03-15-2026 - HE WHO HAS EYES TO SEE - Acts : 7

Lou Hernández
Apr 13
14 min read

MESSAGE BY PASTOR ROB INRIG

FROM BETHANY BAPTIST IN RICHMOND, BC.

Stephen the martyr

+++++

I invite you to pray together: O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need: We humbly beseech thee to behold, visit, and relieve thy sick servants for whom our prayers are desired. Look upon them with the eyes of thy mercy ( Vicky O, Nancy R, Tere G, Liz N, Stevie A, Socrates D, Sara's mom H, Margarita G, Rosy Ch, Patricia L. Lina J. Magda- Laci M. Gloria F, Miguel A H. Silvia H, Manuel D, Brianda M, Alejandro M, Natalia M, Oscar ND. Comfort them with a sense of thy goodness; preserve them from the temptations of the enemy; and give them patience under his affliction. In thy good time, restore them to health, and enable them to lead the residue of their life in thy fear, and to thy glory; and grant that finally they may dwell with thee in life everlasting; And for those who have departed and are in eternal sleep, waiting for you to come, and with joy they will live eternal life with you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

You can add names from family and friends who need prayer

+++++

As I begin, take a few moments and using 4 straight lines, connect all the dots. One restriction: your ‘pen’ must not come off the paper.

. . .

I don’t need to ask because I know most of you were unsuccessful in the challenge - our frame of reference limited by the ‘rules’ that determine what we can and cannot do. Rules rigidly imposed that blind us from seeing what we need to see. Obviously, we need rules to keep us on paths necessary for our good. But when our lives are lived by rules without understanding what those rules are designed to do, those rules can deceive and defeat which is what we are looking at today - at a people different from us but actually not much different at all. The people we are specifically considering this morning are those we encounter in Acts 7, their lives governed by rules and traditions that have blinded them to see what they need to see.

Before we get there, a look at what God wants us to see from the earliest pages of Scripture, that God has been unfolding - His redemption story - in an unblemished world, the picture of perfection and into that perfection - an enemy. An enemy who seeks to take hold of what’s been denied him. Not so much a world he wants for his own, not even creatures he wants to possess. What he, Lucifer, wants is a title he thinks should be his. It’s a title he feels he’s entitled to, he who is described as the seal of perfection - his splendour and ‘perfect beauty’ deserve it; he who is described as full of wisdom, perfect in his ways - his giftedness merits it; he who is described as the anointed cherub on the mountain of God - his importance and stature demand it Ez 28:12-17. All of this in his pride causing him to believe he should be considered God’s equal. That is the title he wanted and if that title wasn’t one that would be given, it would be one he would take.

But he wasn’t going to take that title by coming alongside the rightful owner of that title, for his plan to work he needed to stage a coup and eliminate the One who stood in his way. That coup not beginning in Bethlehem, though his most concerted attacks began that day but his efforts started long before when he first understood God’s redemption plan that was instituted at first creation. In His foreknowledge, God knowing the coup attempt that would take place, and that it is this drama continuing to play out in the events we are looking at this morning.

To be clear, God’s story of redemption in Jesus has never been an emergency re-adjustment to address what went wrong at Creation. Instead it is God’s salvation plan written from the beginning of time that speaks of a Redeemer who would come. God’s plan not to force compliance but to place before all mankind the ability to freely choose, the choice before us between life and death as He says, I have set before you today life and goodness, as well as death and disaster Deut 30:15. The alternatives clear - the decision before us - choose.

The problem is, as proud and stubborn as we are, we don’t truly believe the decision required is as limited as we are told. Instead within us, the belief that we have power to set the terms and with that, the determination that we control our destiny.

For many the idea of some destiny that extends beyond this life is absurd. The analysis simple - the only life we get is the ‘here and now’ and so we are going to get the most out of the here and now that we can. That most is different for everyone. For some it means get all we can - the possessions, the wealth, the toys and with all of these, a good life. The joys of what we obtain often associated with the status, we attain. Because with wealth and position comes status. Enough of these and how could we not be respected and with that, better known. For others that most is found in the relationships we enjoy, the people we love, the people we value, the people we influence. For still others that most is aligned with the purpose we live for, the good we have done, the causes we have followed.

And God’s assessment of these, though some of these perhaps good, not good enough. Nor are other things lived for, other religions devoted to, faithfulness to good things.

That’s a hard pill to swallow for those who have invested heavily in things thought of as good. Harder still when they are wrapped in religious belief that with casual glance looks okay but closer examination reveals it’s anything but.

It’s this mindset that takes us into what Stephen, the first martyr of the church, will say to those who have devoted themselves to the good life they think is enough. What he puts before them that will ultimately cost him his life.

Stephen begins by walking his fellow Jews through their 1100 year history focusing on God’s leading in their lives. The beliefs he puts before them things he and his accusers held in common. The early observations would have them nodding in agreement. Little did they know, that in what he was laying out, a major disagreement would soon come, where agreement would change into grinding teeth anger leading to violent attack.

