Sermon: Old Testament: Fruit of the Spirit (Part Three)

Speaks the Truth
#1757A
Ronny H. Graham
Given 20-Apr-24; 37 minutes 2024-04-20

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Once again today, we will be going back to the book of Psalms and continuing on with the list that David compiles here for those who will dwell on God's holy hill.

As we saw before, David proposed two questions in Psalm 15:1 and then proceeds to answer them in the remaining four verses. Now, let us go ahead and read it so that we have our anchor in Psalm 15. We will read verses 1 and 2.

Psalm 15:1-2 Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart.

We have already gone through the first two. So for today, let us continue, beginning with the third one here. "He who speaks the truth in his heart."

Originally, it was my intention to try and find those in David's life that he might have been referring to when he wrote this psalm. But considering some of the advice from my helpmeet, Ali, I decided that perhaps she was right in suggesting that quite possibly there is not a better answer in all of the Bible other than Jesus Christ of course, of the one who stood up for God's truth in front of the religious leaders of the time, also being declared as the first martyr of the fast-growing church after the death of Christ. Now, we should be able to guess that would be Stephen.

We find the story of Stephen in the book of Acts, which you can go ahead and turn to, if you will. But before we get to Stephen, let us set the stage for the circumstances we find in the newly-formed church at the time.

In chapter 4, we find that Peter and John had been arrested for preaching in the name of Jesus Christ. They were then brought before the Sanhedrin and questioned about their actions regarding their preaching. The church was now growing quite rapidly and on one occasion, there was 5,000 men at their preaching. Now this was the first instance where Peter and John were questioned and then they were scolded and let go.

Now shortly after there in chapter 5, as the disciples continued to preach, we find again that many men (and they mentioned women this time) were continually being added to the church because of the preaching of the apostles. And once again, they were arrested and this time, they were put in jail. Again, they find themselves before the council, the Sanhedrin, and this time, being furious and cut to the quick, as the margin in my Bible says, the council tries to figure out a way to kill the apostles.

Let us begin in Acts 6, and we will read quite a bit here, the first 13 verses.

Acts 6:1-13 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cicilia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him before the council. They also set up false witnesses who said, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law."

With the apostles preaching in full swing since the death of Christ, the church was growing so fast that the carnal nature of some began to surface and the murmurers began accusing the apostles of neglect. Now, the apostles instruct their brethren to pick out seven men, "full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business," as it says in verse 3. Thus, we are introduced to Stephen, who is named first, and described as a man "full of faith and the Holy Spirit."

Now, since the death of Christ, indications are the growth of the church continued multiplying greatly, as it says in verse 7, so much so that even some of the priests began to be converted. Now, Stephen took his calling very seriously and went about full of faith and power, doing great wonders and signs among the people, and doing so, he drew the attention of a group called the Freedmen of the Synagogue.

This term freedmen is used only once here in the Bible and it is not totally certain who they actually were, or at least I could not find it. There are several ideas but they are just speculation and nothing concrete. Some believe they were Jews, some who had been enslaved by the Romans, and there are others who believe they are Hellenist Jews. There is another idea that this is quite possibly mentioned just to indicate where Paul's connection to this group came from, because it mentions Cicilia and Tarsus is a city of Cicilia.

Now, whoever they were, they do appear to be of the synagogue and began disputing with Stephen regarding what he was preaching, but they could not overcome the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. This group seemed to be more vicious and vindictive as those who had plotted to kill Jesus as they began their plot to silence Stephen. Indications are that at least some of the same people were involved. They set up false witnesses to testify and even paid them to say that Stephen was speaking blasphemy. And we find that in verse 11, they purposely went about to incite the people, the elders, and the scribes against Stephen, so much so that they seized him and brought him before the council. They got someone else to do their dirty work, as we might say today.

The word council used in most English Bibles seems to indicate the Sanhedrin, which has 71 members which are presided over by the priest, and I think the same priest was still in office from the time of Christ being crucified. Now, the council consists of the two sects of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. These are the same people who plotted to kill Jesus and who were persecuting the apostles. And later on, they were the same ones that plotted to kill Paul, all because they were filled with jealousy, as it says back in Acts 5:17. They were once again trying to preserve their position in the synagogue as more and more people began to believe the true gospel.

