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Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

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Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

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Now they're contesting with Stephen, who in his service to people is declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ who does what? Sets us free from our sin. Free from ourselves. Free from the judgment of God. Wouldn't you want to be there? Why were they suppressing him? It's kind of uh kind of odd that they were named the freedmen when they really haven't received the freedom that is found in Jesus Christ.

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Being in a physical prison means dealing with a lot of limitations. Likewise, your soul finds itself trapped in its own little prison. It's destined for a fate worse than any prison you can imagine. All because of sin. The thought of eternal damnation really puts everything else into perspective. Today, Pastor Carl emphasizes that true freedom for your soul is found solely in Jesus Christ. You can opt for that freedom and embrace eternal life. All you need to do is believe in Jesus, and salvation is yours. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

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Chapter 6 of Acts, beginning at verse 1. Now, in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. The early church, powerful, filled with the Holy Spirit, sharing things together, just pouring out their lives for one another, and now conflict arises. It's true that these are still people. And I don't know about you, but uh sometimes I have conflict in my life with other people still. Even though I'm a believer and I'm filled with the Holy Spirit, it still happens, doesn't it? But we come back to the Lord and we say, Lord, what do you do with it? So you had the Hebrews, which are basically the locals, the ones that lived in and around Jerusalem that uh were Jews and they've lived there all their lives. Now the Hellenists were Jews that uh were from different parts, like in Greek-speaking areas. And uh they came with their culture and they came with uh you know their different ways of looking at things. Uh they went to the opera and they uh did all these other fancy things. They they loved art and all these things, and they and they came and they were apart, but but they were believers. They were changed by Jesus, as too were the the Hebrews, the the Jewish, the local folks. They were believers in Jesus Christ and they came together, and yet they had Jesus in common, but they kind of went into their own corners and they did their own things. And and some of the widows were being neglected, and so they brought that up. And so instead of saying, Well, you ought to think like a Hebrew, they went, Okay, Lord, what do we need to do? So in verse 2, the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. They sought the Lord. The apostles, the the the twelve there that uh were were in charge and overseeing everything, and it did they the numbers just got bigger and bigger, and and the problems just got bigger and bigger, and they went to the Lord and they said, Lord, what do we do? And the Lord reminded them of Moses, what Moses did. I'm I'm guessing here, the Lord reminded him, you know, remember Moses, and I think it was Jethro who said, Moses, you got so many things to do. Get some people you could trust to come underneath you and help you. And actually, this is the structure of Calvary Chapel. God calls the pastor, but the he also calls men to come alongside the pastor and to help him in this job of ministering to one another. The pastor, his main purpose is to present the word and to pray. And and his helpers are to go and apply that word. Now we could, and it's nothing is better than the other. It's important for both. We can't serve one another without the word of God because then we're just serving out of our humanness, out of our fallenness, and it doesn't have any eternal um consequence, doesn't have any eternal benefit. I could just preach and preach and preach, and we never do any of the works that the Lord tells us to do, and that's empty too. The Lord designed these two to come together the proclamation of the word and prayer and going out and doing that ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's what we see here. So in verse 5, and the saying pleased the whole multitude, it made sense, and and they were seeking the Lord. They were they were they were offended a little bit because of some things that were going on, and and they wanted to make sure that those people were set straight so that we could get what we're supposed to get. But we went back and and we sought the Lord, and and the Lord brought an answer. And it's like, wow, I didn't think about that. That's a good answer. So often we in in the church at large we make decisions based on what we want to see happen. Instead of simply seeking the Lord and saying, Lord, what do you want to do? And he'll show us, and we'll go, wow, that's a good idea, Lord. And you say, Of course it is. I'm the Lord. And and then so they were pleased with the saying, and they chose a number of men. