John Carter – The Speeches in the Acts – Class 4 – Stephen’s Speech (Acts 7)

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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,
then tells us of the origin of

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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
Word, 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
defenses, 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 10 of chapter

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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
destroyed this temple, and I

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will raise it 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 as

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

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be 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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Said 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.

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But under such circumstances,
mistakes might be possible.

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But we needn’t fall back upon
that, for every one of these

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supposed mistakes can be
satisfactorily explained, but

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not only so in the very
explanation of them by the

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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

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God acceptably, the law was not
essential in Abraham’s case.

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Joseph and Moses were both
rejected, and yet in each case

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the man was raised up by God as
the deliverer of his people.

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Therefore, their 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, their 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

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permit him to continue.
So also Stephen in making his

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defence, must present a case
that has strictly related of the

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charges that were made, and we
suggest that the very length of

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it extended as it must have been
in keeping with what has been

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said about the previous speeches
recorded here.

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It says something for the
impassioned power and the

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ability of the men as he reviews
their history, and he makes no

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mistake.
He builds up his argument with

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unerring skill, and traverses
the whole range of Old Testament

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history.
We’ll then try and follow, and

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we shall have to be a little
hurried and a little compressed

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in what is said, and we shall
have to ask you to attend

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closely.
Let us try, then, and follow

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Stephen in a little more detail.
Let us take account of the

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objections that have been made
concerning the accuracy of His

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words, and see how, following
Luke’s method, those objections

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really become boomerangs against
the critical attack to the

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second verse.
Then, men, brethren, and

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fathers, hearken.
The God of glory appeared unto

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our father Abraham, when he was
in Mesopotamia before he

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dwelting Karen, the God of
glory.

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What’s the significance of that?
The glory was the mark of the

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manifestation of God and the
token of His presence in the

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midst of His people.
When, then, Stephen describes

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God as the God of glory, he is
saying that the God who revealed

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Himself as living in the midst
of His people by His glory was

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the One who called Abraham.
But he lived in Mesopotamia, and

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it was before even he came to
Karen that the call was made to

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him.
So God evidently can call men

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independently of either
residence in the land of

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Palestine or of worship at the
Temple.

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He said to Abraham, Get thee out
of this land into a country that

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I will show thee.
And here we come to the first

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two objections that are raised
against the accuracy of Stephen.

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We’ve caught the words of
Rackham, he says.

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Stephen makes appear to Abraham.
Stephen makes God appear to

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Abraham for the first time in
the land of the Chaldeans.

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That is heard of the Chaldeans,
which was sometimes reckoned by

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the Greeks in Mesopotamia.
Genesis is silent about this

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appearance and makes the first
call, the words of which are

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quoted by Stephen at Heran.
Philo and Jesus, however, agree

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with Stephen, and the earlier
appearance is supported by

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Joshua.
But this difficulty is created

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by making the appearance of God
to Abraham, recorded in Genesis

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12, to have occurred after
Tyra’s death, accepting the AV

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of Genesis 12.
One now the Lord had said to

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Abraham, We are thrown back to
the days of Abraham in earth.

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What was it that made Dira and
Abram leave her, unless there

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was some divine message that God
had given them?

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A divine message is evident from
the fact that it is said through

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Joshua later that the fathers of
Israel were called from beyond

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the flood, from beyond the
Euphrates.

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And he came into this land, says
Stephen, wherein ye now dwell,

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and from thence and dwelt in
Karen, and from thence, when his

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father was dead, he removed him
into this land.

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00:16:44,600 –> 00:16:48,920
Objection 2.
Stephen and Philo agrees, says

221
00:16:48,920 –> 00:16:51,600
that Tyra died before Abram left
Heron.

222
00:16:52,560 –> 00:16:57,880
The figures given in Genesis
11/26/32 and 12/4 would imply

223
00:16:57,880 –> 00:17:00,520
that Tyra had yet 60 years to
live.

224
00:17:01,560 –> 00:17:05,079
But that is to mistake the
record in Genesis.

225
00:17:05,640 –> 00:17:09,839
For Abraham’s name comes first,
in keeping with the method of

226
00:17:09,839 –> 00:17:12,359
Moses.
That’s another story.

227
00:17:12,359 –> 00:17:15,720
Just as we’re examining Luke in
keeping with the method of

228
00:17:15,720 –> 00:17:18,880
Moses.
Abraham’s name is named is given

229
00:17:18,880 –> 00:17:21,520
first, before that those of his
two brothers.

230
00:17:22,359 –> 00:17:27,119
But it doesn’t say that he was
the oldest and with a perfect

231
00:17:27,119 –> 00:17:32,120
right to take the figures and
say Abraham Earl lived to Tira

232
00:17:32,120 –> 00:17:37,280
lived to be 230, and Abraham was
so old when Tira died.

233
00:17:37,280 –> 00:17:43,080
Therefore Abraham was born when
Tira was subtracting the fit one

234
00:17:43,080 –> 00:17:46,480
figure from the other.
And there’s nothing in Scripture

235
00:17:46,480 –> 00:17:50,640
to forbid that.
And that Tira therefore had

236
00:17:50,640 –> 00:17:54,920
Abraham long after the others.
In fact, those of you who have

237
00:17:54,920 –> 00:17:59,240
read Blundzum design
coincidences will know that the

238
00:17:59,240 –> 00:18:04,880
disparity in the ages of the
generations led to the marriage

239
00:18:05,480 –> 00:18:10,040
of one in one generation to the
wife in the next.

240
00:18:10,520 –> 00:18:13,920
All of which fits in with the
differences in the birth of the

241
00:18:13,920 –> 00:18:16,240
children.
The fifth verse, which we so

242
00:18:16,240 –> 00:18:21,360
often quote as showing that the
Abrahamic promises were not

243
00:18:21,360 –> 00:18:25,680
fulfilled, was not spoken in the
first instance for the same

244
00:18:25,680 –> 00:18:29,920
purpose that we use it, although
our use of it is quite

245
00:18:29,920 –> 00:18:33,120
legitimate.
He gave him non inheritance into

246
00:18:33,120 –> 00:18:35,240
it.
In it, no not so much as to set

247
00:18:35,240 –> 00:18:38,520
his foot on, yet he promised
that he would give it to him for

248
00:18:38,520 –> 00:18:41,280
a possession, and to his seed
after him when he has yet he had

249
00:18:41,280 –> 00:18:45,920
no child.
In other words, that while

250
00:18:45,920 –> 00:18:50,320
Abraham came into the land, the
covenant of God with Abraham

251
00:18:50,840 –> 00:18:57,600
cannot fail, and therefore God
has a purpose with Abraham which

252
00:18:57,600 –> 00:19:01,560
is yet future.
And the covenant with Abraham

253
00:19:01,560 –> 00:19:05,280
was given before the Law, and
therefore that is a purpose of

254
00:19:05,280 –> 00:19:09,080
God to be developed upon the
basis of the Abrahamic covenant,

255
00:19:09,440 –> 00:19:14,160
which is not yet realized.
Now you’ll observe that Luke

256
00:19:14,440 –> 00:19:18,520
records the argument, but he
never gives the inference.

