And he points the parallel, when
in verse 38 he says, this is he

582
00:41:48,560 –> 00:41:54,120
that was in the church in the
wilderness, with the Angel which

583
00:41:54,120 –> 00:41:58,080
spake to him in the Mount Sinai,
and with our fathers, who

584
00:41:58,080 –> 00:42:00,760
received the living oracles to
give unto us.

585
00:42:01,160 –> 00:42:05,840
He was in the ecclesia, as the
Greek word.

586
00:42:06,400 –> 00:42:09,920
He was in the ecclesia in the
wilderness.

587
00:42:09,920 –> 00:42:15,640
And the 22nd Psalm says
concerning Christ after His

588
00:42:16,080 –> 00:42:21,120
resurrection, I will declare thy
name unto my brethren in the

589
00:42:21,120 –> 00:42:25,440
midst of the ecclesia.
Catch the phrase that he’s using

590
00:42:25,440 –> 00:42:28,040
here.
In the midst of the ecclesia

591
00:42:28,560 –> 00:42:32,640
will I get praise unto thee.
So as Moses was with the

592
00:42:32,640 –> 00:42:37,480
ecclesia there, even the
children of Israel, which is

593
00:42:37,480 –> 00:42:42,440
called the ecclesia, so the Lord
Jesus was in the midst of the

594
00:42:42,440 –> 00:42:47,600
Ecclesia and his tracing out his
parallel, there was a divine

595
00:42:47,600 –> 00:42:51,480
revelation given to Moses at
Sinai when he was in the midst

596
00:42:51,480 –> 00:42:54,400
of the ecclesia.
There’s been a divine revelation

597
00:42:54,840 –> 00:43:02,000
which has an old law and temple
and sacrifice by this prophet

598
00:43:02,000 –> 00:43:06,480
like unto Moses in the midst of
this ecclesia, this Church which

599
00:43:06,480 –> 00:43:09,480
has been established as the
result of his work.

600
00:43:09,760 –> 00:43:13,680
That just as Moses received the
living oracles to give them unto

601
00:43:13,680 –> 00:43:18,920
us, so through the Mediator of
the New Covenant, Jesus, of whom

602
00:43:19,120 –> 00:43:23,600
the Psalmist speaks, as we have
quoted, has given living oracles

603
00:43:23,600 –> 00:43:27,120
unto us, which are the rule of
our life, which are the

604
00:43:27,120 –> 00:43:31,120
expression of the Divine will.
Do you regard that message give

605
00:43:31,320 –> 00:43:35,960
through Moses, he says, as being
the living voice of God?

606
00:43:36,640 –> 00:43:40,400
Then you admit the possibility
of God revealing himself through

607
00:43:40,400 –> 00:43:42,680
a man.
Granted, says Stephen.

608
00:43:43,040 –> 00:43:46,160
And we claim that there’s been
another revelation through the

609
00:43:46,160 –> 00:43:51,560
prophet like unto Moses.
And so the basis of the

610
00:43:51,560 –> 00:43:55,800
Christian behaviour and it’s
attitude to Loewen Temple is

611
00:43:55,800 –> 00:44:01,960
claimed by Stephen to be based
equally with Israel’s worship

612
00:44:02,400 –> 00:44:09,040
upon divine sanctions.
But sanctions ministered through

613
00:44:09,200 –> 00:44:15,680
a higher profit and a greater
mediator than even Moses was.

614
00:44:15,920 –> 00:44:18,600
And so he’s led his argument
onto the fact that it was

615
00:44:18,600 –> 00:44:22,680
through a divine revelation that
the Christian was claiming to

616
00:44:22,680 –> 00:44:25,600
follow the way of life that they
formulated.

617
00:44:26,000 –> 00:44:30,480
But now he turns to them and
says, now look at all your

618
00:44:30,480 –> 00:44:33,560
history and don’t repeat it in
the wilderness.

619
00:44:33,840 –> 00:44:37,280
Your father said, make us gods
to go back to Egypt.

620
00:44:37,960 –> 00:44:42,400
You’ve always wanted to go back
rather than to go forward.

621
00:44:43,200 –> 00:44:45,760
Now change your policy and your
practice, he said.

622
00:44:45,960 –> 00:44:47,760
Don’t repeat the folly of your
father.

