Sunday, April 2, 2023 AM

the collaboration of evil actors, maybe you say things come together, both reflect upon the negative changes, the difficulties, the struggles.

Every one of our personal trials, every one of our family trials has been made the more difficult, laid in the context of an unraveling society.

We're reading in the book of Acts that the followers of Christ are being persecuted, arrested, put in prison, threatened, beaten.

Now one of their own, a beloved servant by the name of Stephen, he's on trial before the

Sanhedrin and he's about to die and a persecution of great violence is about to break out against the church.

Things fall apart, things come together and yet I think it was

Thomas Watson who said that the providence of God is like a Hebrew word, it can only be read backwards and we consider the storyline of Acts.

What was the good shepherd up to? Ensuring that his good news of the kingdom had maximum exposure, maximum impact, maximum effectiveness and even as his sheep were scattering from Jerusalem, he was shepherding them as the good news of the kingdom began to spread beyond Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.

As we look back upon these last three years, things fall apart, pride is falling apart, idolatry is falling apart, lies and deceptions are falling apart.

As Christ is the ruler of the nations and with his rod of iron applying it to the wickedness and immorality of our nation, this judgment sifts us, things are coming together.

A clarity of those who actually bow the knee to Christ, a clarity about those who truly do submit to the

Lord through his word and rejoice in his truth. Things come together and this is not a time for us to be the turtle retreating into the shell.

This is not a time for us to play prairie dogs and sound the alarm and go tunneling down. It is not a time for us to make like the geese and head either north or south to escape the difficult weather.

We are to play the man. We are to approach this moment in Christian courage like our brother

Stephen looking to our Lord. I invite you to stand with me as we read

God's word. Acts 7 beginning in verse 9. And the patriarchs becoming envious sold

Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan and our fathers found no sustenance, but when

Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt he sent out our fathers first and the second time

Joseph was made known to his brothers and Joseph's family became known to the

Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, 75 people.

So Jacob went down to Egypt and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the hot sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. How do you pray about the war in Ukraine, so full of lies and corruption?

You think about the suffering people and our brothers and sisters there. How do you pray about the shooting in Tennessee?

What words do we have as we intercede for those who mourn?

How do we pray about the increasing corruption of the state and the collapse of our society?

How do we pray? Only God can do good.

Only God can do good. The wrath of man does not achieve the righteousness of God and the flesh profiteth nothing.

Only God can do good. These are times that God knocks down the idols off our mantle places and leaves us with no one else to look to but to him.

How do we play the man like Joab and his brother

Abishai? How do we play the man like Latimer and Ridley?

How do we play the man and have Christian courage in such circumstances?

We do not know what good God is working. You see, we don't need to know how

God works all things together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

We don't need to know how to know that he will. So in the midst of the storm, we lash ourselves to the mast of the sovereignty of God as every other generation of Christians have.

Christian courage is rooted in God's sovereign presence to save.

Stephen not only knows that personally, he's preaching that in his sermon.

Now we've seen Stephen, a wonderful servant of God, a blessing to his church, and he became front and center in the defense of the gospel.

We see this in verses 8 through 15 of chapter 6. He contended with the synagogue of the freedmen.

He preached Christ and they grew angry and arranged false accusations against him so that he has been arrested and placed on trial before the

Sanhedrin as one who is an enemy blasphemer, blaspheming both

God and Moses, an enemy of the people of God. But he begins to make his defense not by defending himself, for it's not

Stephen who is on trial, it's Christ. And so he preaches

Christ. He begins to talk about the patriarchs and Moses and the temple, three subjects near and dear to the hearts of the

Sanhedrin, near and dear to the hearts of the religious Jews. If you wanted to talk about subjects that they love to talk about, well, let's talk about the patriarchs.

Let's talk about Moses. Let's talk about the temple. And Stephen preaches that all of these have their significance, their fulfillment in Christ.

This is what has made them so angry. This is why they have charged him with blasphemy against God and Moses, is that he's singing the praises of Christ.