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philips, and Procorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenus, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they have set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. They prayed over these men, they laid hands on them and anointed them for service in the ministry. These were our first deacons, the deacons that were set forth to do the work that God had called them to do. And in verse 7, the word of the Lord spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and great many of the priests were obedient to the faith as well. Many of the priests became believers as well. And uh it was just an example that God was moving, God was at work, and God was using fallen men, cracked pots, to give himself glory and to see things going. He can work with us. Allow the Lord to work. So in verse 8, and Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Now, what was he just anointed to do? To be a deacon, to help, to serve at tables. This is what he did. With his whole heart, he was serving people, and yet he was especially filled with the Holy Spirit, it sounds like, and many great things happened, and it doesn't even say what happened. He just, a lot of great things, whenever Stephen walked by, it's like, whoo, God was working, and people were excited, and people were encouraged and built up because he came and served them with the love of the Lord, literally. And uh people noticed. And uh then in verse 9, there arose some uh from what is called the synagogue of the freedmen, Cyrenians, uh, Alexandrians, and those of Cilicia from Asia disputing with Stephen, and uh they were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spoke. This group of folks came and they were attacking what he was doing. And everybody was happy with what he was doing because God was working through this man, and yet these guys wanted to stir something up with him, and yet whatever they said, they couldn't counter the wisdom that the Holy Spirit gave Stephen by which he spoke. Now, who are these freedmen? And and I just want to remind you of a good resource that we have on our website. There's a link to this place called GotQuestions, gotquestions.org. And I asked the question, what is the synagogue of the freedmen in Acts chapter 6? And this is some of what the article reads. Here's what they said the synagogue of the freedmen is called the synagogue of the libertines in the King James Version. The word libertine is from the Latin and originally referred to a man who had been a slave, but had been set free at liberty. Some scholars believe that these persons were slaves of the Romans who had been freed and became proselytes of the Jewish religion and had a synagogue in Jerusalem. The New Living Translation calls the group of the synagogue of the freed slaves. Now other scholars uh contend that these freedmen were not Jewish proselytes, but were Jews by birth who had been taken into captivity by Romans and then set free and subsequently called liberty or libertini. There were many such Jews, and some had speculated that among these zealous members of the synagogue of the freedmen was Saul of Tarsus. So Saul may have come from this group who would have been more than capable of disputing with Stephen in matters of religion. If there's anybody who knows about religion, it would have been Saul. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and we'll get more into Saul at the end of the study and as we move forward in the book of Acts. But that is the group of the freedmen. They were freed. They were slaves and they were made free. And now they're contesting with Stephen, who in his service to people is declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ, who does what? Sets us free from our sin, free from ourselves, free from the judgment of God. Wouldn't you want to be there? Why were they suppressing him? Kind of odd that they were named the freedmen when they really haven't received the freedom that is found in Jesus Christ. So this is the group, and they weren't going to just stand for it. So in verse 11, they secretly induced men to say, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. They didn't like what he was saying, so they were going to lie about what he was saying. That's a good godly thing to do, isn't it? That's a good way to promote the truth with lies. Anyway, so he's misrepresenting Moses and God. And they they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came to him, seized him, and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses who said, This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us. And all who sat on the council looking steadfastly at him saw his face as the face of an angel. Very interesting. So the accusation is he's changing everything that we've ever taught. He's blaspheming Moses, he's blaspheming God, and they're saying that this Jesus of Nazareth was going to destroy this place and change the customs. And, you know, they're talking about the law and the temple. And of course, the Sanhedrin here, the Jewish leadership, they're all about keeping the temple because that's the place where God meets with man, and we are God's representatives between God and man. And uh anything that's you know, talk of destroying this temple has got to stop. It's insurrection. But indeed, there is something new that Jesus brought. And in three days it would rise again, right? And and he did kind of, if you you could probably see this if he's talked about a new covenant. So that kind of implies that it replaces or destroys the old covenant. But the truth is he fulfilled the old covenant and he gave us the new covenant. This was all part of a progression of God's plan, right? But you could see how it would be misinterpreted. And so, in verse uh we're into chapter 7 now, verse 1. The high priest said, Are these things so? It's all I gave to