"A Simple Presentation into The Book of ACTS" - Chapter #7 - Bro. John "Ernie" Perez

Join us as Bro. Ernie Perez takes us into the continuing study of "A Simple Presentation into The Book of ACTS - Chapter 7".  Get your notebook ready!!!  

Pressure doesn’t just test the church—it reveals it. We gather around Acts 6–7 and watch a swelling community face real needs, real conflict, and a real choice: drift into distraction or double down on prayer, the word, and Spirit-led service. The apostles protect their calling, seven servants rise, and Stephen steps into a ministry marked by wisdom, miracles, and fearless truth. That’s where the story ignites—a courtroom sermon that traces God’s promise from Abraham to Moses and confronts a tragic pattern: hearing the voice of God while resisting the Holy Spirit.

Stephen’s defense isn’t a rant; it’s a roadmap. He shows how God’s presence outruns buildings, how covenant rests on faith, and how idols sneak in when comfort calls the shots. Then the room erupts. Stephen sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God while the council covers their ears and rushes him. Outside the city, stones fly, cloaks pile up at the feet of a young man named Saul, and a dying disciple’s final words are mercy. It looks like loss, but it becomes a launch. The church scatters, the gospel runs, and Saul won’t be able to shake what he witnessed.

We talk about becoming a Book of Acts church without buzzwords: ordinary believers moving in extraordinary power, generosity that meets needs without compulsion, leadership that holds fast to prayer and Scripture, and witness that stays tender even under fire. Stephen wasn’t an apostle; he was a faithful servant who believed Jesus meant what He said about power for all who believe. If you’re longing for courage when culture pushes back, clarity when tradition grows loud, and a faith that loves its enemies without flinching, this conversation will steady your steps.

Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs bold faith today, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway so we can keep shaping episodes that serve you.  (*Recorded 11/18/2025)

Ways to Give at www.m3mi.org...Thank you for your seed!  :)

Transcript

Welcome And Acts Focus

SPEAKER_01 0:48

I love the introduction. But we're joined today by Brother Ernie Peres. Good morning. Good of you. Sister Tammy. Sister Sandy. Sister Audia. And y'all are at the table today. So got the little crowd, but uh we miss everybody that's not here, but we're really excited just to continue this study into the book of Acts. We did on our simple, a simple presentation of the book of Acts. We did chapter six last week, and we're going into uh chapter seven, but I know you're gonna give us a recap.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Yes, I will.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

How is everything going in the church world with all of our brother sister churches out there?

Why A Book Of Acts Church

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Well, the group that I that I move in among, other than I guess XL Ministries, which is a very large children's ministry out of India, is a small group. So to tell you, I have my pulse on everything that's going on. That that wouldn't be accurate. But I do I do look on YouTube and see what different people have to say.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

I I like to hear these things. One of the things that I hear that I really like is how many different ministries they're talking about. We need to become a Book of Acts church.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Yeah, there's it's really good.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

And that I think that's really good. And I I think they're feeling the pressure. You know, we have in our country now we we have elected two communist mayors. And we have groups of people that want to push Sharia law. And while we welcome all people in this country, that's one of the tenets of the USA, you can worship how you want.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

But assimilation, not right.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

But but we don't look for Islamist or Buddhist or or Taoist or somebody else to come into this country and say, because we have these freedoms, then we're just gonna tell you what to do. You have to agree to respect our freedoms, and we'll respect yours. So I think because of this pressure, it's good for the church.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Yeah. God always uses it for a purpose, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 3:13

We're gonna see that in the book of Acts, how pressure on the church brings the best to the surface. Yeah. And and so, as a matter of fact, Acts chapter seven is the beginning of the pressure. We have it in in Acts chapter 3 and 4 and 5 talking about after the lame man was healed, but it's really gonna take off in in the life of Stephen. It's going to explode. Yeah. And what the enemy meant for evil. Yeah. God used it for good. He always does.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

All right, here we go. We're gonna start our video presentation. Go ahead, just one.

