Word for Life Says . . .

“God Has Always Been Faithful!”

Acts 7:2-4, 8-10, 17, 33-34, 45-47, 52-53, 55

September 27, 2015

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Please Note: All lesson verses and titles are based on International Sunday

School Lesson/Uniform Series ©2010 by the Lesson Committee, but all

content/commentary written within is original to wordforlifesays.com unless

properly quoted/cited. You are always encouraged to do your own personal

studies as well. Blessings!)

Introduction:

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions

fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness,”

Lamentations 3:22-23

There seems to be news everyday of more and more people experiencing

hardships in their lives. There are stories of loved ones that didn’t return home.

There are stories of weather disasters wiping out cities. There are stories of our

young people and teenagers struggling. There are stories of corrupt politics; a

crippling economy, job layoffs and firings, and more.

You name it and it’s out there. The daily news is littered with the truth of the

sorrow that can penetrate into anyone’s life on any given day; stories that cause

one to just shake their head and feel the pang of sympathy for those going

through. Nobody wants to experience hardships and nobody wants to see

anybody else having to suffer with it either.

It is during these times when we have to fight the most to remember the

sovereignty of God. When we have to continually pound it into our heads that He

is in control and “His compassions fail not.” Life may seem very, very bleak at

times but God is still on His throne and “great is Thy faithfulness!”

Going through the hardships and the disappointments of life are hard enough, but

when we start attributing the human characteristics of short-comings to a divine

God, we rob ourselves of an unfailing assurance.

It’s hard to keep one’s head above water during times of crisis. It is at that time

when we need our safety float the most. Then is when we need to remember

that God has never failed and He is not about to start failing today. He is forever

faithful!

Even in the book of Lamentations after the people went into captivity and

Jerusalem became desolate, Jeremiah penned words that still inspire to this

generation. They became words that have resonated God’s faithfulness in song;

words that recognize that God is still there with His people.

“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope,” (Lamentations 3:20), Jeremiah

writes. This is a made up mind focused on all that God has done through you and

for you; seeing how He has moved in times past in your life. Looking back and

remembering the prayers that He has already answered brings to the forefront of

your mind all the successes He has allowed you to experience. Let that store up

for you an arsenal of truth that fights for you and will declare “He is faithful!”

Don’t measure God faithfulness by your present circumstances. Stephen didn’t.

He was faced with an angry mob ready to pounce on him any moment; yet, he

stood by his testimony of God and declared His faithfulness down through Israel’s

history from the beginning of the nation to the time where he accused them of

their participation in the death of Jesus (Acts 7:52).

This brought about his stoning and death where he became the first Christian

martyr, and with his dying breath he held onto God’s faithfulness and sought the

forgiveness of those who were taking his life, just like Jesus did.

God never promised the absence of hardship or adversity in our Christian walk.

But, what He did promise, in His faithfulness, to be in it all the way with you

(Matthew 28:20). Therefore, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without

wavering; (for he is faithful that promised),” Hebrews 10:23.

Thinking back, someone once sang a song that expresses today’s lesson theme:

“As I look back over my life And I think things all over I can truly say that I’ve been blessed I’ve got a testimony.”(Allthelyrics.com/Rev. Clay Evans)

The pathway we have walked may not have been all peaches and cream, but God was there with us and brought us through to this day. That was a testimony that Stephen would take to the grave with him. Let’s learn more about Stephen’s testimony of God’s faithfulness for His people.

Lesson Text:

Acts 7:2-4 “And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory

appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he

dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy

kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of

the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his

father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.”

Acts 7:8-10 “And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham

begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; 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 all his

afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of

Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.”

Acts 7:17 “But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn

to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt.”

Acts 7:33-34 “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 come, I will send thee into Egypt.”

Acts 7:45-47 “Which also our fathers that came after 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 favour before God, and desired to

find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him an house.”

Acts 7:52-53 “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and

they have slain them which shewed before the coming of the Just One: of whom

ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by

the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.”

Acts 7:55 “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven,

and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.”

One of my favorite field trips I have even taken with my children was a tour

through our hometown. We have a lot of history to appreciate and be wowed by.

It’s a long, all-day arduous excursion but it covers so many things of the past of

this little place we call home. It seemed every time I went I learned something

new; something to be inspired by. In it, I have even had the privilege to visit

places of my personal past; streets and venues of where I grew up.

Ah, a walk down memory lane. I am a big nostalgia buff, if you don’t believe me;

check out my previously published article: “Indulge in Nostalgia.” In that article

I spoke of stones of remembrance the children of Israel would set up as a

memorial to remember all that God has done for them. Today’s lesson will end

with stones as well, except theirs will be used to take the life of an innocent man

who stood up for God to speak the truth of His faithfulness and the hard-

heartedness of His people down through the years. Both evoke images to

remember.

