And the high priest
said, “Are these things so?” And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me.
The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia,
before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your
kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the
land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed
him from there into this land in which you are now living. Yet he gave him no
inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as
a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. And God
spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging
to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ‘But I
will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall
come out and worship me in this place.’ And he gave him the covenant of
circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on
the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve
patriarchs (Acts
7:1-8).
The high priest gave Stephen a chance to
respond to the false witnesses that accused him of preaching that Jesus would
destroy the temple and change the law of Moses. Stephen was a simple deacon, a
servant to the widows among the new Christian community of Jerusalem, but the
Lord filled him with faith and the Holy Spirit and as he boldly shared the
gospel, the Lord confirmed his preaching with… “great wonders and signs
among the people” (Acts 6:8). While many believed the gospel, the
Jewish council felt Stephen’s message threatened the established religious
order. When he was arrested and brought before the council, Stephen experienced
the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that the Holy Spirit will give us the words
to share when we are judged for sharing His gospel… “And when they bring
you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious
about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy
Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Luke 12:11-12).
The Spirit did teach Stephen what to say to the council, and as we listen in,
the Spirit explains how Jesus did not destroy the temple and law, but they are
among the promises that are fulfilled in Christ.
Christ fulfilled the promise of the temple.
Stephen reminded the council of the promise of a homeland to Abraham and his
offspring… “Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring
I will give this land.’” (Genesis 12:7). Central to their homeland was
the temple, their place of worship. The temple would indeed be destroyed soon
and the Jews would be dispersed around the world. Christ followers among them
would carry the gospel to the four corners of the world, but when Jesus talked
of the destruction and three-day resurrection of a temple, He was speaking of
His own death and resurrection… “Destroy this temple, and in three days I
will raise it up… But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When
therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had
said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken” (John
2:19-22). Christ living in us has made us the temple of His Holy Spirit… “Do
you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1
Corinthians 3:16). Christ fulfills the promise of the temple as the
place of true spiritual worship for every true believer.
Christ
fulfilled the promise of protection. God promised to protect Israel
through the time of their Egyptian enslavement. In Christ, the believer is
protected through this temporal life and promised eternal life in heaven… “I
give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them
out of my hand” (John 10:28). Christ fulfills the promise of
protection and deliverance for His children.
As we grow up into Christ, we experience the blessing of all of…
The Promises that are
Fulfilled in Christ.
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