It Was The Death of HIm

N.T.#839 "It Was The Death of HIm"

July 23, 2026 

Acts 7-Part 4

LET IT GLOW 

Deacon Stephen gave a fantastic sermon to the Sanhedrin council of the Jews. What did it profit? After all, he was stoned to death.

When the men of Israel were at their worst, the man Stephen was at his best. (Falwell)

Thou shalt not kill. Those stone throwers knew that commandment. Those who claimed to be devoted to God were treating His witnesses this way-killing him.

And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (verses 59-60)

LET IT GROW 

Do we see Stephen still trusting the grace of God, the righteousness of Jesus, for his salvation? He had trusted and lived for Christ during life, so he could expect to trust and live for Christ in eternity. 

Jesus had said a similar thing at His death-forgiving His killers.

Stephen had compassion for his persecutors. He wanted them to be saved. 

Believers are to forgive men no matter what the offense may be. We are told to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to them that hate us, pray for them who despitefully use us, and persecute us. (Matthew 5:44)

LET IT GO

Lord, replace hate with love, revenge with forgiveness, lies with truth, injustice with justice. 

Help us to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. (Mic. 6:8)

Give us faith to endure to the end, Lord Jesus.

Faithful to the End

 N.T.#838 "Faithful to the End"

July 22, 2026

Acts 7-Part 3

LET IT GLOW

What issue was the religious leaders having with Stephen?

• They elevated the temple building to almost idol status.
• They rebelled against God, which they claimed to worship. 
• They killed the Messiah to preserve the temple, from which they derived their power.

By not embracing Jesus as the Messiah, their power was not from the Holy Spirit.

Do we put too much importance on our church building? Is it more important than people?

LET IT GROW

How did Stephen describe the religious leaders?

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in the heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: 

Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. (verses 52-53)

How did the men react?  

When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. (verse 54)

When people are confronted with their sins, the guilty either repent or respond with rage. Stephen's opponents ground their teeth and covered their ears. they rushed him out of the city and stoned Stephen to death. 

Before the faithful deacon died, he looked up into heaven, saw the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (verse 56) What a unique opportunity. What a faithful witness!

Stephen's clothing was laid down at the feet of Saul. 

Did you read the last two verses in this chapter? When Stephen was being stoned to death, he asked the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit and not charge them with this sin-murder.

Be prepared for resentment, loss of comfort, reputation, friends, family, freedom when presenting the Truth.

LET IT GO

Help us walk in Truth, Lord Jesus.

May we share the Gospel no matter the cost.

Delivered From Bondage

 N.T.#837 "Delivered From Bondage"

 July 21, 2026 

Acts 7-Part 2

LET IT GLOW

What has you in bondage? Do you need delivering from it? Jesus can do it!

We left Stephen standing before the Sanhedrin counsel of the Jews. It was a set-up. (verse 13) They had false witnesses accusing Stephen of blaspheming against the temple, law. Also, they said he said Jesus would destroy the temple and change customs Moses gave. It was a lie. Jesus Himself said if they destroyed His temple (body), then He would raise it up in 3 days. (6:11-15)

Stephen's face glowed with the love of Jesus for his persecutors to see. Jesus was with him. The high priest asked if those things were so. (7:1)

This Spirit-filled deacon gives a lengthy sermon, applying the historical account, shows the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham and the Patriarchs, Jesus fulfilled the Jewish heritage, and those not recognizing Jesus as the Messiah were traitors to their forefathers. (Liberty Bible Commentary)

Wow! Stephen let them have it! He spoke truth that they could not deny.

LET IT GROW

Stephen recounts their Jewish history:

• God called Abraham and obeyed, not knowing where he was going (Promised Land) given to his seed, yet at that time Abraham had no children. This was a faith-walk. 
• The Hebrews went into bondage, dwelling in Egypt 400 years. 
• Abraham was circumcised, as an agreement to God's covenant.
• When a famine hit, Jacob and his family ended up moving to Egypt for food. 
• Stephen went into detail about the life of Moses, the God-given deliverer. Ultimately, Jesus Christ would come to be their Deliver and our Deliverer.
• David found favor with God; his son Solomon built God a Temple. 

Stephen's remarks should have convinced the hearers that Jesus truly is their Messiah. Yet it did not, sadly.

 LET IT GO

Lord, we see how Your mighty hands moved upon the lives of Abraham's family in Jewish history. 

Set us free from the bondage of sin in each of our lives.

To You be the glory forever!

You are our Deliverer.

Who Do You Think You Are?

 N.T.#836 "Who Do You Think You Are?"

July 17, 2026 

Acts 7

LET IT GLOW 

Who does Stephen think he is, preaching to the priests and Sanhedrin council about Jesus? He is only a deacon. He is full of faith and power, submitting to the Holy Spirit, of good report. 

I'm just a nobody, trying to tell everybody, all about somebody who saved my soul-Jesus.

Stephen was a Spirit-filled deacon who knew his Jewish history of Israel. He delivered to the high priest, Caiaphas, his sermon about:

• Paatriarch Abraham
• Joseph
• Moses
• Exodus
• David and Soloman.

Stephen gave a long speech about Israel's relationship with God. The Jews constantly rejected God's message and His prophets, as well as the Sanhedrin counsel rejected the Messiah Jesus Christ. 

