Are We Worshipping Idols?

Matt Cave

Acts of the Apostles • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Acts 6:8–7:60

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Are We Worshipping Idols? Introduction

Last week - saw 7 men chosen help 12 Apostles take care of food distribution

1 of those was Stephen - described full of faith & Holy Spirit

Appears Stephen’s role covered various aspects of ministry incl. preaching

During time when he’s sharing gospel at own synagogue in Jerusalem...

Some people disagreed with what Stephen said & start arguing

But Stephen inspired & empowered by H Spirit - arguments failed

So these disgruntled people instigated mob against Stephen

Came up with serious charges against him

& found people to lie as witnesses in support of charges

Grabbed Stephen & dragged him before Sanhedrin Council in Temple

These were head Jewish religious leaders incl. High Priest Ciaphas

They were most powerful group in holy land at time - Slide

These were charges made against Stephen

Acts 6:11 ESV

Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

And also - Slide

Acts 6:13–14 ESV

and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”

Instead of trying to defend himself - Stephen does something unexpected

Acts6:

Instead of

Inspired by God’s Spirit he turns those accusations on their head

Using history of Hebrew people - shows his accuses they’re ones guilty

Guilty making idols of how they worshipped, where worshipped, who worshipped

Slide

The "How We Worship” Idol

So first accusation made against Stephen

Spoken words against Law & claimed Jesus will change customs given to Jewish people

1 of things Jewish people very sensitive about - Law & religious customs / traditions

So Stephen tells history of Jewish people - incl. story of Moses

Moses on Mt Sinai after leading Hebrew people out of Egypt

God gives Moses His living oracles - God’s living words / Torah / Law

Mosaic Law & all religious customs / traditions developed afterwards - Jews believed holy

Religious leaders, Sanhedrin, Pharisees, Scribes etc believed upheld & kept all God Laws

But Stephen shows them - firstly at Mt Sinai in desert people got Aaron / Moses brother

To make golden calf statue - then bowed down worshipped it then...

Later in history Jewish people repeatedly turned away from God worshipped false gods

So God sent Jewish people into exile in Babylon

They had history oppressing & murdering prophets, treating own people unjustly

all climaxed with bearing false witness & then murdering Righteous One / Messiah

So Stephen says actually its you religious leaders guilty speaking falsely of God’s Law

You can imagine that made those listening very very mad - Slide

There are lots houses being built around Papamoa where we live

On windy days we seem to get all msorts of builders rubbish blowing into our garden

Building houses is messy business - with all digging up earth for foundations

laying pipes, electrical & phone wires, pouring concrete, nailing wooden frames

Cutting 2x4’s all wood dust, metal cuttings off roofing metal, bits of building paper

Plastic pipes, gibboard dust, paint, pink batts, scaffolding

And all this is done in sorching sun, pouring rain, gailforce winds - Slide

But its not until all mess has been cleaned up you get to see end result of all hard work

Owners get to walk up to & into this beautiful new home

Been transformed from big mess into something new, clean, perfect

Our lives as Christians are like houses being built - messy & caotic

God builder - He works within us throughout our lives so we’ll be ready for eternity

Problem for Jewish people = got hung up what they were doing outwardly to worship God

Got fixed on what

Actually lost sight of what law was for & what God was trying to say to them - Slide

Sadly Jesus had told exact same thing Stephen told them

Jesus

John 7:19 ESV

Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?”

Religious leaders focused on outwardly keeping religious laws / customs

Yet inwardly hadn’t changed at all - Jesus called them white washed tombs

Clean on outside but on inside is death - nothing living - Slide

Stephen called the stu

Acts 7:51 ESV

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Acts

Stephen accused them of stubbornness & essentially not cutting or removing sin in lives - Slide

Jeremiah 31:33 ESV

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

God’s original intent = Law wasn’t an outward thing about doing religious things

God’s original intent Law wasn’t an outward thing about doing religious things

But it would affect our hearts & minds - we’d become different from inside

Jesus summed up whole of OT in 1 commandment - remember?

