Acts chapter number 7 is a critical turning point once you get past chapter 7. If you were to look at our chart, Acts 1.8. Remember that? You're gonna be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. When the church starts, this thing starts right here, right after the cross, chapters one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, heavily Jewish. When we get down to the end of the stoning of Stephen, Um, let me explain to you this way. Jesus said on the cross, the Jews crucified their Messiah. Jesus said on the cross, he said, father, forgive them for they know not what they do. So God answers that prayer and gives Israel. The Jews give some one more chance to accept their Messiah in these seven chapters. In these seven chapters, God says, all right, Jesus, I'm going to answer your prayer. You said, forgive them. They don't know what to do it. And they didn't. So he gives them another chance. They heard the preaching of Peter in chapter two. They've heard all the miracles and they've seen all of that. And then what we're gonna read tonight, chapter seven, Stephen preaches a sermon that's 50 something verses long. And when Stephen gets done, the nation of Israel stone him and kill him. Here's what you'll find. After chapter seven, it's almost like God says, okay, I'm done. I'm done with the nation of Israel for the time being. Now I'm going to go to the Gentiles. And what you're gonna find, as soon as chapter seven, see if I'm not telling you the right, in chapter eight, You're gonna read an Ethiopian eunuch gets saved, a Gentile. Chapter nine, the apostle Paul gets saved, who writes 13 books to the New Testament to all Gentiles. Chapter 10, Cornelius gets saved, a Gentile in all of his house. 16, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Gentiles, all of this, and what that thing does, after the night, chapter seven, no more miracles in Jerusalem, none. God says, done. And then what happens, you move into, I wish I had a map. If you'd have seen Jerusalem right there in the center, all right, after chapter seven, this thing expands to Judea and Samaria. You see? And then after that, it goes to the uttermost part of the world. That's how the gospel is spread. So. Here's when we start in chapter number seven. It's a long chapter. I may skip some verses, but I'm gonna give you the gist of it. We're gonna get down to the nitty gritty. Stephen gets stoned. I'll give you some couple of nuggets along the way. Stephen's fixing to preach. He does like most preachers do. He's gonna give you three Old Testament examples. He's gonna give you an example of Abraham. He's gonna give you an example of Joseph, and he's gonna give you an Old Testament example of Moses. He's gonna have three points, and he's gonna draw, just like I would be preaching on Sunday morning, I'd preach a sermon, and then I'd say, let me give you an illustration. Matter of fact, I did it this past Sunday. I gave you illustration of Pharaoh, Old Testament. I gave you an illustration of Judas, New Testament, all that kind of stuff. Stephen's gonna do the same exact thing, And here's what I want you to get in your mind before we start reading. I'm just sort of trying to lay the groundwork. Picture this. Stephen is before the nation of Israel. All right. To better understand. Picture this, picture, let's just say myself, and we go before both houses of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate. And they say, you got anything to say for yourself? I get up there and say, I sure do. And what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna go back, to the founding fathers. I'm gonna speak to all of them, and I'm gonna say, y'all remember we came over here on the Mayflower to get rid of, to escape religious bondage. We come over here for religious freedom, dah, dah, dah, dah, and start at the beginning, and go, and let's just say I'd pick three presidents, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Ronald Reagan. Somebody oughta said hallelujah on Ronald Reagan. George Washington, I'll give you an example of George Washington. I'm preaching to him, you know, and everybody's like, yeah, yeah. And then I'd say, Abraham Lincoln. Boy, they'd, you know, they'd tune in. And then Ronald Reagan. So that's what Stephen's doing. He starts with Abraham. Abraham is the father. He started the Jewish nation. So that's where he starts. He starts at the beginning. And the way Stephen does it, I'm telling you, it's just, Priceless. Because he starts with Abraham. Everybody that's sitting out there are like, yeah, we like Abraham. Preach on, Stephen. And then he moves on to Joseph. And he paints a picture of Joseph. And they're like, yeah, we like Joseph too. He was a good Jew, Jewish boy. Woo. Then move on to