Shabbat Shalom. Please turn with me to the book of Acts, and this time, chapter 7. Again, this will be the third message that we have on Acts, chapter 7. And today, we are dealing with the final portion of Stephen's testimony to the Sanhedrin, 2,000 years ago in the city of Yerushalayim, when the third persecution of the Hebrew believers were in the climax there in the city of Jerusalem. And Stephen was accused by some individuals that he is speaking against God, against Moses, against the law, and against the house of God, the temple. And so, Stephen, today, continuing with this recalling to mind the history of our nation Israel.

And when we get to verse 44 on, we have the recalling to mind of the tabernacle and temple. And then we have the accusation against the leaders of Israel. And finally, we have Stephen's death by stoning the first martyr in the assembly, in the ecclesia of Yeshua the Messiah. So let's read those verses, and I begin with verse 44. Stephen is saying: Our fathers had the tabernacle of the witness in the wilderness, and as he have appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. "Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Yehoshua or Joshua into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David or David, who found favor before God, and desired to find a habitation or a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

But Solomon built him a house. And as he said, "Whether the Most High dwelleth not in temples which are made with hands, as saith the prophets, heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool, what house will ye build me, saith the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and the murderers, who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it.

When they heard these things, they were cut to their heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. And he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and he saw the glory of God and Yeshua standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see heaven open, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him. And the witnesses lay down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Shaul.

And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord, Yeshua, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And I'm going to stop here at the end of chapter 7. And this is the third message on this long recollection of testimony that this man, by the name of Stephen, was giving to the Sanhedrin, to the leaders of our nation Israel, 2,000 years ago. To remind you that this man, by the name of Stephen, he was a Jewish man who became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah from the diaspora.

In other words, he is one of those Jewish people who were immigrating to Israel, and became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, and was part of the local assembly in the city of Jerusalem. He was a man that was chosen in chapter 6 to be one of those that will serve among the people of God, among the believers. When they had problems, they have chosen him. But he was more than just one who was serving practically. He was also sharing the word of God with his own brethren, who did not yet become believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And if you remember, we have talked earlier that Stephen, in verses 1 to 16, brought to the surface the history of Abraham, and the history of yourself, Joseph.

And he brought to the surface, and he told them how Abraham became a man chosen by God, and he came to the promised land. And how Joseph was the one that was rejected by his brethren, and sold to Egypt. And now the second time, when his own brethren went down to Egypt, how he revealed himself to those brothers of him, the sons of Yaakov, the sons of Israel. And how he wept when he revealed himself to them. And so he was trying to convey to the Sanhedrin, to the leaders in the present time, to show to them that, you see, it is nothing new, the rejection of the prophets, the rejection of the leaders of Israel.

Well, it had been done in the past, and it has been done in the present. And then, in verses 17 to verse 43, which we have had last ministry meeting, he brought to the surface, or brought to mind, Moshe, Moses, the lawgiver. And he divided the history of Moses. 40 years, he was in Egypt, learning the school of the world, the school of Egypt. 40 years, he was in the school of God, in a desert, secluded, away from men, away from the public, in the presence of God, learning what God had in mind for him. And the last 40 years of his history, he led Israel out of Egypt towards the Promised Land.

And there, if you remember, he was telling the Sanhedrin, the leaders of Israel, he says, "Listen, when Moses sought to deliver the Hebrews in Egypt, he was misunderstood by the nation." And when he came the first day, when the Egyptians hurt the Hebrews, he took that Egyptian and killed him and put him and laid him away. The next day, he was accused by another one of his Hebrews and saying, "Who made you a ruler over us?" They misunderstood the call of Moses and ultimately they rejected Moses. And Moses had to flee to the wilderness until he came the second time and led the nation of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Now in these verses that we are studying today, in verses 44 to 60, we first of all see that he continued in the history of Israel. And at these verses 44 to verse 50, Stephen recalled Israel's experience with the tabernacle and the temple. And look what he is doing. He is again pointing out to his own brethren according to the flesh, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, he is showing to them that even in connection with the tabernacle and the temple, there was unfaithfulness by the nation throughout history. And look what he is saying. He says, first of all, in verse 44, and I want you to notice how he used the word "our fathers." He does not exclude himself.

He is telling to them because he is a Jewish man speaking to his Jewish leaders there. And he is telling them, "It is our fathers," verse 44. He said, "Our fathers had the tabernacle of the witness in the wilderness." And as he," this is God, "had appointed speaking unto Moses that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen." He is taking them back to the history which we have actually read today in Exodus chapter 25. And he is reminding them that when Moses went up to the mountain, God told Moses, "Listen Moses, I want you to build a tabernacle." "And the tabernacle that you are going to build, I want you to be exactly in accordance with the pattern that I have given you here on the mount." In other words, God wanted so much to dwell in the midst of the nation.

