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(8/4) Welcome back for part 2 of our message series "A Bigger Story." We saw last week that there is just so much more to the story. In fact, I had to leave you hanging with the question of the high priest, because there was so much more. He said,

"Are these charges true?" (Acts 7:1).

And Stephen is going to reply, but his reply is actually 52 verses long, the longest message in the book of Acts.

As we come to this scene, we must recognize that in order to understand what is happening in our lives, we have to see the big picture, the larger story and get away from the smaller stories so many of us get entangled in.

Last week we left off with Stephen standing before the leaders of the Jews having been accused of blaspheming God, Moses, the Law, and the Temple. But if you remember, he didn’t have to defend himself in that moment, because God himself answered by putting his glory on Stephen’s face. And so, today as we continue, we are going to look at Stephen’s anointed defense because he was able to defend his faith solidly from the Scriptures with unwavering courage.

In verse 2, he begins with Abraham before describing the rejection of Joseph, the rejection of Moses, and ultimately the rejection of God. He does this not just to recite history but to establish that it is they and not he who is guilty of blaspheming God, Moses, the Law, and the Temple. And so, the trial has begun, it is his turn to speak, and he begins saying in verse 2,

"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 Haran" (Acts 7:2).

And so, he begins appealing to them as brothers and fathers, building common ground, showing his solidarity with them, referring first to the God of glory. In other words, in his opening statement, he declares that God alone is the one in whom he trusts, he is the one who initiated our redemptive history, and he declares that the God of glory is the one who appeared to Abraham saying,

"Leave your country and your people and go to the land I will show you" (Acts 7:3).

"So, he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living" (Acts 7:4).

"He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child" (Acts 7:5).

And Abraham went without having any claim to it, no right to it, no title to it, just the promise that God would give it to him. But before that would happen, God spoke prophetically saying,

"Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years" (Acts 7:6).

"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" (Acts 7:7).

We are talking about "A Bigger Story" and if you are going to go after the promise of God, leaving where you are, it is going to take a leap of faith. And so, you are going to have to do what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2, and that is to fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). In other words, because this season of your life may be longer than you were anticipating, the journey longer than you were expecting, you will want to walk with the author and perfecter of your faith so that you can persevere.

God is the author of the story, he is the perfecter of Abraham’s faith, and Stephen is reminding them that just as they were in a season of slavery, another season of wandering, they were still in an unresolved situation, a time of promise and not possession. In other words, there is so much more to the story, and it is bigger than they ever expected. It is bigger than Abraham imagined, this place where God was going to take him, somewhere off in the distance where they would worship God.

Now, remember Abram was from Mesopotamia, from a place called Ur of the Chaldeans, but more recently his father Terah had moved his family to the city of Haran. And so, Abram comes from an idolatrous background, he lives with an idolatrous people, when God comes to him. He has an encounter with the living God, the one true God, the one who was and is and always will be. And so, God snatches him out of his idolatrous culture and says,

"Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you" (Genesis 12:1).

In other words, God says to Abram, there is something I want to do through you, but this idolatry is blocking your ability to receive what I have for you. However, if you have the faith to leave, I am going to set you apart and bless you. But in order to get into the flow of this grace that I want to pour out, you are going to have to leave some people alone; you are going to have to move out of some places where you have been hanging out.

And so, God says to Abram, you are going to have to leave your country, change some friends, even those you are related to, because you are going to have to go so that you can move to the next level of your walk with me. And then he tells him, when you make your move, when you take that step of faith,

"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2).

In other words, I am going to start a whole new nation out of you, a nation that understands the blessings of God. Not only that, but he alludes to the change of his name from Abram, which means high father, to Abraham the father of a multitude. And then he continues saying,

"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3).

In other words, what is about to come out of you, the Messiah who shall spring forth from you will cause all peoples of the earth to be blessed. And so, this is an over the top, more than you could ever ask or imagine promise of the seven-fold blessing of God. And the Bible says,

"Abram believed the Lord" (Genesis 15:6).

That is an important statement, and so I want us to consider each of the promises of God to see what it was that motivated Abraham to leave his family, leaving all that was familiar to him, and heading towards an unknown destination. In other words, with just the promise of better,

"Abram left as the Lord had told him" (Genesis 12:4a).

In other words, we need to stop believing the lies that we are finished, because Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran (Genesis 12:4b).

Abram was 75 years old when he moved out, but he was just getting started, because the Bible says,

"He is the father of all who believe" (Romans 4:11).

In other words, like Abram, it is our faith that is the conduit taking the blessings of the Lord and allowing them to travel to the next thing you are about to do. And so, all you’ve got to do is have enough faith to bridge the gap between where you are and where you are going because the Bible says,

"God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:8).

My question for you this morning is do you have enough faith to bridge the gap? The faith capacity to allow the blessings of God to manifest themselves in your life?

You see, the Spirit of God has so much more potential, more ability than we even have the capacity to receive, but all things are possible for those who believe. And so, it is through faith that we are able to tap into this grace that blesses us. As the Bible says in Ephesians chapter one,

"Our God and Father has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).

