Act Like a Real Man

Notes: Valor - Act Like a Real Man
Pastor Jason Powell
11-18-2014
Harvest OC
Acts 7

He is talking about what we think what a real man is. He was quoting what the commercials say about "The Most Interesting Man in the World."

Stephen is who this chapter Acts 7 speaks of. Stephen is a real man of faith and his story is now in the Bible for all of history.

He is telling us about Stephen in Acts 6 and what the accusations are that they were accusing him of. They were accusing him of blasphemy.

In Acts 7, Stephen responds to these accusations before he is killed.

Acts 6:11-15 NLT
[11] So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, "We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God." [12] This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council. [13] The lying witnesses said, "This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses. [14] We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us." [15] At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel's.

1. God doesn't live in a box.

He is not restricted by anything, especially not just a temple.

Acts 7:1-4 NLT
[1] Then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these accusations true?" [2] This was Stephen's reply: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran. [3] God told him, 'Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.' [4] So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.


Acts 7:9-10 NLT
[9] "These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him [10] and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.


Acts 7:30-34 NLT
[30] "Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. [31] When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him, [32] 'I am the God of your ancestors-the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look. [33] "Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. [34] I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.'

God was with Moses more intimately then He was with anyone in the Temple.

Acts 7:45-50 NLT
[45] Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David. [46] "David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob. [47] But it was Solomon who actually built it. [48] However, the Most High doesn't live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says, [49] 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that?' asks the Lord. 'Could you build me such a resting place? [50] Didn't my hands make both heaven and earth?'

God is bigger than the Temple, God is huge, God is everywhere. Technically the heart can become a temple if God is in residence.

Stephen is saying basically that he is not the person that rejects God or turning in Moses. He is saying they are the ones that actually resist them.

Acts 7:39-41 NLT
[39] "But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. [40] They told Aaron, 'Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don't know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.' [41] So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made.

Acts 7:51-53 NLT
[51] "You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That's what your ancestors did, and so do you! [52] Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One-the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. [53] You deliberately disobeyed God's law, even though you received it from the hands of angels."

He is saying they are the ones that hate the law, not Stephen.

They could not refute what Stephen said, so his defense ended up being his death sentence.

Acts 7:54-60 NLT
[54] The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen's accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. [55] But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand. [56] And he told them, "Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God's right hand!" [57] Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him [58] and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. [59] As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." [60] He fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!" And with that, he died.

Death revealed who Stephen was.

Stephen was a R.E.A.L. Man.

R - resolute, he was bold and declared God's word.

When you know what you are talking about it is easier to be resolute in your statements and decisions. Standing in God's word gives us the confidence.

A - authentic, he had the word and the lifestyle to match. The Gospel took hold of Stephen's heart. We know this because eminent death reveals the inner makings of a man.

Acts 7:54,57,59-60 NLT
[54] The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen's accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. [57] Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him [59] As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." [60] He fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!" And with that, he died.

He is telling us about when he got into an accident before he was a true Christian and he discovered that he wasn't right with God. That was something he learned about himself the split second before he thought he might of died.

He is now talking about a guy named Tokichi Ishii that says that the truth of Jesus Christ was revealed on the cross, that Jesus would have been mad or scared, not asking God to forgive the people killing Him.

Acts 7:58 NLT
[58] and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Acts 22:19-20 NLT
[19] "'But Lord,' I argued, 'they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. [20] And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.'

Without Stephen we wouldn't of had Paul.

Acts 8:1,3 NLT
[1] Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. [3] But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.

God used the legacy of a man, Stephen, to further the church.

Stephen in following the footsteps of Jesus Christ modeled for us the image of a real man.