ACTS: "Can a Person Change?" - Acts 7:59-60 - Part 1

Brett Meador: You have to allow the Lord to change your heart number one. God doesn't superimpose His will on you. It's more of an invitation.
Guest (Male): On Today's Word, Pastor Brett Meador says God can only enter the heart that welcomes Him in.
Brett Meador: Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. There's an invitation for you. The question is are you going to allow the Lord as he lovingly invites you to come, are you going to allow him to give you that comfort and rest that he wants to give you? There's a bunch of things the Lord says I will do this if you allow me.
Guest (Male): As Stephen was stoned to death, he uttered some truly remarkable last words we read in Acts chapter seven that reveal the powerful transformation Jesus had upon his heart and life. In much the same way, Jesus wants to change us too. Pastor Brett Meador considers in today's word some of the important areas the spirit of the Lord would impact the lives of believers who seek after him.
Brett Meador: Maybe some of you have had an opportunity in your lifetime to face those real moments when things get very real. I think a lot of our military personnel, you've been trained, you've been readied for combat. The combat vets I talk to, you never really know what you're made of until you're in the moment. When things get real, how do you respond? What do you do? Training becomes more important. If it's not real and you're thinking, "Oh, someday we might be, perhaps, in battle," then you train differently. But if you're knowing that you're going into battle, suddenly that becomes very real and you take that very seriously because your life depends on it. Things will get real. I wonder how surreal it is. Have you ever met a famous person before? You literally walk up to a famous person and you're like, "Wow, that's..." and it becomes surreal because you see them on TV or something, but suddenly they're real. Maybe you've seen places on TV or in pictures and then suddenly you see it for real and it almost seems surreal. Probably the most surreal things you're ever going to face is when you stand before God someday. Yes, the Bible says everyone will stand before God at some point. Whether it's the Great White Throne Judgment, God forbid, or the Bema Seat Judgment, or the judgment seat of Christ as it's called. If you're a Christian, you are put before a different kind of judgment than if you're not a Christian. That's an important thing to understand. Are you ready to stand before God at either one of those places? Do you think it's going to seem a little surreal? Maybe you've heard about Judgment Day or standing before God and you're like, "Yeah, whatever," but the Bible says it's real and it's going to happen to every single person on this planet. When things get real, what do you do? Those that have trained and know about what to do when it gets real, like a soldier, if they've trained well and they have muscle memory, then even when things get heated up and they're in battle, sometimes they start doing the right thing. It's in the heat of battle that they actually flourish, and it's because of training and thought and preparation. We have in our story here today things get very real. Our character in the story, as they get real, he's about to die and he knows this. It's Stephen, this guy who is a fairly new Christian. Why do I know he's a new Christian? Because Christianity is new. The whole idea of being a Christian is fairly new, only months old. And now we have a guy who loves Jesus and he's speaking the truth in front of the Supreme Court of Israel, the Sanhedrin. He's there defending his faith and belief in Christ. They're getting angrier and angrier and by the end of his sermon, they're gnashing their teeth at him. They're going to want to kill him and eventually that's the way this story... Well, let's read it. It's Acts chapter seven. I just want to focus on the last two verses because of what happens when it gets very real. Acts 7:59 says: "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, 'Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep." Interesting description of death. Being stoned with stones, rocks hitting his head, killing him ultimately, and he fell asleep. This seems a violent death, but actually the Bible makes it like... we saw him glowing earlier. His face literally was shining like an angel. And now he's hit with these rocks and what happens? He falls asleep. But what does he say? Do you notice some characteristics here of Stephen? It reminds you of someone else. Who does Stephen remind you of in this part of the story? He sounds like Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross, he released his spirit to the Father even as Stephen said, "Receive my spirit." It's interesting because the psalmist prophetically wrote about this, about the releasing of his spirit. We're going to see how Jesus is modeled here by Stephen. How does this happen? How does a guy when he's on his last dying breath, and he's saying words like Jesus, how does this happen? He's become like Jesus. He's just like Jesus. On this story, Stephen, this is a victory for him. He's going to die and he's going to go to heaven. For any Christian, your death day is your best day because you're going to go to heaven and be with the Lord. If you're not a Christian, the Bible says you're going to eventually go to the Great White Throne Judgment and be judged for your sins. "Well, Brett, I like to think that God is love. If you're right and the Bible says God is love, then God's not going to send me to hell." Well, the Bible says God is love, but He allows you to have a free will and a choice of where you're going to go when you die. And the question is, do you repent of your sins and accept Christ as your Savior? Because if not, you're doomed. That's what the Bible says. "Well, I don't like a God that sends people to hell." No, you just sent yourself there if you did that and rejected Christ. And the heart of the Lord is revealed. I love what Peter has to say about this in 2 Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." The heart of God is that all people would