Please take your Bibles and turn to 1 Peter 2. On page 1204 in the Church Bibles, 1 Peter 2, we'll be reading verses 4 through 12. And as we turn there, I just want to read the last two verses we just sang, because they are pertinent and lead into the scripture reading. Take heed. And harden not your heart, as did your fathers, nor depart from God to follow in their ways. For with complaints instead of praise, with doubt instead of faith confessed, they put his mercy to the test. Take heed that you provoke him not as did your fathers who forgot with erring heart God's holy ways and grieved him all their sinful days, to whom in wrath the Lord declared, my promised rest, you shall not, they shall not share. Now that brings us to 1 Peter chapter two, verses four through 12. Friends, this is God's holy, infallible, and inerrant Word. May He impress it upon our hearts by His Holy Spirit. As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God, chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood. to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, for it stands in scripture, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners in exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Thus far the word of the Lord. Now please turn to the book of Acts for our sermon text. Acts chapter seven on page 1,086 in the church Bibles. Page 1,086. We pick up in the sermon from where we left off last week, Acts chapter seven. We'll be reading verse one through chapter eight, verse four. Friends, this is the reading of God's holy, inerrant, and authoritative word. And the high priest said, are these things so? And Stephen said, brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Heron and said to him, go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you. Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. And God spoke to this effect, that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them 400 years. But I will judge the nation that they serve, said God. And after that, they shall come out and worship me in this place. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac became the father of Jacob and Jacob of the 12 patriarchs. And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan and great affliction and our fathers could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob, his father, and all his kindred, 75 persons in all. And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, The people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants so that they would not be kept alive. At this time, Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house. And when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. When he was 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand. But they did not understand. And on the following day, he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other? But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside saying, who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday? At this retort, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. Now when 40 years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. And as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord. I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, take off the sandals from your feet for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt. This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, who made you a ruler and a judge, this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for 40 years. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. And they made a calf in those days and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets. Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices during the 40 years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your God Rephin, the images that you made to worship, and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon. Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen. Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands. As the prophet says, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things? You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it. Now when they heard these things, they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep, and Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Thus are the reading of God's own holy word. Let us ask his blessing upon us. Great God and Father in heaven, we come to you this day desperate to hear the voice of our Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore we beg you to send down your Holy Spirit upon us and open our ears. For it is the spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. And the words that Jesus spoke to us are spirit and life. Therefore, Father, please circumcise uncircumcised ears and soften hard hearts and grant that none of us may be distracted by anything, but truly focus with all our being, with heart, soul, mind, and strength upon what you would speak to us this day. Grant us to see Christ by faith and to be truly changed by your word. We ask all of these things in Jesus' most precious and holy name. Amen. My beloved congregation and our Lord Jesus Christ, last Sunday we began to dig into this long sermon of Stephen by considering specifically what it teaches us about the Old Testament structures of worship, namely the temple in Jerusalem and the law of Moses. Stephen's supposed beliefs on these matters are what have brought him here. where he stands on trial before the council. Remember back in chapter six, verses 13 and 14, Stephen was accused of never ceasing to speak words against this holy place and the law, saying that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us. However, what