He said to Moses in Exodus 25 and verse 8 that they should make me a sanctuary that I will dwell in the midst of the nation. God always wanted to be in the midst of his nation. Just the same like Yeshua the Messiah said in Matthew 18 and verse 20, "Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them." "I am the center, I am the object, I am the one that is going to be in the midst of the nation of Israel, in the midst of the believers in this present day dispensation." And so he is reminding them about the history of the nation.

God appointed Moses and he said to him to make the tabernacle in accordance with the fashion that he had seen in the mount. It must have been amazing, glorious experience for Moses to go up to the mount and God, as it were, was showing him a pattern. You see Moses? Here's the pattern. I want you to do it in exact accordance with the pattern. And that is really the heavenly pattern that we have, that Israel as a nation receive the blueprint to build the tabernacle in accordance to the same pattern, fashioned like the one, the heavenly tabernacle. So in verse 44, he is mentioning the experience that Moses had.

And then he is moving on to verse 45 and verse 46. And he is now showing in the history of Israel how our fathers had now not only built the tabernacle, but also brought the tabernacle into the promised land. He is taking us now through the history of Joshua, Yehoshua. And so in the King James, I know it says Jesus, if you notice verse 45, it says, "Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers unto the days of David." That word Jesus is actually Yeshua in Hebrew, not Jesus, the Messiah, but Joshua, the leader of Israel.

In Greek, by the way, when you say Joshua, you say Yesus. And when you say Jesus, it's also Yesus. This is in Greek, very similar to the Hebrew. In Hebrew, Joshua is Yehoshua and Jesus is Yeshua. What he means here, he doesn't speak here in this verse about Jesus the Messiah, but he's speaking about Joshua who was leading the nation into the promised land and carrying the tabernacle in. And it is so interesting. We're going to get to it in our Bible class in Joshua chapter 18 and Joshua chapter 19. When the tabernacle was brought with Joshua and the people of Israel into the promised land, the first place that the tabernacle was erected again, it was in a place called Shiloh or Shiloh.

It is there in Joshua chapter 18 and Joshua chapter 19 that we can see the service of the Leviim, the Levites in the tabernacle in the promised land. And so the tabernacle was built in the wilderness, carried throughout the history of Israel 40 years in the wilderness and brought into the promised land and being erected again in a location that is called Shiloh. But what we learned from that, what he's trying to say is, listen Israel, God always wanted to be in your midst. God always wanted to lead, to be the leader of the nation. And God always sought to be the center that you can enjoy him and serve him and minister to him and that he can be the source of your blessings.

And so the tabernacle was erected outside of the land. The tabernacle was carried from outside of the land into the promised land. And now he's telling them about David. In verse 45, he says unto the days of David. And verse 46 says, who found favor before God and desire to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. And if you will look again in the history of David, the king of Israel, you know, David was not satisfied that God will dwell in tents while he has this palace of his in the city of Jerusalem. So David sought in his heart to build a house for God. He sought to build, not now a tabernacle, but to build a temple for God, where God will dwell in the midst of his people.

Not in a sense moving anymore in a wilderness journey, but now permanent location in the city of Jerusalem where God will dwell in the midst of the nation. So David sought to build God a house. You read that in 2 Samuel chapter 7. In the first few verses, David says, how is it possible that I dwell here in this palace and the Lord himself dwell in tents? And David had a good intention, by the way, dear brothers and sisters. He meant well, but God had to teach David a very important lesson. David was a man that had fought many wars and therefore God could not allow David to build the temple for him.

And he had given this responsibility to his son, Shlomo, Solomon. But David had a good intention. He loved the Lord. He was a man after God's own heart. With all the failure of David, he meant well. He intended to build a house for the Lord because he sought the Lord's honor and the Lord's glory. And so when it's come to Joshua, he brought the tabernacle in. When it's come to David, he had the desire to build a house for God. And then in verse 47, he tells us who built the house. And in verse 47, he said, Solomon built him a house. And you remember what a beautiful thing it was when Solomon built the house.

He built a house in accordance with the pattern that God had given to him. And he had built the temple. And there was an amazing experience, beloved brothers and sisters. When the house was built and a Shekinah glory came and rested upon the house of God. And what a joy it was in the midst of the nation of Israel because God would dwell in a center among the people of God. The Shekinah, the Shekinah glory was right there resting in the midst of the nation. So Solomon built a house. But now in the next verses, 48 to 50, Stephen is quoting the prophet Isaiah concerning the person of God.

He says, however, the most high verse 48 does not dwell in temples made with hands. As the prophet said, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. What house will you build me? Say as the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Now, if you go with me for a moment to Isaiah, please turn to Isaiah. The last chapter in Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 66. Go back for a moment to the prophet Isaiah. And look what we read there in Isaiah chapter 66. Actually, when Isaiah is speaking about in chapter 66 about the house that will be built. Isaiah is now looking forward to the future, to the tribulation period, when a house will be built.

But this house that will be built in the future day, God is not going to be satisfied with. You know why? Because this will be a temple that will be built by the Antichrist and God will not sanction it. Look what it says in verse 1 and 2. Now, saith the Lord, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that ye built unto me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things has my hand made and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of contrite in spirit and trembleth at my word.