Moses. Oh, Moses. They love Moses. But then what Stephen does, he compares Jesus Christ to Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, and then they get mad. Because you have to understand, they don't think Jesus Christ is God. And Stephen is pointing it to them, and they said, well, we don't like what that preacher has to say, so they go out and stone him and kill him. Boy, what a way to go out, you know. What a way to give the invitation, you know. So, all right, we're getting ready to read. I know you're all thinking, man, he's just, I've got to lay the groundwork. Right before we finished chapter six, they arrest Stephen. Now get the picture, this is pretty funny too. They arrest Stephen. Look at, let's see, he's before the council there. They've got everybody stirred up. They've already had false witnesses against him. Verse 13, verse 14, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place. Now they're standing in the temple, Jerusalem and temple Jewish place and shall change the customs, which Moses delivered. All right, Moses, they love Moses. And all that said in the council looked steadfastly on him, Stephen, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. All right, chapter seven. Then said the high priest, then said Nancy Pelosi, are these things so? The high priest said, Stephen, we've arrested you, you've said all this stuff, you've spoke against the temple. Are these things so? And Stephen's like, let me just take a few minutes. And son, they should have never opened the floor. You know how when you open the floor and somebody starts, I mean, here they go. Well, here Stephen goes. The high priest, are these things so? Verse two. And he said, men and brethren, and fathers hearken. Listen to me. The God of glory appeared under our father Abraham, our father Abraham. And they're like, they're perking up. They're like, okay, we like Abraham. When he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran. Now, let me just, this is just in the old Testament, that thing is spelt minus the C, it's Haran. That's Hebrew to English. When you come to the new test, where you go from Greek to English and they put a C on front of it, same place, not two different places. It's the same place. Okay. Verse three and said unto him, get thee out of that country. Now he's still preaching. He's talking about Abraham. God told Abraham to get thee out of that country. It's found in Genesis chapter 12, get thee out of that country and from that kindred and come 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 the land wherein you now dwell." Now he's painting his picture. Israel, we started with father Abraham, God in heaven, which they believe in God. They believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. That God gave Abraham the very land we're standing on. This very place we're standing on, God gave Abraham for an inheritance. And boy, they perked up, they're listening, okay? Verse five, and he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as it set foot on, yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession and his seed after him. When as yet, he had no child. Y'all remember the whole story. Don't have time to tell you the whole story about Abraham. Abraham didn't have any kids. God says, I'm going to give you the land and it's going to be your seed. And Abraham said, well, I don't have any kids. My wife is 90 something years old. I'm a hundred. It don't look like we're going to have any kids. And you know, God says, well, hang on. And. And so his wife, Sarah says, Abraham, why don't you go into, you know, the lady that washes the dishes. And her name was Hagar. Won't you go into her? Cause we're going to help God out. God, you know, he needs help and we're going to help him so you can have a kid. I can't have one, but she might can have one for you. And so Hagar has a kid named Ishmael. Okay. God says, My famous phrase, Abraham, would you please get somewhere and sit down? Don't get ahead of God. And then Abraham and Sarah miraculously have a child named Isaac, right? So you got Ishmael and Isaac, two half brothers, got the same daddy, two different mamas. And do y'all know? Y'all realize the fighting and the stuff going on right now in Jerusalem, you've got the Ishmaels and you got the Isaacs, the Arabs, the Palestinians and the Jews and them two half brothers are fighting over that piece of property over there. All because of something that happened in Genesis chapter number 12. We're paying for today. Ishmael says, my dad is Abraham, which he was. This is our land. God says, you're not the promise seed. Isaac is the promise seed. And so Stephen is preaching this right here. And so there, everybody's intrigued. Now look at verse six. And God spake unto this wise, that