come to repentance and follow me. But if you reject that, you're on your own. The Lord will lift up his hands and say, "Okay, you're going to go where you want to go." This is the problem. But here in Acts seven, we know a guy here who's faithful, loves the Lord, saved, and now in his moment where things get real, he's about to die and he knows it. What does he do? He acts more like Jesus than ever. I love that. Stephen, emulating Jesus. How did he do that? Let's note the ways. Number one, notice that Stephen was actually laying down his life for his faith even as Jesus laid down his life for those he loved. He died with us in mind. Stephen's laying down his life. He's the first Christian martyr. The second thing we see is as we noted, he's saying the same words that Jesus said on the cross. He commended his spirit into the hands of Jesus. That's a very Jesus-kind of thing. But maybe even more radical when Stephen says here, he says, "Lay not this sin to their charge" there in verse 60. That's just like what Jesus said if you recall. What did Jesus say? Jesus said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." In fact, that leads us to the third thing that is very Jesus-like, forgiving those who were wronging him. And so we see Stephen forgiving like Jesus. When he says, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge," Jesus said in Luke 23:34, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." How are we doing as Christians? Do we act like Christians? Do we emulate Jesus like Stephen did? Our world likes to make excuses for our bad behaviors. We like to relabel things. We like to make things sound not so bad. But instead of saying, "No, we're meant to change." Can I just say, churches make a mistake sometimes. "Just come as you are, Jesus loves you as you are." And think about that for a second. Is that true or false? Well, the answer is technically true. Jesus does love you as you are. The Bible says while you were yet in your sin, Christ loved you so much that he died for your sins on the cross. So yes, Jesus loves you as you are. But if you mean that Jesus loves you as you are so there's no change that is required, you can just keep being who you are and Christ loves you as you are, there's people that think that and some churches promote that, but that's not biblically sound. Jesus saved you so you would change. That's part of the deal. You're not saved by changing. You're first saved by His grace through faith. Ephesians 2:8 says you're saved by grace through faith, not of yourselves, it's a gift from God, not of your works, lest any man should boast. That's how you're saved, period. Your works do not save you. However, faith without works is dead. In other words, if you're saved, one of the things that will be somewhat evident—and I say somewhat because none of us are perfect, none of us have arrived—but if you're a Christian, if you accept Christ, there will be evidence of change to some degree. Faith without works is dead, and so you don't want to have dead faith because that means it's not real or living. You need real, lively faith, so there needs to be evidence of change. It's not that that's what saves you, it's just evidence that you're saved. I hope you get that. That's important. A lot of people miss that point. So when you became a Christian, the point is God saved you, you're no longer going to hell, you get to go to heaven. Praise the Lord for that. But there should be evidence of change. And what kind of change? Well, like Stephen, emulating Jesus, becoming more like Jesus. Now the world, especially the world of psychology, likes to say, "Well, we're going to label you. You're a person who has this. You're bipolar disorder, or you have anxiety." Sometimes those labels have been helpful to identify what the problems are. But if—and I'm not saying everybody does this—but if somebody says, "Well, I'm just a person who has anxiety. That's the way I'm wired, it's my genetic makeup, so deal with it." Or "I guess I'm stuck in it." I don't believe that. That's sad if a person thinks, "Well, I'm just a person, I just have anxiety," because the Bible actually talks about how to deal with anxiety. And psychology would say what the Bible says about anxiety is not really true, it's too simple. "What you actually need..." and then fill in the blank how psychology will handle anxiety. But let God be true and every man a liar. That's what Romans talks about. For example, what does the Bible say? Philippians 4:6 says: "Be anxious for nothing." So how many things are we supposed to be anxious about? Nothing. But here's the thing. You might say, "Brett, easy for the Bible to say, and just telling me not to be anxious is not helping." Oh, that's not what the Bible does. The Bible says be anxious for nothing and then gives us the how in the rest of that verse in verses six and seven. It says, "But in everything, instead, in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God." Now what are we supposed to do? Prayer, but supplication. It's like an earnest prayer of faithful prayer that is asking of the Lord for help. "Let your request be made known to God. Lord, I'm anxious about this. Will you please help my anxiety? Help take away the fear and the blood pressure rising, and the things that happen physiologically to me when I'm feeling anxious?" And to sincerely and continually pray, not just one and done. But to make that a supplication where you often bring that to the Lord. And it says ask the Lord for help on that, and then the promise comes, verse seven: "And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding..." You might say it like this in modern vernacular, that peace that's the opposite of anxiety. The peace of God which goes past all logic and all reason. You might even have no logical reason why you're going to suddenly feel peace, but it comes supernaturally from God. That's the point. "And the peace of God which surpasses understanding will guard your heart and your mind through Christ Jesus." You either believe that and apply that, or you say, "Ah, it's not that simple. I need to go talk to my psychotherapist and take some meds." Now there's a place for meds, of