Recap Of Acts 6 And Growing Needs

Seven Servants And Stephen’s Rise

Reading Acts 7: Stephen’s Defense

Abraham To Joseph: Covenant Traced

Moses Rejected Then Sent

Idolatry, Tabernacle, And Temple

SPEAKER_00 4:01

So what we did last was we we were in Acts chapter 6. We finished it. Here the church had suddenly seen among its new disciples a group of needy people, which was just suddenly thrust upon them, these believers. And it appears this group became visible so quickly because, you know, at the day of Pentecost, there were 3,000 souls converted to Christ. That's a lot of people, and they were from all over the world, all over Judea, probably Samaria and surrounding areas, and they didn't come to Jerusalem to stay for an extended time. Then a few days later in Acts 3, we don't know if it's two days, three days, a week, but it's not a real time lapse. The lame man, the beggar at the temple was healed. And another 5,000, the scripture says, men. The number of women was not given. Another 5,000 men were saved. So it's possible that we suddenly have 10,000 new converts to Christ. And we say that because the number of women, converts, spoke is not spoken of in Acts 4 and 4. It's not talked about. So many of these babes in Christ, as I stated previously, would have come from all over Judea, possibly Samaria, all over Palestine, all over the Roman Empire, and beyond, because Jews were scattered around the world, and they tried to make it back to Jerusalem, to the temple, every year for each of the feasts. Now, more than likely many were not financially prepared for an extended stay. This led to a move of the Holy Ghost among the saints to meet the needs of these new converts to Christ. Some of them would have been residents of Jerusalem and Judea, but some of them from all over the Roman Empire. Now, what happened? Since they were more than likely not financially prepared for an extended stay, the saints of God were moved upon by the Spirit of God to begin to meet their needs. This was not an apostolic doctrine. You do not find the apostles teaching, you people need to sell everything you have and bring us the money, and we'll take care of it. This was an independent move of the Spirit of God within the hearts of the saints. They saw the needs and they rose to meet the occasion. And this is terrific. I want you to know that you don't have to be an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a pastor, or a teacher in order to be anointed of God to do his will. You just have to be his child. And he can speak to you and give you guidance. So what happened was many of the believers sold their possessions and brought the money to the apostles, and they used it to provide sustenance for these new believers. Barnabas was one of the people who made a big contribution. You know the story of Ananias and Sapphira. We want to give with a good heart and with good intentions and be cheerful givers. But wherever there is money involved, sooner or later there are unforeseen consequences that arise. Now, as the church ministered to those in need, accusations arose that a certain group of the new converts, and these people are Jews or proselytes to the Jewish faith. So there's a group of them called Grecians. They study the Septuagint as opposed to the Old Testament in Hebrew. And they have other markers, but that's the big thing that gets them called Grecians. And they said, hey, you're not treating our poor widows fairly. You're not treating our people fairly. And they begin to gripe and complain and say they're not getting what they need to eat for their daily sustenance, etc. So the apostles actually refused to deal with this complaint. They instructed the saints, you handle it. We will not leave the ministry of the word and of prayer to resolve these types of issues. You choose seven men and gave requirements for the seven men, full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom. Then bring them to us, and we will appoint them to take care of this business. In our times we would say, you find them, you agree on seven men who meet these requirements, you bring them to us, and we'll ratify them. So two of the men chosen, the seven were chosen, two of them would cultivate miraculous ministries, Stephen and Philip. Stephen was immediately launched into his ministry, which was accompanied by great wonders and miracles. Remember, we've been talking about Jesus' last words, and one of the scriptures we were citing is Mark chapter 16, verses 15 through 20, about the wonderful things that will be done in the name of Jesus, the healing, the casting out of demons, etc. And so powerful was Stephen's ministry that soon the enemy stirred up the Jews against him. And of course, this led to Stephen being on trial before the Jewish leadership. So with that, we're going to start reading in Acts chapter 7. And it's a lengthy read, but I thought I'd read through the whole chapter today, and then we'll just dive in and see how far we get. Acts chapter 7, verse 1. Then said the high priest, are these things so? Stephen has been called before them, right? All these facts, excuse me, false accusations are made. Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men and brethren and fathers, hearken. This is Stephen speaking. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and into the land which I will show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran, and from thence when his father was dead, he removed him into this land wherein ye now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no not so much as to set his foot on, yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. And God spake on this wise, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and that they should excuse me, and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God, and after that shall they come forth and serve me in this place. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs, and the patriarchs moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren. And Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Then sent Joseph and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, three score and fifteen souls. So Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, and were carried over into Shechem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Amor, the father of Shechem. But when the time of the promise drew near, God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers so that they cast out their young children to the end that they may not live, in which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian. For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God, by his hand, would deliver them, but they understood not. And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, you are brethren, why do you wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord and a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight, and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled and durst not behold. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now I will send thee into Egypt. This Moses, whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? The same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out. After that he showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness forty years. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, unto your brethren, like unto me, him shall ye hear. This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel, which spake to him in Mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us, to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us, for as for this Moses which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we want not what is become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifices unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then turned God and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your God, Rephan, figures which ye made to worship them, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed speaking unto Moses that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen, which also our fathers came after and brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David, who found favor before God and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him an house. How be it, the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophets. Heaven is my throne, and the 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 Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And have they slain them which showed before of the coming of the just one, of whom ye have now been betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the dispensation of angels, and have not kept it. But when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and behold, I see the heavens opened, 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 laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. They stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Stephen's defense, I'm sure it took more than 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes. What we have written here is the narrative that Luke was able to compile. Whether he was a witness in in the courtroom as this went on, we do not know. But we know he was a great historian and journalist, and he has this material written down for us. Now I'm going to go back and talk to you just a little bit. The high priest that Stephen appeared before is most likely Caiaphas. He required Stephen to give an answer regarding all the false testimony that had been given about him and his teaching. Remember, he was arrested in chapter 6 because people perjured themselves to get him arrested. So many miracles were being done in the mighty name of Jesus. It was just frustrating. The Sanhedrin, the Israeli synod, the Levites, the priest's family, they couldn't stand it. Now, Stephen, while he stood before the council, remember his face began to radiate like an angel. Everyone saw his face as though it became the face of an angel. That is just remarkable. Yet, in spite of this miraculous display of the presence of God, Stephen's accusers were not impacted at all. No one on the council was impacted at all. Those who hated him didn't care. But Luke writes, everyone saw his face, as it were an angel. Listen, miracles don't always make believers. When they do, it's the person that the miracle usually has received the miracle. Many people who have seen miracles explain them away. Stephen begins his defense by testifying as to how God called Abraham to follow his will. So he's going to go into the history of this people as a part of his defense. Remember, we read earlier in chapter 6 that his wisdom was so great that the Jews could not resist him. He frustrated them as he talked about Jesus. And like every other disciple and like the apostles, he would be proving Jesus from the Old Testament, what we call the Old Testament. So he begins his defense by testifying as to how God called Abraham to follow his will. God would then provide Abraham an inheritance and make him a great man with a great name. Furthermore, Abraham's descendants were going to go into bondage and then be delivered. And God would judge the nation that enslaved his descendants. Then they would worship God and God alone. But boy, I wish it would stop there. As you draw nigh to God, by the time you get to the book of Acts, as a teacher, I would be looking at you saying, you have read the book of Genesis, you have read the book of Exodus, you have been through the book of Judges and the Kings and the Chronicles, so none of these events would be strange to you. So if in our going through of this, if you feel hollow places, if you were my student sitting here, and I would be asking you, have you not read the book of Genesis? Have you not been reading the Old Testament? Because if you want to thoroughly understand what's in the New Testament and the foundation of the ministry of Jesus Christ and of the apostles and the disciples, you will need to be familiar with the Old Testament. You don't have to be a master of it, but you've got to understand the history of this people. God made promises to Abraham regarding his seed, his descendants, in the plural, as well as his seed in the singular, as in Isaac, and as in Jesus. So for that, you would be reading Genesis chapter 17 in particular 1 through 19. And I would recommend that you read from Genesis 12 to 25 at least to get a good grip on the life of Abraham. And then you'll see more about Joseph and his brethren as you finish the book of Genesis. But I would turn your attention to Galatians chapter 3. We'll just look there. Galatians chapter 3. Now, if you're new, babe in Christ, don't be discouraged. As you read these things, they will make sense to you. God will see to it. Galatians chapter 3, verse 16. Now, Paul is writing to the Galatian church, which is a church made up of both Jews and Gentiles. Every one of these letters in the New Testament are like that, except for the book of Hebrews, and possibly the book of James. Now, to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He that is God saith not, and to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. So seed in the Old Testament is not always singular. But Paul straightens that out for the Galatian church. The big promise that is made to Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The promise to receive the land, his children, all that's received in the sons of Jacob. Stephen being so articulate and so thorough is throwing in their face the fact that no matter what God has done, Israel was not satisfied. This is amazing. God's covenant with Abraham was based on faith. Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. It was sealed with the sign of circumcision. And if the sign of the covenant was not present, the uncircumcised man was disqualified from the terms of the covenant. Let that sink in. The uncircumcised man was disqualified from the terms of the covenant. Stephen then goes into how God's prophetic word to Abraham from Genesis 15 was fulfilled in the sons of Jacob when they took possession of Canaan. Not in the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Hagar, who was the slave woman, the slave of Sarah. And God blessed her son anyway, because he was a child of Abraham, but not the child of Sarah. Therefore, the covenant of Abraham was inherited by Isaac, who is the son of Abraham and Sarah, not Abraham and Hagar. That was Abraham and Sarah's design. And you can't help God make his will come to pass. I would just tell you, in all the years I've served the Lord, he has yet to ask me for a suggestion. He has yet to consult me to get permission to do anything. And the problem with Israel is they couldn't understand on a consistent basis that God had chosen them to bring them out unto himself. Exodus 19. I bear you on eagle's wings and brought you out to myself. God doesn't save you for reasons for you to live like billionaires and have everything you ever want. God saves you to draw you unto himself. God redeemed Israel because he loved them for the sake of his promise to Abraham. So Stephen uses his defense for what? An accurate history of the nation of Israel. His knowledge is both thorough and extensive. As you read through this chapter, he really chronicles the history of Israel. He covers Israel's history from Abraham to the Exodus. And from there, the Exodus from Egypt, from the conquest of Canaan to Israel's rebellion against God and periodic practicing of idolatry. Along the way, the kings of Israel are established. In Judah, they're established. They're blessed, but they cannot remain true to God. Even though God gave them the temple in Jerusalem, first the tabernacle in the wilderness, then the temple in Jerusalem as a focal point of worship. Even though God delivered them from their enemies time after time, even though God sent them multiple prophets to call them to repentance, Israel always managed to rebel against God. Remember, they were just on the other side of the Red Sea and they made themselves a golden calf. And because deliverance didn't look like they wanted it to look, look, oh Moses, he brought us out here to die. At one point, the the murmuring against Moses while they were traveling through the wilderness brought God's judgment. And Moses and Aaron looked at him and said, You're murmuring against us like we're somebody. We're not calling the shots here. You think you're complaining about us? I didn't part the Red Sea. I didn't make the pillar of cloud. I didn't make the pillar of fire. I didn't ignite the burning bush. That's not me. You are being called into the presence of God. You're murmuring against God and complaining against God. Listen, as a church, I know we can't always be on the same page. But backbiting and gossiping over it could bring us the same results that it brought the Israelites. And when we devour one another, we suffer for it. But we can suffer for it. You can sow seeds in your life. God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. Don't say you haven't done it, because I know I've sowed poor seed in my life sometime. But this is why the word of God is written, so that we can do these things. Now, I'm going to start reading at verse 51. Stephen is had it with these people. He says, Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do ye. People are thrilled to read about circumcision in the Old Testament and how strange that is. That was a sign of covenant. But you need to go back and follow the word circumcision because you'll see circumcision of the heart and ears long before we get to the New Testament. It simply means removing of sinful nature and sinful desires. What an accusation. So Stephen is the last prophetic voice to Israel as a nation. Mark that. See how Stephen points out that Israel is in rebellion to that very day? Well, they did crucify the Lord, didn't they? Verse 54. Well, verse 53, which who have received the law by the dispensation 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. Which the new King James says gnashed at him. Which probably, you know, Shakespearean English, people who spoke that in that day may have understood it. But I remember the first time I read it thinking, you gotta be kidding. They run up to him and bit that cotton picker, you know. These people would start raving mad. But you know, his utterances are Holy Ghost inspired, but the council, the Sanhedrin, the leadership of Israel rejects the word of God yet again, and in their rejection they rage against Stephen until the very thought of Stephen's word literally gives them tight jaws, so much so that they gnashed on their teeth. Have you ever been mad enough to gnash your teeth? In my age, I don't want to get that mad. So verse 55. And he being full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, 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 laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. Remember Saul. So Stephen is so in tune with the Spirit of God that in the midst of his defense, in the midst of accusations, in the midst of people raging against him, he is able to receive a vision from God. He sees Jesus standing in the place of the demonstration of the power of God and then testifies about the vision. What did that do to the Sanhedrin? What did that do to the detractors? This drives the Jews to even further enragement against Stephen until they cover their ears, they attack him, they drag him out of the city, they begin to stone him. As they are stoning him, a young man named Saul is standing watch over their cloaks. Saul is a Pharisee. At this point, I don't know that he's a Pharisee yet, but we know he becomes a Pharisee and represents the Sanhedrin. If we look at Philippians chapter 3, Paul is going to testify to the Philippian church about himself. So we'll get a little bit of knowledge about him. He would become the Apostle Paul, Paul being his Roman name, Saul being his Hebrew name. So I'm going to read the first six verses. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me, indeed, is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus. They say they're following God, but they're not. But we who are filled with the Spirit, we are. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. Now, I've got a better pedigree than these people. I was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law a Pharisee. If he was not a Pharisee, at Stephen Stoning, he was about to become one. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching righteousness which is in the law, blameless. What a statement. This is the man who is standing there, letting them lay their cloaks at his feet as they go to stone Stephen to death. Verse 59. And they stone Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Stephen is calling upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. While Stephen is dying, his true discipleship is manifested. Verse 60. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Stephen. Lord, we want to be that kind of disciple, don't we? That being stoned to death, we could look at the people stoning us and say, Jesus, they need salvation. Save them right now. I I came to a situation. I was a very young Christian. I was in Vietnam and a young man came to see me. And he sits down next to me and he looks at me and he says, You're a Christian, huh? I said, Well, I want to be. I'm trying to be. You know, following after Jesus. So what? So if I punch you in the face right now, you're gonna turn the other cheek? And you know, I just popped off and said, sure I will. And then he said, and I'm gonna punch you on the other side of the face. What you gonna do then? I was a young Christian. So I didn't have the best answer. But what I said to him is, what I'm gonna do is obvious. I'm gonna run smooth out of cheeks. What you're gonna do, that's the real question. And he got up and walked away because I lost my witness when I became arrogant and proud and vengeful. There was a time for Jesus to turn over the tables and to use the cat of nine tails. We don't read about him doing that every day. We don't read about the apostles doing that every day. We don't read about the Christians taking up arms to rebel against Rome and saying we're going to defeat you with our righteous army. We are citizens of another kingdom. We have a king. I love the good old USA. I bleed red, white, and blue. But if I have to choose between Jesus and the USA, there is no choice. It's Jesus. I remember when my wife said we weren't married very long. A few months maybe. And she just she's standing across the room, she turned and looked at me. And you have to understand we're so young in the marriage, we're still suffering from honeymoonitis, you know. She looks at me and says, You know, if it's ever a choice between you and Jesus, you know it's Jesus, right? Well, yeah, well, you know it's you don't have to say it like that, baby. Yeah, we got I'm not gonna make you choose, you know. We're doing this thing together. But here's my point. Stephen was so committed that as he was dying, he remembered his first purpose. Preach the gospel, testify of Jesus. What's that we say here? Show compassion, show love, show love, give mercy, give mercy and be Jesus to someone today. Yeah, Stephen was not an apostle. We'll say that. He prayed for his murderers and then he died. But he lived out, Mark 16, 15 through 20. Do we have time to look at that? Let's turn to the gospel of Saint Mark real quick. It's important that we don't make interpretations that are not in Scripture. Beginning at verse 15, and he Jesus said unto them, the apostles, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. So then preaching the gospel involves both believing and baptism, and if it doesn't have both, it's not the gospel. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow what? Who? Them that believe, not just you apostles, them that believe. And here Stephen is living that out. He's not an apostle. We don't read that he's a prophet. At most, he's a deacon who's had business responsibilities in this in the church, but he had to be skilled in wisdom and he had to be filled with the Holy Ghost in order to be chosen. So he is anointed, and his testimony has power. He is fulfilling Acts chapter 1, verses 4 through 8. Let's read that. All right. And being assembled together with them, Jesus being assembled with the depostles, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me. You've got to be familiar with the gospel, so you can say to yourself, I know, I know where Jesus said that. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power, but you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me. He didn't suggest it. He said, You shall. He didn't say you might want to. And I wish that you would. And would you please? None of that. He is the king, and we are children of the king, therefore we are obedient to the king. You shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria unto the uttermost part of the world. Something for you to mark in your memory. They fulfilled this prophecy, and Stephen is demonstrating it because he is not one of the twelve. And that Stephen is the last voice of prophecy to Israel as a nation. There has not a prophet arisen unto Israel since that time. That's something to mark down as you read scripture, so you'll see that how that unfolds and what it means to our lives and to the nation of Israel.