his seed, that's Isaac, should sojourn in a strange land and that they should bring them into bondage and entreat them evil 400 years. Now, y'all remember when the nation of Israel goes into Egyptian bondage, all right? Remember all of that. And now let me show you something. This is side note, but this'll help you study the Bible. Right here, it says, They was, um, in treated with evil for 400 years. Let me show you a verse in verse or Exodus chapter 12 and verse 40. Is it there? Watch this. Exodus 1240. Let me see if y'all can figure out the problem. This is a side note. Now they sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt for four was 430 years access. They were entreated, then treat them evil 400 years. Exodus says 430. Now you say, well, there's a mistake in the Bible. There's no mistakes in the Bible. You say, well, why does God do that right there to make you study? Because when you run across that, you're like, scratch your head. I've got to, there has to be an answer. How many of y'all know that every word is important? Look what Acts says. and entreated them evil 400 years. That says 430. So what that tells you is the first 30 years they were there, they wasn't evil. You see that? Acts says they entreated evil 400 years. This says there's a total of 430. That means the first 30 years wasn't in bondage. See how easy that is? All right, maybe you didn't enjoy that. Well, keep watching Discovery Channel, I guess. I don't know. Now, back to verse seven. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge said God. And after that, he should come forth and serve me in this place. Verse eight. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham begat Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Y'all remember who else was circumcised on the eighth day? Jesus was born. They took him into the temple on the eighth day, circumcised. You see what Stephen's doing? He's showing a comparison of Isaac. and Jesus. They like Isaac. The crowd loves Isaac, but they don't like this guy. So Stephen is painting a picture. Isaac is a perfect picture of Jesus Christ, whom you crucified. You say, how does Isaac picture Jesus Christ? Watch this. Do y'all know that Isaac married a Gentile bride? Stand your seat, don't get excited. But when they crucified Genesis 22, God told Abraham, Abraham, take thy son, thy only son. Side note, Ishmael was already born. And God says, take thy son, thy only son, which leaves Ishmael out. Tell that to the Arabs on the internet, hallelujah. Look it up and read it. Take thy son, thy only son, Isaac. He's the promise seed, that land belongs to them. Leave them alone. The Jews promised that land. and to take thy son, thy only son, Isaac, go offer him up. After they offered him, obviously the ram was caught in the thicket. He moves out and marries a Gentile bride. Jesus, crucified, raises up. Can you? Y'all not getting this. Abraham, take thy son, go kill him. Boy, he's got the knife up. God says, hang on, there's a substitute. There's a ram caught in the, It's almost like Isaac resurrected and somebody took his place. Okay, after that, Isaac married a Gentile bride. Jesus crucified, buried, resurrected, and married a Gentile bride. So Stephen's trying to paint this picture of how the relation is with Isaac and Jesus. All right, let's see, circumcised on the eighth day. That's in chapter number, or verse number eight, rather. The eighth day, and Isaac beget Jacob, and Jacob beget the 12 patriarchs. All right, that's the first illustration in his sermon that deals with Abraham. And everybody's like, that's good, Stephen. We love Abraham. He's our father, Father Abraham, you know, salute. Now he moves to illustration number two, which is Joseph. Before I read Joseph, do y'all realize Joseph is a picture and a type of Jesus Christ? He said, how do you know? Y'all remember this before I read the story, and then I'll read the story, maybe it'll make a little better sense. Joseph, coat of many colors, kid, he's got older brothers. They don't like him. Matter of fact, they hate him. When he comes around, prancing around in that, His brethren, his own brethren throws him into a pit. Throws him into a pit. So there's Joseph, throws him into a pit. The Midianites come along, resurrect him from that pit. He goes to Potiphar's house and so on and so forth. Ultimately, he rises to second in command under Pharaoh. Okay? In between then, they have seven years of famine. The very brethren, y'all gotta get this, the very brethren that threw him in the pit, now has to go see Joseph to get food during a seven year famine. When they see him, they don't know that's their brother, Joseph. And then he makes everybody leave the room and he reveals himself to his brother at brethren and they fall