Stephen. Are these things so? Which is basically an open invitation. All right, Stephen, it's your turn to speak now. And so Stephen said, Brethren and fathers, listen. I've got something to tell you. We got these accusations, I'm gonna set some of these things straight. In all respect and all honor, I'm speaking to you as you know, the Jewish brethren and the fathers of our faith and Judaism, listen to what I have to say. The God of glory, our God from the beginning in the Jewish nation, appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran. Where was Abraham? Abraham was in Mesopotamia, that's out near Babylon, Ur of the Chaldeans. And what was there? That was just pagan world. I mean, nobody was following the Lord. And the Lord called this man Abraham. He wasn't in Jerusalem, he wasn't in the temple, but God spoke to him out there. God speaks to people in places outside of the temple, is the implication here. And so God said to Abraham, get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land I will show you. Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran, and from there, when his father was dead, he moved Abraham to the land in which you now dwell. Now Abraham was called by God to go to Israel, but he didn't go to Israel right away. He went first up to Haran, which happens to be his dad's name, too, so his dad didn't want to go any further. And I don't know if he thought, hey, I like this town. It's my name. Let's just hang out here for a while. And they hung out there for a while until his father passed away. Then he made his way all the way into the promised land that God had told him to do. Verse 5, and God gave him no inheritance even in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, God promised to give to him for a possession and to his descendants after him. This land that Abraham was given, he never really settled into. He was a nomad. They lived in tents and they went from here to there, and they got to the place, but he didn't really see the full promise fulfilled. But Abraham believed God. Remember that? And it was accounted to him as righteousness. Sometimes we don't see God's full plan fulfilled. And we'll look at our situations and we say, that isn't the direction that God is going. But Abraham had faith to believe that even though he didn't see it, it was happening, and it would happen. Keep that in mind. Verse 6 But God spoke in this way, that his descendants will dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them for 400 years. And the nation to whom they will be in bondage, I will judge, said God, and after that they shall come out and serve me in this place. So God actually told Abraham that his people, his descendants, would become captives, slaves in a foreign nation, which would be Egypt. They'd be there for 400 years, but God would judge Egypt, and during that time would build up the nation so it would be indeed a nation, and return them to the land. Verse 8. Then he gave them the covenant of circumcision, and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriots. And you know the story of Abraham. You know the story that uh it took a while for him to have children, and they kind of schemed and tried to do it their own way, and and God finally came and and and did it as he promised in his time. And they circumcised as a symbol of separation, of being set apart from the other nations. And we too, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, our hearts are circumcised, our hearts are changed. We become a new creation in the Lord. Behold, all things have become new and in the past, is gone, and now we're different than we ever were. And this is part of what is happening with the people in Acts, the early church. They've been changed, they've been cut to the heart, they've been circumcised in the heart. And now they're new, they're set apart for what is happening here. Verse 9. And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. Now, these were the twelve tribes of Israel came from these twelve guys. And these twelve brothers, part of God's big plan, got jealous of one of their brothers, Joseph, because he seemed to be dad's favorite. And when you look at the story of Joseph in the Bible, you don't see anything negative written about Joseph. You see a lot of negative stuff happening to Joseph, but you see Joseph being rejected by his own, which is a picture of Jesus, isn't it? Jesus, when he came, was rejected by his own. And yet he continued to do what he was called to do, to save his people. And that's what happened with Joseph. But God was with him and delivered him out of all of his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now a famine and great trouble came over the land of Egypt, and Canaan and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And then the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to the Pharaoh. So you know the story of Joseph. Joseph went down there and uh God used him to save the world. Isn't that amazing? Kind of like the Lord. He was sent by his father to come and save the world. And the Lord came first about 2,000 years ago. And his brothers didn't recognize him. And Stephen is speaking to the leaders of Jerusalem, the leaders of the Jewish nation, the religious leaders who did not recognize Jesus, right? And yet in verse 12, the second time that uh Joseph was made known to his brothers, their eyes were opened. Jesus is coming back, he's returning, and he will bring salvation to Israel as he promised. And there's a lot in here, and I encourage you to go back and dig deep and see the comparisons that are being made between what happened in the past and how those are pictures of what the Lord is doing in the future. Verse 14. Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and his relatives to him, seventy-five people. That was the nation, quote unquote. That's the tribe of Israel. Seventy-five people. And so Jacob went down to Israel and he died, and he and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. So going back to Abraham again, the only land that he really owned in the promised land was this little piece of land that he bought to bury Sarah in. And then others were buried in there as well. Jacob was buried, and Joseph was, I don't remember where Joseph was buried, if he was there or not. Anyway, so again, another picture. Seventy-five people went into captivity, and about two and a half million came out. And the bones of Jacob were come, and they were buried in that same plot that Abraham bought for his wife Sarah in the promised land. 17. But when the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose who do not know Jesus. So God had promised to Abraham that they would be freed from the slavery and brought out of Egypt. Now that time is coming to pass, and there's a new king that did not know Jesus, and this man dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies that they might not live. And at this time Moses was born, and it was well pleasing. He was well pleasing to God, and he was brought up in his father's house for three months. It was at a time where this new king, this new Pharaoh of Egypt, uh feared the numbers of the Israelites. They started 75 and they're two and a half million. Now they're going to take us over. We got to set them straight. We got to slow them down. So an edict went out that you had to, if you have a son, you need to throw him in the river and let him die. And so the parents of Moses, they had Moses, and God's favor was on them, and they said, We can't throw him in the river. And they kept him for three years. But then what did his mom do? His mom did put him in the river. But in what? In a basket, in an ark. What's that a picture of? Ark is a picture of the ark of Noah's time. To avoid the judgment, God had Noah build an ark that saved him through the flood. It's good to know the Bible because he'll give us good ideas. So he gave his Moses' mom this idea, and they put him in an ark, and uh instead of dying in the river, he was saved. And more than that, verse 21. But when he was set out in the river, Pharaoh's daughter, Pharaoh's daughter, took him away and brought him up as her own son. Now, Moses is part of the royalty in Egypt. And Moses learned all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. He grew, he he knew, and he was part of this regime. And yet the one who had favor with God was in the midst of the enemy's camp, actually part of the family. Interesting, huh? And now when he was 40 years old, 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. The Lord moved on him. Now that you've seen all this, I want to take you back to your roots. And so he went back. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. Why would they understand? You've been part of them for 40 years. We don't know you. You're an Egyptian. You're not one of us. You're not a Hebrew. And yet he says, I'm a Hebrew, and I've come to save you. Same sort of thing with the Lord, right? He came to his own, but his own rejected him. We don't know you. You coming to save us? You scare us because you're acting as a judge. Well, verse 26 says, And the next day he appeared to two of them, and they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, Men, you're brothers. Why do you wrong one another? You're not the enemy of each other. You're to work together to fight the enemy. You're of God's tribe. You're favored. Why are you fighting each other? But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday? Then at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

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You're listening to Come On Up with Pastor Carl from the Mountain Cross. We hope you enjoyed the message, learned something new, and felt the Holy Spirit speak into your life. We believe the Word of God is powerful and active and can transform lives for eternity. That's why we teach directly from the Bible. And we will continue our study through the Book of Acts next time. If you enjoy the simple teaching through the Word here on Come On Up, would you let others know about it? Share us with your family and friends. Tell them to listen on the radio or on their favorite podcast app. Subscribe for more Bible teaching, share in your social media feeds, and leave a review to get the word out. We're always grateful for new listeners, especially those who want to grow in the Word. Come On Up comes to you from The Mountain Cross, a group of believers in Jesus who seek to grow in faith by simply teaching the Bible, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. We meet Sunday mornings at 10 at the Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville. Learn more about us at themountaincross.com. If you're not local to Western North Carolina, we encourage you to check out a Bible-teaching church near you. It's essential to gather with other believers to navigate this topsy-turvy world together. Where Jesus is preached, there's hope for today and for the future. Thanks for listening. Come on up to the mountain with us again next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come on Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.