257
00:19:18,720 –> 00:19:24,320
His space required compression,
and he leaves it to the wit of

258
00:19:24,320 –> 00:19:29,080
the reader, whom he expects to
think after him to make the

259
00:19:29,080 –> 00:19:32,120
inference at every point where
it is required.

260
00:19:32,320 –> 00:19:34,840
Verse 6.
And God speak on this wise that

261
00:19:34,840 –> 00:19:39,000
his seats should sojourn in a
strange land, that they should

262
00:19:39,000 –> 00:19:42,880
bring them into bondage and
entreat them 400 years.

263
00:19:43,480 –> 00:19:46,680
And Rackham says here’s our
third mistake.

264
00:19:46,840 –> 00:19:52,400
Stephen and Pylo with Genesis
1513 give 400 years to the time

265
00:19:52,400 –> 00:19:58,400
of Israel’s bondage.
Exodus 1240 says 430 years.

266
00:19:58,960 –> 00:20:03,920
Paul gives the number 430 years.
How do we reconcile the Fort 100

267
00:20:03,920 –> 00:20:10,440
and the 430 quite simply?
Thy seed, God said to Abraham,

268
00:20:10,440 –> 00:20:14,880
shall sojourn 400 years, And it
couldn’t.

269
00:20:15,640 –> 00:20:19,000
The promise, the purpose thus
indicated, couldn’t begin till

270
00:20:19,000 –> 00:20:22,800
the seed was born.
The length of time from the

271
00:20:22,800 –> 00:20:27,880
giving of the promises to the
giving of the law was 430 years,

272
00:20:28,480 –> 00:20:33,160
and therefore the promise was
given to Abraham 30 years before

273
00:20:33,160 –> 00:20:37,440
Isaac was born.
And the difficulty is resolved.

274
00:20:37,880 –> 00:20:41,360
The seventh verse says, And the
nation to whom they shall be in

275
00:20:41,360 –> 00:20:45,920
bondage will I judge, and after
that shall they come forth and

276
00:20:45,920 –> 00:20:51,680
serve me in this place?
Brackam says Stephen adds to

277
00:20:51,680 –> 00:20:55,640
Genesis 151314 And serve me in
this place.

278
00:20:56,120 –> 00:21:00,640
Words taken from Exodus 312 and
so understands by the place

279
00:21:01,040 –> 00:21:06,200
Palestine and not Mount Sinai as
is meant in Exodus, A criticism

280
00:21:06,200 –> 00:21:10,400
that is perfectly gratuitous,
but let us apply the method that

281
00:21:10,400 –> 00:21:15,360
we’ve already observed.
God says to Abraham, the nation

282
00:21:15,360 –> 00:21:19,040
to whom they shall be in bondage
will I judge, and then I’ll

283
00:21:19,040 –> 00:21:21,760
bring them forth.
And then?

284
00:21:22,320 –> 00:21:28,520
And then Stephen deliberately
quotes from the words of God to

285
00:21:28,520 –> 00:21:34,120
Moses at Horeb, when Moses was
told to go down and bring out my

286
00:21:34,120 –> 00:21:39,800
people and bring them to this
place, and they shall serve me

287
00:21:39,800 –> 00:21:44,960
in this place.
But why does Stephen quote that

288
00:21:44,960 –> 00:21:49,680
reference?
His point is that the people, in

289
00:21:49,680 –> 00:21:54,280
fulfilment of the Abrahamic
promise about their sojourn,

290
00:21:54,680 –> 00:22:00,800
were brought out at the time
indicated, and in fulfilment of

291
00:22:00,800 –> 00:22:07,480
the out at the time indicated,
and in fulfilment of the words

292
00:22:07,480 –> 00:22:12,880
to Moses were led to Sinai, and
there served God.

293
00:22:13,640 –> 00:22:15,880
But that was before the Law was
given.

294
00:22:16,200 –> 00:22:21,560
So even the nation of God, says
Stephen, offered acceptable

295
00:22:21,560 –> 00:22:24,920
service to God before ever the
Law was given.

296
00:22:25,360 –> 00:22:29,440
How then can the Law, and how
can the Tabernacle of the Temple

297
00:22:29,800 –> 00:22:37,520
be in themselves of such
essential purpose in God’s

298
00:22:37,520 –> 00:22:43,200
arrangement there can be worship
is establishing independently of

299
00:22:43,200 –> 00:22:45,720
those things going on.
Verse 8.

300
00:22:46,360 –> 00:22:48,680
And he gave him the covenant of
circumcision.

301
00:22:48,680 –> 00:22:52,600
And so Abraham begat Isaac, and
circumcised in the eighth day,

302
00:22:53,240 –> 00:22:56,880
And Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob
begat the 12 tribes, and the

303
00:22:56,880 –> 00:23:00,800
patriarchs move with envy, sold
Joseph into Egypt.

304
00:23:02,000 –> 00:23:06,000
So Abraham had the covenant and
even the right of circumcision

305
00:23:06,000 –> 00:23:10,680
before ever the law.
So it is quite evident, just as

306
00:23:10,720 –> 00:23:13,640
Jesus had used the argument
before in contention with the

307
00:23:13,640 –> 00:23:18,640
Jews, that the right was vital,
not because it was of Moses, but

308
00:23:18,640 –> 00:23:23,440
because it was of the fathers.
And so Stephen said, even this

309
00:23:23,440 –> 00:23:28,920
essential aspect has its real
roots in the fact of something

310
00:23:28,920 –> 00:23:33,120
anterior to the law.
And so Joseph was taken into

311
00:23:33,120 –> 00:23:37,120
Egypt and God was with him.
And Stephen isn’t moralising,

312
00:23:37,120 –> 00:23:40,960
just he’s something more
important to do than to moralise

313
00:23:40,960 –> 00:23:44,520
when he’s pleading for his life.
Just think of the quickening

314
00:23:44,520 –> 00:23:49,840
effect of a man with power of
speech and the ability to reason

315
00:23:49,840 –> 00:23:54,720
as Stephen had is no time really
for moralizing.