See, when Isaiah is prophesying concerning the house that will be built for God, He is now taking us beyond the house that Solomon built, beyond the house that Zerubabel have built again after it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. And Zerubabel built it after the return of the Jewish people from Babylon. He is speaking about the third house here that will be built in a future day, but God will not sanction it. And notice that because in the next verse, verse 3, it says, He that killeth an ox will be as if he slew a man. And he that sacrifice a lamb as if he that cut off dog's neck.

He that offereth an oblation is he offered a pig's blood. And he that burneth incense as if he blessed an idol. Yet they have chosen their own ways and their soul delighteth in their abomination. What we read in Isaiah is taking us to the future day when the tribulation period will be and the Antichrist will dwell and will sit in the temple claiming to be God. There will be a temple built which God will not sanction. And so even though Stephen quoting Isaiah chapter 66 in reference to God is not dwelling in temples made by hands, the actual texts apply to the future day when the tribulation will occur and God will not be pleased at all with this third temple that will be built.

He was pleased with the first one. He gave instruction to Solomon. He was pleased with the second one. He gave instruction to Zerubabel. He will not be pleased with the tribulation temple because there God will be set aside and there Antichrist will claim to be God sitting in the temple. Second Thessalonians chapter 2 making himself God. God is not going to be pleased with it. And of course there will be the fourth temple where Yeshua the Messiah himself will sit in the time of the millennial age, the kingdom age. Ezekiel chapter 40 all the way to the end of the book of Ezekiel. So Stephen here takes this and speaking about this temple that God is saying concerning this temple.

And he says, listen, God is not dwelling with temple made with hands. As the prophet says, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where will be the house that you are going to build to me? Stephen emphasizes that God is really, even though his shekinah glory is rested upon the temple, rested upon the tabernacle, but God is not limited. He is everywhere. He is not limited to merely the temple, merely the tabernacle, because he is the one that is all sufficient. He is beyond limitation. So the Lord, as it says here in verse 49, heaven is his throne, earth is his footstool. And what will be the house that you will build for me, says the Lord?

Or what is the place of my rest? And then he said in verse 50, has not my hand made all these things? And so you see, verses 44 to verse 50, Stephen recalled to mind the history of the nation of Israel. And he is reminding them about the tabernacle, reminding them about the temple. And if you remember, brothers and sisters, when you think, why do you think God had to send our own nation down to Babylon? The reason that Israel went down to Babylon is because instead of Israel being faithful to the Lord in a time when the temple was established, Israel as a nation were not faithful.

And therefore, God had to take them out of the promised land and to bring them into the land of Bavil. And so from now here, after he gave them all this dissertation concerning the history of Israel, Abraham, the father of our nation, Joseph, his great grandson, and then Moses, and then we have Joshua, we had David, we have Solomon, all the history of Israel. He's showing to the leaders of the nation, the consistent violation of the word of God. And now he's turning around, and from being the one that was accused, he ended up to be the accuser. And he's pointing now to the leaders, and I want you to notice in the next three verses.

And I believe that when he said that his heart was grieved, because he was part of the nation of Israel. His heart was hurt as he was speaking to his own brethren. And so look at the three things that he's pointing out in verse 51, 52, and 53. The first thing we find out in verse 51, that Israel's fathers have been stiff-necked nation. You know, we say about our own people, he says, you are such a stiff-necked. You know, a person that has a stiff neck is a person that is like immovable. In other words, he's not able to turn around, he's stiff in his own direction. So look, he's saying, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears.

You do always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do ye. This is verse 51. You notice what he says. First of all, he says, you are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears. Being a stiff-necked became a word that oftentimes God said about our own nation throughout the history. In Exodus, in Deuteronomy, God says more than once about the nation are being stiff-necked. Stiff-necked means this is a stubbornness. It means that the nation as a nation, especially led by the leaders, simply did not obey the Lord. And they became those that wanted to go in that one direction. And God wanted to bend them, to shape them, to mold them, to be a nation for himself.

But again and again, we see a repetition of being stiff-necked. And as Stephen says it, I can assure you that he said it not because of hatred, but he said it out of concern for his own brethren. And when we look at Israel and we point our fingers towards Israel, we have to always be careful and see this in our own hearts, in our own life. How often time we find ourselves as stiff-necked people, whether we are Jewish or not Jewish. The old nature always seems to struggle against the will of God in our life. He says, he continues, he used the word uncircumcised in heart and in ears.

What does that mean to be uncircumcised in heart and in ears? The necessity of circumcision is the cutting off of the flesh. And that speaks of self-judgment. And again and again, a person needs to self-judge himself to come to a point where he or she, admitting before God that they have a problem, they have a sin nature. And so here he's saying, you are uncircumcised in heart, first of all, this is inwardly, and in ears, this is with what you listen and what you think in your heart. He says, you have been uncircumcised both in your heart and also in your ears. In Deuteronomy chapter 10, in verse 16, Moses said to the nation of Israel, circumcise the foreskin of your hearts.