course. People have been helped with medications. That's great. But Bible says, "But first seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." We seek help from the world, especially when it comes to anxiety or any of our solical—some people might say psychological—struggles. But because we've labeled it "I have anxiety," we don't allow the Lord to come in and help and supernaturally fix it because we've labeled it. I think depression is like, "I'm a depressed person, I deal with depression." And it's a very serious and a very hard thing for a person to deal with. There's no question. There's more people depressed today than ever, according to the studies. And I would just maybe float this to you. If there are more people by far depressed today, especially in young people, what are we doing wrong? Because we've been doing the same thing now since the 1960s dealing with depression. Why is depression getting worse? My answer is maybe we're doing something wrong. And as it turns out, the Bible actually gives us all kinds of things about depression. "Oh, thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon the Lord," Isaiah the prophet said. There's a thing about depression where you have to do battle against it. David was a guy who was depressed all the time. I love that you can read the Psalms and you just hear poor David, "Oh, why art thou cast down, oh my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me?" And then he starts talking to himself: "Hope in God, for I will trust him. I will look up to the hills from whence cometh my help." Like he starts talking to himself about what he's going to do to battle the depression that he was dealing with. I love the story of Nehemiah. They were depressed. Why? Because they were struggling. They were failing trying to rebuild and restore Jerusalem, and the enemies were right there mocking and causing all kinds of trouble. And the people, it says that they were discouraged along the way and even depressed. And the Lord speaks to the children of Israel. I love it. Nehemiah 8:10: "Then he said unto them, 'Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared.'" In other words, time to have a celebration. Why? We're depressed. "Celebrate," he's saying. "Give the food and the portions for them that nothing is prepared, for this day is holy unto the Lord. Neither be ye sorry," better translation there: depressed. Don't be depressed: "For the joy of the Lord is your strength." Man, when you really appropriate that and realize, "I'm depressed today, but my strength is really the joy of the Lord." And so there's this thing where you can say, "Lord, help me to be restored into your joy. Give me your peace that passes understanding" and ask and pray and seek and you shall find. These are promises of God's word. And so the Lord says, "I want you to change. I don't want you to put labels that make it all okay." The Bible gives us some of the things we can do to change. But if we're making excuses, let's call it what it is. I think we soften. "I like to think of myself as this or that," but really what's the Lord say? "No, that's just called sin and you need to change. I want you to change." Is change even possible? Well, the Bible tells us what change even looks like. In fact, Romans 12:2, classic: "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed." The word transformed: metamorphosis. "By the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." So the question is, then, how do we change? It's not so easy, Pastor Brett. Hey, I'm right there with you. There's things I try to change and try to fix in my life and I struggle too. It is a struggle. But it is interesting. The Bible says here's some things that you need to do to change, and there's so much about it. And I want to go over some of the things that makes us... how did Stephen, as a young Christian at his time where things get real, how did he become more like Jesus? How did he change into be a guy that wasn't like a normal dude? He suddenly next level, varsity team Christian who's there just shining, glowing, saying words like Jesus, forgiving, being bighearted like Jesus. How does that happen? The Lord does that work in us. And the first thing that he does when it comes to change, you have to allow the Lord to change your heart, number one. It starts with the heart. We often start with the externals. "I'm going to stop doing this, I'm going to start doing that. I'm going to change my lifestyle, my behavior." But you understand it's got to start from the heart. The Bible deals with this over and over again. Now I use the word allow deliberately. Does it sound a little weird to allow the Lord to do anything? He's God, you're not, why would we allow him? Well, as it turns out, God doesn't superimpose His will on you in a way that from our perspective, the Lord, it's more of an invitation. Yes, I believe God is sovereign. Predestination, foreknowledge of God, divine election. Yes, I'm 100% on board with that. But for some reason, the Bible also tackles it from our perspective, not God's perspective, but our perspective. And it's the Lord: "Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." There's an invitation for you. The question is are you going to allow the Lord as he lovingly invites you to come? Are you going to allow him to give you that comfort and rest that he wants to give you? There's a bunch of things the Lord says, "I will do this if you allow me." And so he gives you a free will and it's kind of up to you on that. That's why the language of that's all throughout the Bible. So the idea of getting your heart changed, that's where it all begins. It starts with the heart. Jeremiah talks about this in the new covenant. He starts with the notion, "Your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?" Can I just say, that's an important verse for you to know, and I'll tell you why. Because our goofy world, we like to say all the time, "Follow your heart. Just follow your heart." Can I just say how stupid that is? That is a dumb idea. Why? The Bible says your heart will deceive you. Your heart is deceptive, wicked above all things. Where did that happen? At the Garden of Eden. As soon as