We need to love God with all that we are & love people equally

You can’t do that outwardly - its got to come from within -

So our lives as Christians are like houses being built - messy & caotic

God builder - He works within us throughout our lives so we’ll be ready for eternity - Slide

So 1st challenging question Stephen puts to us today is;

Is HOW I worship more important to me than WHO I’m worshipping?

Just like Jewish people - we too can make an idol out of how we worship

Make an idol out of our personal or church religious traditions

So do we worship the doing rather than the one we’re doing it for? - Slide

The “Where We Worship” Idol

Second accusation against Stephen was regarding the Temple

They said Stephen spoke words against the holy place - Temple in Jerusalem

Acts 6:13–14 ESV

For 1st C Jewish people - very sensitive subject - Temple was centre of Jewish religion

Second accusation

And Stephen said Jesus of Nazareth will destroy temple - sometime in future

For 1st C Jewish people - very sensitive subject - Temple centre of Jewish religion

Its interesting Stephen’s accusers pick up on that - there’s small element of truth in lie

What did Jesus say?

John 2:19 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Now Jesus wasn’t talking about literally Temple building

We understand he was actually talking about his own body

Jesus predicted Jewish leaders would destroy his body (temple)

But God would raise him from death 3 days later - Slide

John 4:21–23 ESV

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

This what Jesus did say about Temple

I.e. Jesus declared with his arrival - Temple now obsolete

What Jesus did say about Temple

Only through Jesus

No need for it - because we can worship God anywhere

That again its about what’s happening on inside that matters

We’re to worship God truthfully & genuinely with all we are

So Stephen addresses his accusations in his history of Jewish people

He first points out Moses was given plans for Tent / tabernacle in wilderness

This was place of worship Hebrews took with them - so could worship God anywhere

But it was King David centuries later who wanted build God house / Temple

But God didn’t let David do it but allowed Solomon to build Temple

Difference between tent & temple was - God gave tent goes anywhere

Man chose build temple that’s fixed in one place

But then Stephen says clearly - vs 48 Most High doesn’t dwell in houses made by hands - Slide

Isaiah 66:1–2 ESV

Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

He then quotes some OT scriptures - one them from Isaiah

And Isaiah is right - how can you build a house worthy of Creator!

In fact if

In fact Stephen uses Israel’s history to show God meets with people anywhere

God meets Abraham in Ur & Haran - not in Israel

God met Moses in burning bush in desert on Mt Sinai - not in Israel either

What does God say to Moses - take your shoes off you’re standing on Holy Ground

What made place holy? Moses, burning bush, Mt Sinai, desert, a nearby temple? No!

Its God who chooses make himself known - Where God is - there’s holy ground - Slide

I love walking through bush - I love the quiet, the stillness

Ability to hear bird calls - particularly Tui - I love listening to Tui’s

I get a real sense of God’s presence in bush - sense peace, wonder

I’m able to worship God through beauty of His creation He’s given for us to enjoy - Slide

Psalm 19:1 ESV

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

All through Psalms - tells us that all creation worships God - Slide

Psalm 98:4 ESV

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Psalm 98:7–8 ESV

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together

Psalm 98:7–8 ESV

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together

Psalm 98

Psalm 98:

I totally feel connect to God, experiencing His grace & blessing in bush

Which is what Psalmist I believe is expressing here

God is glorified whrough creation / creation reflects his glory

Jews fallen into false belief - God only be worshipped properly in Temple at Jerusalem

God’s true presence dwelt in Holy of Holies in Temple - Slide

But Jesus told Samaritan woman at well something we need hear

John 4:21–23 ESV

This what Jesus did say about Temple

Jesus declared with his arrival - Temple now obsolete

That’s because he would die on cross & come back from death

So we could receive forgiveness of our sins directly from God through Jesus

No need for sacrifices, no need to go to temple to find forgiveness

Thats because we can find God & worship Him anywhere

Again God’s far more interested about what’s happening on inside

Its not where we worship that counts - what building, what place

Instead about whether we worship God truthfully & genuinely with all we are today - Slide

So 2nd challenging question Stephen puts to us today;

Is WHERE I worship more important to me than WHO I’m worshipping?