In other words, have self-judgment, recognize that God wish well for you and want to direct you and you confess before him, recognize that you are in a need of him. So circumcise your heart and circumcise your ears. This next expression in verse 51, it's so strong. He says, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit. What is the resisting of the Holy Spirit? The Spirit of God want to lead the nation. The Spirit of God want to lead us as believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And constantly resisting the movement of the Spirit of God in the life of a believer, in the life of the nation in this context.

And he's saying to them, you always resist the Holy Spirit of God. When he was saying this, he was thinking of Isaiah chapter 63, where we read there in verse 10. But they rebelled, and they vaxxed his Holy Spirit. Therefore, he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. The resistance against the Holy Spirit of God. Turning against his people. Against the one he loved so much. And instead of leading them, he become their enemy in judgment. And so Stephen was saying to his own brethren in the testimony here, you do always resist the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, let's ask ourselves too, today.

How is it applied to us? Do we allow the Spirit of God to lead us? Do we allow the Spirit of God to convict us? And when he convicts us, are we submitting to his will and judging ourselves and allow the Lord to lead us? That's the same problem in the church. Paul said, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Quench not the Holy Spirit of God. Be filled by the Holy Spirit of God. This is the same thing. And when you look at the church today, it makes you wonder if it's not exactly the same as the history of Israel. Always a resistance against the leading of the Spirit of God.

Had the church submitting to the Holy Spirit of God, we would not have been where we are today in this dispensation, in this present day, in this condition. But it's just the same like in Israel history. He says, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit. And then look at what he tells them in verse 51c, the third portion. You do it as your fathers did, so do ye. Ye. This verse began with the word ye, and end with the word ye. This verse is strictly directed to these leaders of Israel at that time, who did not accept Yeshua as the Messiah. And he's pointing to them, notice, they accused him.

Earlier, if you remember in chapter 6 and verse 11, they bribed people, they paid people in order to accuse Stephen that he was speaking against Moses and he was speaking against God. They put him in the midst of the Sanhedrin, the 71 men, the leaders of Israel. And they said in chapter 6, verse 13, false witness said that he spoke blasphemy against the holy place and against the law. Can you imagine? Stephen, he's sitting there as an accused, and he turned around, and the whole dissertation here, the whole message, is pointing to the history of the leaders of Israel. And he became the accuser. And he's saying to them, listen, you are stiff-necked, you are uncircumcised in heart and in ears.

Did you always resist the Holy Spirit of God, as your fathers did? You are doing it right now in the same way, because you're rejecting the testimony of Yeshua, the Messiah. And so, he's directing this towards them. He continued in the next verse, 52, and he showed to them what led to the Babylonian captivity. In verse 52, he says, "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?" Notice that. "And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of that just one, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and the murderers." Now, this is such a strong statement. As a Jewish man, I don't like to even read this kind of a text, because he's really saying to them, "Listen, you are guilty in the rejection of this just one, the Messiah himself." And remember, again, I'm emphasizing this is a Jewish man speaking to his Jewish brethren.

There is not here an issue of anti-Semitism. There is not here an issue of hatred towards the nation. He loved his brethren. He was burdened for his brethren. He sought to serve his brethren, to minister to them the Messiahship of Yeshua, that they will be saved and forgiven and know that they will be right with God. But he's pointing to them and he says, "Listen, which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?" Oh, beloved brothers and sisters, when you look at the history of our nation, how often time the nation rebelled against God. And when God sent prophets, they rejected them. When he sent messengers, they moved him aside and didn't want to listen to the voice of the messengers.

And when God has sought to restore the nation, to bring them to himself, they ended up disobeying and rebelling against God. And God had to turn around and become like their enemies in judgment. There is a verse and I want you to turn for a moment to 2 Chronicles. This is actually Divrei Hayamim in Hebrew. It's really the last book in the Bible, in the Hebrew Tanakh, in the Old Testament. I know that in the English Bible, the prophet Malachi is the last book, but really in the Hebrew Old Testament, the Tanakh, the last book of the Bible is 2 Chronicles. And look at 2 Chronicles, chapter 36. This is the last chapter of the Hebrew text, the Hebrew Bible.

Look what Stephen is really pointing to when he said in this verse 52, "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?" He's taking them to really 2 Chronicles, chapter 36 and verses 15 and 16. And there we read, "And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up and sending, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place." This is the temple. But look what it says in verse 16. "But they mocked the messengers of God, they despised his words, and they misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, until there was no remedy." Do you think it didn't hurt the heart of God to see the nation that he loved in such a condition?