623
00:44:48,000 –> 00:44:52,600
They said, let’s go back now,
don’t go back, go forward with

624
00:44:52,600 –> 00:44:56,720
the revelation, he says.
And then verse 42 then got

625
00:44:56,720 –> 00:45:00,720
turned and gave them up to the
worship of the host of heaven as

626
00:45:00,720 –> 00:45:02,400
it is written in the book of the
Prophets.

627
00:45:02,400 –> 00:45:06,360
And he’s quoting from Amos.
And here we get objections 12

628
00:45:06,360 –> 00:45:09,400
and 13 of Rackham as it is
written in the book of the

629
00:45:09,400 –> 00:45:11,480
Prophets.
O ye House of Israel, have you

630
00:45:11,480 –> 00:45:14,920
so offered to me slain beasts
and sacrifices by the space of

631
00:45:14,920 –> 00:45:18,240
40 years?
And that was written of a time

632
00:45:18,240 –> 00:45:21,760
long after.
But the point of the prophecy is

633
00:45:22,400 –> 00:45:25,200
that throughout their history
they’d manifested such a

634
00:45:25,200 –> 00:45:28,240
character.
Yeah, he took up the Tabernacle

635
00:45:28,240 –> 00:45:30,360
of Moloch and the star of your
God R.E.M.

636
00:45:30,360 –> 00:45:32,640
Fan and figures which he made to
worship him.

637
00:45:33,080 –> 00:45:37,160
And I will carry you away.
And the passage in Amos says

638
00:45:37,160 –> 00:45:40,720
beyond Damascus, and Stephen
says beyond Babylon.

639
00:45:41,080 –> 00:45:44,680
But remember again what we’ve
pointed out so often that he

640
00:45:44,680 –> 00:45:48,320
introduces another quotation and
expects us to go to it.

641
00:45:49,080 –> 00:45:53,160
And he’s quoting now from
Jeremiah, where God said he

642
00:45:53,160 –> 00:45:57,960
would send them to Babylon.
And what’s his point in adding

643
00:45:58,040 –> 00:46:02,320
the prophecy of Jeremiah to that
of Amos, that they would be sent

644
00:46:02,320 –> 00:46:06,240
to Babylon?
Why just this, that God called

645
00:46:06,240 –> 00:46:10,800
Abraham out of Babylon and
because of the behaviour of

646
00:46:10,800 –> 00:46:15,880
their fathers, God had sent them
back to Babylon.

647
00:46:16,400 –> 00:46:19,960
Terrible indictment and a very
powerful warning to them.

648
00:46:20,120 –> 00:46:23,640
He said look at your history and
don’t perpetuate the folly of

649
00:46:23,640 –> 00:46:26,920
your father’s.
Our fathers of the Tabernacle

650
00:46:26,920 –> 00:46:30,840
witness in the wilderness.
And so before temple there was

651
00:46:30,840 –> 00:46:33,600
Tabernacle.
Then there was a change from

652
00:46:33,600 –> 00:46:36,680
Tabernacle to temple, and
therefore there can have been

653
00:46:36,680 –> 00:46:40,040
another change.
And he says in the 45th verse,

654
00:46:40,040 –> 00:46:43,640
which also our fathers that came
after brought in the Tabernacle

655
00:46:44,040 –> 00:46:48,600
with Jesus, Jesus.
And Jesus, you know, is Joshua.

656
00:46:48,800 –> 00:46:52,160
You know that.
And in the letter to the Hebrews

657
00:46:52,160 –> 00:46:55,200
written by the man who was
listening to Stephen and

658
00:46:55,200 –> 00:46:59,960
consenting to his death, says
that Jesus didn’t give them the

659
00:46:59,960 –> 00:47:05,400
inheritance.
I’m sure Paul was feeling the

660
00:47:05,400 –> 00:47:10,240
force of this argument, and
there are stages in men’s lives

661
00:47:10,480 –> 00:47:15,040
when the force of the argument
being seen and it being felt to

662
00:47:15,040 –> 00:47:19,640
be unanswerable.
The only answer they can give is

663
00:47:19,640 –> 00:47:24,160
the throwing of stones, and
that’s where store Saul was just

664
00:47:24,360 –> 00:47:27,480
now.
But the argument of Stephen one

665
00:47:27,480 –> 00:47:32,240
with Saul, and it’s Saul himself
who repeats these arguments in

666
00:47:32,240 –> 00:47:35,160
his letters, particularly in the
letter to the Hebrews.