down and worship him. Joseph, y'all see Jesus. He goes down into a pit, buried, raises again. Where's he at right now? He's seated at the right hand of God. Joseph, when he sets down, Pharaoh lets him marry a Gentile. After he marries a Gentile bride, they go through seven years of famine. And the nation of Israel has to go and see him to get food. He reveals himself to them and they all fall down and bow down. And Stephen is telling them, look here, he's using all these examples that point to Christ. So here we go. Here's the second illustration, verse nine. And the patriarchs moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him and delivered him out of all of his affliction and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and made him governor over Egypt and all of his house. Now there came a dirt, that's a drought, that's a famine, a dirt all over the land of Egypt. I just told you this. And Canaan and great affliction and our fathers found no substance. And Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt. He sent out his father's first. And at the second time, Joseph was made known unto his brethren, second time, Jesus came into his own, his own received him not, killed him, throwed him in the... Verse 13, and at the second time, Joseph was made known to his brethren and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Then St. Joseph called his father Jacob to them and all his kindred, three score and 15 souls. Now Jacob went down into Egypt and died. He and our fathers and were carried over into Shechem and laid in the scepter that Abraham brought for a sum of money, the sons of Emar, the father of Shechem. But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had swore to Abraham and the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose which knew not Joseph. The same dwelt subtly with our kindred and evil and treated our father so that they cast out their very children to the end that it may not live. All right, there's the second example. We've already dealt with Abraham in the first eight verses. Verses nine, he gives the example of Joseph. Just told you the example of Joseph. Joseph pictures Christ. Now, here's example, moving to point number three, and it starts in verse 20, he starts with Moses. Now listen, three examples. Abraham, Abraham's a picture of God, the father. He has a son, God, uh, God, the son, Isaac, Isaac marries a Gentile bride, just like Jesus does so and so forth. Then he moves to Joseph. Joseph marries a Gentile bride, just like Jesus does. Moses, Moses, no different. Guess what kind of wife Moses had? Gentile. I mean, listen, he is pointing everything. All right, let me give you the story of Moses just in case we can't read all of this, the rest of the story of Moses. Children of Israel, Moses was raised up in Pharaoh's house. Now y'all get the picture. Moses gets a certain age. He sees his people, the nation of Israel. One of those Egyptians kills one of his Israeli brethren. Moses goes out there, and I like this about Moses. Moses goes out there, whoops him, kills him, buries him in the sand. Hallelujah. Take care of it. He goes to his own children of Israel, and they're like, mm-mm, you ain't one of us. Stay away from us. You gonna kill us next? And they rejected Moses. Get the picture. They reject, Moses came into his own people and they rejected him. Moses flees into the desert for 40 years. All the while, God's people, the Egyptian people is in bond, or excuse me, the nation of Israel is in bondage. And they cry out to God, God, please send us the deliverer. Please send us the deliverer. God speaks to Moses through the burning bush, says, you go tell Pharaoh, let my people go. Pharaoh's a type of the Antichrist in the tribulation. The Antichrist has God's people, nation of Israel in Egyptian bondage, Antichrist. In the middle of the tribulation, Jews are gonna cry out, God, please send us to deliver. We're tired of all this, send us to deliver. God speaks to Moses through the burning bush, you go tell Pharaoh, go tell that antichrist, let my people go. Does all the plagues, remember? Plagues, water to blood, happens in tribulation. Flocus, flies, happens in tribulation. You get it? Goes to antichrist, and Moses comes to his people the second time, and they receive Moses to be their deliverer. Okay, nation of Israel. Jesus Christ came into his own, his own received him not. Jesus goes off the wilderness in the middle of tribulation. God's people says, God, would you please send us to deliver? Well, you mean God's like, well, he was there before and you rejected him. Second coming, Moses. Jesus Christ comes and delivers the people out of the hand of the Antichrist, just like Moses delivered the people out of the hand of the Egyptians, or