He sent messengers. He sent prophets. He sent those that will speak to the nation, because he had compassion upon his people. He had compassion upon his house, his dwelling place, the temple that we just read about. But instead of accepting the messengers, they mocked the messengers, they despised his words, they misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, until there was no more remedy." The only thing that remained is judgment. And thank God that his judgment is always in accordance to his wisdom. And always the purposes of God will come to pass, because he intended to have a nation for him here in this world, that throughout the nation of Israel there will be testimony to a world that is lost.

But Israel as a nation is awaiting this day in a future day. But at the time when the first coming of the Messiah was here 2,000 years ago, Israel as a nation, led by the leaders, did not accept the Messiah, rejected Yeshua the Messiah, and ended up to be in such a state. And now, of course, you know that what we read in 2 Chronicles chapter 36, this leads them to the Babylonian captivity. And Israel, the Jewish people end up to be in Babylon, weeping as they remember Zion, remember the house of God, remember those days when they were enjoying to be in the temple in the city of Jerusalem.

And now I want you also to notice here in these verses, this is exactly what Yeshua had pointed out when he was still alive. So, Stephen is there before his death, referring to the Messiah. But Yeshua himself, when he was alive, and I want you to turn now to Matthew chapter 23, Yeshua also made reference to the history of his own people Israel. He himself said in the 23rd chapter of Matthew, he himself looked when he was speaking to the leaders, and he said this in verse 34. Yeshua is speaking, and he says, Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and some of them ye shall kill, and crucify, and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city.

Then, upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berachaias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Therefore, verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation." Now, it's strong words, beloved brothers and sisters, that Yeshua have said to the leaders of Israel at that time. He's recollecting the whole history, speaking about Abel, that's the book of Genesis. He's speaking about Zechariah, the son of Berachaias, take us to the last book of the Bible, the 2nd Chronicle. And he's really telling the whole history, what was involved in the history of the leaders of the nations who should have submitted to the word of God and ultimately receive Yeshua the Messiah, but they didn't.

And so Stephen is now before them, end up to accuse the nation, and he does it with a grief in his heart when he said, "...they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the just one." And that just one has a reference to the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah. He was the just one. All the prophets of old, all the messengers of old, with all the wonderful calling that they have had, they were failing men and failing individuals. But there is one that came in the fullness of time, the just one. And he is the one that ultimately now the leaders have rejected.

And so he's pointing to him in verse 52, that the leaders have persecuted the prophets and ultimately rejected this just one, the Messiah Yeshua. And then he's telling them, listen, you received the law, this is verse 53, by the disposition of angels. You see, when Israel as a nation received the law, it was by a mediator. God gave the law to Moses, but he gave the law to Moses through angels. This is something that we learn here, we learn it in Galatians 3, and we learn it from Hebrews chapter 2, that the law was given to our nation Israel by the disposition of angels. God's law is given to a people, to a nation here in this world.

There is only one nation, was a nation like the nation of Israel. A nation that the law was given unto them by the disposition of the angels. But do you think they have kept it? Look what he says, and have not kept the law. At the end in verse 53. And by the way, don't you even think that you can do it? If Israel the nation could not keep the law, none of us can ever keep the law. There is only one who could keep the law, and his name is Yeshua the Messiah, who kept the law in order to give us righteousness, justification before God.

We should live and seek to live a righteous life, but there was only one that totally and fully kept God's law to the letter. And this was the one that he is calling here, Stephen, that just one. His name is Yeshua the Messiah. And so, now here is the accusation. Stephen accused the leaders of Israel. What an accusation! And so now, these last verses of chapter 7 of the book of Acts, we see the death of Stephen. This is the first martyr in the body of Messiah among the church of the living God. The ecclesia, the assembly. And look what happened here from verse 54 to verse 60.

First of all, in verse 54, look at the response of the council. You would think that there will be a response from the heart. There will be a brokenness and repentance. But here we see, look, it says, When they have heard these things, they were cut in their heart. And they gnashed on him with their teeth. You see, the amazing truth here is that the message of the Lord Jesus the Messiah produced two results. Like we see often that the same sun that melts the wax is the same sun that hardened the clay. What we really see is exact opposition of what happened earlier in chapter 2 when Peter preached a message to the nation there in Jerusalem.

And many, they were cut in their hearts and they repented. They say, what shall we do? But here you see the opposite result. What we see here is that they were cut in their heart. Yes. They knew that they were wrong, that they were not right by rejecting Yeshua the Messiah. But instead of asking Stephen, what shall we do? Help us to accept the Messiah. What shall we do? Instead, they gnashed on him with their teeth. That thought of gnashing with the teeth, with noises, if it were. They were very angry, very unhappy with what Stephen presented. Even today, unfortunately, just recently there was in the city of Ashdod and also in the city of Arad and in the city of Beersheba in Israel.

Many of the religious conservative Jewish people oppose the gospel. And how they do that by opposing the gospel? They are blaming believers, Hebrew believers, blaming as if they want to take the Jewish people and make them non-Jewish and convert them. And that they will lose their Jewishness or their faith in the true and living God. They don't understand that the Jewish believers simply want to present before the nation there is a way to receive forgiveness of sins. So you know what they do today? They have riots. I myself have experienced a little bit, but some of our brethren in Israel are really experiencing this today.