667
00:47:35,320 –> 00:47:39,880
But Saul the persecuted becomes
all the ambassador then, which

668
00:47:39,880 –> 00:47:43,080
also our fathers that came in
after, brought in with Jesus

669
00:47:43,320 –> 00:47:46,640
into the possession of the
Gentiles, whom God drave out

670
00:47:46,640 –> 00:47:50,800
before the face of our fathers
unto the days of David.

671
00:47:51,240 –> 00:47:55,040
But if it was Joshua who led
them in, then they didn’t

672
00:47:55,040 –> 00:47:58,760
receive the inheritance by
Moses, and therefore it wasn’t

673
00:47:58,760 –> 00:48:02,280
on the basis of the Law that
they’d have the inheritance, but

674
00:48:02,280 –> 00:48:04,560
by something subsequent to the
Law.

675
00:48:05,360 –> 00:48:08,360
Therefore the law must pass to
give something to place to

676
00:48:08,360 –> 00:48:11,600
something else upon which the
inheritance would be based.

677
00:48:11,760 –> 00:48:15,640
And then after David’s day,
Solomon built him a house.

678
00:48:15,800 –> 00:48:19,800
But that isn’t final because
even the prophet contemporary

679
00:48:19,800 –> 00:48:24,040
with it says, Howbeit the Most
High dwelleth not in temples

680
00:48:24,040 –> 00:48:26,880
made with hands.
And the citation is from the

681
00:48:26,880 –> 00:48:33,040
66th chapter of Isaiah, where
God says Heaven is my throne,

682
00:48:33,480 –> 00:48:37,480
the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house that you

683
00:48:37,480 –> 00:48:41,520
build unto me for all these
things of my hands made?

684
00:48:41,880 –> 00:48:47,040
How can you make a house for God
out of the materials that He

685
00:48:47,040 –> 00:48:50,360
himself has provided?
You can only make a house for

686
00:48:50,360 –> 00:48:54,200
God out of what you yourself
provide, says the Prophet.

687
00:48:54,320 –> 00:48:57,320
The Most High dwelleth not in
temples made with hands.

688
00:48:57,320 –> 00:49:00,280
As Seth the Prophet.
Heaven is my throne and the

689
00:49:00,280 –> 00:49:03,360
earth is my footstool.
What house will you build to me,

690
00:49:03,360 –> 00:49:05,800
says the Lord?
What is the place of my rest?

691
00:49:06,600 –> 00:49:10,640
And the answer of the prophet
is, that none of these things

692
00:49:11,040 –> 00:49:13,520
that God himself has made will
do.

693
00:49:13,920 –> 00:49:19,160
But to this man will I look,
that is of a humble and contrite

694
00:49:19,160 –> 00:49:22,120
spirit, and who trembleth at my
word.

695
00:49:22,760 –> 00:49:26,640
And so, Stephen says, even the
prophets testify that the

696
00:49:26,640 –> 00:49:30,800
dwelling place of God isn’t the
material edifice, but a

697
00:49:30,800 –> 00:49:36,120
structure composed of men and
women of the character who are

698
00:49:36,120 –> 00:49:40,760
humble and contrite in heart,
and who tremble at His word.

699
00:49:41,320 –> 00:49:44,760
This is the building that is the
finality of the divine purpose.

700
00:49:45,000 –> 00:49:49,200
And therefore these things to
which you’re clinging so closely

701
00:49:49,760 –> 00:49:53,560
are only the temporal, the
transitional, the typical.

702
00:49:54,440 –> 00:49:57,760
And clinging to them, you’re
losing sight of the reality.

703
00:49:58,440 –> 00:50:01,440
And God has laid the foundation
in Jesus Christ.

704
00:50:01,760 –> 00:50:05,440
And by being humble and contrite
and trembling at his Word, you

705
00:50:05,440 –> 00:50:09,360
yourself can be built into what
will be the divine dwelling

706
00:50:09,360 –> 00:50:11,960
place.
And we must, at this point,

707
00:50:12,760 –> 00:50:18,720
postulate a growing murmur of
growls and dissentment, with

708
00:50:18,720 –> 00:50:22,600
looks of venomous hatred on
their faces, which made Stephen

709
00:50:22,600 –> 00:50:26,880
realize that to pursue his
argument was pointless beyond

710
00:50:26,880 –> 00:50:30,880
this stage.
And so he turns to indictment.

711
00:50:31,360 –> 00:50:34,360
He’s stiff necked and
uncircumcised in heart.

