The People that are Stiff-necked

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” (Acts 7:51-53).

Stephen brought his testimony to a climax. He called his audience a “stiff-necked people”. They were stubborn like their fathers, resisting, ridiculing, and rejecting God’s Spirit, prophets, and law. We have seen that all three of these revealed that Jesus is the Christ. The Spirit led Stephen to reveal that although the Jews were circumcised in the flesh, it was their uncircumcised hearts that separated them from God… “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:11-12). The wonderful good news is that Christ has circumcised the hearts of His children of faith… “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11). Therefore, we are free to approach God and enjoy growing fellowship with Him. As we listen closely to Stephen’s glorious testimony, the Holy Spirit will work in us too, examining, convicting, and cleansing our circumcised hearts to keep us from becoming like the people that are stiff-necked.

Stiff-necked people resist the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the very presence and power of God in those who believe… “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). He empowers us to witness (Acts 1:8), He convicts us and the world around us of sin, righteousness, and judgement (John 16:8), He guides us into truth (John 16:13), and He seals and protects our salvation (Ephesians 1:13). He does all this and much more, but Christians are vulnerable to grieving, ignoring, and sometimes even resisting the Holy Spirit… “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The word translated quench here means to extinguish. Here God’s Word teaches that we miss the Holy Spirit’s power when we resist Him. As we grow up into Christ and we enjoy the fruit of His presence and power, we seek to be increasingly led by the Holy Spirit.

Stiff-necked people ridicule the prophets. Prophets are those anointed by God to speak for God. The Old Testament prophets spoke to both kings and commoners. Today, New Testament believers have the Word of God in our hearts… “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:8). We also have the anointing and blessing of God to proclaim His Word to our lost world… “And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (Romans 10:15). As we grow up into Christ, we love to tell others the good news by sharing His Word because we are His contemporary prophets.

Stiff-necked people reject God’s law. Like a newborn infant, those who are truly born again have a circumcised heart and a growing hunger for the Word of God… “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). As infants progress from milk to solid food, maturing disciples progress from the spiritual milk to the spiritual solid food of God’s Word through disciplined study and faithful obedience… “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil… (Hebrews 5:14). As we faithfully feed on God’s Word, we discover and enjoy the blessings of obedience to His perfect law as revealed in His Word… “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psalm 19:7-8). As we grow up into Christ our hunger and love for His precious law grows within us.

As we grow up into Christ, love for His Spirit, prophets, and law testifies that we are no longer among…

The People that are Stiff-necked.