we found last week when we examine Stephen's sermon for the first time, is that Stephen is not speaking against the temple and the law. Rather, Stephen is using both the temple and the Mosaic law for their intended purpose. Namely, to point directly to Jesus Christ. You see, although Stephen does not even mention Jesus by name until the very end of the chapter, in verse 59, The truth is that this whole sermon is all about Jesus. How so? Well, for starters, as we saw last week, Jesus actually is the true temple. Specifically, Jesus is the place where God is perfectly worshiped. Jesus always lived for the glory of God. Jesus is also the place where the perfect sacrifice for sins has been offered to God. Jesus is the place where God's presence with his people is most gloriously and profoundly revealed because Jesus personally is Immanuel. He is God with us. And what's more, Jesus is also the fulfillment of the law. Jesus is the law giver. He is the angel of the Lord who appeared to Moses on Mount Simon. Jesus is also the law keeper who fulfilled all righteousness for the sake of his people. And all of that is wonderful. But there is even more for us to see here about who Jesus is. Today we will see that Jesus is also the Redeemer who was promised from the very beginning of Scripture. Jesus is the one proclaimed in Genesis 3.15. He is the offspring of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent while also suffering a wound to his own heel. Jesus is the one to whom circumcision pointed, the promised seed who would be cut off from the land of the living to purchase the salvation of his people. Jesus is the one who came to be rejected by his own people, who came to be cursed of God so that we might forever be accepted and blessed by God through him. And this will be our focus today as we work our way through Stephen's sermon this second time. This morning we consider that Jesus is God's chosen ruler and redeemer who was wickedly rejected by his own people. Now the way that Stephen draws this out before the council is by telling the story of the people of God. Stephen uses Israel's history to demonstrate that Israel has always rejected the deliverers whom God raised up for them. And so let's see how Stephen does this, beginning with Joseph. Look at verse 9. And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. Joseph's brothers were jealous of him. And why were they jealous? of him. Well, Joseph dreamed a dream with sheaves or bundles of wheat in a field, and Joseph's sheaf arose and stood upright. Meanwhile, his brother's sheaves gathered around it, and their sheaves bowed down to his sheaf. Now how did Joseph's brothers feel about that? They said, are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us? You see, they understood the meaning of Joseph's dream. And they were jealous of Joseph. They were jealous because they wanted to be the rulers. They certainly had no interest in bowing down to this brother of theirs. Now do you see what Stephen is doing here? Stephen is suggesting that his own persecutors are behaving just like Joseph's wicked brothers. After all, this is how they treated the apostles. Take your Bible and look back at Acts chapter 5, verse 17. Acts 5, 17. What does it say? but the high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy, they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. In fact, this was also their attitude toward Jesus. Matthew 27, 18 indicates that Pilate knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered Jesus up. They killed Jesus. because they would not have Jesus rule over them. And so back to Joseph. Joseph suffered a great evil at the hands of his jealous brothers, but they could not thwart God's purpose for his life. Look at the end of verse nine. But God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him what? ruler over Egypt and over all his household. Joseph's brothers could not prevent the fulfillment of his dream. In the end, Joseph is exalted and lifted up by God so that his brothers must bow down before him. However, God did not only exalt Joseph as ruler. Look at verse 11. Now there came a famine. throughout all Egypt and Canaan and great affliction and our fathers could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers. You see, friends, in the sovereign plan of God, Joseph's exaltation was not intended for Joseph to lord it over his brothers, but rather to save their very lives. And this means that the patriarchs were so foolish to reject him, so foolish to rebel against him, they did not see the bigger picture. They did not understand that Joseph's exaltation would be for their own good. Thankfully, their evil plan to get rid of Joseph utterly failed. Thankfully, God in his infinite sovereignty actually worked through their wicked rejection of Joseph to raise Joseph to a position of power and authority so that he would be able to save them. As Joseph says in Genesis 50 verse 20 to his brothers, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. Now, there are a few things we ought to see here. First, as God's people, we must not live by jealousy, but live by faith. Friend, you must trust the Lord to do not only what is good for others, but also what is good for you. Part of this is that when God blesses someone else, you must believe that His blessing them is also Him blessing you. Now, you may not presently see how it is a blessing for you, but look, God has given us his word. Romans 8, 28, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Friends, God used Joseph's humiliation and exaltation to save the very brothers who had jealously sold him into slavery. God also used Jesus' humiliation