712
00:50:34,600 –> 00:50:38,840
You do always resist the Holy
Spirit as your Father’s did.

713
00:50:38,840 –> 00:50:42,760
So do you ye Which of the
Fathers have not your, which of

714
00:50:42,760 –> 00:50:45,680
the Prophets have not?
Your Father’s persecuted and

715
00:50:45,680 –> 00:50:51,160
recompines this 14th objection.
There they crucified the just

716
00:50:51,160 –> 00:50:53,040
one of whom the prophets had
spoken.

717
00:50:53,560 –> 00:50:57,240
They resisted the prophets, they
resisted the one of whom the

718
00:50:57,240 –> 00:51:01,240
prophets spoken.
They’d received the Law by the

719
00:51:01,240 –> 00:51:05,560
disposition of angels, and while
they’d had great privileges,

720
00:51:05,960 –> 00:51:09,920
they hadn’t kept it.
And Stephen here had a

721
00:51:09,920 –> 00:51:12,280
reminiscence of what Jesus had
said.

722
00:51:12,600 –> 00:51:15,320
On one occasion.
He turned the argument back upon

723
00:51:15,320 –> 00:51:19,680
themselves, and Jesus said in
effect to them in one of the

724
00:51:19,920 –> 00:51:22,080
speeches recorded in John’s
Gospel.

725
00:51:23,080 –> 00:51:29,200
How can you go on to a fuller
revelation when you haven’t kept

726
00:51:29,200 –> 00:51:32,280
the one you had?
And that is what Stephen is

727
00:51:32,280 –> 00:51:34,880
saying here.
You receive the law by the

728
00:51:34,880 –> 00:51:37,880
disposition of angels, and you
haven’t kept it.

729
00:51:39,000 –> 00:51:42,400
How then are your minds and
hearts open to go on to a fuller

730
00:51:42,400 –> 00:51:47,040
revelation and to receive it?
And so Stephen has presented

731
00:51:47,040 –> 00:51:51,160
this case, which has ended in
such a burning charge.

732
00:51:51,440 –> 00:51:56,360
And then they burst down all
restraints, and take him out to

733
00:51:56,360 –> 00:52:00,120
the place of dawning to be
stoned to death.

734
00:52:00,520 –> 00:52:03,640
And even there this man has a
final testimony.

735
00:52:04,080 –> 00:52:07,240
Behold, I see the heavens
opened, and the Son of Man

736
00:52:07,640 –> 00:52:09,760
standing on the right hand of
God.

737
00:52:10,160 –> 00:52:14,440
Well, Jacob had seen the heavens
open and the possible way of

738
00:52:14,440 –> 00:52:16,480
connection between heaven and
men.

739
00:52:16,880 –> 00:52:21,560
But now Stephen says, heaven is
open, and the man for whom the

740
00:52:21,560 –> 00:52:25,240
link with heaven has been
established is there at the

741
00:52:25,240 –> 00:52:30,160
right hand of God two mighty a
claim for them to receive.

742
00:52:31,360 –> 00:52:34,960
And with fingers in ears they
rushed him out to the place

743
00:52:35,200 –> 00:52:40,120
where they stoned him.
And Saul says Luke, with all the

744
00:52:40,120 –> 00:52:43,880
significance of his method of
writing his history.

745
00:52:44,160 –> 00:52:47,160
And Saul was consenting unto his
death.

746
00:52:47,560 –> 00:52:52,240
And so we have the account of
how the rupture began between

747
00:52:52,240 –> 00:52:56,520
Judaism and Christianity, and
the grounds upon which

748
00:52:56,520 –> 00:53:00,840
Christianity pursued its course,
gradually working away from

749
00:53:00,840 –> 00:53:16,900
Judaism.
Thank you for listening to the

750
00:53:16,900 –> 00:53:18,500
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751
00:53:19,340 –> 00:53:21,780
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752
00:53:21,780 –> 00:53:24,120
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753
00:53:24,120 –> 00:53:25,880
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754
00:53:26,280 –> 00:53:29,520
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755
00:53:30,640 –> 00:53:33,120
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757
00:53:35,960 –> 00:53:38,640
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00:53:38,640 –> 00:53:42,520
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759
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764
00:53:56,720 –> 00:53:59,360
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766
00:54:02,520 –> 00:54:05,960
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767
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768
00:54:08,920 –> 00:54:10,880
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