"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GLORY?"
ACTS 7
INTRO: Acts 7:55 speaking of Stephen says, "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." The secret to successful
Christian living and service is God's glory! Colossians 1:27 says,
"…Christ in you,the hope of glory.”But many today are trying to live
for God apart from His glory. They are trying to live in the strength of
the flesh, and the wisdom of the mind. But all these fall way too short
of God's glory manifested in the life of His people through the Holy
Spirit! They are like the people in Jeremiah's day of whom God spoke
through His prophet, "..My people have changed their glory for that
which doth not profit." (Jeremiah 2:11).
Stephen, in our text, is addressing a Jewish nation that has forsaken
God's glory and are experiencing lifeless worship,formal
ceremonialism, and powerless prayers. Their worship has become
mere ceremony. And their glory has become their shame. Many of our
Churches today are in the same predicament. Their worship is lifeless,
the praise is mere lip service,their services are formal and cold, and as
a result their altars are empty. they "have a form of godliness, but
deny the power thereof..." They “have left their first love.” The glory is
gone and all that is left is the shame. In many Churches today the
name Ichabod should be written over the door because the glory has
departed! The question that needed to be asked by Israel “What
happened to the glory?" The problem though was that no one had
stopped to ask that question. The same question needs to be asked by
many Churches today. Stephen in our text, answers this question
"What Happened To The Glory?” It is a question we, as a church,
should ask ourselves when our worship becomes lifeless, our prayers
seem powerless,and our altars remain empty.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GLORY? :
(1) WE LOST THE GLORY BY BELIEVING WE RECEIVED IT FROM A
BIRTHRIGHT NOT FROM A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
ACTS 7:8; 51—“And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and
so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day;
and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve
patriarchs. Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and
ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did,
so do ye.”
- THE MISCONCEPTION. The Jews believed that simply because they were Abraham’s seed they were also recipients of God’s glory and blessing. But just because they were the seed of Abraham did not mean they were spiritual and walking by faith with God! Jesus told the Jews who confronted Him at the Feast of Tabernacles in John 8, “IfyewereAbraham'schildren,yewoulddotheworksofAbraham.” Just because a person is saved by the grace of God and is a member of a Bible-believing Church doesn’t necessarily mean that that person has the glory of God ruling and reigning, and be manifested in his life! That person may be faithful in attendance, giving, and other Church activities, but it is how we live our daily life which matters.
- THE MISSION. The real question for each of us tonight is, “Are we following the leadership of God's Spirit in our lives? Is Jesus first place in our lives? Can others see His love in our lives every day of the week, not just on Sunday?”
ILLUS: Augustine said, "God wants to give us something, but cannot,
because our hands are full-there's nowhere for Him to put it."
When we feel God's blessings are missing from our lives, we
need to examine our hands and see if they are open to receive,
or clutched around something that we refuse to let go
(Raymond McHenry. The Best of In Other Words. p. 114).
Friends, I am saved! I know it beyond any shadow of a doubt, but I
realize for God's glory to be shone in and through my life I must give
myself fully toGod and follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit! God's
glory is only seen as daily we walk by His Spirit. It is a growing
experience!
(2) WE LOST THE GLORY BY REJECTING THE MESSENGERS OF GOD
ACTS 7:9; 27—“And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph
into Egypt: but God was with him…But he that did his
neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a
ruler and a judge over us?”
- THE REJECTION OF THE MESSENGER. Joseph’s brethren rejected him because he delivered unto them a message he received from God. They not only rejected his message but sold him into slavery into Egypt. Moses, seeing one of his brethren being oppressed, defended him and smote an Egyptian, thinking his brethren would understand how God through Moses would deliver them from bondage, the next day, he tried to solve a dispute between two of his brethren but their response was, "Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?” (v27). The Church today is slowly, and in some cases quickly, moving away from “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
ILLUS: TURNING THE HOUSE OF GOD INTO A COMEDY CLUB.
Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2004 (David W.
Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box
610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, , 866-295-
4143) -
An article in the Christian Science Monitor for Dec. 16
documented the growing acceptance of comedy in church
services, noting that churches are trying to "tap the nation's
culture of humor to promote spiritual gain." The New England
Bible Church recently used a television game show style
routine during its worship service that pitted the elders against
the deacons to create a "mood of levity." Church outreach
ministries now include Christian comedy shows to draw a
crowd. A forthcoming book, The Art and Craft of Biblical
Preaching (Zondervan, 2005), "dedicates an entire chapter to
humor as a homiletic device." Joseph Webb, author of Comedy
and Preaching, says, "It is going to be impossible to preach
without using humor." Where, I ask, do we see all of this
humor in the Bible? The Lord Jesus Christ preached a lot
about hell fire but I don't recall a lot of humor in the Gospels.
The same is true for the sermons recorded in Acts and the
apostolic messages to the churches. Of course, preaching hell
fire doesn't get a lot of laughs and doesn't draw a big crowd; so
the preachers described in 2 Tim. 4:3-4, who scratch the ears
of those who want to be entertained with a new kind of
Christianity, avoid it like the plague.
- THE RESPONSE TO THE MESSAGE. Israel rejected God’s messengers. Many today will not go that far in their rejection of God's man and the message given to him by God, but still reject him by failing to obey the message given by him from God! To receive the message and yet, fail to obey the message is to reject the message. God sent Israel messenger after messenger and for the most part God's message was ignored, and God's messenger rejected. God today is still raising up men today to carry His message, and yet, for the most part God's people remain unconcerned, uncommitted, and uncompassionate. And we seem to wonder, "Where is the glory?” Listen friends, Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.
(3) WE LOST THE GLORY BY DOING IT OUR OWN WAY
ACTS 7:39-43—“This is that Moses, which said unto the children of
Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of
your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. To whom our
fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their
hearts turned back again into Egypt, Saying unto Aaron,
Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.”
- THEY WOULD NOT FOLLOW GOD’S WILL. Listen to the words of vv. 37-39—“ This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt.” The words " would not obey" mean "they did not want to obey; their disobedience was deliberate." They rejected both God and God's servant. They turned their hearts away from God and back to Egypt. Egypt, in the Scripture, is a type of the world. And the sad truth is that many of God's people today have the hearts turned to the world instead of unto God!
- THEY WENT THEIR OWN WAY. V41, "They made a calf in those days,and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the work of their own hands." The people would not obey the “living oracles" of God (vv. 38-39). The word "rejoiced" means "to make glad and joyful in one's mind." Notice the object of their rejoicing; it was not in the LORD, but "in the works of their own hands. " (v41b). Many times instead of seeking God's way and will, we try to serve God in our own way. But when we do, then God allows us to go our own way. Look at what God did with Israel, v42--"Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven…". Israel would not worship the true God so they worshipped false gods--the moon, sun, and stars (the zodiac, astrology, and cosmic forces). They had made them a golden calf, but it did not satisfy the lusts of their flesh, so God allowed them to worship "the hosts of heaven". Much of the worship today is not from a true heart and a right spirit, but from the lusts and appetites of the flesh. Too much today the creature is worshipped more than the Creator, the servant more than the Savior, and the programs of man more than the precious and priceless God-man! We have tried to build Churches and associations in our own strength and our own will and we wonder 'Where is the glory?"
ILLUS: Herschel Hobbs, the late Southern Baptist preacher, liked to
quote the words of an old friend; "If the Holy Spirit were
suddenly taken out of the world, 95% of the world would go on
as usual." We cannot do “The LORD'S work without "The
LORD" (Raymond McHenry. The Best of In Other Words. p. 129).
When we turn away from God, He will turn away from us. When we
forsake God's will for our will, God will give us up to our own devices!