Do you remember how upset, how upset the ruling Jews were when

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the peoples were singing his praises?

Hosanna to the Son of David. Hosanna to our King. Hosanna to our

Savior. How upset the rulers were when the parade went all the way to the temple and Jesus was being praised by the little ones, by the children, who couldn't help themselves but continue to sing this wonderful song they had begun in a parade.

And they wanted Jesus to rebuke his followers and to quiet the children, but he's refused.

Why did they not want to hear those praises? Why did

King Saul not want to hear those praises? What did he hear in the streets?

Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands.

The kingdom had been taken away from Saul and was to be given to one who was after God's own heart, one who would produce the fruit of the kingdom.

Jesus has already been telling the Jews, the kingdom will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the fruit of it.

He comes as the fulfillment of the promises of God. He comes and he is greater than the temple, greater than Solomon, greater than Jonah, and Stephen is singing the praises of Christ.

And Saul gets jealous. Saul gets jealous, and his jealousy is expressed by murderous rage.

Do you remember Saul when he was jealous? David was not around, and so he cussed his own son and tried to murder him, throwing a spear at him.

Jesus is not here on earth, in their streets, still preaching and teaching and doing signs and wonders.

He's in heaven, reigning at the right hand of the Father, but here is his brother Stephen. So they will attack him.

They hate the Christ of him. That's why he's on trial. And so Stephen begins to make a defense, and he speaks of Abraham, and he wants to dislodge his audience from a horrible kind of idolatry.

They think that God can only be manifest in one place, in one way.

They think that the only way to worship God is inside the gold and silver covered box up the hill on Mount Moriah.

And Stephen begins to preach Abraham and demonstrates that Abraham and his sons came from distant lands.

Abraham came from Ur. Later on, Abraham and his sons were down in Egypt. But God came to Abraham in Mesopotamia, and God showed up down in Egypt.

So why are you saying that God can only be present in the temple? He's dislodging them from their idolatry.

It wasn't that they were worshiping at the temple, it was that they were worshiping the temple. They were very proud of the work of their hands.

He's going to make this point unmistakably clear by the end of the sermon. He reminds his audience that Abraham and his sons operated on faith, not sight.

They wandered through a land that was never given to them. Abraham was promised a multitude of descendants as a father of many nations, but he did not live to see that.

He wandered about as a man of faith, seeking a city which was above, a city which was built by God, a city which had its architect and its foundation in the

Lord. Jesus himself said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day.

And so God gave to Abraham the covenant of circumcision, an extenuated promise back from when

God promised to Eve and Adam that there would be a seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent.

But even this sign of circumcision was something that was hidden. It was secret. It was covered in the marriage act.

And the whole promise of Abraham was one of walking by faith and not by sight about what

God would bring about. If you were to ask the Sanhedrin, do they abide by the covenant of circumcision?

Do they hold fast to Abraham? They would, of course, say yes. But at the end of the sermon,

Stephen says in verse 51, you stiff -necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears.

You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did. So do you.

They were sticklers for the shadow, but they entirely missed the substance who is

Christ. And so Stephen preaches of Joseph.

Now he moves from Abraham to Joseph seamlessly because the promises to Abraham were involved with the life of Joseph.

How would Abraham's family end up in a foreign land enslaved? How would it be that God would bring judgment upon a foreign land and rescue the descendants of Abraham?

This is why we have 13 chapters in Genesis that focus on the life of Joseph.

And it has long been understood by the church. There's a long -standing awareness of Joseph as a type of Christ.

And one of the first ways that we see this is simply the jealousy of the brothers. The jealousy of the brothers.

When Stephen begins preaching to this crowd, notice how he addresses them in verse two.

Brethren and fathers, listen. Brethren and fathers, listen.

Why? He's about to tell them a story about how the fathers treated their brother.

Brethren and fathers, consider the fathers and how they treated their brother. Verse nine.

And the patriarchs, the fathers, becoming envious, sold

Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles. So we see

God's presence. Joseph was sold into Egypt, notice, but God was with him.