SPEAKER_01 47:30

All right. Well, that's good stuff. But I want to dig into that what you just said about he was the last of the prophets to Israel.

SPEAKER_00 47:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 47:40

But we won't do it on this podcast. We're going to come back into another podcast. Because I want, but because I there's a little other thing I want to ask you about too. So stay tuned. Thank you so much for this uh study today. Did y'all get anything out of it?

unknown 47:55

A lot. A lot.

SPEAKER_00 47:56

I took a little different approach because really, as students of the word, there's some things I shouldn't have to teach.

SPEAKER_01 48:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:05

You know, and I'm not trying to be arrogant, but your child reaches a certain age, you break them from the bottle. As babes in Christ, we want to be broken from the milk of the word.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:17

So that we can get into the meat of the word.

SPEAKER_01 48:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:20

So it it behooves us to be sure, not you can't gonna know everything, but that you are students of the word of God. Yeah, I like that.

SPEAKER_01 48:31

All right. So everybody that's listening in, I encourage you to like and share and follow us uh on on YouTube, on on your whatever your podcast platform, go and share it and just, you know, tell everybody that you know about the podcast. There's over a hundred different podcasts now that you can go and listen to. There's something for you there. If you're going through some things, you know, if you need to know about salvation, if you need to know about healing, you need to know about baptisms. We've done some really good podcasts on that. And and there's just some really good teaching there. So go back and and dig through some of the other stuff, some of the old things, and bring back to your remembrance, you know, and and and but I do love that as you're going through the book of Acts, you're going back through the old testament too and bringing it all together. And I'd really like to talk about the the other forms of circumcision. But anyway, we're gonna go, we'll do that another time. But anyway, thank y'all for being around the table today, ladies. Wake up today. All right. So, as we always say, go show some love, show some compassion, give mercy, mercy, and go be Jesus today. Hey STU family. If you have enjoyed this podcast today, would you please like, follow, and share our podcast link? We would love to hear your feedback and your podcast topic suggestions. To do that, simply go to our website at www.m3mi.org. Scroll to the forest link. You can also see the chicken.