and exaltation to save many of those who out of envy had delivered him up to be crucified. And therefore you have no business being jealous of others when you have a God who is working in literally all things for your good and for his glory. Second, look at verses 12 and 13 and notice Stephen's emphasis on two visits. On the first visit, Joseph's brothers did not recognize him, although he was their savior. On the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers. Now here, Stephen seems to be hinting at a parallel to Jesus, who in his first visit, in his incarnation and earthly life, had already brought great blessing. to his people. But many refused to recognize him. They chose to remain ignorant. Thankfully, as we saw at the beginning of Acts, Jesus earthly life was only the beginning of his work and teaching. It was, so to speak, his first visit. But now, through the apostolic ministry, and even through Stephen's sermon, which he is preaching right now, the exalted Lord Jesus is making himself known to them. And it is their duty to receive him and acknowledge him as Lord and Savior. In other words, Stephen seems to be suggesting that it's not yet too late for them to repent. Jesus is still present. Jesus is still speaking by His Spirit through His ministers, making Himself known. Therefore, come to Him. Embrace this Savior, Jesus, who makes Himself known to you. Come to Him now, today, before it is too late. But if they don't come to Him, if you don't come to Jesus by faith, then you are actually even worse. than Joseph's brothers. Then you are without excuse because Joseph's brothers did receive Joseph on the second visit when he made himself known to them. Friend, don't reject Jesus who makes himself known to you even now. And so that's Joseph. Next, Stephen turns our attention to Moses. Verse 17. But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants so that they would not be kept alive. Now first notice in verse 17, the words increased and multiplied. These exact same words appear back in Acts 6, verse 7. And the word of God continued to increase. And the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. Now, why did the Holy Spirit include this parallel in the text of Scripture? Well, this effectively puts the Sanhedrin in the place of Pharaoh. which suggests that like Pharaoh, the Sanhedrin is guilty of trying to murder the mediator who would deliver God's people. Like Pharaoh, the Sanhedrin intends to enslave and afflict God's people, not by subjecting them to physical labor, but by preventing them from coming to the Christ who would give them rest for their souls. The Sanhedrin wants to stop the people from using the Old Testament types and shadows for the purpose they were intended for. Namely, to lead them to Jesus Christ, the Mediator. However, Pharaoh was not successful and neither will the Sanhedrin be successful. Although the situation looks terribly dire and hopeless, do you see what happens here? Verse 20, at this time, Moses was born. Friends, Moses was born at the very time when Pharaoh was killing the Hebrew babies. But reading on, he was beautiful in God's sight, and he was brought up for three months in his father's house, and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was beautiful in God's sight. Now this does not mean that Moses was a very good-looking baby. This means that he was God's chosen one. Moses found favor with God. He was brought up in secret for three months, and then when they were unable to keep him hidden, his parents entrusted him to God. His mother made a little ark, placed the child in it, and put it among the reeds by the riverbank, hoping against hope that God would save her little child from the hungry Nile crocodiles. And he actually did. God raised Moses up and exalted him by the most remarkable means through Pharaoh's daughter adopting him and bringing him up as her own son. Everything worked out. exactly as God intended. And after this remarkable deliverance from certain death, verse 22, Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and he was mighty in his words and deeds. Friends, Moses was exactly the man God's people needed. Moses was a man chosen by God, a man God equipped to serve as their redeemer. Surely God's people will joyfully and eagerly accept Moses as their deliverer. Won't they? Verse 23. When he was 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptians. Do you see this? Moses came down from his high estate. He comes down to visit his people to rescue them from their affliction. Moses puts his very life on the line for their sake. And this is not a matter of Moses grudgingly doing his duty. Notice the language of verse 23. It came into his heart to visit his brothers. He earnestly wants to help them. He identifies with them. He sees them as His brothers. Verse 25 further clarifies his motivation. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. And on the following day, he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other? Don't you receive enough affliction at the hands of the Egyptians? But the man who is wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday? The very people. whom Moses was appointed to save, reject him. They deny Moses' calling from God to serve as their ruler and judge. They unfairly accuse Moses of wanting to do them evil, even to kill them. And not only that. but they also betray him and try to get him killed. Exodus chapter two verses 14 and 15 say, then Moses was afraid and thought, surely this thing is known. Someone's gonna tell Pharaoh about this. And he was right. When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. So in verse 29 here, we read, at this retort, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian. Friends, how tragic, but also how wicked. You see here, Israel is not only opposing Moses, Here Israel is also opposing God. God is the one who sent Moses, providing exactly the mediator his people need. Yet they refuse to receive him. Now at the end of verse 25, what does it say about the people? It says, they did not understand. However, this is not merely a matter of not knowing better. This is a very intentional misunderstanding. Back in Acts 3.17, Peter proclaimed, now brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance as did also your rulers. Yet there we saw that this so-called ignorance was inexcusable. They should have known better. They had all the prophecies. Acts 13, 27 confirms this by saying, those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning. You see, friends, they had the prophecies. They had the word of God. They should have been diligently looking for the promised Redeemer and recognized Jesus, and so should Israel in the days of Moses. But they refused to look upon Moses and find him to be the heaven-sent mediator that they needed. And why did they reject him? What drove them to such willful ignorance? Well, verse 27 gives us a hint. But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside. How does scripture define this man? As the man who was wronging his neighbor. This man apparently has no desire to be reconciled to his neighbor or to God. This man is perfectly happy to keep right on living in slavery to Egypt and in bondage to his sin. He and the rest of the people of Israel who do not object to the words of their spokesman will not admit how great their sin and misery actually are. We don't need a ruler and a judge. We don't need your help and we don't need God's help. Again, Stephen implies that the same attitude is ruling the people of Israel in the days of Jesus. As commentator David Bauer points out, Israel's ignorance is not a matter of understandable cognitive error. It has a moral basis in that accepting Jesus' salvation would cramp their sinful lifestyle and raise the specter of divine judgment. And they can't have that. They love their sin far too much, to be honest about it. So like Moses, like Joseph, Moses is rejected by his brothers. He goes into exile in the land of Midian, just as Joseph was exiled into Egypt. But after 40 years, God meets Moses in the wilderness. God confirms Moses' call. And despite the people wickedly rejecting both God and the mediator whom God had provided, the Lord graciously says in verse 34, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt. Friends, nothing can stop this sovereign God from accomplishing his holy will and purpose. Our God is in the heavens. He does all that he pleases. And working through Moses, his chosen servant, God brought his people out of the land of Egypt. He brought them out of the house of slavery. However, Stephen does not actually recount the details of the exodus here. And this is very significant, especially given how long Stephen's sermon is. And that the Exodus is the key event in Israel's history. It's very noticeable that Stephen almost completely skips over it. Look at your Bible and notice what Stephen does instead. Now at first we're gonna jump very quickly from verse to verse to see how each one begins. Verse 35, this Moses. Verse 36, this man. Verse 37, this is the Moses. Verse 38, this is the one. Stephen zeroes in on Moses himself, and why does he do this? Well, look back at Acts 6, 14. Acts 6, 14. In Acts 6, 14, Stephen's accusers say, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth. They refer to Jesus in a derogatory, an insulting way, this Jesus of Nazareth. Is that how Stephen is speaking of Moses in his sermon? In a negative way? No, not at all. Here Stephen repeatedly uses this pronoun, not to dishonor Moses, but actually to honor Moses. Stephen wants to draw attention to the fact that Moses was sinfully rejected by Israel in the same way as this Jesus of Nazareth is being sinfully rejected today. In fact, as a type and shadow of the greater Redeemer, Moses teaches us a great deal about Jesus. First, verse 35. This Moses whom they rejected saying, who made you a ruler and a judge? This man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. Here Stephen is pointing out that Israel questioned Moses' divine credentials. Who made you ruler and judge? Just as Israel is questioning Jesus' divine credentials. But truly Moses was sent by God. And so is Jesus. The people's rejection of the mediator does not negate God's election of him. As Stephen said, this man God sent. Now look carefully at verse 35 with me. The titles mentioned by the people rejecting Moses are ruler and judge. However, later in verse 35, Stephen identifies Moses as ruler and what? What does it say there later in verse 35? Ruler and redeemer. Why does Stephen replace the word judge with redeemer? After all, we know that both Moses and Jesus actually were appointed by God to serve as judges. So what's the problem? Why does Stephen change the wording? Well, the problem is that merely referring to Moses or Jesus as ruler and judge without acknowledging them as redeemers is to completely distort their ministry. Yes, God did use Moses as a judge, but first and foremost, God used Moses to bring judgment upon the Egyptians, not upon his own people. And yes, Jesus is the man by whom God will one day judge the world in righteousness, and yet Jesus is also the redeemer who came to seek and to save the lost. You see, when that wicked man thrust Moses aside saying, who made you a ruler and a judge over us? He was distorting the nature of