316
00:23:55,280 –> 00:23:59,880
When he says God was with Joseph
in Egypt, then God can be with a

317
00:23:59,880 –> 00:24:04,080
man outside the land of
Palestine before law or before

318
00:24:04,080 –> 00:24:08,080
temple or before Tabernacle.
God was with him, and all the

319
00:24:08,080 –> 00:24:15,080
time Stephen is building up his
case that there was evidence of

320
00:24:15,440 –> 00:24:20,280
divine favour for men
independent of law, and

321
00:24:20,280 –> 00:24:24,160
independent of Tabernacle Temple
as the place of worship.

322
00:24:24,600 –> 00:24:28,280
He delivered Joseph out of all
his afflictions, and gave him

323
00:24:28,280 –> 00:24:33,320
favour and wisdom, and made him
governor, a rejected man,

324
00:24:33,800 –> 00:24:40,080
exalted by God in his over
ruling Providence to favour and

325
00:24:40,080 –> 00:24:42,960
to rulership.
But rulership where?

326
00:24:43,240 –> 00:24:46,280
In the land of Egypt?
Among the Gentiles.

327
00:24:47,000 –> 00:24:49,960
And what if there’s a parallel
in the case of Jesus?

328
00:24:51,000 –> 00:24:56,240
What if Jesus, whom they have
rejected, should be one of whom

329
00:24:56,240 –> 00:24:59,760
it could be said equally with
Joseph that God was with him?

330
00:24:59,760 –> 00:25:07,040
And what if God had exalted
Jesus even to something higher

331
00:25:07,320 –> 00:25:13,480
than Pharaoh could exalt Joseph?
And what if a divine purpose in

332
00:25:13,480 –> 00:25:16,960
connection with the exaltation
of Jesus was bound up with

333
00:25:16,960 –> 00:25:19,920
Gentiles, just as it was in the
case of Joseph?

334
00:25:20,400 –> 00:25:23,960
That’s the argument that he’s
bringing out as he traces out

335
00:25:23,960 –> 00:25:26,800
this history.
And there came a dearth over all

336
00:25:26,800 –> 00:25:30,000
the land of Egypt and Canaan,
and great affliction.

337
00:25:31,080 –> 00:25:36,120
And even when God’s people were
thus in dire need, where was it

338
00:25:36,120 –> 00:25:39,800
that they found sustenance?
Where was it that they found the

339
00:25:39,800 –> 00:25:43,320
essential nourishment for life?
It was in Egypt.

340
00:25:43,600 –> 00:25:48,760
And when was it that they came
to know of the exaltation of

341
00:25:48,800 –> 00:25:53,240
this brother of theirs whom
they’d sought to destroy?

342
00:25:54,240 –> 00:25:58,880
And at the second time Joseph
was made known unto his

343
00:25:58,880 –> 00:26:03,040
brethren, And thus it was in the
time of crisis there was a

344
00:26:03,040 –> 00:26:08,080
revelation of the divine way in
the exaltation of Joseph.

345
00:26:08,400 –> 00:26:14,440
And it may be, says Stephen,
that there will be a second time

346
00:26:14,880 –> 00:26:20,560
in the history of the nation in
a time of crisis, when Joseph

347
00:26:20,560 –> 00:26:25,640
will be again revealed, or Jesus
to be seen to be the deliverer,

348
00:26:26,200 –> 00:26:29,840
exalted of God.
And so he traces the parallel.

349
00:26:30,240 –> 00:26:34,880
And so Joseph’s kindred was made
known unto Pharaoh, then sent

350
00:26:34,880 –> 00:26:38,520
Joseph and called his father
Jacob to him, and all his

351
00:26:38,520 –> 00:26:44,200
kindred 3 score and 15 souls.
And Rackham says here again

352
00:26:44,200 –> 00:26:50,160
Stephen’s making a mistake.
He says 75 souls, but Genesis

353
00:26:50,160 –> 00:26:56,800
4626, Exodus 1/5, Deuteronomy 10
and 22 all say 70, but another

354
00:26:56,800 –> 00:26:59,280
place in the record speaks of
66.

355
00:26:59,280 –> 00:27:05,320
So whatever is this man doing
blundering about like that?

356
00:27:05,320 –> 00:27:08,200
Didn’t he know his history,
although he’s trying to draw out

357
00:27:08,200 –> 00:27:12,920
such inferences from it?
He knew his history and the very

358
00:27:12,920 –> 00:27:16,280
computation that he’s presenting
to them is a part of his

359
00:27:16,280 –> 00:27:22,360
argument for the 66 mentioned
once in Genesis includes the

360
00:27:22,360 –> 00:27:27,720
eleven sons, Joseph being
accepted and their sons and

361
00:27:27,720 –> 00:27:31,120
Joseph and his two sons and
Jacob added makes the 70.

362
00:27:31,120 –> 00:27:36,160
But what about the added five?
They’re the sons of Ephraim and

363
00:27:36,160 –> 00:27:43,480
Manasseh who were born in Egypt,
and God includes even those born

364
00:27:43,480 –> 00:27:50,800
in Egypt in exile among those
who are associated with the

365
00:27:50,800 –> 00:27:54,400
purpose of God.
And thus what appears to be a

366
00:27:54,400 –> 00:27:58,800
mistake on the part of Stephen,
and he wasn’t content to just

367
00:27:58,800 –> 00:28:01,880
say it, We may be sure he gives
his reason and his argument as

368
00:28:01,880 –> 00:28:05,320
we are trying to draw it out in
some sort of a feeble way.

369
00:28:06,600 –> 00:28:12,000
And therefore it wasn’t these
who were thus connected with

370
00:28:12,000 –> 00:28:16,080
Palestine and born there, but it
was even those who were born

371
00:28:16,080 –> 00:28:21,840
outside who were included in the
number enumerated in Scripture.

372
00:28:22,120 –> 00:28:25,040
And so Jacob went down into
Egypt and died.

373
00:28:25,040 –> 00:28:29,440
Verse 15 says he and our fathers
and were carried over into psych

374
00:28:29,440 –> 00:28:32,360
him and laid in the sepulchre
that Abram bought for a sum of

375
00:28:32,360 –> 00:28:36,400
money of the sons of EMA, the
father of Shechem.