As chapter 7 begins, it appears that false witnesses brought their accusations and the high priest then asked Stephen, "Are these things so?" Up until the selection of Stephen to serve in the church, we know very little about his background, but we do know that he was probably not of the synagogue, which is a given. And then for the next 50 verses, he gives an encapsulated history of Israel, which seems they understood perfectly, but immediately they rejected his conclusion. How many times in the New Testament do we hear them referring to Abraham as their father and prided themselves in upholding and keeping the law of Moses?

Now let us pick up another few verses here in Act 7, as we continue with Stephen.

Acts 7:51-54 "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it." When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

Stephen had called them out on their hypocrisy and they were cut to the heart. My margin says they were furious. They became as ravenous wolves, gnashing at him with their teeth. The King James version renders this scripture, "They gnashed on him with their teeth." Were they so furious at the hearing of the truth that they literally bit him? Truth being the key word here, for there was no blasphemy and they judged wrongly, killing an innocent servant of God. They did not want to hear the truth. They were comfortable with their position in the synagogue, and this young punk was dangerous and he had to be silenced. "Who does he think he is anyway? And where does he get his education?"

Since we are looking at Psalm 15:2, "he who speaks the truth in his heart," let us consider the word truth for a moment. We live in a time when it seems the truth is very hard to come by. Do we even know the truth when we hear it? Let us ask another question. Can we know the truth? Let us go to another scripture here back in John 18 and let us just pick up the first sentence here in verse 38.

John 18:38 Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"

Let us back up and read verse 37.

John 18:37 Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are you a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Now I want to read this again in the Amplified Bible and it truly lives up to its name. It does amplify this verse somewhat more and I think it is wonderful.

John 18:37 (AMP) So Pilate said to Him, "Then You are a King?" Jesus answered, "You say [correctly] that I am a King. That is why I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth [who is a friend of the truth and belongs to the truth] hears and listens carefully to My voice."

Do we realize what Christ is saying here? There are those who cannot hear the truth. The freedmen that attacked Stephen did not hear the truth. All they heard was an accusation against their pride. Were they of the truth?

I decided to look up a few idioms regarding truth on the Internet, and the possibilities are endless. But I did manage to pick out two. The first one is from a man by the name of W. Clement Stone. I have no idea who he is or when he lived. "The truth will always be the truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief, or ignorance." The second one comes from someone named Tertian and I believe he did live in the first century AD. "The first reaction to truth is hatred." Do we hear the truth, or should I say, can we hear the truth and how do we react?

Maybe the freedmen did hear the truth after all, rejecting it in outright hatred, killing an innocent man. Not everyone can hear the truth or else why would Jesus instruct the seven churches in Revelation, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Do we have ears to hear?

Just a couple of more things in regards to Stephen and then we will move on to the next one. It is suggested in Matthew Henry's commentary that what we see here with Stephen is the fulfillment of one of the prophecies made by Jesus Christ and that is back in Luke 21. What Luke is doing here in Luke 21 is the same thing as we find over in Matthew 24.

Luke 21:11-17 "And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. But before all these things, they will lay hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth of wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake."

Perhaps Matthew Henry got it right, because we find back in Acts 6:10, the freedmen were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which Steven spoke. Were their friends and family some of the the mob that killed Stephen? Will we be betrayed by our family and friends? Those are Christ's words, not mine.

Now, some of you might say, "Well, that's talking about the Tribulation." But we read right over verse 12. It says, "Before all these things, they will lay hands on you and persecute you."

As we close the book on Stephen, let us go back to Acts 7 and we will read a couple of more verses here.

Acts 7:55-57 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord.

In verse 57, we find yet another reference to the hearing, as they stop their ears. They did not want to hear the truth. Do we want to hear the truth?

Now, the last one here as Stephen stood alone proclaiming God's truth as they stoned him to death, what did God do? Sometimes we just kind of gloss right over this. Stephen says, "I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Can we conclude that Jesus Christ and God the Father gave him a standing ovation as he spoke the truth in his heart? Stephen stood alone. Can we?

I hate to run into a roadblock, but that is the end of Stephen. Now we are going to shift gears and go back to Psalm 15 for the next one. The next trait that David lists here in verse 5, "He who does not backbite with his tongue."

Perhaps in this one, which is the fourth one here in Psalm 15, David is considering the law as it is described in Leviticus 19:16, where it says, "You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people." Now, for this one, we will take the opposite approach and instead of looking for someone who does not backbite with his tongue, we will instead look at a character who did just that. And it comes from a very familiar story from the book of Esther. You can go ahead and go back there.

The book of Esther is quite unique in that God's name is not mentioned, it is not used at all. But at the same time, there is quite possibly no other book where He is more involved in orchestrating the events that take place.

Now, the book of Esther occurs after the Jews were released from exile to return to their homeland. But it is unclear why Mordecai and Esther remain. And as it turns out, they would not be the only ones. There were Jews spread out all through the 127 provinces of King Ahasuerus.

Go ahead and turn to the book of Esther as we begin to answer or consider Haman's plotting. Now, before we move to our main character, let us briefly define what it means to backbite. This word is quite simple in that it means to slander, scandalize, or gossip, to attack the character of another person who is not present, hence to talk behind one's back or backbite.

As the book of Esther begins, there is every indication that the Persian Empire was at its peak. And King Ahasuerus had commissioned a banquet lasting for 180 days (I do not think I have ever heard of another banquet that long), and he was displaying the riches in the splendor of his glorious kingdom, as it says in chapter 1, verse 4.

Now feasting must have been a way of life for these people because we find that after the 180 day festival, he commissioned another festival and this one would last for seven more days. This king seemed to love feasting and he loved having a good time. And it is obvious, it seems, that he did not mind sharing the wealth with all of his subjects, with all the provinces being invited to his feast. Now I mentioned this because Esther, when she decides to act on behalf of her people, she does so by preparing a banquet for the king and this quite possibly was to put him at ease.

For the purpose of the rest of this split [sermon], we are not going to focus on Esther and Mordecai, per sé, but more so on the actions of Haman. Now, Haman was an Amalekite and their history with Israel went all the way back to when the children of Israel left Egypt and they were actually defeated in battle against Joshua. No doubt Haman had been reared knowing that part of his ancestry and hence, the hatred of Israel, as well as Mordecai and all the Jews; Mordecai most importantly, because Mordecai would not bow to him.

Let us begin to set the stage regarding Haman in Esther chapter 3. We will first read 1 through 6 and then 8 and 9.

Esther 3:1-6 After these things, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. And all the king's servants who were within the king's gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not bow or pay homage. Then the king's servants who were within the king's gate said to Mordecai, "Why do you transgress the king's command?" Now it happened, when they spoke to him daily and he would not listen to them, that they told it to Haman, to see whether Mordecai words would stand; for Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew. When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow to him or pay homage, Haman was filled with wrath. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai. Instead, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.

Esther 3:8-9 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people's, and they do not keep the king's laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king's treasuries."

Haman had risen to power, being promoted by King Ahasuerus to what appears to be second only to the king. And it was commanded by the king that when Haman passed by that everyone was to bow and pay homage. Now, despite of all those around Mordecai urging him to give in and pay and bow to Haman, he refused. And after Haman saw it, he was furious. Thus, in his hatred, he began to plot to eliminate not only Mordecai, but all the Jews living throughout the provinces.

Having the ear of the king, he began craftily describing Mordecai's people as those who do not keep the law of the king. The king obviously trusted Haman's judgment and the decree was written, signed into law, sealed by the king's signet ring—and Haman thought he had won. We find in verse 15 that Haman sat down with the king, celebrating his victory no doubt, and patting himself on the back with coming up with such a brilliant plan. Whispering in the king's ear, if you will, Haman had successfully manipulated the king. And now he sat down with the king to celebrate what he thought was a wonderful plan to eliminate not only this pesky Jew, Mordecai, who was a thorn in his side, but he was going to get rid of the Jews once and for all.

Now this plan of Haman and the decree that he had manipulated the king to enact, would take a year for the news to spread to all the provinces. And the date was set to put it into action. Haman, passing by the king's gate each day and seeing Mordecai, who refused to bow to him, made his blood boil. He could not stand the sight of him. His hatred would continue to fester as he returned home to brag to his family about his exaltation by the king. And now to put icing on the cake, he had been invited by the queen to a banquet with only him and the king. Haman was on top of the world. But as long as Mordecai refused to bow to his greatness, his hatred grew. After all, he was practically royalty now.

Well, let us go ahead and pick up a few more verses here in Esther 5.

Esther 5:11-14 Then Haman told them of his great riches, the multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the officials of the servants of the king. Moreover Haman said, "Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king. Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate." Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Let the gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet." And the thing pleased Haman; so he had the gallows made.

