7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
Stephen flips the script on them. He presents the charge God has against them that they have not kept His commandments. Their persecution of the prophets, their killing of the righteous one are evidence that this charge is true. This impeachment needs to be the same. It is unconstitutional, their charges violate the first amendment and the election was fraudulent. This is not about Stephen being on trial but the Jewish leadership. Jesus was crucified because of them, that is their crime.
2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ 4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.
You are living here today because Abraham listened to God and walked by faith. It is also true of us in the US. We are here today because the Pilgrims came by faith.
5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’
The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth rock in 1620, 400 years ago. We were a colony, enslaved by European powers, freeing ourselves from the bondage of imperialism has been a process. By 1812 we were free of the British, but slavery still existed. By 1865 slavery was no longer legal, but Jim Crow laws, KKK, and other forms of subtle abuse existed well into the 1960s. But we are still holding the promise that this is the land of the free and that we will possess this land. Now we are fighting the elites and oligarchs to say that this is a country of the people, by the people and for the people.
8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob,and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. 9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. 11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money. 17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’ 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
Is this any different today? This country was founded and established by the Puritans and those seeking the freedom to worship God in truth. But they have dealt treacherously with the Christians. For example, our school system was started as schools run by churches in the town. When the government wanted to set up a public school system they asked to expand these school houses to include everyone, promising to use tax dollars from everyone to pay for it. But once they had the school system they took over forbidding the use of the Bible or prayer. Yet the Christians had to pay for this school system with their tax dollars. They could still set up a private religious school, but what the treacherous rulers had done is create a school system run according to them that the Christians would have to pay for. They have then included things in the curriculum that Christians would be horrified at. But they continue to act treacherously, Biden has just signed an Executive order where boys who want to compete with girls in girls sports must be allowed, if they want to use the girls bathroom they must be allowed and if they want to use the girls lockerroom they must be allowed. They legalized abortion causing more than 50 million babies to die. But it has gotten worse, the line used to be that no tax dollars would be used to pay for abortions, but now our foreign aid will include paying for abortions in other countries right up to one minute before birth.
Stephen flips the script on them. He presents the charge God has against them that they have not kept His commandments. Their persecution of the prophets, their killing of the righteous one are evidence that this charge is true. This impeachment needs to be the same. It is unconstitutional, their charges violate the first amendment and the election was fraudulent. This is not about Stephen being on trial but the Jewish leadership. Jesus was crucified because of them, that is their crime.
2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ 4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.
You are living here today because Abraham listened to God and walked by faith. It is also true of us in the US. We are here today because the Pilgrims came by faith.
5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’
The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth rock in 1620, 400 years ago. We were a colony, enslaved by European powers, freeing ourselves from the bondage of imperialism has been a process. By 1812 we were free of the British, but slavery still existed. By 1865 slavery was no longer legal, but Jim Crow laws, KKK, and other forms of subtle abuse existed well into the 1960s. But we are still holding the promise that this is the land of the free and that we will possess this land. Now we are fighting the elites and oligarchs to say that this is a country of the people, by the people and for the people.
8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob,and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. 9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. 11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money. 17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’ 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
Is this any different today? This country was founded and established by the Puritans and those seeking the freedom to worship God in truth. But they have dealt treacherously with the Christians. For example, our school system was started as schools run by churches in the town. When the government wanted to set up a public school system they asked to expand these school houses to include everyone, promising to use tax dollars from everyone to pay for it. But once they had the school system they took over forbidding the use of the Bible or prayer. Yet the Christians had to pay for this school system with their tax dollars. They could still set up a private religious school, but what the treacherous rulers had done is create a school system run according to them that the Christians would have to pay for. They have then included things in the curriculum that Christians would be horrified at. But they continue to act treacherously, Biden has just signed an Executive order where boys who want to compete with girls in girls sports must be allowed, if they want to use the girls bathroom they must be allowed and if they want to use the girls lockerroom they must be allowed. They legalized abortion causing more than 50 million babies to die. But it has gotten worse, the line used to be that no tax dollars would be used to pay for abortions, but now our foreign aid will include paying for abortions in other countries right up to one minute before birth.