Beginning with Abraham, then Joseph then Moses and the prophets who followed, Stephen makes his case. Strategically, no individuals were more honored among the people than these. Their relationship with God and their resulting exploits were indisputable. Abraham - the man to whom God gave His promise, through him the world would be blessed; Joseph - through his brother’s lineage, God’s Messiah would one day come; and Moses - through whom God would deliverer His people with the blood of a lamb.

Stephen begins with Abraham reminding his listeners 1^st what God had PROMISED - actually covenanted - a land, a name, a destiny, a future. That what God initiated, He will complete. That picture is our certain reminder that regardless what we see, regardless what we sometimes experience, God will not fail in delivering what He promised. When that promise is fulfilled might be different than what we expect, often different than what we might hope, but what’s promised will be done. His offer to us is not contractual, it is covenantal, that His promise is not dependent on us but on Him. However our participation in the blessings of that promise ARE contingent on us, not based on anything we earn but based on the offer we must enter into.

And the picture we are given in this is Abraham walking in faith into what he did not know, to a place he could not see but trusting in the God who made Himself known to him.

Don’t miss this, the promise given didn’t come with all the details included. Abraham obeyed not knowing where he was going. He obeyed not knowing how God was going to complete the picture, just believing that He would. Our understanding if given, almost always comes after obedience, very rarely before. Obedience must act first - whether we understand or not. That is what faith is and that is what faith requires. To trust - not in what we see but in WHO we see. That our God is faithful to what He has promised, that guaranteed in His character. And it is also true that sometimes, this side of eternity there will be times we will not understand.

From his discussion of the Promise to Abraham, Stephen takes the Jews to 2^nd Who God has sent in the PATRIARCHS. Here Stephen’s focus is on Joseph where we’re reminded that sometimes God’s leading will take us into places and events that make absolutely no sense. These are the times when God seems to have left us, where He hasn’t intervened to bring about the results we would like. It’s times like these where we can be tempted to formulate our own god, to step into the gap and by our own efforts, try to bring into existent the outcomes we want to see. God not seen, God not doing what we want, we stepping in as god, doing what we think best. It would be that philosophy that would lead the Israelites to, ‘Throw some gold in the fire and out came this calf’. They determining what god they will worship, what lifestyles they would live.

And yet as Stephen relates the story, his focus is on God’s faithfulness, shaping Joseph, protecting Joseph and leading Joseph, to where one day he was God positioned, appointed to save his people. It sure didn’t look anything like that at the time. Instead he suffering abuse, rejection and murderous hate. He cast aside and seemingly forgotten until God would work His redemption plan through him. Joseph’s life actually foreshadowing a far greater Redeemer who was to come. In him, Stephen setting the stage for Who that foreshadowing was to reveal.

At this point, Stephen’s listeners fully on board with what’s been said as he then takes them to Moses from whom God prophetically spoke of a time to come. In this his emphasis that all these prophets are forward pointing to events far greater than what was seen in them. Underneath all these accounts, God’s prophetic words to Abram years before that must have seemed odd at the time, Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. Gen 15:13,14

The obvious question, if you are my God, about whom You have said, Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward, how is it that they will be a people who will, Be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years? How does that promise end up being that 400 year reality?

And the answer? - again and again, Israel’s disobedience and rejection of God but this same God who will redeem everything that has been broken.

Stephen taking them beyond what they see, first by looking back in order to help them see God who, from the beginning, has been speaking forward.

Abraham looking forward - far past the promise of some land. Joseph looking forward - far past survival of a famine. Moses looking forward - far past deliverance from an oppressor. The prophets speaking of Another you have been unwilling to see. And because you refuse to see, refuse to believe, you step back into captivity time and again. You worship for a time and then you drift, instead wanting to be the god of your own life and the result? - captivity, mistreatment and others controlling where you go and what you are able to say. You by your closed off hearts still experiencing things that rule over you. Like anxiety. And fear. And addictions. And temptations. You listening to their lies. Hearing their chains. Believing their ‘inescapables’. And as you do, you keep running back into the very things that are defeating you. But when you return to God, • believing His assurance - I am present, • listening to His voice of care - I will lead you with my outstretched arm; • hearing His, Get up and walk, you experience the blessings God wants you to know. But those only found by believing in the Chosen Deliverer God has sent.

To this point, Stephen has been mostly referencing history. In the majority of what Stephen has laid out, those listening understood. After all, how could they argue? It was true, their forefathers had much to answer for. But as far as his listeners were willing to accept, That was them not us.

But at this point in Stephen’s unfolding story, things began to get more contentious, as the focus shifted from Abraham, Joseph, and Moses to 3^rd the God you reject and redefine. Stephen now more pointed, emphatically saying, You are no different than those who rejected Moses, 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 :35.