Haman takes the advice of his family and friends, preparing the gallows to hang Mordecai. Now there is two things we need to look at here that Haman does not know, or at least I do not think he had a clue. Number one, it seems he had no idea that Esther was a Jew. And number two, the most critical, he does not see God.

Believe it or not, the process of hanging someone is somewhat of an art or it may be better described as involving quite a bit of physics. Thanks to my researcher (again Ali), she found this article. In preparing the gallows, the hangman had to take several factors into account. Number one, the height of the person to be hanged. Number two, the correct amount of drop. Number three, the stretch factor. And number four, the knot had to be tied just in a special way as well.

Now, it is hard to believe that it is this technical. For instance, someone 6 feet tall, you would add 7 feet per drop and another 6 feet per stretch. Hence, the gallows should be about 19 feet from the ground. The reason it is so precise is that without proper drop, the neck would not break properly and it would take the subject 15 minutes to die. Too much drop and it is rather self-explanatory. It would just rip someone's head off, creating a huge mess, as the article said. Sorry for the gruesome explanation, but I wanted to show the hatred that Haman had for Mordecai because he wanted to rip his head off ordering the gallows to be 50 cubits high or 75 feet. I think that is probably about five of these buildings. I forgot to measure it. Four times the recommended height for a 6 foot man.

By the time we get to chapter 7, Esther had prepared a second banquet for the next day, yet again for the king and Haman. Now, just before the banquet, Haman's plan to have Mordecai hanged had gone south and he proceeds to the banquet anyway, still not knowing who Esther was.

Let us read the conclusion of this episode regarding Haman. Breaking into the last part of Esther's plea for her people, beginning in chapter 7, verse four and go through 8:2.

Esther 7:4-10 "For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king's loss." So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?" And Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!" So Haman was terrified before the king and queen. Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king.

When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, "Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?" As the word left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. Now, Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, "Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king's behalf, is standing at the house of Haman." Then the king said, "Hang him on it!" So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath subsided.

Esther 8:1-2 On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told him how he was related to her. So the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.

Esther had exposed Haman for what he truly was and he was hung on his own 75 foot gallows. Haman's judgment was quick and his face was covered immediately. Perhaps it goes without saying that he lost his head, and his entire household was given to the one he slandered. Was God watching? How does God feel about gossip and slander? This is very serious stuff, brethren, and we have much to examine. Incidentally, later on in the book of Esther, we find out that all 10 of Haman's sons were hanged as well. Perhaps his lineage stopped right there.

I want to close a little differently than we are used to by going to the first one as we began, "He who speaks the truth in his heart." And then the second one, "He who does not slander with his tongue" with a couple of more of those idioms. And then we will go on over to II Timothy, which you can go ahead and turn there.

Now keep in mind the freedmen who were offended by truth and killed Stephen. This next quote is by John MacArthur.

Don't ever water down the gospel. If the truth offends, then let it offend. People have been living their whole lives in offense to God. Let them be offended for a while.

The second one is from a man by the name of John Rousell. And he says,

Even as thou art scandalizing others, thine own nature is being abased, while those whom thou dost backbite remain the same.

Let us go back to II Timothy in chapter 2. We will read verses 15 and 16 and jump across the page to II Timothy 4.

II Timothy 2:15-16 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.

Vain babblings will increase to more ungodliness. There is one thing I hate about an election year, there is so much confusion. We do not have a clue what to believe or when. That may be the problem of Donald Trump. You know, everybody hates him. Maybe he is telling the truth. I have no idea. He talks too much, I think.

Let us go ahead and add another scripture right across the page in II Timothy 4.

II Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

The Church of the Great God began with a signature sermon, if I may put it that way, given by John Ritenbaugh, "Do You See God?" Now, the reason being, I believe or I talked to him about it, we always thought, those of us who came out of Worldwide, that it was Satan who blew the church apart. But in fact, it was his ideas that God Himself had allowed this to happen.

The first booklet produced to go along with "Do You See God" as the first sermon, was Guard the Truth. And the church seal comes from John 10:27, "My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me." The freedmen refused to hear the truth of God sent through Stephen. Haman never saw God. Do we see God? Are we guarding the truth? Are we following Jesus Christ?

Now, as we prepare for Passover in examining ourselves, will we receive a standing ovation from God? Or will we be taken off to the gallows?

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