Pharaoh. All of this, every bit of it, you can read every bit of this, and what I just told you is found in all of these verses. Now, let me look, let's see, let's get down here, look at verse 36, look at verse 36. He brought them out after they showed wonders inside. Who requires a sign? Jews. In the land of Egypt, near the Red Sea, the wilderness, 40 years. This is that Moses, which said to the children of Israel, prophets shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, your brethren, like unto me. Stephen is like, this, that Moses. is the same Moses that God says is going to raise up a prophet like Undemo, that was him. Whom you killed and hung on a tree. And verse 38, this is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake unto him in the Mount Sinai. which our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us. Now, I could take some time and talk about that church in the wilderness. Now, when you see the word church, church is one of those words that it's almost like the word baptism. Every time people see the word baptism, they automatically think water, and that's not necessarily the case. Every time somebody sees the word church in a Bible, they think steeple, Pulpit, piano, whatever. That ain't the case. A church is a, I know y'all know this, but for somebody watching that may not know, y'all understand if we didn't have this building out here, we could set up chairs in an open field and have church. Because a church is not a building, a church is a called out group. So the nation of Israel is a church in the wilderness. You say, how do you know there's a difference? I know there's a difference. Watch this. Y'all see Matthew 16? Matthew 16's written over here. Church in the wilderness is back here. You with me? What is it, church in the wilderness? That's back here. Jesus says in Matthew 16, upon this rock I will build future. So this ain't the same church as the, y'all get it? Two different things, all right. Now, that's a short version. Verse 39, to whom our fathers would not obey. Boy, he's honing in right here. He says, our fathers, our Jewish fathers would not obey Moses. Matter of fact, Moses goes up to get the Ten Commandments, he turns the whole church in the wilderness over to Aaron, and Aaron builds a golden calf. That's found in verse 40, if you want to say, no, for 41, and they made a calf, I'm telling you what's in here, made a calf, it started tearing the clothes off and dancing around, all this stuff, Moses comes back and he gets mad, breaks all Ten Commandments at the same time, throws them down, Verse 43, yea, you took up the tabernacle of Moab. These Egyptian people, excuse me, these nations of Israel, well done fell into Baal worship. They done fell into Baal worship and worshiping the stars, they worshiping Jupiter and all this kind of stuff. Verse 43, yea, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your God, Remfran, figures which you have made worship them, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon, Babylonian worship. Our fathers had the tabernacle of the witness in the wilderness, as you pointed speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Now he's done, he's coming down to the close. Now watch this. We're getting down to the close of Stephen's sermon. He didn't give us an example of Abraham. He's going to give an example of Joseph. Now he's giving us an example of Moses. And now he's done brought the tabernacle in which they worship. Matter of fact, they're standing in the temple. And he says in the Old Testament, remember they had that tabernacle. And y'all thought, he's talking to them. He said, y'all thought that God dwelled in there. And y'all thought that, and a lot of people think that today. You'd be surprised at the people that think when we close up, when we, in a few minutes, we close up, we have prayer, we lock the door, we cut all the lights out. You'd be surprised the people that think that God stays in here while we go home. And every Sunday they come visit God. God, we're here to visit you. You know, that's why they live like the devil out there, because they think God's down here and he can't see what they're doing. So, Stephen is like, y'all think God is living in there, but Jesus Christ, when he came, is the tabernacle that dwells in you. You don't believe me? Watch. Where'd it go? Verse 47, but Solomon built him a house. Howbeit the most high, high should be capitalized, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Y'all see that? As said the prophet. Verse 49, heaven is my throne. This is God talking. Earth is my footstool. What house will you build me? If heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool, What kind of building are you gonna build that I can live in, you say? Verse 50, hath not