In other words, this is past tense, you are blessed, it is already done. And so, if you’ve got the faith to believe, the faith to receive it, and the faith to walk in it, you are blessed!

There are some of you here who needed to hear that, because the enemy has been telling you that you are not enough, you will never succeed, but I am here today to declare that you are blessed. In other words, if you have the faith to receive it, if you can think of it, God can make it happen. If you can start it, God will establish it. If you can build it, God will fill it, because you are blessed.

I wonder how many people in here believe what I just said? Raise your hand if you receive what I just spoke over you, because that was for you, that was yours.

You see, I know the context of this Scripture, I know this was a promise given to Abraham, but I also know the application given to us by the Spirit of God. The Bible says in Galatians chapter three, verse nine,

"Those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith" (Galatians 3:9).

And so, just as Abram received this blessing from God, I want you to understand that you have been blessed through him.

Are there any blessed people in here?

If you are blessed, I want you to receive this word, because these blessings belong to you.

This week, the kids in "Scuba" Bible camp learned a song called, "Count Your Blessings," and I want us to do that this morning because those of us who believe are blessed along with Abraham. In fact, as I studied this passage, I counted eight blessings that belong to you.

Number one, the Lord said,

"Go to the land I will show you" (Genesis 12:1).

In other words, God is still revealing things, things that he has prepared for you, and all you have to do is walk in it.

"You will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way; walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21).

He has gone to prepare a place for you, it’s a land with large flourishing cities that you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things that you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant (Deuteronomy 6:10-11). The Lord said, "I’m going to take you to a place that I will show you."

But I’m afraid that some of you are still thinking too small, because number two, God said,

"I will make you into a great nation" (Genesis 12:2).

In other words, you’re going to need to make some room for what the Lord is about to do in you, because you are not just a man, you are not just a woman, but God is going to make you into a great nation. The Spirit of God says to you,

"You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God" (1 Peter 2:9).

Not only that, number three, he promises,

"I will bless you" (Genesis 12:2).

And so, he promised, and the Bible says,

"When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, "I will surely bless you" (Hebrews 6:13-14).

And so, you may be hurting right now, you might be crying right now, but the Lord said, "I swear I will surely bless you." If that was your word, would you lift your hands in worship right now? Receive your blessing!

Number four, you can keep to yourself, you can remain silent, but God said,

"I will make your name great" (Genesis 12:2).

And so, you don’t have to draw attention to yourself, you don’t have to promote yourself, because God said he’s going to make your name great.

Number five, God said, not only will I make you into a great nation, and bless you, and make your name great, but he said,

"You will be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2).

That means, everywhere you go, everything you touch in your home, in your school, in your workplace, is going to be blessed because you came into it. In fact, your neighbor is getting blessed because you are sitting beside them. That person in front of you and behind you is getting blessed because you will be a blessing.

We are counting our blessings and number six, the Lord said,

"I will bless those who bless you" (Genesis 12:3).

In fact, turn to your neighbor and say, "If you bless me you are going to get blessed."

And then, number 7, God said,

"Whoever curses you I will curse" (Genesis 12:3).

In other words, you are too blessed to be cursed. Hell can’t curse you, the witch and the warlock can’t curse you, because the more they try to curse you, the more God is going to curse them.

Just like in Numbers chapter 23 when Balack king of Moab wanted Balaam to curse Israel but every time Balaam open his mouth, he blessed Israel instead. And so, he makes it very clear to the king that he cannot curse Israel because God has blessed Israel.

That’s why we ought to worship him and give him praise because the Lord said,

"No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn" (Isaiah 54:17, NKJV).

That is a good place to praise him right now, because that curse and that hex is returning to them, and God is blessing you instead.

And then, number eight, count your blessings, the Lord said,

"All peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3).

Now, just imagine that you are Abram, because this doesn’t make any sense. He is 75 years old, his wife is barren, he doesn’t have any children, but God comes to him prophesying over him, speaking blessings and fruitfulness over him. It’s just as the Lord said through Isaiah,

"See, I am doing a new thing" (Isaiah 43:19).

In other words, it doesn’t have to make sense, because this is something new, there was a seed that was prophesied, and that seed stands in the face of the evidence that is against it. For God has said,

"Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed" (Genesis 22:18).

And so, every place you set your foot, everything you touch is going to be blessed, every nation is going to be blessed.

I want you to pause and reflect on this for a moment, counting your blessings, because each of our blessings come by faith. And here is what I hope you all understand, it all comes down to faith, and without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

And so, Stephen tells the Sanhedrin, Abraham was blessed because he left where he was and went where God called him to go. According to the Bible in Hebrews chapter 11, Abraham did it by faith. And so, when he was called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, he obeyed and went even though he did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:8).

And so, Abram did it by faith, he received his blessing by faith, and by faith he became part of a bigger story. In the same way, when God calls us to go or when God calls us to wait, we simply obey in faith, because without faith it is impossible to please God. And so, we want to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, because he is still writing our story.

Read Part 3

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott