38
Acts
Introduction:
Stephen
had been accused of speaking against God, against Moses, against
the law of Moses and against
the temple. In this text Stephen
explains to the
the temple which replaced the
tabernacle. But he explained that God’s
presence
in those places was only in a
limited way and that God’s presence actually fills
heaven
and earth.
I.
God’s presence in the tabernacle in the wilderness
V.
44, “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.” Stephen spoke about
the tabernacle in the
wilderness. The word, tabernacle, means
“tent” or “dwelling place.” The
word
as it applied to the structure
that God instructed Moses to build at
in the wilderness speaks of
that structure as being a tent or dwelling place for
God, Himself.
Stephen
called it “the tabernacle of witness.”
That is, there was a
visible
manifestation of God dwelling in that tent.
The visible manifestation
of God within the tabernacle
gave witness or evidence that God was dwelling
there.
God
had visibly manifest His presence to the Children of
Sea. When Pharaoh’s army closed in on the
Israelites God moved in between them
in the form of a great pillar
of cloud. After they had crossed the
led them by this visible
manifestation of His presence. It was a
pillar of
cloud
by day and a pillar of fire by night.
At
the
cloud
moved within the tabernacle and filled the tabernacle with the glory of
God. In addition to that, within the
light
which dwelt between the wings of the cherubim on top of the
Covenant.
Later, when Nadab and Abihu
offered strange fire upon the Brazen
Altar a visible fire came from within the
tabernacle and killed Nadab and Abihu
for their sin.
V.
45, “Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into
the possession of the Gentiles,
whom God drave out before the face of our
fathers...
The word, Jesus, in this verse may be
somewhat confusing to you. It was to me
at first. But let us note that the Greek word “Jesus”
is the simply the Greek
spelling
of the Old Testament word “Joshua.” Luke
is the writer of this New
Testament Book of Acts and he simply used
the Greek spelling for the Old
Testament man, Joshua, who led the
Children of
crossed
the
Joshua brought the tabernacle of witness
with them.
(V. 45), “...unto the days of David.” God drove the Gentiles out and the
people
of
them until the days of
David. To be technical, it continued
throughout the
reign
of David. It was David’s son, Solomon,
who replaced the tabernacle, which
by that time was old and
tattered, with a new place of worship, the temple.
To
be technical, the Israelite people never actually entered the
tabernacle
to worship. Only the priests entered the
tabernacle. But the people
came to the tabernacle and stood
within the court of the tabernacle, presenting
their
offerings to God. The glory cloud, which
still dwelt in the tabernacle,
was still a witness of the
presence of God in the tabernacle. The
priests, who
entered
the tabernacle could not help but see God’s glory within the tabernacle.
The people who were not priests could, no
doubt, get glimpses of God’s glory
within
through the door, which served as an entrance for the priests.
II. God, dwelling in the temple
V.
46, “Who found favour before God, and desired to find
a tabernacle for
the God of Jacob.” King David found favor in the eyes of the
Lord. He was a
man after God’s own heart. In his own heart David desired to build a new
dwelling
place for God to replace the old and worn out tabernacle. The Old
Testament record indicates that David did
not wish to build a new tent or
tabernacle
like the old one, but he wished to build a house or temple.
But
God did not allow David to build a temple, but instead God left that
task for Solomon, David’s
son. V. 47, “But Solomon built him an house.”
Solomon built the most splendrous
building that man had ever seen up to that
time. It was one of the seven
wonders of the world. It is
probably the most
splendrous
building that man ever seen --- even to this very day.
At
the dedication of
Solomon’s temple, the glory of God filled the
temple,
even as it had filled the tabernacle of old.
The greatest splendor of
the temple was not the beauty
of the wood, the beauty of the stones nor the
beauty
of the huge amounts of the gold and silver.
The greatest splendor of the
temple
was not the magnificent architecture.
The greatest splendor of the
temple
was the glory of the Lord which filled the temple with the presence of
Almighty God.
III. God dwelling in all heaven and earth
V.
48-50, “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?” Stephen has acknowledge to the
Sanhedrin
Court that the tabernacle was the dwelling
place of God and that the tabernacle
contained
a witness of the presence of God. He has
acknowledge to the Sanhedrin
Court that God had been present in the
temple in a similar way.
But
Stephen declared that no building of any kind could contain the
fullness
of God. Stephen referred to Isaiah
66:1-2 which says that God fills
the heaven and the earth and
that His presence cannot be limited to any one
building. Perhaps someone had heard Stephen make a
similar statement at some
earlier
time and had misunderstood what Stephen had meant. This may have been
what caused them to charge him
with speaking against God and the
But Stephen’s statement was not spoken
against God nor against Moses, nor
against
the
for God.
IV. God’s plan for a new dwelling place
Neither
the tabernacle nor the Jewish temple exists today. There will be
a temple again in
grander
temple than the one that Solomon built or which has ever been built.
The
glory of God will be present there in that new temple in the form of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The apostle Peter, James and John saw a
preview
of that glory on what is
called “The Mount of Transfiguration.”
His face did
shine
as the brightness of the sun and his raiment were as white as snow.
People from all parts of the world will
travel to
the Lord in His glory dwelling
on the throne in
millennial
temple will not last. At the close of
the millennium the heavens and
the earth and all that is
therein will melt with fervent heat.
From those
melted
elements God will bring forth a new heaven and a new earth. All of the
redeemed
of all the ages will dwell in that new earth and will come before God’s
throne
in the
fullness
of His glory. And that will be the Lord’s
dwelling place forever. He
will dwell with His people and
be their God.
V.
God’s desire for a new dwelling place today
Every
time a lost sinner turns to God in repentance of his sins and trusts
in Jesus Christ for the
salvation of his soul, the Holy Spirit of God is born
within
the spirit of that person. The
born-again person becomes a temple of
God. I Corinthians
of the Holy Ghost which is in
you, which he have of God...?”
Today
God wants some lost soul here to be born again and give Him a new
temple
in which to dwell.
Conclusion:
The
Bible teaches that we are all sinners.
Therefore, you are a sinner.
The question is: Are you a lost sinner? If so, the Lord wants you to be saved
today. Will you call upon Jesus Christ and ask Him
to save your soul?
Or
perhaps you may be a saved sinner. Are
you? Are you saved? Have you
ever called upon Jesus Christ
and asked Him to save your soul? Have
you ever
trusted
Him to be your Savior? If so, then He
wants you to live in such a way
that others will see Jesus in
you. Will you surrender your life to
live for Him
who died for you?
Are
you a saved person who is in need of a church home? If so, then we
will ask that you seek the
Lord’s will about placing your membership here in
this church. Will you do that?
Perhaps
there is some saved person here who already knows that you wish to
unite
with this church and serve the Lord through this church. If so, will you
come during the singing of this
hymn and let your wishes be known. Will
you
come?