my hand made all these things? Verse 51, are y'all ready? Right here, he comes down to the invitation. Now after Stephen gives this invitation, y'all are gonna think I'm the best preacher in the world, because I've never called y'all this, what he calls them in an invitation. Verse 51, he says, you stiff-necked. Stiff-necked, that means you won't turn. We call it stubborn. You're an old mule that just wouldn't turn. Anyway, stiff-necked and uncircumcised. Now that's a spiritual term meaning unclean. You're unclean in heart, you're unclean in ears. You do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. Just like your fathers, your Jewish fathers rejected Moses, rejected Joseph, y'all doing the same thing. Boy, where'd I get to? Verse 52. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted and have not slain them which flew before the coming of the just one, just one should be capitalized, of you who have been now betrayers and murderers. He doesn't call them murderers and betrayers. Y'all killed him. Y'all should be tried for murder. Who hath received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it. Verse 54. When they heard these things, I mean, Sammy's up there playing the invitation hymn, real soft. When they heard these things, he gives the invitation. They were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth. What an invitation. Can you imagine the preacher standing up here and he's giving the invitation to please come, get right, repent. And they come down and start gnawing on him, biting his ear. They were cut to the heart. You say, what cuts to the heart? Hebrews 4.12 says, the word of God is quick, powerful, sharpening a two-edged sword, piercing even the binding of the son of the soul and spirit, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. You know, when people get mad at the preacher, it ain't the preacher, it's the word that's cutting. It's cutting to the heart. And they got mad. And the only person they could take it out on was Stephen. and they gnashed on him with their teeth. Verse 55, 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. Now, well, let me read verse 56 with that. And said, behold, Stephen says, I see heavens open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Now, okay, let me show you this real quick. when Jesus arose from the dead. Remember, I gave you the example of Joseph. When he arose, watch. Hebrews 10, verse 11. Hebrews 10, 11. And every priest standeth daily, ministering and offerings oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin. But this man, Jesus, after he offered one sacrifice, for sins forever, what'd he do? He sat down on the right hand of God. So when Jesus is sinning, he sat down at the right hand of God, okay? So he's sitting down. Y'all with me? He's sitting down. Well, I don't have a chair. Anyway, don't matter. He's sitting down. Well, then when Stephen, all right, I'm almost getting down to the close. Y'all stay with me. Y'all know there's a difference in preaching on Sunday morning and teaching on Wednesday night. If I was gonna preach that right there on a Sunday morning, I really wanted to get everybody just woo, woo, you know. I would say, man, when your loved ones die, Jesus just stands up, receives them, hugs them, you know, and everybody's like, woo, woo, glory. Wednesday night teaching, I would tell you, remember? Seven, this is it. This is God's answer to Jesus' prayer. Father, forgive them, they know not what to do. And so Stephen preaches this message and Jesus stands just in case the nation of Israel receives the message. They don't receive the message, so he sets back down. I mean, if, now I think this was a question, I can't remember if it was Ms. Sheila or Ms. Cindy Warren, we were talking about this one time and we were talking about the what ifs, what if they would have received and what if they would have accepted Stephen's message, what would have happened then? Well, basically what would have happened if that nation of Israel would have responded differently to Stephen's message, they would have come to the altar and said, Stephen, you're right. That man we crucified was our king, our deliverer, just like Moses, just like Joseph, just like Abraham, just like Isaac. We repent. God, would you please forgive our nation for doing what we've done? Right then, Jesus stood up. The rapture, this right here, would have moved to right here. Y'all see that? A rapture would have take place. Stephen, Peter, 12 apostles, the 3,000 that got saved here, the 5,000, what was it, 8,000 altogether, was it? Anyway, whoever got saved would have raptured up, they would have had to finish the seven-year tribulation, and then God would have came the second coming before chapter 10 ever took place. But they