376
00:28:37,280 –> 00:28:43,480
And so we get objection 6.
But Joshua tells us that Joseph

377
00:28:43,480 –> 00:28:47,320
was buried at Shechem, and in
adding his brothers, our

378
00:28:47,320 –> 00:28:51,840
fathers, Jacob’s 12th sons,
Steven is probably quoting

379
00:28:52,200 –> 00:28:57,000
contemporary tradition.
It is necessary to notice that

380
00:28:57,000 –> 00:29:02,880
in verse 16 and were carried
over by the very fact that the

381
00:29:03,320 –> 00:29:08,320
Greek includes the pronoun as
part of the verb.

382
00:29:08,320 –> 00:29:12,920
It’s part of the ending of the
verb that we must introduce the

383
00:29:12,920 –> 00:29:15,120
plural.
And they were carried over in

384
00:29:15,160 –> 00:29:18,200
verse 16.
And that refers to our fathers.

385
00:29:18,880 –> 00:29:22,520
And so Stephen says that our
fathers were carried over into

386
00:29:22,600 –> 00:29:25,360
psychum and laid in the
sepulchre, the Abram board.

387
00:29:26,360 –> 00:29:31,560
But where was Psychum?
In Samaria of all places, the

388
00:29:31,560 –> 00:29:35,280
land of these despised and hated
and accursed Samaritans.

389
00:29:36,080 –> 00:29:39,960
And if there was any virtue at
all in connection with the land

390
00:29:39,960 –> 00:29:45,520
of Judea, then Stephen says,
don’t forget the fathers of the

391
00:29:45,520 –> 00:29:50,720
nations were buried in Samaria.
There’s not the sanctity about

392
00:29:50,720 –> 00:29:54,640
the land that you’re thinking.
And those men are still men in

393
00:29:54,640 –> 00:29:57,480
the purpose of God, although
they’re buried there.

394
00:29:57,640 –> 00:30:01,120
Even in Samaria.
He’s got some pungent, some

395
00:30:01,120 –> 00:30:05,440
pungent things to say, which
must have stung them as he

396
00:30:05,440 –> 00:30:07,680
builds up his case point by
point.

397
00:30:07,960 –> 00:30:12,360
And the next objection is that
Abraham didn’t buy a sepulchre

398
00:30:13,240 –> 00:30:17,440
of the sons of EMA.
Now the answer to this is rather

399
00:30:17,440 –> 00:30:20,520
involved, and I don’t know
whether I can put it over in the

400
00:30:20,520 –> 00:30:25,840
short space available, but we do
know that Abraham had an altar

401
00:30:25,840 –> 00:30:29,960
there.
We do know that Jacob recovered

402
00:30:30,440 –> 00:30:33,480
the possession of the land by
the use of his bow, and left it

403
00:30:33,480 –> 00:30:35,360
as a special inheritance to
Joseph.

404
00:30:36,400 –> 00:30:40,040
And the word portion that is
used by Jacob in allotting that

405
00:30:40,520 –> 00:30:43,520
to Joseph is the very word
psychum.

406
00:30:44,680 –> 00:30:51,560
And why did Jacob take the land?
Probably because there was some

407
00:30:51,560 –> 00:30:53,560
title to it already vested in
them.

408
00:30:54,160 –> 00:30:57,240
For the fathers were sojourners
in the land, and never attempted

409
00:30:57,240 –> 00:31:01,120
marauding raids like that.
And so therefore therefore the

410
00:31:01,120 –> 00:31:05,000
inference can be drawn that
Jacob did think he’d some title

411
00:31:05,000 –> 00:31:07,040
to the land.
And the probabilities are that

412
00:31:07,040 –> 00:31:12,720
Abram did indeed by the land.
So it isn’t after all something

413
00:31:12,720 –> 00:31:15,240
that cannot be reasonably
explained.

414
00:31:15,600 –> 00:31:18,520
And when the time of the promise
grew nigh, which God has sworn

415
00:31:18,520 –> 00:31:24,000
to Abram, the people grew and
multiplied in Egypt.

416
00:31:24,440 –> 00:31:29,080
For God bless the people, and
the multiplication was in Egypt.

417
00:31:29,880 –> 00:31:32,640
God isn’t dependent upon the
land of Palestine.

418
00:31:33,080 –> 00:31:37,440
He isn’t dependent upon the set
up upon which the Jews placed

419
00:31:37,440 –> 00:31:39,960
such store for the working out
of His purpose.

420
00:31:40,440 –> 00:31:43,640
Even their forefathers
multiplied when they were in

421
00:31:43,640 –> 00:31:47,160
Egypt, until another king arose
which knew not Joseph.

422
00:31:47,600 –> 00:31:51,400
And then came the time of
affliction, the time of such

423
00:31:51,480 –> 00:31:56,600
oppression that it was an effort
to exterminate the people.

424
00:31:57,600 –> 00:32:02,440
And then Moses was born.
But where was the leader born?

425
00:32:02,680 –> 00:32:05,040
In Egypt?
Where was he brought up?

426
00:32:05,440 –> 00:32:10,360
In Pharaoh’s household Did they
think that all the skill that he

427
00:32:10,360 –> 00:32:15,600
had could be used by them, when
he thought that with all the

428
00:32:15,600 –> 00:32:18,480
training that had gone to the
making of him, he was their

429
00:32:18,480 –> 00:32:23,600
leader?
Now, says Stephen, they rejected

430
00:32:23,600 –> 00:32:25,840
him.
An objection is raised that

431
00:32:25,840 –> 00:32:28,840
Moses was learned in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians and

432
00:32:28,840 –> 00:32:32,880
mighty words and deeds, but
isn’t so serious a difficulty

433
00:32:32,880 –> 00:32:36,920
and can easily be answered, and
when he was full 40 years old.

434
00:32:36,920 –> 00:32:40,240
And another objection is raised
that there’s no record of him

435
00:32:40,240 –> 00:32:44,160
being 40 years, but there is an
expression in Exodus which

436
00:32:44,200 –> 00:32:46,640
indicates so.
Chronologists tell us that he

437
00:32:46,640 –> 00:32:49,760
was 40.
We say someone’s coming of age

438
00:32:49,760 –> 00:32:54,280
and we know at once that they’re
21, and the expression is used

439
00:32:54,560 –> 00:32:58,320
in the record concerning Moses
that indicates that he was 40.

440
00:32:58,560 –> 00:33:04,800
He saw one of the Israelites
suffering and he took an action

441
00:33:04,800 –> 00:33:09,120
by which he burned his boats.
It’s long time been thinking

442
00:33:09,120 –> 00:33:12,080
that he was the deliverer.
Why such remarkable

443
00:33:12,080 –> 00:33:15,960
circumstances in his life that
he should first of all be

444
00:33:15,960 –> 00:33:19,880
preserved, and then brought up
in Pharaoh’s house, and then

445
00:33:20,120 –> 00:33:24,360
equipped with all the skill in
military arts and political

446
00:33:24,360 –> 00:33:26,680
economy?
Why, it just seemed as though he

447
00:33:26,680 –> 00:33:29,600
was the leader.
He supposed his brethren would

448
00:33:29,600 –> 00:33:35,760
have understood how that God by
his hand would deliver them, but

449
00:33:35,760 –> 00:33:41,400
they understood not.
And Rackham says objection 10,

450
00:33:42,040 –> 00:33:45,240
The deeper motive, the desire to
give deliverance to his people,

451
00:33:45,240 –> 00:33:47,840
which is important in the
parallel with the Christ.

452
00:33:48,560 –> 00:33:54,800
You see, Rackham catches the
argument of Stephen or what he’s

453
00:33:54,800 –> 00:33:58,240
getting at, but he says the
desire to give deliverance to

454
00:33:58,240 –> 00:34:01,040
his people, which is important
to the parallel with Christ, is

455
00:34:01,040 –> 00:34:06,280
ascribed by to Moses, by Philo
as well as by Stephen.

456
00:34:06,280 –> 00:34:09,560
Exodus is silent on this.
What is the answer?

457
00:34:09,960 –> 00:34:13,000
Exodus tells us, as Stephen
quotes that the Israelite who

458
00:34:13,000 –> 00:34:16,639
strove with his fellow said to
Moses, who made their Prince and

459
00:34:16,639 –> 00:34:20,199
the judge over us.
This shows that Moses is acting,

460
00:34:20,199 –> 00:34:23,880
saying the Egyptian was regarded
as an indication on his part

461
00:34:24,520 –> 00:34:28,199
that he was willing to lead a
revolt of the slave people.

462
00:34:28,800 –> 00:34:31,760
And it is implicit in that and
other statements in the

463
00:34:31,760 –> 00:34:35,920
narrative that Moses was
contemplating acting as

464
00:34:35,920 –> 00:34:39,280
deliverer.
And the influence of Stephen is

465
00:34:39,280 –> 00:34:44,040
therefore quite legitimate, when
he showed himself to the

466
00:34:44,040 –> 00:34:48,679
Israelites the next day, and it
became evident that what he had

467
00:34:48,679 –> 00:34:52,360
done was known.
And when it was said, Who made

468
00:34:52,360 –> 00:34:55,480
the ruler over us?
Wilt thou kill me?

469
00:34:56,000 –> 00:35:01,560
That Moses fled into exile?
And what if another leader that

470
00:35:01,560 –> 00:35:05,680
has gone away from them as Moses
was to come back and be their

471
00:35:05,680 –> 00:35:08,280
deliverer?
If there’s to be a prophet like

472
00:35:08,280 –> 00:35:11,880
unto Moses, what’s the parallel
in Moses’s life that has to come

473
00:35:11,880 –> 00:35:14,120
in the life of the deliverer?
Says Stephen.

474
00:35:14,440 –> 00:35:18,000
If the one is rejected at his
first appearing, and yet he’s

475
00:35:18,000 –> 00:35:23,280
sent back by God to achieve the
work, what’s the corollary which

476
00:35:23,280 –> 00:35:25,680
comes from your rejection of
Jesus?

477
00:35:25,920 –> 00:35:29,400
Will God send him back?
That is what Stephen is saying

478
00:35:29,400 –> 00:35:31,680
to them.
And then when 40 years were

479
00:35:31,680 –> 00:35:35,040
expired, there appeared to him
in the wilderness of Mount Sinai

480
00:35:35,560 –> 00:35:39,160
an Angel of the Lord, in a flame
of fire in the Bush.

481
00:35:40,120 –> 00:35:45,280
So God made himself, made of
himself, one of the most

482
00:35:45,280 –> 00:35:50,600
striking revelations in all our
Old Testament history.

483
00:35:50,920 –> 00:35:56,160
And it was made in and through
Moses, when he was in exile from

484
00:35:56,160 –> 00:35:59,160
his own people.
Isn’t there a point in that?

485
00:35:59,440 –> 00:36:02,880
What if, after all, the
mightiest manifestation of God

486
00:36:02,880 –> 00:36:06,080
has been revealed through Jesus,
who had been taken away from

487
00:36:06,080 –> 00:36:09,320
them?
Rackham’s objection 11 concerns

488
00:36:09,320 –> 00:36:13,480
a matter of angiology, angiology
which we need not go into.

489
00:36:14,960 –> 00:36:18,680
So Moses wondered at the sight
as he drew near and beheld it.

490
00:36:18,680 –> 00:36:23,440
And he heard God saying, I am
the God of the Father of the God

491
00:36:23,440 –> 00:36:25,840
of Abram, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob.

492
00:36:26,640 –> 00:36:31,760
You remember how that was used
by Peter as we saw the other

493
00:36:31,760 –> 00:36:35,400
day, and what the significance
of it was, as Luke narrates it.

494
00:36:36,200 –> 00:36:42,280
And so here the one who revealed
himself to Moses, that Sinai was

495
00:36:42,280 –> 00:36:45,280
the one who had further
intentions than the Mosaic

496
00:36:45,280 –> 00:36:49,160
covenant.
And Stephen links the divine

497
00:36:49,160 –> 00:36:53,920
claim to be the God of Abraham
with that revelation through

498
00:36:53,920 –> 00:36:58,520
Moses, and links the antitype
with the fulfilment of the

499
00:36:58,520 –> 00:37:02,760
Abrahamic covenant.
And so it passes in review a

500
00:37:02,760 –> 00:37:06,320
little more fully the things
that are concerned with Moses,

501
00:37:06,600 –> 00:37:10,280
the sending back of the leader
whom they had rejected by God.

502
00:37:10,680 –> 00:37:14,720
And then he brought them out.
Moses brought Israel out.

503
00:37:14,720 –> 00:37:16,640
After that.
He had showed wonders and signs

504
00:37:16,640 –> 00:37:21,560
in the land of Egypt and in the
Red Sea and in the wilderness 40

505
00:37:21,560 –> 00:37:24,280
years.
And if God could preserve His

506
00:37:24,280 –> 00:37:28,000
people for 40 years in the
wilderness, God’s protecting and

507
00:37:28,000 –> 00:37:31,960
preserving care was not
dependent upon land are upon

508
00:37:31,960 –> 00:37:34,400
people.
And you’ll notice how in this

509
00:37:34,400 –> 00:37:38,400
recapitulation from their
history, there is a constant

510
00:37:38,520 –> 00:37:43,280
hammering home of this point.
Stephen isn’t basing his case

511
00:37:43,280 –> 00:37:47,680
upon one incident.
He says the the whole range of

512
00:37:47,680 –> 00:37:52,680
our history is eloquent of the
fact from which I’m claiming

513
00:37:53,480 –> 00:37:57,280
which I’m stating my case.
It’s a question of the divine

514
00:37:57,280 –> 00:38:00,520
purpose at any time.
And if God could do all these

515
00:38:00,520 –> 00:38:04,560
things before whatever the law
was formulated, isn’t it within

516
00:38:04,560 –> 00:38:09,480
the range of possibility that
the law can have run its course?

517
00:38:09,480 –> 00:38:13,960
And God introduced another
dispensation bound up with the

518
00:38:13,960 –> 00:38:17,600
anti type of Moses, and
therefore because it was the

519
00:38:17,600 –> 00:38:21,200
fulfillment of all the typical
features of the law, something

520
00:38:21,200 –> 00:38:26,040
that is independent of them.
That this is the case is clear

521
00:38:26,040 –> 00:38:31,040
because the argument moves on.
This is that Moses which said

522
00:38:31,040 –> 00:38:33,960
unto the children of Israel, a
prophet, shall the Lord your God

523
00:38:33,960 –> 00:38:38,360
raise up unto you.
Stephen said I’m not dreaming

524
00:38:38,360 –> 00:38:41,480
dreams or putting over to you
mere speculations.

525
00:38:42,160 –> 00:38:45,440
Here’s the testimony that there
has to be a prophet like unto

526
00:38:45,440 –> 00:38:49,960
Moses, There has to be 1 to come
to whom in whose life there is a

527
00:38:49,960 –> 00:38:54,000
parallel with the life of Moses?
In whose experiences there is a

528
00:38:54,000 –> 00:38:56,520
parallel with the experiences of
Moses?

529
00:38:56,800 –> 00:39:00,480
And he points the parallel when
in verse 38 he says, this is he

530
00:39:00,880 –> 00:39:06,480
that was in the church in the
wilderness, with the Angel which

531
00:39:06,480 –> 00:39:10,440
spake to him in the Mount Sinai,
and with our fathers who

532
00:39:10,440 –> 00:39:13,120
received the living oracles to
give unto us.

533
00:39:13,520 –> 00:39:18,160
He was in the ecclesia, that’s
the Greek word.

534
00:39:18,760 –> 00:39:22,280
He was in the ecclesia in the
wilderness.

535
00:39:22,280 –> 00:39:27,960
And the 22nd Psalm says
concerning Christ after his

536
00:39:28,440 –> 00:39:33,440
resurrection, I will declare thy
name unto my brethren in the

537
00:39:33,440 –> 00:39:37,760
midst of the ecclesia.
Catch the phrase that he’s using

538
00:39:37,760 –> 00:39:40,360
here.
In the midst of the ecclesia

539
00:39:40,880 –> 00:39:44,960
will I get praise unto thee.
So as Moses was with the

540
00:39:44,960 –> 00:39:49,800
ecclesia there, even the
children of Israel, which is

541
00:39:49,800 –> 00:39:54,760
called the ecclesia, so the Lord
Jesus was in the midst of the

542
00:39:54,760 –> 00:39:57,600
Ecclesia.
And his tracing out his

543
00:39:57,600 –> 00:40:01,720
parallel, there was a divine
revelation given to Moses at

544
00:40:01,720 –> 00:40:04,680
Sinai when he was in the midst
of the ecclesia.

545
00:40:04,840 –> 00:40:10,480
There’s been a divine revelation
which has an old law and temple

546
00:40:10,640 –> 00:40:16,280
and sacrifice by this prophet
like unto Moses, in the midst of

547
00:40:16,280 –> 00:40:20,440
this ecclesia, this Church.
Which has been established as

548
00:40:20,440 –> 00:40:23,960
the result of his work, That
just as Moses received the

549
00:40:24,200 –> 00:40:28,320
living oracles to give them unto
us, so through the Mediator of

550
00:40:28,320 –> 00:40:33,320
the New Covenant, Jesus, of whom
the Psalmist speaks, as we have

551
00:40:33,320 –> 00:40:38,240
quoted, has given living oracles
unto us, which are the rule of

552
00:40:38,240 –> 00:40:41,240
our life, which are the
expression of the Divine will.

553
00:40:41,240 –> 00:40:46,040
Do you regard that message given
through Moses, he says, as being

554
00:40:46,040 –> 00:40:50,920
the living voice of God?
Then you admit the possibility

555
00:40:50,920 –> 00:40:53,240
of God revealing himself through
a man.

556
00:40:53,560 –> 00:40:56,680
Granted, says Stephen.
And we claim that there’s been

557
00:40:56,680 –> 00:41:00,640
another revelation through the
prophet like unto Moses.

558
00:41:01,360 –> 00:41:05,680
And so the basis of the
Christian behaviour and its

559
00:41:05,680 –> 00:41:11,080
attitude to Loewen Temple is
claimed by Stephen to be based

560
00:41:11,600 –> 00:41:17,000
equally with Israel’s worship
upon divine sanctions.

561
00:41:17,360 –> 00:41:24,400
But sanctions ministered through
a higher profit and a greater

562
00:41:24,400 –> 00:41:29,720
mediator than even Moses was.
And so he’s led his argument

563
00:41:29,720 –> 00:41:33,480
onto the fact that it was
through a divine revelation that

564
00:41:33,480 –> 00:41:37,040
the Christian was claiming to
follow the way of life that they

565
00:41:37,040 –> 00:41:41,400
formulated.
But now he turns to them and

566
00:41:41,400 –> 00:41:44,920
says, now look at all your
history and don’t repeat it in

567
00:41:44,920 –> 00:41:48,240
the wilderness.
Your father said, make us gods

568
00:41:48,240 –> 00:41:52,520
to go back to Egypt.
You’ve always wanted to go back

569
00:41:53,240 –> 00:41:57,120
rather than to go forward.
Now change your policy and your

570
00:41:57,120 –> 00:41:59,680
practice, he said.
Don’t repeat the folly of your

571
00:41:59,680 –> 00:42:02,760
father.
They said, let’s go back now,

572
00:42:02,760 –> 00:42:07,040
don’t go back, go forward with
the revelation, he says.