Joseph was the firstborn of Jacob's favored, desired wife,

Rachel. Jacob had four wives. In this,

Jacob demonstrates yet another way he was very unwise. But Rachel was his favorite.

And finally, finally, she had a son. And Joseph favored this son.

He considered Joseph to be his firstborn. He gave to Joseph a double inheritance in the land by blessing

Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, so that Joseph has a double portion in the land.

Jacob favors Joseph and he places upon him this coat of many colors.

He doesn't put him out in the fields to watch the flock. He sends Joseph into the fields to be a supervisor and watch over all the other brothers as one who has authority over them.

Joseph occupies the favored right -hand status of the firstborn.

And his brothers were jealous. And he was betrayed for many pieces of silver.

And he was sent down to Egypt. And we find that God was still with him.

Now, this is not simply an acknowledgment of the omnipresence of God. And even more than God's special presence being with Joseph, we see that that means that he is for Joseph in a particular way.

When God is with him, it means that he is for him. He gives him favor and wisdom.

We find Joseph laboring under the grace of God at the right hand of Potiphar.

Later on, even when he was falsely accused in the early Me Too movement of Egypt, and then he was placed in the dungeon, he was at the right hand of the jailer because of his wisdom and his favor with God.

Later on, when he was delivered from the dungeon, he was placed at the right hand of Pharaoh, where he would do

God's will in bringing blessings to the families of the earth who would soon be starving if it were not for this intervention by God.

Joseph at the right hand of his father, at the right hand of Potiphar, at the right hand of the jailer, at the right hand of Pharaoh, in his wisdom, in his favored position.

Why? God was with him. God was with him.

It wasn't right that he was betrayed. It wasn't right that he was lied about.

It wasn't right that he was forgotten about, but God was with him.

Hebrews 13 verses 5 through 6 says, let your conduct be without covetousness.

Be content with such things as you have. For he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear.

What can men do to me? God's sovereign presence with us, no matter what men may say or do.

God's sovereign presence, his intention to bless and to aid.

God's sovereign presence is with us to assure us of his promises.

We have been given the Holy Spirit by the ministry of our ascended

Lord Jesus Christ, so that we may always be assured that what

God has promised, that he will perform. He gives us courage in this way, in discouraging times.

We look at Joseph and we remember that God was with him. Joseph stood accused.

Joseph was condemned. Joseph was thrown down, but God was with him and brought good out of it.

Stephen is in the same situation. Yes, he is making a defense for the faith.

Yes, he is pointing to the reality of Jesus Christ by the shadows that were established in the

Old Testament. And I think he's also preaching to himself. Notice also

God's provision, verse 10. We read that God gave Joseph favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor of Egypt and all his house.

Now famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance.

But when Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. So God gave

Joseph wisdom and grace, and it wasn't necessary for Joseph to be in the promised land.

He didn't have to make a pilgrimage up Mount Moriah to get in contact with some guru where he could get a little bit of wisdom and grace.

God was with Joseph. All the man -made false religions of the world are all about one thing, how man makes their way to God.

The Bible declares how God has made his way to us. We see that God provides what

Joseph needs, but you see it was all according to God's timing and God's purpose.

Why couldn't have God given Joseph, you know, a vision of the coming famine and the coming plentitude and the coming famine, given

Pharaoh the same thing, and then told Joseph, just go down to Egypt and tell him what's going on.

He'll be really impressed with you. I mean, he could have avoided so much drama, so many problems.

I mean, it's not very efficient. It took 13 chapters, you know, out of Genesis.

It took a long time for this whole story to play out. But God in his wisdom,

God in his goodness, did everything in such a way to bring maximum glory to himself in highlighting the goodness of his son.

It was according to his timing, according to his purpose. You know, he provided Joseph all that wisdom.

He provided him the visions and the answers to the dreams. You know what else God provided?

He provided seven years of abundance and God provided seven years of famine.