didn't do that, so what happened? this thing sitting here. When Jesus sat back down and Israel rejected for the last time, then all that was moved over here. And God says, all right, nation of Israel, y'all won't listen. I got a bunch of people that will. Stay in your seat, don't get excited. But that's where I come in. That's where y'all come in. And, And so anyway, that's the doctoral application of what all happened there. Now, let me say something else. Verse 56, behold, I see heavens open and the son of man, y'all see that word son of man? The son of man is a Jewish term. The son of man is a Jewish term. You will not see that word words son of man anymore after chapter 7 goes to prove what I just said the Jews nation of Israel Jerusalem it's over son of man you won't see that word again until you get to I think it's found in the book of Revelation when the son of man comes in the clouds of glory You won't see it in the Paul, you won't see it in 1 Thessalonians, you won't click Galatians, Romans, 1 Corinthians, you won't see it, none of it. What's Paul use? Paul uses son of God. That's his human name, Jewish. That's his deity name. Y'all do understand he's two in one. He's the son of man. He was a Jew after his mama, Mary. He was the son of God after his heavenly father. And it all depends on where you're reading that thing at is where you get all that. All right, now let's finish this up right quick. Verse 57, then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord. Can you imagine praying and giving the tation and people sitting there going. We don't wanna hear it. Verse 58, 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. Y'all realize that Saul right there is the same guy that gets saved in chapter number nine, right here. The same guy that helped kill Stephen God's gonna save. People say, well, God can't save me. He don't, I mean, you wouldn't believe all the stuff I've, you ain't done anything worse than Paul has. Paul killed Christians for a living. And God saved him on the road to Damascus, wound up writing 13 books to the New Testament that we read today. Saul, this same fella that helps crucify, or stone Stephen, get saved in the next two chapters. Verse 59, and they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had thus said, he fell asleep. Now, if you hadn't said amen in a long time, Y'all see Steven, a Christian. He don't die. He falls asleep. Hallelujah. Now I know it's not Sunday morning, but a Christian don't die. They just fall asleep. They just change addresses. And he fell asleep. Now notice this, I'm gonna point this out real quick, and then we'll go. Notice, Jesus, when He hangs on the cross, He says, first, Father, forgive them, but they don't know what to do. That's His first thought. God answers that prayer, chapter seven. Then the last thing He says is, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. Stephen is right reversed. Stephen, in verse 59, says, receive my spirit. And then in verse 60, he says, lay not this sin to their charge. Well, now God didn't answer that prayer. He says, I didn't give them enough chances. Now, let me say this and we'll, I said that two or three times already, but that's just to keep your attention. Many of you have asked before, You know, in the gospel, it might have been Matthew about the unpardonable sin. And people say, oh, what's the unpardonable sin? What's the unpardonable sin? And it's blaspheming against the Holy Ghost. All right. You just saw Israel blaspheme against the Holy Ghost in chapter seven. That was the unpardonable sin. Okay. If you ever want to know, the short answer is they just committed unpardonable sin and blasphemed against the Holy Ghost. Remember, Stephen says, you do always resist the Holy Ghost. Now, after chapter seven, it's over. God says, done with Jerusalem. We're fixing to move on into Judea. This Ethiopian unit, Judea, Samaria, boom. We've already told you all that. This thing is going to the Gentile nations now and uttermost parts of the earth. Paul gets saved in nine and then he goes to Rome, writes a letter to Rome. He goes to Corinth, writes two letters to Corinth. He goes to Galatia, writes a word to them. He goes to Thessalonica, writes two letters to them. He goes to Ephesus. Philippi, Colossae, the whole nine yards. And goes to this town. Bunch of people get saved. Sets up a church. He helps them get a pastor. All right, there you go. He goes over here. Gets a bunch of people saved. Starts a church. That's how the gospel spreads to the most part. That's how we got over here, you see. And it all started Jerusalem just like Acts 1.8 you'll be my witnesses Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the other most parts of the earth. And that is the cliff note version of chapter 7.