There is a danger of forgetfulness among God’s people. With that, Stephen, who

at the time is facing the council with false charges of blasphemy by men who

“stirred up the people” Acts 6:8-14 (Sound familiar? Think about Jesus’s trial.),

because they could not “resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spake,” (Acts

6:10).

Please note: God’s wisdom and His spirit at work make His people a powerful

force that can’t be reckoned with.

Stephen stands before this council of false accusers and instead of defending

himself, he defends his God! He stands there despite the looming danger right

before his face and testifies of God’s faithfulness.

And, he starts with the man who received the first promise of an inheritor of the

nation whom they have now become: Abraham.

Abraham, along with Terah his father and the rest of the family, at the call of God,

picked up his family moved them from the idolatrous city “Ur of the Chaldees” to

go into the land of Canaan” (Genesis 11:31). That trip didn’t land them there at

that time. They ended up settling for an undisclosed amount of time in “Haran,”

(Gen. 11:31; called “Charran” in today’s lesson), and it was there that Terah,

Abraham’s father died at the age of 205 years old, Genesis 11:32.

Now, it was a time for God to start a new thing in the life “Abraham.” He had a

special call and a special promise over his life that would later lead to all the

nations of the earth being blessed through him (Gen. 12:3, 22:18 and Gal. 3:8).

God reiterated His mission for Abraham to continue forth on his journey. He said,

“Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land

which I shall shew thee,” (Acts 7:3) (compare to Genesis 12:1 for the original

promise). In the Genesis account God tacked on further promises to Abraham’s

calling. He said, “I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and

make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that

bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee,” and as stated above was the

promise that “in thee all families of the earth be blessed,” (Genesis 12:2-3).

Acts 7:4 of today’s lesson showed that Abraham obeyed the call of God on his life

and “came he out of the land.” Through those obedient steps the people of God

are now in “this land, wherein ye now dwell,” (Acts 7:4). Although their history

as a nation has its ups and downs; its goods and bads; its times of obedience and

those of disobedience, God never failed on His promise to bring them to the place

where He already set up an inheritance for His people.

Charles F. Stanley is quoted as saying, “Obey God and leave all the consequences

to Him.” (Quote Source: Goodreads.com). And, that’s what Abraham did. His

walk with God was one of trust and faith that would later lead him to be the

father of a great nation and of the greater promise ahead.

In Stephen’s recitation of their history, he told them God spoke to Abraham (in

Acts 7:5-7; not in today’s text) reiterating His promise to look beyond the now.

Right now, Abraham had no seed or land, but the promise was still ahead of him:

“yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession,” Acts 7:5.

God also clued Abraham in on the fact that his seed would know a time of

temporary displacement and bondage, but that will not be the end of the story.

They will, in fact, “come forth, and serve me in this place,” (Acts 7:7).

Verifying His promise is true, Stephen recounts in today’s lesson God’s “covenant

of circumcision” (Acts 7:8) with Abraham. God laid out the specifics to Abraham

in Genesis 17:9-14 of this covenant to circumcise any male born in the house or

bought when they are eight days old. Those who refused would be cut off from

his people (Gen. 17:14).

Our lesson tells us, “so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth

day,” (Acts 7:8). This is also verified in Genesis 21:3-5 where it tells us, “And

Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to

him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God

commanded him. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac

was born unto him.”

Every step of his journey, Abraham obeyed what “God commanded him.”

From those continued steps of obedience, God is increasingly moving to bless his

family line. Stephen continues in today’s lesson to tell us and the council before

whom he stands, “And Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve

patriarchs,” (Acts 7:8). The foundation for the future of this great nation was

being laid step by step and member by member.

It isn’t very often that we get to see the actual “birth” of a nation, but here God

shows throughout Israel’s history how it all came to pass and the future that lies

ahead for them and for us. What may seem like mindless details and boring

recitations to some is actual facts recorded that not only trace this particular

family’s past to their future; but in it, it also shows God’s promises from the

beginning all the way to the end, and how He has never failed to keep them. It

records more than the actions and multiplication of generations; it records God’s

faithfulness through it all, every single step of the way.

Even the “patriarch’s envy” (Acts 7:9) that moved their hearts to sell their

brother “Joseph” into slavery benefited this family’s growth and prosperity.

Nearing the end of Joseph’s story he told his brothers, “But as for you, ye thought

evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to

save much people alive,” (Gen. 50:20). They would never be where they are in

today’s lesson, with Stephen recounting before the council, if it had not been for

God’s intervention back then.

Joseph personally experienced God’s faithfulness because despite the plots of his

brothers to get rid of him, “God was with him, And delivered him out of all his

afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of

Egypt” (Acts 7:10) eventually leading him to become “governor over Egypt and

all his house.” This would in turn grant him the opportunity to step in and save

the life of his family while everybody else was experiencing drought.

In Acts 7:11-16 (not in today’s lesson text) reminds them of that time when “there

came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan . . . and our fathers found

no sustenance.” Hearing about food available in Egypt prompted Jacob to send

his sons to go there and buy what they needed to stay alive during this time of

affliction.

They came down once and it wasn’t that quick of an exchange as they wanted it

to be; rather, it led to one of the brother’s being imprisoned and the others

ordered not to return without proof of the one remaining brother (for full details

read Genesis 42-44). After their father sent them a second time, Joseph revealed

himself to them and had his father Jacob and the remaining family members

come down and join him in Egypt. It was there, through God’s faithfulness, this

family of seventy-five people increased into a mighty nation.

Stephen recalls in today’s lesson in verse 17, “And when the time of the promise

drew nigh, which God has sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in

Egypt,” (Acts 7:17). God has never reneged on a promise. Psalms 105:24 tells us,

“And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their

enemies.” We see this also in Exodus 1:7-9 where it states “the land was filled

with them,” (Ex. 1:7).

If you would take your minds back to the night when God took Abraham outside

and told him, “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to

number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be,” (Gen. 15:5). Their

increase in Egypt, as massive as it may seem, was just the beginning of what God

was doing through Abraham.

But, in that same chapter another part of God’s promise came to pass in the

nation’s history and in Stephen’s recital. In Genesis 15:13-16 He states, “Know of

a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall

serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation,

whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great

substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a

good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the

iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full,” (compare this to the events noted by

Stephen in Acts 7:18-19, not in today’s lesson text).

God has a plan and a perfect timetable and He let Abraham in on it in very great

detail and Stephen is testifying to God being faithful to keep every one of those

promises. Through times of affliction and drought one may wonder, “Where is

God in all of this?” The truth of the matter He has always been there for His

people, and He will always continue to remain a steadfast Source for all who will

turn to Him.

What seemed like endless years of hardships under the weight of taskmasters,

God was going to turn it around in a way that only He would get the glory. It

would all start with the birth of a babe named Moses who would rise to be not

only Pharaoh’s daughter’s son drawn out of the water and not only a shepherd

working on the back side of the mountains in Midian, but he would be God’s key

vessel to bring His people out of bondage.

Moses received his calling via the burning bush (Exodus 3:1- 4:19 and Acts 7:30-

32). From this bush “the voice of the Lord came unto him,” (Acts 7:31). What a

frightful and awesome experience it must have been to hear the words of the

living God being uttered in His powerful and true oration.

“I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the

God of Jacob,” (Acts 7:32) the Almighty spoke. With these words, He is testifying

of Himself to be the originator of the promise He has declared and stuck by to

uphold unto their forefathers. He is a covenant keeping God which insures those

that believe in Him of His continued, non-failing faithfulness.

He spoke to Moses saying, “Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where

thou standest is holy ground,” (Acts 7:33). It is a wise one who recognizes the

severity of being in the presence of a holy God (see also Exodus 3:5). He is

omnipotent. He is the Sovereign of the universe; the Creator of all. He is divine

all by Himself. He is God all by Himself. He declared in Isaiah, “Before me there

was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and

beside me there is no savior . . . ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am

God,” (43:10-12).

Being the awesome God that He is required, and still requires, respect before

drawing nigh unto His indescribable presence. “Put off thy shoes!” Recognize

where you are and who you are approaching!

In his recitation of the history of God’s faithfulness, Stephen took their minds

back to when God let them know they have not been forgotten in the midst of

their adversity. He said, “I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people

which is in Egypt,” (Acts 7:34).

God is unfaltering in His care of His people. He is not blind to the pain they go

through. One of the greatest lies of the enemy is to speak against the faithfulness

of God by trying to convince people that God doesn’t care; by persuading them

that He has turned a blind eye to the troubles we face.

Nay, but God sees it! Your battle and your scars are not invisible to God. You are

not invisible to God! He is paying attention to each and every one of us. “What is

man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”

David asked, knowing the true insignificance of man compared to all of creation in

Psalm 8:4. Yet, God is mindful; He is paying attention!

Not only has He seen, but all of His senses are put on alert and He has “heard.”

Did not the psalmist declare, “I called on the LORD in distress; the LORD answered

me and set me in a broad place,” (Psalm 118:5; NKJV)?

Know that God hears! And, when He sees and hears, He did (according to their

history then), and now does something about it. He was ready to “come down to

deliver them.” God came to meet them in their deepest time of need when the

stripes of the taskmasters were too much to bear. God will come to meet you in

your time of need to bring you out!

Outside of characters in the Bible, Corrie Ten Boom is one of my favorite

inspirational lives to read about and quote. She said, “There is no pit so deep,

that God’s love is not deeper still.” One may think they are in the worse place

possible, but rest assured you will never be out of the reach of God.

