The stiff-necked Christians
[Acts 7:51-54]
What is stubbornness? It is dogged determination not to change one’s attitude or position on something (Internet). This word is used to actively present one's thoughts to other or is used to do what one thinks without listening to others. The Bible Exodus 32:9 says that the people of Israel are “a stiff-necked people.” What does it mean? It is a metaphor for human stubbornness and foolish arrogance that does not obey God. The word “stiff-necked” means obstinacy. This reminds us a yoked cow. When we try to yoke the cow, the cow has to bow its head. But since the cow doesn't want to, the cow stiffens its neck.
In Acts 7:51 we can see the expression “stiff-necked”. As we meditate on the four ways in which a straight-necked Christian is doing, I pray that if we are a straight-necked Christian, we will have the opportunity to repent our sins to God.
First, the stiff-necked Christians resist the Holy Spirit.
Look at Acts 7:51 – “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.” The Bible refers to the stiff-necked religious leaders who judged Stephen, ‘You are always resisting the Holy Spirit.’ These words point to the fact that the Israelites who were listening to Stephen's speech that they were like their ancestors who resist the Holy Spirit. When God's Holy Spirit counseled the Israelites through Moses and the other God's leaders after Moses, the stiff-necked Israelites resisted the Holy Spirit, and their descendants, the religious leaders, continued to sin against the work of the Holy Spirit. Here, "resisting" the Holy Spirit means rejecting, opposing, and showing hostility to the Spirit's message and the messengers who convey the message (MacArthur). How did the Israelites resist the Holy Spirit? They turned their ancestors’ spiritual obedience into outward worship (Furneaux). This means that instead of obeying the Holy Spirit's message, they replaced it with outward worship. The Israelites devoted themselves to the outward worship only in order to enjoy their religious satisfaction, rejecting the message of the Holy Spirit. Why did the Israelites resist the Holy Spirit? Why did they reject the Holy Spirit's message? The reason is that they have not been circumcised in their hearts and ears. This means that the Jews were physically circumcised, but not in their hearts. In fact, the Israelites lived the outward religious life that wasn’t praise by God but praised by people by focusing on the law and the appearance of the temple without participating in the inheritance promised to Abraham. The Jews lived the lives of outward religionists rather than the spiritual obedience of listening to and obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit.
What should we do? We shouldn’t go against the Holy Spirit. In order to do this, we must be saints who are circumcised in heart and ears and praised by God (Rom. 2:28-29). Also, we must oppose the Devil instead of the Holy Spirit (Jam. 4:7).
Second, the stiff-necked Christians persecute the righteous.
Look at Acts 7:52 – “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.” Stephen exposed not only the stiff-necked Israelites’ sin but also their ancestors’ sin. And his ancestors' sin was a sin that persecuted and eventually killed the prophets whom God sent to foretell the coming of the Messiah. Eventually, despite the fulfillment of the coming of the Messiah, who was sent by God and was prophesied through the prophets, the Israelites crucified Jesus. Stephen emphasized Jesus' innocence and righteousness to the Jews who were listening to him and exposed the sins of the Israelites who killed Jesus. Stephen pierced the essence of the fundamental sin of the Jewish people. It was the sin that killed the Messiah.
The stiff-necked Christians who are Christians outwardly persecute the Christians inwardly. They rejected the Holy Spirit’s message of love each other and seek the form of godliness for self-religious satisfaction but denies the power of godliness. In the end, they are secularizing the church by trying to reveal their own righteousness rather than revealing the Lord's righteousness. These stiff-necked Christians disturb the church, persecuting the servants of the Lord who preached the word of God. They also murder their brothers and sisters in Christ in their hearts (1 Jn. 3:15). But we must hate unrighteousness and love righteousness. Since we are justified by the merits of Jesus Christ on the cross, we must love each other with our hearts with the love of Christ rather than committing murder by hating each other.
Third, the stiff-necked Christians receive the Word of God but don’t keep it.
Look at Acts 7:53 – “you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.” After Stephen pierced the fundamental sin of the stiff-necked Israelites, he pointed out to them that they who received the law as ordained by angels, they didn’t keep it. This word was given through angels when God gave the law to Moses (Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2), and even though the Israelites received the law, they didn’t believe in Jesus whom the prophets prophesized as Christ, but rather crucified Him. That’s why the Israelites couldn’t be said that they are law-keepers. Although they valued the law and studied and meditated on it, they didn’t accept Jesus as Messiah, who is the heart of the law. Even now, the Jews don’t believe Jesus as Messiah (Isa. 30: 9).
How about us? Do we receive the Word of God and keep it? We are all builders of houses, either on the rock or on the sand. If we heard the Word of God and act on them, we are building our house on the rock (Mt. 7:24). “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock” (v. 25). But if we hear the Word of God and don’t act on them, we are building our house on the sand (v. 26). “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall” (v. 27). Are we building our house well?
As I met with a pastor this week, I really felt that Satan was attacking our families. There are so many marital conflicts in our families and our children who see us being in conflicts get hurts as well. How should we live our faith especially in our home? It’s very challenging. We must humbly received the Word of God and live a life of obeying it. How can we measure the maturity of our faith? Who are the mature Christians? The mature Christians are those who have good and soft hearts that are receptive to the Word of God, who are quick to listen to the Word and act on it. The problem is that we aren’t absorbing the Word of God well because of the lack of absorption. And the bigger problem is that we are not immediately putting that Word into practice. What should we do to solve these problems? First, we must train ourselves to receive the Word of God. And the important part of that training is meditation training. As we think and think about God's Word repeatedly, we must experience the grace that Holy Spirit makes us to understand the Word and to engrave it on the tablets of our hearts. And then, we should train ourselves to put the Word of God into practice immediately for the purpose of cultivating the habit of putting the Word into action immediately. In order to do that, we must be alert to the habit of putting off. If we put it off, then we will forget it and won’t be able to put God's Word into practice. Now, we must obey the Word of God with the determination of putting the Word into practice.
Fourth and last, the stiff-necked Christians are angry.
Look at Acts 7:54 – “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.” Listening to the Stephen's speech that exposed the sins of the religious leaders and their ancestors, the religious leaders were cut to the quick and they gnashed their teeth at him. And eventually they killed Stephen. There are two things we can do when we hear the Word of God and when the Word of God pierces our hearts. First, the positive response of the Word of God piercing our hearts is to repent our sins and be saved (Acts 2:37). Second, the negative response of the Word of God piercing our hearts is to be gnashing our teeth rather than repenting our sins (5:33, 7:54). Here, the first positive response teaches us how God's Word can be blessing to us, while the second negative response shows us how God's Word can be a curse to us.
Is God's Word being blessing to us or curse to us? Are our hearts being pierced by this Word of God today, right now? Are we repent our sins or are we angry? As we listen to these words, we need to think about whether we are stiff-necked Christians like the Israelites or not. Are we resisting the Holy Spirit? Are we persecuting the righteous? Are we receiving the Word of God and not keeping it? Are we angry? If we say “Yes” to these questions, we are stiff-necked Christians. Therefore, we must repent before God.
The Christ-follower who resists the Holy Spirit,
James Kim
(Yearning for true repentance)