Welcome to Books of the Book.
My name is Jim Howard and I'm
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here with my brother Mark. We're
both pastors in the Michigan
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Conference of Seventy-day
Adventists and we have been
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studying this book of Acts,
a powerful book of the early
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church's history and where
we left off last time was at the
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conclusion of chapter 5 and just
entering into chapter 6 of the
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book of Acts. So I'd like to go
back to the end of chapter 5 and
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just review just a short verse.
But before I do I think it's
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important that we stop and pray
and ask God to especially bless
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our study time together.
Father in heaven, we are so
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grateful that you have given us
the privilege of studying your
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word. We pray that the Spirit
would be given to us now that
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we might understand it the way
you would have us to. In Jesus'
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name, Amen. Well if
we look here at the end
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of chapter 5 in verse 42, and
we'd invite our viewers to open
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up your Bibles and follow along
with us, it concluded chapter 5
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after this incredible story
of the apostles being challenged
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and ultimately beaten, that they
responded in verse 42 in a way
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that we find very supernatural.
It says and daily in the temple
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and in every house they did
not cease teaching and preaching
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Jesus as the Christ. It seemed
that nothing was going to stop
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the early church as we read
here in the book of Acts and
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sometimes I have to admit,
reading the book of Acts makes
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me a little jealous. I think wow
this church had such power, they
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had such purity. There didn't
seem to be any problems that
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existed. I mean, today we have
struggle and strife in so many
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things, but it didn't appear
that way to them. The more that
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they faced opposition, the more
boldness and courage and the
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more growth that came into
the church. But as we enter into
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chapter 6 we find something that
begins to give a little hint
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that things were not quite as
different then as they are now.
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It says in chapter 6 and verse
1 Now in those days when the
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number of the disciples
was multiplying, which was
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definitely a good problem, there
arose a complaint against the
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Hebrews by the Hellenists
because their widows were
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neglected in the daily
distribution. So here we see
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that you know with growth
come challenges. There were some
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feelings that some were getting
more than others and it sounds
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like it was a very real problem
but it was producing some
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unsettled and not very good
feelings amongst the people.
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So from here a wonderful plan
began to emerge and I believe
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God ordained for the purpose
of the church today so that we
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could learn from what they
accomplished as a result of this
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problem. That's
right. When we look back
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at chapter 6 and we continue on
there, of course you have this
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situation where the Hellenists
who were Greek-speaking Jews...
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It was probably not an
intentional neglect and that
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word neglect means they
were overlooked and for whatever
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reason it created this tension
but it was tension that needed
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to be addressed. It's
interesting to see how the
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apostles addressed it as we look
at verse 2. It says, Then the 12
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summoned the multitude of the
disciples and said, It is not
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desirable that we should leave
the word of God and serve tables
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therefore brethren seek out
from among you seven men of good
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reputation, full of the Holy
Spirit and wisdom whom we may
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appoint over this business,
but we will give ourselves
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continually to prayer and to the
ministry of the word. And this
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saying pleased the whole
multitude, etc. Now what happens
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here is really fascinating.
First of all they make the point
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that it's not desirable that
we should serve tables, but they
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didn't say that serving tables
was a bad thing. In other words,
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they're using that expression to
talk about distributing the food
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for the needs of these Greek-
speaking Jews and all the church
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really. It's not that that
wasn't a need and that serving
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tables was a bad thing, but they
realized that if we spend our
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time serving tables it's going
to take us away from what we
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were called to do. It's
interesting to me, Jim, how they
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were clear enough on their
purpose and mission not to allow
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anything to distract from
that and rather than ignore the
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problem which would have created
bigger problems they dealt with
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it but they dealt with it
in such a way as they would not
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hinder their own working to
preach the word and that's what
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it says there in verse 4. We
will give ourselves continually
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to prayer and to the ministry
of the word. And I think to
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myself today and I think this
is important for us to realize
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whether we're talking about
it in a church setting or in a
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personal setting, the devil does
not want the gospel message to
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get out and he's always seeking
to distract and when we give in
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to those distractions he knows
his plans are working and he
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continues to throw all kinds
of distractions our way and that
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happens in our personal lives
or in our corporate life as a
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church. When the early church
saw these distractions they
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dealt with them but they never
stopped their forward momentum
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in proclaiming the gospel
and I believe that that not only
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kept the work going forward,
it also hindered the enemy's
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attempts to squelch the gospel
message. Now another thing that
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I think is important here is
that we see the beginnings of,
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well we've seen it before,
but of organization of the early
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church. It's interesting that it
tells us in verse 2 that the 12
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summoned the multitude.
Now remember we had 11 when we
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started the book of Acts
and they found it important to
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gather one more and that one
more was Matthias who joined the
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11 and became the twelfth. Now
the church has added 3000 and
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then 5000 so surely by now it
doesn't matter that you have 12,
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right? But evidently it does.