Like Jewish people - we can make idols out of our church buildings / sacred places

We can think worshipping God only happens on Sundays in church building

So do we worship the place where God is or worship God where we are? - Slide

“Who We Worship” Idol

Lastly - almost there! - Final accusation made against Stephen

They claimed Stephen had spoken blasphemous words against Moses & God

Last sensitive subject for 1st C Jews - blaspheming God -

in Mosiac Law - found guilt of blaspheming sentanced death by stoning!

Interesting how Stephen responds to this accusation

He in fact talks a lot about Moses - all of it positive things

Stephen actually lifts up Moses as important godly figure

But what he does do is remind religious leaders about their history

Hebrews ignored Moses & God’s word given to him by God - worshipped idols

They refused listen God’s prophets warnings & predictions

Instead threw them in jail or killed them - then taken captive into Babylon

Then Stephen puts final nail in coffin - talking to Israel’s religious leaders...

Just as Moses predicted - Hebrew Prophet like Moses has come - Messiah

Stephen calls him Son of Man / Righteous One - now you’ve ignored him & killed Him!

God gave you His Word / Law & you’ve murdered Messiah not kept it & now

And they ki

Stephen basically calls all religious leaders of Israel - murderers

They’ve resisted God’s Spirit, ignored God’s Word, & rejected God’s Son / Messiah

Their version of God they thought they worshipped = completely wrong

Instead their picture of God complete pposite to who God truly is - Slide

How many of you have done drawings of people?

Drawing person accurately is really hard - as you can see - Slide

In fact - because we know human face so well - we look at faces all time

Can tell straight away when someone’s drawn it wrong - somethings not right - Slide

Who likes having their picture taken?

I hate having my picture taken - I never feel like I look right

I’m sure Katie Holmes (actress) here felt she’d had better days than this one! - Slide

What about when people take pictures & they think “this will look really nice” - Slide

And then you see picture & wonder - what were they thinking!?!

Often times what we think we see in our minds completely different to reality!

Sadly Jewish people were convinced they worshipped true God

& admired & venerated Moses as ultimate prophet / man of God

Sadly Jewish people were

But they couldn’t see - they were no better than their ancestors

They too were worshipping a god of their own making

A God who was pleased with holy spiritual outward appearances

A God who’s pleased with tithing herbs, giving loud elaborate prayers in public

Only giving to people you care about, feeling superior to those less spiritual

Jewish religious leaders refused to acknowledge God of Scripture cared more about heart of man

They refused to admit they were wrong, they’d sinned, & needed to genuinely repent

Instead they chose worship God who cares about what they care about

A God who doesn’t upset status quo; A God who benefits them & their passions

It sounds ridiculous - but we can all fall into same trap as Jewish people

Worshipping our version of God - one we like - one who does & says what we like

And we ignore difficult bits; challenging bits; bits make us uncomfortable

And we justify this by taking bits of scripture & making it say what we want

Like “Well if God is love then he won’t want me to stop doing what makes me happy”

But what if what makes you happy isn’t good for you?

What if it actually will harm you?

Or worse effect what happens to you in future? - Slide

So 3rd challenging question Stephen puts to us today;

WHO am I worshipping - The God of Scripture or my god from Scripture?

Like Jewish people - who wanted to worship idols & other gods they’d made with hands

We can make idol image of God in our minds/hearts who makes us happy - but it isn’t really God

God sent Jesus to earth because He wants us to know him / so we could truly know Him

God sent Jesus to earth so we could finally know God as he really is

Through Jesus life, death, & resurrection - every person can know God in real personal way

think worshipping God only happens on Sundays in church building

So do we worship the place where God is or worship God where we are? - Slide

Through Jesus God revealed just how much He really loves us

But we can only know God if first come to Him & admit we’ve failed...

Spirit breathing life into scriptures

We’ve done stuff wrong; we’re weak & we can’t save ourselves

Admit we’ve failed God, we’ve done stuff wrong; we’re weak & can’t save ourselves

Once we can admit we need God’s forgiveness & help...

Then we can begin to build personal relationship God wants with you

So let’s choose today to worship God of Scriptures, through faith in Jesus Christ