God's indictment of many of our plans and programs may well be, "My
people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of
living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold
no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13). It is then God asks of us, “Where then is
the blessedness ye spake of?" (Galatians 4:15).
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GLORY? WE LOST THE GLORY BY BELIEVING WE RECEIVED IT FROM A BIRTHRIGHT, NOT FROM A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE, WE LOST THE GLORY BY REJECTING THE MESSENGERS OF GOD, WE LOST THE GLORY BY DOING IT OUR OWN WAY and…
(4) WE LOST THE GLORY BY TRYING TO PUT GOD IN ABOX
ACTS 7:44-49—“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the
wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that
he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Joshua into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; Who found favor before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him a house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?”
- HIS PRESENCE CANNOT BE CONFINED. V48—“…the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands…”. The Jews thought that when God allowed the magnificent temple to be built, he would abide in that temple. The people did not understand the temple. God is not limited to the temple, or to the Church, or any group of Churches. God cannot be contained. Solomon, who was privileged to build the temple, said in 1 Kings 8:27, "But will God indeed dwell on earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built." God never intended for men to think his presence was limited to the temple,or Church, or any group of Churches. God cannot be contained! We cannot put Him in a box. Many church buildings have become idols today. The congregation feasts upon the magnificence of the building-the stained glass windows, ornate pulpit furnishings-thousands of dollars spent for elaborate adornment of building, while the heathen die by the million without ever hearing the name of the LORD Jesus Christ who is the true temple of heaven (Oliver B. Greene. The Acts of the Apostles. p. 461)!
B. HIS POWER CANNOT BE CONTAINED. The Psalmist said of the Lord
in Psalm 135:5-6—“For I know that the LORD is great, and that our
Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in
heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.” He will work
and do WHAT HE WILLS! We cannot put God in a box. We must let
Him work how, when, and where He chooses! We must let Him work in
our midst His perfect will and not grieve the Spirit by unfaithfulness
and unbelief! Friends, I have seen God’s power and glory depart from
Churches before. God will begin moving in the Church in a mighty and
glorious way. Souls will be saved, lives changed, and Christians
rededicating their lives to the Lord and then someone will give place to
the devil and it will all fall apart! Ephesians 4:27 warns us, “Neither
give place to the devil.” Friends, we must remember this is GOD’S
CHURCH! WE ARE GOD’S PEOPLE! When we try to contain Him, the
glory departs, and one may rightfully ask, “What happened To The
Glory?”
(5) WE LOST THE GLORY BY RESISTING THE HOLY SPIRIT
ACTS 7:51—“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,
ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do
ye.”
A. THE CHALLENGE. Stephen turned to the present generation of Jews
and charged them with the very same resistance as their forefathers.
He gave tworeasons for their resistance of God's Spirit: 1) They were
“stiffnecked.” The word means "hard-necked, obstinate, and stubborn.”
and 2) They were “uncircumcised in heart.” The word "uncircumcised”
means "heathens, pagans, lost, aliens, idolaters, false worshippers, and
ungodly.”
B. THE CONSIDERATION. We are like these Jews today in many ways.
We are hard-necked, obstinate, and stubborn. We are saved and saints,
if we have truly repented and received Christ as our Savior, but even
so, many times we act like pagans, idolaters, the ungodly. The Spirit
tries to lead us God's way and we fight,resist, and shun His
promptings. The Spirit encourages us to live godly and we live like the
world and thus cause many to stumble.
ILLUS: Three things we should seek to avoid:
Resisting the Spirit
Grieving the Spirit.
Quenching the Spirit
Three things we should seek:
Being filled with the Spirit
Using the gifts of the Spirit.
Bearing the fruit of the Spirit (Albert M. Wells, Jr.
Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary and Classical. p.
89).
Closing: When we find our lives powerless, our prayer life dull, and our
worship mere routine; we need to ask ourselves, "What Happened To
The Glory?" Could it be we have neglected our spiritual lives, rejected
God's messengers, tried to do it our own way, tried to put God in a