Have you accepted or rejected Jesus as the Messiah, Savior, Son of God, Sacrifice for our sins?

LET IT GROW 

Stephen made 3 points:

• Israel's history is the history of God's acts in the world.
• People worshiped God long before there was a temple, because God does not live in a temple.
• Jesus' death was just one more example of Israel's rebellion against and rejection of God.
• (Life Application Study Bible)

No need for us to defend ourself when witnessing. Simply tell what Jesus has done in your life.

You know, we are all sinners. It's just that some of us have confessed our sins and believed in Jesus as our Savior. some have not. As believers, we are to strive to obey God's Word and live a life pleasing to God. However, we fail so often.

LET IT GO

Help us let go of pride and humbly share the gospel wherever we go.

When Lies Are Told Against Us

 N.T.#835 "When Lies Are Told Against Us"

July 16, 2026 

Acts 6-Part 3

LET IT GLOW 

It is very hard to live with lies being told against us. What do we do? Cour down or stand? However, Stephen endured, not compromising his words and witness.

What a zeal Stephen had! The Lord used him in kingdom work, for he was full of faith, power, and did great miracles and wonders among the people. Luke does not give details here. Stephen was the link between the establishment of the Jerusalem church and the conversion of Saul/Paul.

How influence is our Christian walk?

LET IT GROW 

There was a group of Libertines disputing Stephen: 

• They were in opposition to what Stephen shared, preaching in the name of Jesus in the synagogue. 
• They were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which Stephen spoke. (verse 10)
• So their tactic was to speak lies, bringing slanderous charges of blasphemy against Moses and God committed by Stephen.(verse 11)
• They stirred up the people, elders, and scribes, bringing Stephen to the council. (verse 12)
• False witnesses said Stephen spoke blasphemous words against the temple and the law; (verse 13)
• as well as saying Stephen spoke that Jesus was going to destroy the temple and change the customs of Moses. (Jesus referred to his body being killed.) (verse 14)
• Stephen's face was aglow with the love of the Lord Jesus for these his persecutors. (verse 15)

We know what happened to Deacon Stephen-he was stoned to death; Paul saw it and was convicted. 

How committed are we to serving Jesus, sharing his Truth and love with unbelievers? Are we willing to die for Jesus? He was willing to die for us.

LET IT GO

Help us share Your love, King Jesus, wherever we are.

Serving

N.T.#834 "Serving"

July 15, 2026 

Acts 6-Part 2

LET IT GLOW 

So seven deacons were chosen to serve in the church-Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas. As a special dedication to service, the apostles, prayed for them and laid hands on them. 

This was a practice for commissioning someone to carry out a specific task. (Swindoll)

What resulted?

• The Word of God increased,
• The number of believers/disciples multiplied greatly,
• a great company of priests were obedient to the faith. (verse 7)

This first century church grew in the number of believers. 

LET IT GROW 

Deacon Stephen was active in ministry:

• He was full of faith and power.
• He did great wonders and miracles among the people. 

There was strong leadership, rapid growth, concerned involvement, and a large church in Jerusalem with believers active. (Swindoll)

Does our church have those qualities?

are we meeting needs of our members and others?

LET IT GO 

Open our eyes to the needs of our people, Lord.

May we serve others for Your glory.

*Sorry for the delay everyone. We were at a family reunion.

Is Our Faith Seen by Others?

N.T.#833 "Is Our Faith Seen by Others?"

 July 10, 2026 

Acts 6

LET IT GLOW 

There were two very different groups within the church in Jerusalem. Their common bond was Jesus and the Holy spirit filling them. They were the Hellenists and the Hebrews.

The Hellenists were Jewish by birth, yet adopted the customs from their Gentile neighbors. Many rejected pagan religions, only worshiped God, brought sacrifices to the temple, observed the festivals, and obeyed the Law of Moses. They dressed like Gentiles, socialized with Gentiles, but embraced the Roman government as their own. Greek was their main language. In other words, these believers had the worlldy ways in them.

The second group was called Hebrews. They obeyed the Law of Moses, conducted themselves using the Pharisaic code of conduct-how they dressed, washed, ate, conducted business, what they ate and touched. They abandoned their Jewish identity and accommodated the Greek culture. They spoke Hebrew or Aramaic.

That gives us a background concerning this young church in Jerusalem. Now days our churches have various types of people differing in cultures, traditions, and ways to worship the same God. 

LET IT GROW 

A problem arose between the Grecians and the Hebrews in the church in Jerusalem. The Grecians felt the needs of their widows were being neglected. The disciples said they should not leave the Word of God to serve tables. They simply could not do it all. 

Back then, if women had no husband nor family, they had a bleak life for provisions. The disciples could not do everything everywhere. The solution was to pick out 7 men of good character, deacons, to serve and meet the needs of others in the church. Remember, there were several thousands of converts by this time in the church.

The deacons were to be good men of good reputation. Later on, Paulsent Timothy the qualifications of deacons. The names of the 7 men are listed in verse 5, which included Stephen. 

We will continue Stephen's encounter with the religious groups later. Stephen was full of faith and power, as well as the Holy Spirit.

When people look at our life, what do they see?

LET IT GO

Use us to be servers today, Lord Jesus.

May others see evidence of our faith.