573
00:42:07,360 –> 00:42:10,520
And then verse 42 then got
turned and gave them up to the

574
00:42:10,520 –> 00:42:14,200
worship of the host of heaven as
it is written in the book of the

575
00:42:14,200 –> 00:42:16,200
Prophets.
And he’s quoting from Amos.

576
00:42:16,840 –> 00:42:20,880
And here we get objections 12
and 13 of Rackham as it is

577
00:42:20,880 –> 00:42:22,200
written in the book of the
Prophets.

578
00:42:22,200 –> 00:42:25,600
O your House of Israel, have you
so offered to me slain beasts

579
00:42:25,600 –> 00:42:28,000
and sacrifices by the space of
40 years?

580
00:42:29,200 –> 00:42:31,440
And that was written of a time
long after.

581
00:42:32,320 –> 00:42:36,240
But the point of the prophecy is
that throughout their history

582
00:42:36,240 –> 00:42:38,240
they’d manifested such a
character.

583
00:42:38,960 –> 00:42:42,160
Yeah, you took up the Tabernacle
of Moloch and the star of your

584
00:42:42,160 –> 00:42:44,400
God R.E.M.
Fan and figures which he made to

585
00:42:44,400 –> 00:42:47,000
worship him.
And I will carry you away.

586
00:42:47,840 –> 00:42:51,720
And the passage in Amos says
beyond Damascus, and Stephen

587
00:42:51,720 –> 00:42:54,920
says beyond Babylon.
But remember again what we’ve

588
00:42:54,920 –> 00:42:59,160
pointed out so often that he
introduces another quotation and

589
00:42:59,160 –> 00:43:03,240
expects us to go to it.
And he’s quoting now from

590
00:43:03,240 –> 00:43:07,320
Jeremiah, where God said he
would send them to Babylon.

591
00:43:08,280 –> 00:43:12,200
And what’s his point in adding
the prophecy of Jeremiah to that

592
00:43:12,200 –> 00:43:15,480
of Amos, that they would be sent
to Babylon?

593
00:43:15,920 –> 00:43:21,360
Why just this, that God called
Abraham out of Babylon and

594
00:43:21,360 –> 00:43:25,600
because of the behaviour of
their fathers, God had sent them

595
00:43:25,840 –> 00:43:30,640
back to Babylon.
Terrible indictment and a very

596
00:43:30,640 –> 00:43:34,360
powerful warning to them.
He said look at your history and

597
00:43:34,360 –> 00:43:36,760
don’t perpetuate the folly of
your father’s.

598
00:43:37,480 –> 00:43:41,720
Our fathers of the Tabernacle
witnessed in the wilderness and

599
00:43:41,720 –> 00:43:43,960
so before temple there was
Tabernacle.

600
00:43:44,560 –> 00:43:48,000
Then there was a change from
Tabernacle to temple, and

601
00:43:48,000 –> 00:43:50,280
therefore there can have been
another change.

602
00:43:50,760 –> 00:43:54,200
And he says in the 45th verse,
which also our fathers that came

603
00:43:54,200 –> 00:43:58,920
after brought in the Tabernacle
with Jesus, Jesus.

604
00:43:59,200 –> 00:44:01,880
And Jesus, you know, is Joshua.
You know that.

605
00:44:02,360 –> 00:44:06,440
And in the letter to the Hebrews
written by the man who was

606
00:44:06,440 –> 00:44:09,800
listening to Stephen and
consenting to his death, says

607
00:44:09,800 –> 00:44:13,240
that Jesus didn’t give them the
inheritance.

608
00:44:13,600 –> 00:44:20,360
I’m sure Paul was feeling the
force of this argument, and

609
00:44:20,360 –> 00:44:25,200
there are stages in men’s lives
when the force of the argument

610
00:44:25,200 –> 00:44:28,760
being seen and it being felt to
be unanswerable.

611
00:44:29,640 –> 00:44:34,000
The only answer they can give,
which is the throwing of stones,

612
00:44:34,240 –> 00:44:37,240
and that’s where Saul was just
now.

613
00:44:37,680 –> 00:44:40,640
But the argument of Stephen, one
with Saul.

614
00:44:41,360 –> 00:44:44,840
And it is Saul himself who
repeats these arguments in his

615
00:44:44,840 –> 00:44:47,480
letters, particularly in the
letter to the Hebrews.

616
00:44:47,680 –> 00:44:52,200
But Saul the persecutor becomes
Saul the ambassador then, which

617
00:44:52,200 –> 00:44:55,400
also our fathers that came in
after, brought in with Jesus

618
00:44:55,680 –> 00:44:58,960
into the possession of the
Gentiles, whom God drave out

619
00:44:58,960 –> 00:45:03,120
before the face of our fathers
unto the days of David.

620
00:45:03,560 –> 00:45:07,360
But if it was Joshua who led
them in, then they didn’t

621
00:45:07,360 –> 00:45:11,080
receive the inheritance by
Moses, and therefore it wasn’t

622
00:45:11,080 –> 00:45:14,600
on the basis of the law that
they’d have the inheritance, but

623
00:45:14,600 –> 00:45:16,880
by something subsequent to the
law.

624
00:45:17,680 –> 00:45:20,680
Therefore the law must pass to
give something to place to

625
00:45:20,680 –> 00:45:23,920
something else upon which the
inheritance would be based.

626
00:45:24,080 –> 00:45:27,960
And then after David’s day,
Solomon built him a house.

627
00:45:28,120 –> 00:45:32,120
But that isn’t final because
even the prophet contemporary

628
00:45:32,120 –> 00:45:36,400
with it says, albeit the Most
High dwelleth not in temples

629
00:45:36,400 –> 00:45:39,240
made with hands.
And the citation is from the

630
00:45:39,240 –> 00:45:46,120
66th chapter of Isaiah where God
says heaven is my throne, the

631
00:45:46,120 –> 00:45:49,840
earth is my footstool.
Where is the house that you

632
00:45:49,840 –> 00:45:53,880
build unto me for all these
things of my hands made?

633
00:45:54,240 –> 00:45:59,400
How can you make a house for God
out of the materials that He

634
00:45:59,400 –> 00:46:02,720
himself was provided?
You can only make a house for

635
00:46:02,720 –> 00:46:06,520
God out of what you who yourself
provide, says the Prophet.

636
00:46:06,680 –> 00:46:10,080
The Most High dwelleth not in
temples made with hands, as Seth

637
00:46:10,120 –> 00:46:12,600
the Prophet.
Heaven is my throne, and the

638
00:46:12,640 –> 00:46:15,720
earth is my footstool.
What house will you build to me,

639
00:46:15,720 –> 00:46:18,160
saith the Lord?
What is the place of my rest?