Moses' ministry, suggesting that Moses intended to set himself up as a ruler and a judge in order to wrong them and oppress them and to boss them around when really what Moses wanted to do was to save them. And the very same thing is true of Jesus' ministry. As scripture teaches in John 3, 16 through 20, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved. through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment. The light has come into the world. And people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his works be exposed. Friend, you do not need to hide from Jesus because he did not only come to judge. First of all, he came to save sinners, to call them to repent of their sins and believe the good news that he will save everyone who comes to him by faith. This Jesus God sent as both ruler and redeemer He will be your ruler and your redeemer if only you trust in him. Now Stephen also mentions several other details of Moses' ministry that teach us of Christ. Second, look at verse 36. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt. and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for 40 years. Moses had a ministry that was divinely authenticated by signs and wonders, and yet the people still rejected him and rebelled against him, just as they now do with Jesus and his apostles. There's no excuse for not believing Moses, and there is no excuse for not believing Jesus. Third, verse 37. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. Moses was a prophet who spoke the very word of God. Much more is Jesus a prophet who speaks the very word of God. In fact, Jesus is the prophet like Moses of whom Moses spoke, whom he foretold. And so if the Jews really wanted to honor Moses, then they would honor the prophecy that God sent through Moses concerning this Jesus by believing in him. Fourth, verse 38. This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. God truly spoke to his people through the mouth of Moses. Through Moses, God sent his living word to his people. And much more does God give the words of life through Jesus, an infinitely greater teacher. In John 6, 63, Jesus said, the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. And remember, in Acts 5, 20, the angel said to the apostles, speak to the people all the words of this life. Friends, if Moses received living oracles to give to God's people, how much more does Jesus, who is the very author of life, speak living words to us? And so to sum all that up, do you see Stephen's attention on one person here, this Moses, this man, this is the Moses, this is the one. God gave one mediator in the days of Moses, one mediator who pointed to the greater Moses. the greater prophet, the true mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ. God focused the attention of his people on one man in order that through this Moses they might be led to him who is the way and the truth and the life. For there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Do you get it? When it comes to Jesus, it's all or it's nothing. You must receive Jesus as ruler, redeemer, prophet, judge, law keeper, everything. You must embrace the whole Christ and only Christ. Salvation comes to us through this one man and through him alone. If you receive him, You receive God's salvation. If you reject him, then you are rejecting the only one who has been raised up to save sinners. Sadly, that is exactly what Israel did. They utterly rejected the mediator. Verse 39, our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. They turn to idolatry, and why? Because they say, we don't know what has happened to this mediator that God gave us. Okay? So boys and girls, do any of you know? In the context of Exodus, what had happened to this mediator? Where is Moses while they are making an idol for themselves, a golden calf? Well, Moses has actually ascended Mount Sinai to receive the law for them. Moses is on the mountain with God for their benefit. How much more, dear friends, how much more has Christ ascended to heaven where he is with God on our behalf? And now we are going to play around down here with idols? Now that he is raised and exalted on high, interceding for his people, interceding for you? Do you see the sheer wickedness of such behavior? We don't know where he is. Nonsense. Evil insanity. Oh, how quick we are to forget God's goodness and the wonder of his redemption. John Calvin writes, the memory of the cruel slavery that escaped through the Red Sea was still fresh, and yet they preferred the tyrants who had treated them so badly rather than the deliverer. This was, therefore, the most dreadful height of ungodliness, that their stubbornness could not be broken or overcome by so many blessings from God, but they rather always returned to their own flesh. And do you know what, friends? It's actually even worse. Look at verse 40. How do the people describe Moses? This Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt. I have to read more from Calvin. He writes, they confessed that they were delivered out of Egypt, nor did they deny that this was by God's grace and Moses's ministry. Yet they still rejected the author of such great goodness together with his minister. And what was their excuse? They pretended that they could not tell what had happened to Moses, but they knew perfectly well that he was on the mountain. With their own eyes, they had seen him go up until the Lord took him to himself by surrounding him with a cloud. Further, they knew that Moses was absent for their own welfare, for he had promised that he would return and bring them the law God gave. He told them to just wait a while. Suddenly, with no cause, they started a mad uproar