Rejecting the Word
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Rejecting the Word
Acts 7:55-60
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
1 Peter 2:2-10
John 14:1-14
The last time I preached I spoke about how in order for someone to come to Christ and to full salvation they must be cut to the heart to the point that transformation takes place or a decision is made. This week I want to talk about those who have the truth right before them and the truth is always convicting, and yet some will reject the truth and will try to censor it from their eyes, thoughts, and ears. In essence, these are the ones who will reject the Word of God. For some their hearts are so hardened that they just refuse to accept any truth, logic, or reasoning no matter what one says or does. They have essentially passed their own judgment on the Word of God and will accept what they wish to accept and ignore what they wish to ignore. Unfortunately, this I even true for many in the Church.
Stephen was one of the first outside of Jesus himself to experience such people who have passed their own judgment over the scriptures. Stephen was among people who chose to believe what they wanted to believe and would ignore what they wished to ignore. These were members of God’s chosen people, not just some foreigners from a far away land with different beliefs of pagan worship. Yet when Stephen spoke actual scripture to them, they were angry and gnashed their teeth at him, covered their ears and yelled at the top of their voices so that they could drown out his words and then censored his voice by stoning him to death. They were rejecting scripture itself because the truth did not fit the narrative in which they desired to believe at the time. They did not want to believe that Jesus was the Messiah or that he is the Son of the living God. If they accept this message as truth then they must also accept their own wrong doing and sin and it is so much easier though to define right and wrong from our own definition rather than God’s. If we define right and wrong ourselves then we can live however we desire with no feelings of consequence. However, if we allow God to define right and wrong for us then there is no escaping our guilt. The truth however, is that regardless if one decides to define right from wrong in their own eyes, judgment still belongs to the Lord and he still judges based on his ow definition of right and wrong. There is no escaping that from anyone. No matter how well we cover our ears and shout. Stephen was judged by the people as one speaking falsehood however their judgment did not matter. For the Word that they rejected was accepted by Stephen and he was able to see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father before he breathed his last breath and went to be with them.
Within our gospel passage this morning it would seem that there is an issue of understanding or even believing in the true identity of Jesus. Jesus is explaining to them that he will soon be leaving them for his death is coming soon and through his death he is making a pathway to the Father. Thomas chimes is saying that they don’t know where he is going so how will they know the way. Jesus may not have just come out and said it but he certainly implies everything with his words. He says he is going to the Father. If they understand where the Father is then that really can only mean one thing. However, it seems that Thomas is still a little bit slow in understanding. Jesus explains that He is the way to the Father and to truth and life. By knowing him then they know the Father.
Philip now seems to also be a little slow as it seems that he misses what Jesus just said. Philip says that if Jesus just shows them the Father, then that will be enough for them. At this point in the conversation, I would be very annoyed and impatient. However, Jesus just displays patience and love. He doesn’t put them down or make them feel bad for their lack of understanding or faith. He tells them once again that He and the Father are one and the same. Jesus is the physical representative of the invisible living God. Therefore, when we see Jesus, we also see the Father and the Holy Spirit. To me it doesn’t seem like they were rejecting Jesus’ word so much as they were not having faith in his word up to this point. They were all following him because they believed that he was the Messiah that was spoken about by the prophets however, they lacked understanding of what that truly meant.
I would say that in our world today there is an ever-increasing amount of people like the ones who stoned Stephen. There are people who are part of the Church but yet they reject portions of the Word that they have trouble reconciling in their mind. Sadly, more and more Christians are having trouble in believing in the Genesis account. The world teaches that the universe is billions of years old and that the only thing that makes sense to them is that enough time and chance had to take place to make up everything is the universe. Therefore, rather than trusting that God says he created everything within 6 days, many have trouble believing that this is possible. Therefore, they try to reconcile the world’s belief with scripture. They say things like, “well maybe a day was different back then and since we were not there, we don’t really know. Or they say how God is outside of time and 1000 years is like a day to him. The problem though is that God says it was a day and even give a time line of morning and then evening. So, no matter how hard one tries, they cannot reconcile the world’s view of billions of years and evolution as the means of creation with the Word of God as is told in Genesis. Therefore, because many lack the faith and trust that God can create everything by his word and instantly then many ignore the Genesis account. They ignore the foundation of faith and shut their ears to the truth. They want to believe in Jesus but they don’t want to trust in his Word. So, they pass their own judgment on the Word and decide for themselves what parts they are going to believe and which parts that they will not believe. Unfortunately, the Bible is not written to fit the world to be in our image but it is to be in His image. Therefore, if we reject one part of the Bible then we are rejecting the entire Bible. We cannot have it in any way that we want. There is one absolute truth whether we like it or not and that does not change whether we choose to believe it in its entirety or not. If we cannot trust the Genesis account as truth then we cannot trust that the Bible is truth. If we do not accept the truth then we are rejecting the Word and we are no better than them who covered their ears and shouted at the top of their lungs, “I can’t hear you Lord” and then killing or destroying those who will accept the whole truth for what it is.
We have a choice to make in our lives on this earth. We can choose to believe the Word for what it is, or we can reject the Word and become the judge over scripture. However, which ever you decide you must understand that you cannot have both worlds. Scripture cannot be reconciled with the World and the World cannot be reconciled with Scripture. We either believe and trust in His Word or we reject it. So which side do you choose to be on. Are you going to shut your ears and not listen to this message this morning? Or are you going to be open to the truth and foundation of His Word?