640
00:46:18,960 –> 00:46:22,960
And the answer of the prophet
is, that none of these things

641
00:46:23,440 –> 00:46:25,880
that God Himself has made will
do.

642
00:46:26,320 –> 00:46:30,680
But to this man will I look,
that is, of a humble and

643
00:46:30,680 –> 00:46:34,440
contrite spirit, and who
trembleth at my word.

644
00:46:35,080 –> 00:46:39,000
And so Stephen says, even the
prophets testify that the

645
00:46:39,000 –> 00:46:43,120
dwelling place of God isn’t the
material edifice, but a

646
00:46:43,120 –> 00:46:48,400
structure composed of men and
women of the character, who are

647
00:46:48,400 –> 00:46:53,080
humble and contrite in heart,
and who tremble at His word.

648
00:46:53,640 –> 00:46:57,120
This is the building that is the
finality of the divine purpose,

649
00:46:57,360 –> 00:47:01,560
and therefore these things to
which you’re clinging so closely

650
00:47:02,120 –> 00:47:05,920
are only the temporal, the
transitional, the typical.

651
00:47:06,800 –> 00:47:10,120
And clinging to them, you’re
losing sight of the reality.

652
00:47:10,760 –> 00:47:14,960
And God has laid the foundation
in Jesus Christ, and by being

653
00:47:14,960 –> 00:47:17,800
humble and contrite and
trembling at his word, you

654
00:47:17,800 –> 00:47:21,720
yourself can be built into what
will be the divine dwelling

655
00:47:21,720 –> 00:47:24,280
place.
And we must, at this point,

656
00:47:25,000 –> 00:47:31,480
postulate a growing murmur of
growls and descent, with looks

657
00:47:31,480 –> 00:47:34,960
of venomous hatred on their
faces, which made Stephen

658
00:47:34,960 –> 00:47:39,240
realize that to pursue his
argument was pointless beyond

659
00:47:39,240 –> 00:47:43,200
this stage.
And so he turns to indictment.

660
00:47:43,720 –> 00:47:46,720
He’s stiff necked and
uncircumcised in heart.

661
00:47:47,000 –> 00:47:51,200
Ye do always resist the Holy
Spirit, as your Father’s did.

662
00:47:51,200 –> 00:47:55,640
So do ye Which of the fathers of
not your, which of the prophets

663
00:47:55,640 –> 00:47:59,440
of not your Father’s persecuted
and recompines this 14th

664
00:47:59,440 –> 00:48:03,440
objection.
There they crucified the just

665
00:48:03,440 –> 00:48:05,360
one of whom the prophets had
spoken.

666
00:48:05,880 –> 00:48:09,560
They resisted the prophets, They
resisted the one of whom the

667
00:48:09,560 –> 00:48:13,520
prophets spoken.
They’d received the law by the

668
00:48:13,520 –> 00:48:17,880
disposition of angels, and while
they’d had great privileges,

669
00:48:18,280 –> 00:48:22,240
they hadn’t kept it.
And Stephen here had the

670
00:48:22,240 –> 00:48:24,600
reminiscence of what Jesus had
said.

671
00:48:24,920 –> 00:48:27,640
On one occasion.
He turned the argument back upon

672
00:48:27,640 –> 00:48:32,000
themselves, and Jesus said in
effect to them in one of the

673
00:48:32,240 –> 00:48:34,400
speeches recorded in John’s
Gospel.

674
00:48:35,280 –> 00:48:41,520
How can you go on to a fuller
revelation when you haven’t kept

675
00:48:41,520 –> 00:48:44,640
the one you had?
And that is what Stephen is

676
00:48:44,640 –> 00:48:47,200
saying here.
You receive the law by the

677
00:48:47,200 –> 00:48:50,240
disposition of angels, and you
haven’t kept it.

678
00:48:51,240 –> 00:48:54,760
How then are your minds and
hearts open to go on to a fuller

679
00:48:54,760 –> 00:48:59,360
revelation and to receive it?
And so Stephen has presented

680
00:48:59,360 –> 00:49:03,480
this case, which has ended in
such a burning charge.

681
00:49:03,800 –> 00:49:08,680
And then they burst down all
restraints and take him out to

682
00:49:08,680 –> 00:49:12,560
the place of dawning to be
stoned to death.

683
00:49:12,880 –> 00:49:16,000
And even there this man has a
final testimony.

684
00:49:16,440 –> 00:49:19,560
Behold, I see the heavens
opened, and the Son of Man

685
00:49:19,960 –> 00:49:22,080
standing on the right hand of
God.

686
00:49:22,480 –> 00:49:26,800
Well, Jacob had seen the heavens
open and the possible way of

687
00:49:26,800 –> 00:49:28,800
connection between heaven and
men.

688
00:49:29,240 –> 00:49:33,880
But now Stephen says, heaven is
open, and the man for whom the

689
00:49:33,880 –> 00:49:37,560
link with heaven has been
established is there at the

690
00:49:37,560 –> 00:49:43,760
right hand of God, too mighty a
claim for them to receive, And

691
00:49:43,760 –> 00:49:47,960
with fingers in ears they rushed
him out to the place where they

692
00:49:47,960 –> 00:49:52,480
stoned him.
And Saul says Luke, with all the

693
00:49:52,480 –> 00:49:58,040
significance of his method of
writing his history, and so was

694
00:49:58,040 –> 00:50:02,280
consenting unto his death.
And so we have the account of

695
00:50:02,280 –> 00:50:07,480
how the rupture began between
Judaism and Christianity, and

696
00:50:07,480 –> 00:50:11,040
the grounds upon which
Christianity pursued its course,

697
00:50:11,360 –> 00:50:14,040
gradually working away from
Judaism.

698
00:50:14,320 –> 00:50:16,920
And now I have an apology to
make.

699
00:50:18,480 –> 00:50:23,080
We do not in general practice
repeat on the platform what is

700
00:50:23,080 –> 00:50:27,160
available in books.
The examination of these

701
00:50:27,320 –> 00:50:30,560
objections of Rackham is done in
some detail in the little book

702
00:50:30,560 –> 00:50:34,280
The Oracles of God.
If you want to study these

703
00:50:34,280 –> 00:50:38,000
objections and see the
explanation and see how the key

704
00:50:38,000 –> 00:50:43,080
that we claim to have been using
to unlock Luke’s record of these

705
00:50:43,080 –> 00:50:47,760
speeches turns back what are
regarded as objections.