God doesn't cause famine. Well, who's in charge of the weather of the world? Who stilled the storm on the

Sea of Galilee? It wasn't the devil. With a word,

God, our maker, our creator, controls even the weather patterns. I think it's really hilarious how all this talk from people about how the governments, the world governments, they're going to control the weather.

I mean, God sits in the heavens and he laughs. He laughs at that.

And he makes fools of prideful men. Remember the story of Jonah.

God prepared a prophet, and then he prepared a storm, and then he prepared a great fish, and then he prepared a people in a city.

He prepared a message for that city. He prepared a plant to shelter his worn -out prophet.

Then he prepared a worm to kill that plant, and then he prepared an east wind to buffet his prophet.

And in all of this, he prepared a sign for a wicked and perverse generation, a sign of Jonah to speak of the death and resurrection of Christ.

God's provision. God provided Joseph to Egypt so that he would be used by God to reconcile his family, to bring blessings to his family and the other families of the earth, to keep them alive.

God provided all of that. In fact, God provided his only begotten son.

What shall we say to these things if God is for us? Who can be against us?

Listen, he who did not spare his own son but freely gave him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?

Are you concerned, anxious about God's provision?

Remember that God has given us his son. Take courage.

Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns?

It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

So who will separate us from the love of Christ? The answer comes back in an amazing list, nothing, nothing, nothing at all.

Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What has God already done in sovereignly providing for us?

Take up, take up what God has broken apart and brought together these last three years.

Read it backwards like a Hebrew word. See God's providence.

Praise him. Count the blessings. Name them one by one. Lay them all out.

See what God has done. See how sovereign and good he is in shepherding all these things in a way that brings us to worship him.

God keeps his promises to provide.

Now think about the promises of God to Abraham. Now verses 5, 6, and 7, the previous passage, verse 5 of chapter 7, speaking of Abraham, and God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on.

But even when Abraham had no child, he promised to give it to him for a possession and to his descendants after him.

Here's his wonderful land and you're going to have so many descendants you can't even count them.

And Abraham was a wanderer all his life. He didn't see those multitude of descendants, did he?

Verse 6, but God spoke in this way that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them 400 years.

And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge, said God, and after that they will come out and serve me in this place.

My goodness. An arc of history that would take place over hundreds and hundreds of years, but God said this is exactly what's going to happen and the story of Joseph is crucial to bringing that to pass.

God promised to do something and he worked in the life of Joseph, even through all of his struggles and difficulties and problems, to keep his promises.

Now, this is the kind of God whom we serve. Consider, and we've been reading a lot in Isaiah here on Sunday mornings, and we're in that section again in Isaiah where he is making a cartoon of the idols, of the idolaters.

Look how foolish they are. And Isaiah does not only make his point as the prophet of God by mocking idolatry and idol worshiping, but he also makes his point by praising and honoring and glorifying

God so that by that contrast that the people would learn once again to fear the

Lord. So here are a couple of passages that I know we'll be reading soon here on Sunday mornings.

Isaiah 46 verses 8 through 10. Remember this and show yourselves men.

Recall to mind, oh you transgressors, remember the former things of old for I am

God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure.

You see what he says? He doesn't say declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things are not yet done, saying, wow

I'm a really good guesser. He doesn't say,

I've got this nifty telescope where I can see through time. What does he say?

My counsel shall stand. What I designed and figured on and decided to do is going to stand and I'm going to do all my pleasure.

That's good news. It is good news that our God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases. It is good news because all he desires and pleases is good.

All he desires and pleases is glorifying to himself. Point Isaiah 48 9 through 11.

For my name's sake I will defer my anger and for my praise

I will restrain it from you so that I do not cut you off. Behold I have refined you but not as silver.

I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. Have you been in the furnace of affliction?

Why? God says for my own sake, for my own sake

I will do it. For how should my name be profaned and I will not give my glory to another.

And so what is the counsel of the Lord that stands and what is all of his pleasure and how does he act for his own sake, for his own sake, for his own glory?