Therefore, Stephen recounts what God said to Moses: “I will send thee,” (Acts

7:34). His mission would entail him going before Pharaoh and bringing God’s

groaning people out through signs and wonders performed in Egypt, the Red Sea,

and even through their 40 years of wilderness wanderings, Acts 7:35-36; thus

fulfilling more of His faithful promises to Abraham: “they shall come out with

great substance,” (Gen. 15:14) and “in the fourth generation they shall come

hither again,” (Gen. 15:16).

Stephen reminded them that this same Moses spoke of a “prophet” to come “like

unto me; him shall ye hear,” (Acts 7:37). Coming closer to the climax of his

message, Stephen is drawing their attention to the fact that Moses himself spoke

of the coming Messiah (see also Duet. 18:15 and Acts 3:22).

Despite their despicable past of disobedience, and idol worshiping, and

captivities, God still held true to His original promise. He brought them “into the

possession of the Gentiles” (Acts 7:45); (compare Duet. 32:49) bearing the

tabernacle, made according to the layout and dimensions God instructed (Acts

7:44). There the Tabernacle stayed until “the days of David,” (Acts 7:45).

Moving through their history, Stephen, who has been accused of speaking against

Moses, and said Tabernacle (Acts 6:11-14) takes their mind back to the “favour”

God showed David in allowing his son “Solomon” to build Him a permanent

temple that he himself was not privileged to do because he was a man of war

with blood on his hands (1 Chronicles 28:3).

Moving from the Moses’ declaration of the prophesy of the Messiah, to the

Tabernacle of worship that went with the people wherever they went, to the

permanent structure that would be erected as the place where the Ark of the

Covenant would reside signifying to them God’s presence among them, Stephen

reminds them through all of their accusing that “the most High dwelleth not in

temples made with hands,” (Acts 7:48). Isaiah himself prophesied, “The heaven is

my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto

me? and where is the place of my rest?” (Is. 66:1; compare to Stephens recount in

Acts 7:49).

Radiating more in his fervent recital, Stephen turned the tables on his accusers

and said, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist

the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye,” (Acts 7:51, not in today’s text). He

called them out to their true hard-hearted stubbornness to really hear God’s truth

as those who came before them. Someone once said the apple doesn’t fall far

from the tree. Here, they have proved it over and over again by taking the same

historically wrong path as their forefathers.

“Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain

them which shewed before the coming of the Just One: of whom ye have been

now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the

disposition of angels, and have not kept it,” (Acts 7:52-53; compare to what

Jesus said in Matthew 23:34-37 and His parable in Luke 20:9-19).

This was their history of unfaithfulness although God still remained faithful. God

sent the “Just one;” He sent Jesus Christ as He promised (see Gen. 3:15, 12:3; 2

Sam. 12-13; Is. 7:14 – just to name a few), but they would not receive Him and

themselves now stand accused of being His “betrayers and murderers,” (Acts

7:52).

The council before whom Stephen is standing is the same ones through whom all

questions of the law come to. Now, he accuses them that they “have not kept

it,” (Acts 7:53).

Of course this hit them in the core of their pride and angered them greatly. Acts

7:54 (not in today’s text) says, “When they heard these things they were cut to

the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.” As stated in last week’s

lesson, the truth hurts, especially for people who were given the charge to uphold

the truth.

Stephen didn’t bite his tongue in reminding the people the truth of God’s

faithfulness compared to their unfaithfulness. He told it like it was and he would

soon join Jesus in heaven because of it. He wasn’t afraid. He wasn’t angry. It was

as though he knew what was coming next and humbly submitted himself to

acceptance of it.

Our lesson tells us, “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked stedfastly into

heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,”

(Acts 7:55). Stephen could not do what he did without the power of the Holy

Ghost equipping him. Zechariah 4:6 declares, “Not by might, nor by power, but

by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” Man can try to operate in his own power

but it won’t be effective for God’s kingdom. Everything we do, even testifying of

God’s faithfulness, has to be infused with power! And, Stephen clearly was.

The rest of Stephen’s testimony and story (Acts 7:56-60, not in today’s text) is

grim, but victorious. When he declared that he had seen “the Son of man

standing on the right hand of God” it became too much for the council to bear.

In an unfeigned rage, they drug him out of the city to stone him to death. That’s

the grim part. While he was dying he relinquished all animosity as Jesus did in his

prayer for their forgiveness.

Knowing he did the right thing; he was doing the right thing, he was ready to go

where Jesus is. That’s the victorious Christian life. “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,”

(Acts 7:59).

“He fell asleep,” (Acts 7:60).

Conclusion:

Israel’s story is our story. Because of their history we have our future. On our

journey there our God is always faithful.