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*“Forgiving Through the Pain”*
*Acts 7*
 
*Introduction*
Three men appeared before the pearly gates of heaven.
They were to appear before St. Peter for admittance.
The first man said, "I was a minister of the Gospel for 40 years."
St.
Peter looked at him and said, "Would you stand to the side while I consider your case."
A second man appeared and announced, "I was a bishop in the church for 50 years."
St.
Peter looked at him and also said, "Would you stand to the side while I consider your case."
A third candidate stepped up.
"I was not a minister, just an auditor with the Internal Revenue Service for ten months."
"Step right in," said St. Peter, bowing low.
"Wait a minute!" shouted the bishop.
How is it that this IRS clerk is permitted to enter the pearly gates before two ministers?"
"Well, said St. Peter, "THE WAY I LOOK AT IT IS THAT THIS IRS AGENT SCARED THE DEVIL OUT OF MORE PEOPLE IN TEN MONTHS THAN EITHER OF YOU DID IN A LONG LIFETIME!"
What do you fear?  (Pause)
Oh, I am not talking about snakes and heights and public speaking.
Not even terrorist attack.
When you lay in bed at night, what do you fear?
Basic psychology 101 tells us about Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
* Biological~/Physiological Needs
* Safety~/Security Needs
* Love~/Belonging & Recognition Needs
* Ego & Self Esteem
* Self-Fulfillment~/Actualization
We can only begin to have the needs higher up on the pyramid if the needs below that point are basically met.
And when those are threatened, we become afraid.
While I don’t buy into the underlying Buddhist concepts in /Star Wars/, Yoda is right in part when he says that “Fear is the path to the Dark Side.
Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.”
–Yoda.
We read such verses as:
I John 4:218: /There is no fear in love.
But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.
The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
/
Romans 8:15:/ //The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.
/
 
This morning, I want to look at a man, who lived and died without fear.
Oh, I am not saying that in his entire life he never knew fear.
But fair or not, many times lives are judged by one event, one instance.
(Jim McKay-“they’re all gone”)        
And in the case of Stephen, we remember him as a fearless witness for Christ.
We meet him first in Acts 6.
The Grecian widows were complaining about the treatment they were receiving in the distribution of food to the poor and seven were appointed to take leadership in that regard:  (Read 3-6)
He was selected as a leader to serve the Body of Christ during the early church.
Acts 6 tells us he was a man of honest report, full of the Hoy Spirit and wisdom.
He was a man full of power, who did great wonders and miracles among the people.
He was also a man full of faith.
The next chapter & a half tell the rest of the story of Stephen.
Read 6:8-15.
Beginning in 7:1, Stephen’s sermon is recorded.
Stephen has been falsely accused of speaking against the Temple.
Now he says that the Temple is not necessary for worshiping the true God!
A.     *Israel** was favored by God before possessing either its Tabernacle or two Temples* (7:1–38).
1.          /As illustrated by the life of Abraham/ (7:1–8)
a.      God led him into Canaan (7:1–4).
b.      God promised him that his seed would possess Canaan (7:5–7).
c.       God gave him the seal of circumcision (7:8a).
d.      God gave him Isaac, the heir of the covenant (7:8b).
2.         /As illustrated by the life of Joseph/ (7:9–16)
a.      God protected Joseph the prisoner in Egypt (7:9) : God was always with him.
b.      God promoted Joseph to prime minister over Egypt (7:10–16): God gave him favor with Pharaoh.
3.         /As illustrated by the life of Moses/ (7:17–38)
a.      His first 40 years, in Egypt (7:17–28): God promoted him.
b.
His second 40 years, in the Sinai desert (7:29) : God prepared him.
c.       His final 40 years, en route to Canaan (7:30–38): God empowered him.
B.     *Israel** was faithless to God after possessing both its Tabernacle and two Temples* (7:39–53).
1.      /They rebelled during the Tabernacle period/ (7:39–43a, 44–45).
2.      /They rebelled during the first Temple period/ (7:43b, 46–50).
3.      /They are rebelling during the second Temple period/ (7:51–53): Stephen now utterly condemns his audience with a threefold indictment:
READ 51-53
a.
They are heathens at heart and deaf to the truth (7:51) .
b.
They betrayed and murdered their own Messiah (7:52) .
c.
They are deliberately disobeying God’s laws (7:53) .
What happens to Stephen? v. 54ff (READ 54-60)
What kind of man was Stephen
6:3-full of the Spirit & wisdom
6:5-a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit;
6:8-a man full of God's grace and power
* (THEME): Stephen learned to substitute faith for fear and thereby was able to *
*I.     **Triumph Over the Fear of Rejection*
Some people are quick to attack & alienate people.
But that was not the case with Stephen.
He was chosen as one of the seven because he was “full of the Spirit & wisdom.”
His task was a “people-task”
It involved taking care of the widows.
That is not a task for a brusque or someone who is harsh in their speech.
Sometimes “people persons” can be afraid to alienate others.
Relationships are so important that they are afraid to confront.
And yet we see that he did not fear rejection by his own people.
“We must not mind insulting men, if by respecting them we offend God.” --St.
John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople and Church Father (349–407)
He recounts the deeds of Moses and the faithlessness of the people, reminding his accusers of the idol worship of their ancestors.
Then he turned on them saying, /“You stiffnecked & uncircumcised in heart & ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did, so do you.”
/(v.
7:51)
Infuriated by his statements of truth and they “ran at him with one accord.”
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