When they would go to the meeting hall to worship the Messiah and hundreds from the religious community will stand outside and will riot against them. With all kinds of signs and all kinds of words that are not pleasing to the ears, accusing them as if they are trying to convert the rest of the nation and to lose our identity as a nation. And this is exactly what happened here. They did not want to hear the message. They did not want to hear what Stephen is telling them about their history and the fact that they need to repent and turn to Yeshua the Messiah. So what did they do?

They were so angry that in conviction, instead of bringing positive result, brought a negative result. And so it says in verse 54 that they have been gnashing their teeth. And now know that Stephen is so amazing. Look at the spiritual state of that man. There are four things that I want to point out in verse 55 and 56. The first thing that we find about Stephen, it says that he is being full of the Holy Spirit of God. That's the first thing we find out about Stephen. Now remember that every believer in Yeshua, the moment we've accepted Yeshua the Messiah, the Holy Spirit came and indwelt in the believer and sealed him or sealed her.

In other words, we are belonging to the Lord, the Holy Spirit of God, indwelling in the believer's heart, in the believer's life. It's one thing to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, which every believer is. But it is another thing to be full of the Spirit of God as a believer, as a child of God. Many times we are not full of the Spirit of God. We are full of mischief. We are full of nonsense. We are full of the flesh many times in our life. That's why Paul said, "Be ye filled with the Spirit." In other words, there is a necessity to learn to be occupied with the Lord so we will be filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

That's what Stephen was. He was occupied with the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. That's the first thing we learn about him. The second thing we learn about Stephen is that he looked up steadfastly. Look at this, verse 55. And what we find is that he saw God's glory, the Shekhinah, the Shekhinah glory. He looked up steadfastly into heaven and he saw the glory of God. This is also unique because to see the glory of God. Now, I know in his time it was a literal experience that Stephen had had. To see the glory of God. To see God, in a sense, giving him an ability to see his glory, to see his majesty.

This is the experience that Stephen had experienced. This in verse 55. That word "glory" is the Hebrew word "kavod". Kavod is the holiness and the glory of God. He saw a vision, something unique for that moment. Because he was in a suitable state. But thirdly, what we learn here, that he also saw the Lord Jesus himself. Look, it says in verse 55, see. And he saw Yeshua standing on the right hand of God. Now, the third thing that we learn, that he saw the person of Yeshua the Messiah. But notice it says he is standing and not sitting. Every time you read in the scripture concerning the person of Yeshua the Messiah.

Is that when he finished the work, when he died on the tree. And he was buried and he rose again and he was ascended to heaven. We always read of him as sitting at God's right hand. Beginning with Psalm 110, where we read in verse 1. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit down on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Beginning from Psalm 110 into the Gospel of Mark 16 and verse 19. When he went up to heaven, he was seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. The work had been complete. The Messiah finished the work of redemption and God had taken him to heaven and placed him at his right hand.

And he was sitting on the throne of God. In the book of Revelation, we read of him. If you remember Revelation chapter 5. How he was there in the midst of the throne. We see Yeshua there. He was sitting. But the only time in the Bible where we read of him as being standing is in Acts chapter 7 and the verse that I just read and the following verse where he saw Yeshua standing on his right hand, on the right hand of God. Not that many suggested why was he standing. Some suggest, and I would agree with that, that in a sense Yeshua is standing, as it will, to receive Stephen to come to him, to be taken to be with him in glory, because Stephen now is going to die very shortly.

Others suggest, and I think it's also a very desirable thought, is that Yeshua is standing ready to come back to restore the nation of Israel and establish the Messianic kingdom that was promised by the prophets of Israel. He was ready to come. Will they receive him? Will the leaders of Israel be subject to the word of God and accept him? He is ready to come and to establish the Messianic kingdom. But we know that they were not ready. But Stephen was ready after his death to be with the Lord Jesus. And so what we find here, that he saw him standing. And what a vision it must have been.

What an occupation it must have been for Stephen looking to heaven, being full of the Holy Spirit of God. He saw the glory of God and Yeshua the Messiah there standing on the right hand of God. I want you to notice also something that is very interesting in this verse. Here we also see the whole triunity of God in this verse. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He was full of the Holy Spirit of God. He looked steadfastly and he saw the glory of God. And he see Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, standing at the right hand of God. You see the whole triunity of God.

You know, this is a problem also with our people to understand the triunity of God. It's a real big issue, not only with Israel, but a lot of people to understand the triunity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, all involve three persons. One God, not three gods, but this one God consists and exists in more than one person. The Father, the Father, sent the Son, and the Son sent the Spirit. And the Spirit directs the attention of the believer to the Son. It is a beautiful thought to learn from the Scripture, the triunity of God. It is not God the Father who died on the cross.