And the laws he gave you from God, you thought insufficient. You rejected God’s law as it was given and created your own laws, Jewish tradition holding that there were 613 commandments (mitzvot) in the Torah, consisting of 365 negative prohibitions "thou shalt not" and 248 positive commands "thou shall". Numbers alone SO onerous, so enslaving. You tell others to live by law as if they will make you righteous, turning those laws into rituals.

You hold onto the part of the Promise you choose to believe and refuse to see where it points. You pride yourselves as followers of the Patriarchs but you don’t do what they say. You pile on laws on the outside while you violate God’s law on the inside.

And if that weren’t enough, 4^th The idols you choose to worship. You make an idol of the Temple, around which you flaunt your position and power making people fit into what you determine worship of God should look like. You make the Temple of God the object of worship instead of the God of the Temple who alone IS to be the object of our worship. You box God in as small and containable. You confine Him to a place not recognizing the absurdity, The Lord saying: Heaven is my throne, and earth is My footstool, where could you possibly build a house for Me? And where would My resting place be? Is 66:1

You worship the Temple, glorifying it as sacred while ignoring that it was built with human hands, pagan hands. Its builder Herod who actually was not Jewish.

And what you miss? God is not confined to a place but God revealed in a bush, in the wilderness, in the places of the rejected and the lost. In places you might not expect Him to be, God present seeking people you refuse to see, you refuse to care about. God coming to those in their lost places, their hurt places, their angry places - coming to rescue in their humbling, ready to be found places. Places where He is welcomed in by those who acknowledge their need of Him.

God never found in the promotion of religion where substitutes are worshipped rather than God. How interesting was it that not long after leaving Egypt they created a golden calf, its representation so like the Egyptians who worshipped bulls and calves, most notably the Apis bull which represented strength, fertility, and deities like Ptah and Ra. God worshipped on our terms not God’s. And in their pursuit of other gods, God You worship the Temple, glorifying it as sacred while ignoring that it was built with human hands, pagan hands. Its builder Herod who actually was not Jewish.

God never found in the promotion of religion where substitutes are worshipped rather than God. How interesting was it that not long after leaving Egypt they created a golden calf, its representation so like the Egyptians who worshipped bulls and calves, most notably the Apis bull which represented strength, fertility, and deities like Ptah and Ra. God worshipped on our terms not God’s. And in their pursuit of other gods, God gave them over to worship the heavens and creations of their own making, You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship :43. Molech - the god of shameful deeds and you don’t even recognize it. Their feet had left Egypt, their hearts had not.

Time and again, the Israelites returning to slavery because in their pride, they wanted power, praise and self-indulgence. They setting the scale of how they will live, they determining the truth they will obey. And if the prophets of God are telling them otherwise, telling them things they do not want to hear, they disregard what the prophets say. Stephen’s accusation, You’ve chosen rebellion rather than reverence, You’ve chosen religion rather than relationship.

And what had they missed? What God through their history had been showing them - that He alone is God and what He is showing us? That Jesus alone is both Saviour and Lord. That there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved Acts 4:12 and as Lord, He is to be followed and obeyed. It’s what Moses was pointing to when he said, The Lord your God will raise up for you A PROPHET LIKE ME from your brethren, Him you shall hear Deut 18. It’s what John the Baptist was asking when he asked of Jesus, Are you the Christ? Are you that prophet?

You decide: considering parallels between Moses and Jesus and the assertion, a prophet like me

Moses Jesus

God chosen - an appointed son God’s Chosen - His given Son

A baby - hidden in obscurity A baby - hidden in obscurity

A baby - they tried to kill A baby - they tried to kill

Left Pharaoh’s royal court Left God’s royal court

Set aside his reputation Set aside His glory and became a curse

Became a shepherd Came AS the Good Shepherd

Rejected the 1st time, accepted 2nd Rejected the 1st time, will be accepted at His 2nd

Explained mediation of the Old covenant Is the Mediator of the New Covenant

Born to bring deliverance by blood Born to bring Deliverance with His Blood

God will raise up a prophet like me, HIM you shall hear

The choice before them life and death. And as we now see, they refusing to open their closed off hearts

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. :51-53.

You have always rejected God. You re-living your history again and again - not learning from what has gone before. You whitewashing what you don’t want to see. You guilty of rejecting what the prophets said, not just your forefathers. You. The choice before them life and death.

Not religion. Not rules. Not a good life. Not a moral and compassionate life. Not a more good than bad life. But entering in to a Saving relationship with a resurrected Jesus.

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 opened, 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. :54-60

They alive but in their rejection of Jesus - dead.

And Stephen dead but in his life in Christ more alive

than he has ever been - his life not in

the moment but for all eternity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye6T7sGvAtA

03-15-2026 - HE WHO HAS EYES TO SEE - Acts : 7

Recent Posts

Comments