in short time, and they wanted gods to give some excuse for their madness, as if God had not already shown them daily tokens of his presence in the cloud and the pillar of fire. Thus we see how quickly they turned to idolatry through wicked contempt for God. And it's so obvious that I probably don't even need to say it, but friends, you see that this is the story of Jesus, right? They had seen him go up. The evidence of his resurrection was irrefutable. They had witnesses of his ascension into heaven. There was no excuse to reject this Jesus, and yet they repeatedly do. In fact, even here in our passage, God has given them a witness to Jesus, a witness to the exalted one. Look at verse 55. But he, that is Stephen, whole of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Stephen sees Jesus standing alive, glorious, vindicated, ruling over all. Stephen sees Jesus at the right hand of God and Stephen tells the council what he sees. He faithfully bears witness to who Jesus is and to where Jesus is. And I think they get the message that he's preaching. While you all sit down here messing around with idols, turning God's temple and God's law into your own form of golden calves, refusing to let these types and shadows point you to Jesus Christ, while you behave so wickedly, rejecting God's anointed one, he is in heaven, exalted on high, in the presence of God, ruling over all. And yes, for those who reject him as Redeemer, he is a righteous judge. Be warned, O unrepentant, O unbelieving, hard-hearted, For one day he will come to judge you. Indeed, looking at verse 51, now here is Stephen's very direct indictment of his listeners. You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it. You are the guilty ones. You are the stiff-necked, stubborn ones who repeatedly act in wickedness. You are uncircumcised in heart, constantly breaking God's covenant. You are uncircumcised in ears, so unwilling to listen to the word of God that you cannot hear it. You treat God's word as an object of scorn. You take no pleasure in his word. You always resist the Holy Spirit, just like your apostate fathers did before you. They killed the prophets, so do you. They killed those who foretold the coming of the Messiah, the righteous one, the one who did not deserve to be condemned and murdered. Yet you betrayed him. You murdered him, even though you had the testimony of angels, the Torah of God. But you did not keep it. You did not use it to lead you to Christ. Stephen charges them as guilty, and they confirm their guilt. They immediately prove Stephen right. Look at verse 57. They cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears. Yes, they are uncircumcised in ears, for they are unwilling to listen to Stephen's testimony. And they rush together at him to kill him, to add this spirit-filled man to their list of the prophets whom they and their fathers have so wickedly murdered. I promise we will pick this up again next Sunday. But for today, I want to close by looking back at Moses and seeing how he reflected and pointed ahead to the infinitely greater beauty of our glorious ruler and redeemer, Jesus Christ. Verse 23 describes how it came into Moses' heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. Moses came down to their level despite the glories of Egypt that he had to give up for their sake. But friends, how much more? How much more did Jesus give up for us? He who was in the form of God, yet did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death. on a cross. What wondrous love is this? What a gracious humiliation that Jesus' heart would move him to come down here for us and for our salvation. And not only so, but he came fully knowing that he would come to his own and his own people would not receive him. He knew that they would wickedly reject him and cruelly crucify him. Friend, do you love Jesus for his incarnation? Do you love the King of glory for his willingness to take on a creaturely existence together with all the suffering, all the humiliation this entail? That he might seek and save the lost. What a heart our Savior has to love those who are, humanly speaking, unlovable. Let us worship Christ for his heart. and ask him to give us his heart for the lost, that we may be willing to suffer together with him, to be rejected, to be humiliated, to give our very lives for the good of God's people and for the love of God's glory. Friend, may he create such a heart in you. Amen, let us pray. Our gracious God and father in heaven, we do pray that you would give us the heart of Christ. We thank you for his goodness and his grace. We worship you for the glory that you have displayed to us in him. What a wonderful savior who suffered so greatly for us because of his amazing and infinite love. Lord, please make us willing to suffer for his sake. We confess that there are so many things that would distract us from our great ruler and redeemer. And far too often we do find ourselves toying around with worthless idols, while our Savior is in glory, constantly interceding for us. Forgive us for allowing ourselves to be so distracted from Him, and even to reject Him for far less worthy things. Lord, please help us to use the Scriptures properly, to let the Old Testament types and shadows lead us to Christ, that we might trust in Him alone as Savior, and bow down to Him as Lord. Bless us as we prepare to partake together of the Lord's Supper and please work through this sacrament to strengthen our faith and to unite us more and more to Christ. Indeed, we pray, dear Lord, that you would use this sacrament to give each of us more of the heart of our Savior. We ask these things in Jesus' name and for his glory, amen.