It is not God the Spirit who died on the cross. It was God the Son as men died on the tree and paid for the price of redemption. So he was full of the Spirit. He was seeing the glory of God. And he saw Yeshua standing on the right hand of the majesty of the Father here at the right hand of God. That's the fourth thing here. Not only that he was full of the Spirit, not only that he saw the Shekinah glory, the glory of God, not only that he showed Yeshua standing, not sitting, but we also see his boldness in this next verse, 56.

Look at the boldness. He said, "Look, I see heaven opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." Look at the boldness. If you're going to come to me and you're going to tell me today, "You know, I'm seeing heaven opened, and I see the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God," I would start to wonder where you come from and what's your problem. But you know, when Stephen saw it, it was a real experience. It was given uniquely to this man at that special occasion. Can you imagine? You could tell them as they are facing him, he is alone there.

He is being accused, and he is telling them, listen, he is saying, "I see heaven open." And look, he says, "I see." Now notice, he doesn't say the Son of God, but he says the Son of Man. I see the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. By the way, the title, the Son of Man, is a Messianic title. In Hebrew, we call it, "Ben Ha'adam," the Son of Man. Every time that this expression was mentioned in the New Testament, it was mentioned only by the Lord himself, by Yeshua the Messiah. He mentioned this about himself. I am the Son of Man, the Son of Man, you can see.

He is speaking of the Son of Man, about the Messiah, that the elders, the leaders of Israel understood that this is speaking about the Messianic title. This is speaking about the Messiah himself. Let me show you this for a moment from Matthew chapter 26 and verse 63 and 64. Look at this, brothers and sisters, this is extremely interesting. Yeshua is now before the chief priests and elders of Israel, when he was here on earth, before his death. And so, look, he is again, he is himself before the Sanhedrin. And then, in verse 63, Yeshua held his peace, and the high priest, notice the high priest, he answered and he said unto Yeshua, I adjure thee, by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.

The high priest was telling Yeshua, asking him the question, you tell us, are you the Messiah? Are you the Son of God? Well, look at the answer of Yeshua in verse 64. Yeshua saith unto him, you had said it. Nevertheless, I say unto you, that hereafter you shall see the Son of Man. Here is this Messianic title. Ben Ha'adam, sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Yeshua was given the Messianic title that was already spoken about in the book of Daniel and elsewhere, that he was claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of Man, Ben Ha'adam. And when he said this to the leaders of Israel, look what the priest did, the high priest in verse 65, the high priest rent his clothes.

And he said, he had spoken blasphemy. You see, according to the high priest, when Yeshua claimed to be the Son of Man, he claimed to be the Messiah, he claimed to be the Son of God. So what did they do? They ripped their clothes. What feather do we have any witness? Behold, now ye have heard this blasphemy. What do you think? They answered and said, he is guilty of death? And they did spit on his face and buffeted him. Others smote him with the palms of their hands and said, prophesy unto us if you are the Messiah, who is he that smote? In other words, the high priest could not take it anymore because what really Yeshua said when he said, I am the Son of Man, he was claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of Man.

And so he said, this is blasphemy. And so now, Stephen, in our chapter, in Acts chapter 7, Stephen says, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Now, you know, we don't find so many times in the Bible the word heaven open. A few times in the Bible. But when we find this expression, heaven open, we find it always in connection with the Lord Jesus. You know, there is no man as precious to the heart of God as Yeshua the Messiah. God opened heaven to speak concerning his Son, the Messiah of Israel. And we find it a few times in the Bible, in Luke chapter 3, we find that the heaven open in connection with the person of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, when the heavens open concerning to speak about the Lord himself.

And the Lord, it says here, now, when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that when Yeshua also being baptized and praying that the heaven were opened and the Holy Spirit was descending in a bodily shape like a dove upon the person of the Lord. Heaven is open to speak of Him, to speak of Yeshua the Messiah. Heaven will be open in the future day, in Revelation chapter 19, when the Lord Jesus the Messiah is going to come to this earth as a judge. And that He is riding on a horse and He is going to come and we are going to follow with Him and He is going to come in judgment upon this world that rejected Him.

This is Revelation chapter 19 and verse 11, heaven will be open again. It is always in connection with the person of Yeshua the Messiah. So, heaven is open for Stephen to see the person of Yeshua the Messiah. "Behold, I see heaven open and the Son of Man again standing on the right hand of God." Now, let's quickly move on, because in the next verses, verse 57 and 58, we see the running upon Stephen and the stoning of Stephen. Look at this, verse 57. "They cried with a loud voice, they stopped their ears, and they ran upon Him with one accord." Look at the reaction. "Is a mob running after the one that gave them a testimony concerning Yeshua the Messiah, running upon Him." And look at ultimately, it says in verse 58, "They cast Him out of the city, they stoned Him, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at the young man's feet, whose name was Shaul." So, what they did, they ran upon Him, they gnashed with their teeth, they took Him outside the city, and they stoned Him.