It's still the 12. And now they
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are appointing other leaders
and organizing the church and
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there's a purpose for that
organization that I think you're
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going to speak to here.
Well it seems to me that when we
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talk about the incredible growth
of the church, you would think
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it would slow things down. When
you see an organization become
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large and it kind of clogs
everything up and it's slower
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moving and that was, I'm sure,
the fear ultimately that the
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apostles had and why God gave
this method of organization so
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that it could continue to move
quickly, the work that they were
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called to do. You read through
verse 4 and verse 5 and onward
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it talks about setting
aside these seven men who we
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understand to be deacons. In
verse 7, it says, then the word
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of God slowed down. No
absolutely not. Then the word
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of God spread and the number
of the disciples multiplied
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greatly in Jerusalem and a
great many of the priests were
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obedient to the faith. So
apparently organization, in
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God's method of organization,
should advance the work even
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faster. What we saw here was the
mission of the church to carry
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the message that God had
entrusted them with to the then
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known world, that mission
was given to every disciple of
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Christ and they were actively
doing that. But as the results
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of that came in and people
were added to their number, it
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brought organization in as a
necessity. So there needed to be
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hierarchy, there needed to
be some structure to the church.
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But Jim isn't it true though and
I think some of this comes up
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from where we have seen
organizations that seem to
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encumber and slow down progress
and I think a lot of Christians
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get the mindset that
organization is bad, but it
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doesn't have to be.
That's right and that's what
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this is revealing. Now the
idea of this organized structure
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being developed you know does
have a danger and that is that
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we can get to a point where
we begin to see the structure as
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the true essence of the church
and rather than having a mission
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that drives the structure,
we then have a structure that
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replaces the mission.
Unfortunately this can happen in
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our own churches where we have
programs, lots of programs; we
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are very busy. In our churches
we have Bible study groups and
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Sabbath Schools and we have
children's and youth ministries,
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choirs, we have so many
different things that are
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valuable programs and important
programs, but when we really
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look closely at them, the
primary target of these programs
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is for the existing church
and we can be so busy within the
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structure of the church that
we actually fail to continue
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carrying forward the mission
of spreading the word of God and
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the message entrusted to us
to the world. You find in this
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passage that developing this
structure didn't take away the
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need to spread the word.
Even these seven men who were
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appointed, including Stephen.
Now that he was appointed as a
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deacon didn't mean now he
just served tables and he wasn't
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responsible for spreading
the word. No, as a disciple of
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Christ that's his job. He's
a witness for Christ and so you
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see in the next couple of verses
Stephen full of faith and power
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begins to speak about the things
that he did and we're going to
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come to chapter 7 where he gives
an incredible address in which
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he shares the message entrusted
to him by God. So the mission of
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of the church must not be
replaced by the structure.
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The structure must be
given to support that mission.
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That's right. And as you
mentioned, it didn't slow down
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the progression of the message.
Even among the seven we see in
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verse 12 that as a result of
Stephen's preaching which the
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Bible says could not be refuted.
Verse 12 says they stirred up
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the people, the elders and
scribes, and they came upon him,
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we see that expression again,
seized him and brought him to
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the council. So once again
they can't refute the message of
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truth and so they resort to very
carnal measures to try to stop
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the message, and it goes on to
say, they set up false witnesses
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who said this man does not
cease to speak blasphemous words
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against this holy place and the
law for we have heard him say
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that this Jesus of Nazareth will
destroy this place and change
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the customs which Moses
delivered to us. Now it's
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interesting to me, Jim, that
there are Christians today who
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say that Jesus did that very
thing; he came to change the law
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and the customs that Moses gave.
These were false witnesses who
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had to be manufactured to
say that because Stephen wasn't
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preaching it and it wasn't a
reality and it's sad today that
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there are many Christians
who pick up the argument of the
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false witnesses of Stephen
not even realizing it, I'm sure,
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instead of realizing the truth
of scripture. Well of course
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tried to stir the people up but
they stirred the people up and
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they brought false witnesses
but they could not refute the
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message of Stephen and the
message of the gospel spread
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with power. That's
right. And if you look at
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how this concludes, it was very
clear that the people were not
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in any way confused about these
false witnesses, because in
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verse 15 God gives a marked
indication of his favor upon
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Stephen. It says, And all,
in verse 15, all who sat in the
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council looking steadfastly at
him saw his face as the face of
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an angel. There was something
about him that convicted their
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hearts that this man bore the
dignity and power of God in his
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bearing and right after this
we see one of those most amazing
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addresses ever given by Stephen
in chapter 7. It says in verse 1
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Then the high priest said,
Are these things so? and Stephen
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begins to respond with this
beautiful appeal. We want to get
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to that appeal, but before we
do we've got to go to break. So
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when we come back we'll dive
into Acts chapter 7 and this
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wonderful address of Stephen.
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