man sinned, we were in a fallen, sinful state. You and I were born sinners. And you might think, "But my heart is so pure." No, that's just the devil talking to you right there. Your heart is desperately wicked, deceitful above all things. And the idea is who can know it? Like who can really understand this? Jeremiah says. That's the bad news. The good news is guess what? God actually wants to change your heart. Literally like a heart transplant. If you want to follow your heart, there's some things that have to happen before that happens. Let's talk about it. The new covenant that Jeremiah talks about there in Jeremiah 31:33: "But this shall be a covenant that I will make with the house of Israel." And you say, "Well, this was for Jews." Yep. But this same covenant, we get to be superimposed on when we are grafted into the vine of the Jewish people. The Lord will do this for us as well. And that is: "After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." This is Jeremiah talking about what God wants to do. He wants to write his will in your heart. So instead of having a deceitful, lying heart, suddenly your heart is reminding you of things God cares about. And you'll be God's people when he writes that on your heart. In fact, the author of Hebrews 8:10, he actually echoes the exact same thing in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. He quotes from Jeremiah 31:33. Same exact thing. So if you want to change, it has to happen in the heart. And by the way, especially in things like addiction. If you're addicted to pornography, there's a temptation, "Well, I'm going to try to take away the temptations. I'm going to get rid of my internet connection." Well, there's internet everywhere. "I'm going to get rid of my smartphone and get a dumbphone." Yeah, that's a good idea, might be a helpful thing. But those are all external things and there's sexual imagery and perversion all around us. And you're going to see stuff that's going to make you lust. It's just going to happen. So it's not as much a logistic issue. Those things can be helpful, but it's really got to start with your heart. You need a heart change because your heart is deceitful and wicked and that's where the problem starts. Ezekiel the prophet dives into this in a kind of a surgical way. Check this out. Ezekiel 36:26 says: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh." Did you notice? He's saying you need a new heart. Your old heart, why do you need a new one? Because it's deceitful and wicked above all things. And then he says, "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. Your stony, sinful heart I'll take it away, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do them." Man, if you're wanting to overcome addiction or depression or anxiety and you realize, "Man, I need to change," change starts with the Lord changing your heart. You are required, by the way, to change your mind. That's the free will part. And when you change your mind and say, "Lord, my heart, I need help with that, I need a heart change." Because guess what? You can try to change your heart, but have you ever noticed how unsuccessful you are with that? So how does that happen? You say, "Lord, change my heart." And the Lord says—I love the last part of this in verse 27: "I will put my spirit within you." See, it's not just that your heart gets changed, but then the power that you need. That's the Spirit. The word power and the Spirit go hand in hand. The power to change comes by the Holy Spirit in your new heart that the Lord wants to give you. You need a heart transplant from a stony heart of sin to a heart of flesh and have the power of the Spirit to come in you.
Kurt: Pastor Brett Meador offering important insight for how a life transformed by the Lord begins with a heart devoted to Him. And there's more from this study of Acts chapter seven to come next time on Today's Word. I also invite you to stay right there as Pastor Brett will join me here in just a moment to talk about his heart for ministry. But first, Today's Word is the radio ministry of Athey Creek Church in the Portland suburb of West Linn, Oregon, where Pastor Brett Meador is the senior pastor. You can find out more about him and this radio program by going to todayswordradio.com. That's todayswordradio.com. If you've missed any portion of this study, you'll find all of his messages, including video sermons, at todayswordradio.com. All right, Pastor Brett is joined me now. One question I know people might wonder is why you decided to become a pastor. And Brett, maybe you can start with describing your heart for ministry.
Brett Meador: Well, Kurt, for me, it really comes down to what I saw as a kid growing up. Early on, I saw the power of the word of God, how it was the word that truly helps people, transforms lives, including my own. As a young 10-year-old kid, I remember being greatly impressed by the word. And then by the age of 12, I knew I wanted to be a pastor. My heart to teach verse by verse came from my own home church as well as hearing guys like J. Vernon McGee and Chuck Smith and others. I didn't get into ministry because I had some big master plan. I just really wanted to teach the Bible and see people grow because that's what I grew up seeing. And you know, I'm the true test. You give the word out, what happens? People's lives are changed. The word of God, as it turns out, is in fact living and powerful. And that's really the heart. It's not changed at all for me personally, just to faithfully teach the word of God and to care for the people that that brings and just see the fruit of what the word can really do. So that's really my story.
Kurt: That's great. Thank you, Pastor Brett, for sharing, as it really helps us get to know your heart for ministry. Well, if you'd like more information about Pastor Brett Meador or Today's Word, just visit our website at todayswordradio.com. That's todayswordradio.com. And that's all the time we have. Next time, Pastor Brett will highlight the powerful example Stephen set in the book of Acts, offering valuable lessons for every believer seeking to live a Christ-like life. Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.