And you know, the stoning usually is done to only a person that is committing a blasphemy. And according to this case, He's committing the sin of blasphemy. And so what they did, they took Him out of the city. By the way, you notice that the witnesses were the first ones to stone Him, and then the rest of them. And they took Him out of the city, and you notice that they were taking their clothes off, the outer garments. And this is the first time that we find here the name of Shaul. It is really the beginning of Shaul, becoming a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, and ultimately preaching of the Gospel beyond the borders of Israel.

And so, the clothes were laid at a young man's feet, whose name was Shaul. Apparently, dear brothers and sisters, Shaul, which his diaspora name is also Paul, he apparently had experienced all this. He watched all this. He was a witness to see what was going on, the accusation of Stephen, and how Stephen testified without fear concerning Yeshua the Messiah. Notice Stephen did not even respond to the question of the leaders of Israel, who asked them, "Are those things so?" What they say, Stephen, that you are speaking against the Temple, against the law, against Moses, against this holy place? Stephen, is this true? You don't find Stephen even reacting to the question.

He simply testified concerning the history of Israel, up to the time when the Messiah was rejected by the leaders. And so, they ran upon him with one accord. They stoned Stephen in verse 58. And the last two verses of this chapter, Acts chapter 7, we see Stephen is calling upon Yeshua, and ultimately the death of Stephen. Look at the last verses. They stoned Stephen, verse 59. And while they stoned him, Stephen was calling upon the Lord. And he says, "Lord Yeshua, receive my spirit." Here's a man that really laid down his life as if he was willing to be the one that will, through a testimony concerning the Lord, was willing to die for the name of Yeshua the Messiah.

This is the first martyr that we have in the history of the body of Messiah. This man by the name of Stephen. He was calling on the Lord. And notice he said, "Lord Yeshua, receive my spirit." You remember Yeshua himself, when he was on the cross, he says, "Father unto thee, he commend his spirit to go out." Yeshua could commit his spirit to the Father. But Stephen is committing his spirit to Yeshua the Messiah. And of course, it is only the Lord would allow him ultimately to die. And he says, "Receive my spirit." And the final verse, verse 60. Look at the heart of Stephen. Really tuned with the heart of the Lord Jesus.

It says here in verse 60. He kneeled down. He cried with a loud voice. And he says, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Look at the heart of Stephen. You don't see here any hatred. You don't see here any desire for evil for those who were opposing the message that he gave. Look what he said, "Don't lay this sin to their charge." In other words, he said exactly what Yeshua the Messiah said when he was on the tree. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." What an attitude that Stephen had. Like Yeshua the Messiah, he said, "Lord, don't hold this sin to their charge." In other words, he asked for forgiveness for his own brethren, for his own nation, for the leaders of Israel.

And then that's the last words that he said, Stephen. And then the Bible said, "He fell asleep." Now there are those who teach us that there is what you call soul sleep. The Bible never teach of soul sleep. The Bible, every time we are talking about sleeping, it's always in connection with the physical death. The soul never sleeps. But the body of the believer is laid down in the grave asleep, awaiting the day of resurrection. So this expression, falling asleep, only applies to believers. And our believer, when he leaves this sin, he is eternally going to be ultimately separated from God. But the believer, when the body of the believer, when a person dies, a believer dies, in a sense, it's like a person who is falling asleep, waiting for the time that he is going to be awakened, reunited with the soul and the spirit, and going to be forever with the Lord.

We find that when Lazarus died, you remember? Jesus the Messiah said in John 11, "Lazarus sleep." He is going to be awakened. And he woke him up. If you remember, he raised him from the dead. We find it in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Speaking in connection with the rapture of the church, when he's speaking there in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. That those that have fallen asleep, we will not prevent them which are falling asleep, but we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. They were only, their bodies are in the grave, awaiting the time that they're going to be awakened and reunited with the soul and the spirit and ultimately be eternally with the Lord Jesus.

He fell asleep. He died. But he is awaiting, of course, the time when he is going to be resurrected and being taken to be with every one of us who believe in Yeshua the Messiah to be forever with the Lord. What do we learn, brothers and sisters, in conclusion, with the testimony of Stephen? Stephen, when he testified before the Sanhedrin, he simply continued in the presentation of the necessity to have forgiveness of sins through Yeshua the Messiah. He presented the history of Israel. He showed the leaders of Israel that from the beginning to the end there was failure, there was rebellion, and that when this just one had come, they should have received him and accept him and have him as their Lord and their Savior, but they rejected him.

And so from here on now, we are going to enter into chapter 8. The gospel is going now beyond the borders of Israel. You will see in chapter 8, we have the Samaritan. And then in chapter 9, the salvation of Shaul. And then chapter 10, the opening of the door to the Gentile world. So, beginning from Judea, the first seven chapters. Samaria, chapter 8. At the most part of the earth, chapter 10. And on until the end of the book of Acts, including the time that you and I live here today in this present day. So we thank the Lord for the testimony of Stephen. And I trust that it had been helpful for all of us to see what he was communicating with his own brother.