How does God do this? He shepherds all of history into the fold of his glory and that fold is

Christ -shaped. Second Corinthians 1 20.

For all the promises of God in him in Christ are yes and in him amen to the glory of God through us.

Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God who has sealed us and given us the spirit in our heart as a guarantee.

Listen to me. All of the hardest promises that God has ever made have already been kept.

Christ has come, born of the virgin, fulfilling the law, fulfilling all righteousness, pleasing his father, proclaiming the reality of the new covenant, died on the cross, raised the third day exactly as the scriptures stated, raised the third day, ascended to the right hand of the father where he has a name above every name.

All of the most difficult promises recorded in the scriptures have already been kept.

Everything else is downhill momentum. Everything else is just the rest of the dominoes.

Because Christ is risen, everything else falls into place.

We look at Joseph and consider how it is that he could have courage in his difficulties because of God's presence, because of God's provision, because of God's promises, and let's just reflect upon God's pattern here.

Joseph was rejected by his brothers. God made a covenant with Noah about the creation.

Noah, a preacher of righteousness who was rejected by his generation and even by his own son, but God affirmed his promises by a rainbow.

God made a covenant with Abraham, and Joseph was in that covenant.

He was rejected, but God brought about his promises, keeping his promises, giving them the sign of circumcision.

God made a covenant at Sinai with Israel, and Stephen's going to be preaching on this very soon, but Moses, his servant, was rejected by Israel.

Nevertheless, God kept his promises and gave them the sign of the

Sabbath to affirm his promises. God made a royal covenant with David.

You remember David, who was rejected and on the run, living as an outlaw, but he gave them the temple.

His son, Solomon, built the temple to affirm his presence among them.

These signs affirmed his presence among them, that he would keep his promises, that he would provide for them.

In all of these things, this patchwork quilt of God's covenant promises throughout the old covenant is a mantle that only

Christ can wear, is a glorious mantle that only Christ may wear, and he takes it all up, and he says, it is mine, and he preaches the new covenant.

He preaches the new covenant. Jesus Christ is the rejected servant, but God has honored him and glorified him and placed him at the right hand, and he has sent forth the sign of the new covenant, the

Holy Spirit, who seals us, who assures us, by whom we know all the promises of God will be kept.

You see what God is up to? When we consider our Savior, Jesus Christ, we should remember this, as things fall apart and as things come together, that the worst thing that could ever happen to us as Christians, the absolute possible worst thing that could ever happen to us has already happened to us in Christ on the cross.

He bore our sins. He suffered under the wrath of God for us. That's the worst thing that could possibly ever happen to anybody, that they stand before God and suffer the wrath of God for their sins.

Well, that's already happened in Christ on the cross. It's done. It's over with.

So, what a horrible thing. What a horrible thing.

In those three years of Christ's ministry, how many people got angry? Conspiracies were coming together.

His disciples scattered. His flock fell apart. He was placed on trial.

He was falsely accused. And what was

God up to? Why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things?

The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.

For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the

Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together. Things are falling apart.

Things are coming together. Verse 28, they gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done.

This is the God we serve. This is the God that Joseph served. His brothers who betrayed him, they came to him after their father died and they were so scared that Joseph in his position of power would finally take vengeance now that their father was dead.

He says to them, as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.

They meant evil against Christ, but God meant it for good in order to bring about, as it is this day, to save many people alive.

That's why we can play the man, not the turtle, because our

God is not only large, He's in charge of everything.

There are a lot of candidates for the boogeyman out in our world today. A lot of reason to say, oh my, when we listen to the news.

Things fall apart. Things come together. But Christ is on His throne.

Our Lord is in charge. He's sovereign. He is good. We don't know how it's going to work out, but, oh,

I don't know. Here in a few months, here in a few years, or maybe as we're resting in eternity, we can look back and read that sovereign word backwards and see how good

God is. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your promises, your assurances.

Thank you for your comforts. Help us to be courageous as we serve our