No Longer Slaves
The message of the gospel is as hard for people to believe today as it was in the days of the apostles. As Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches on Acts 7:35–36 in this sermon titled “No Longer Slaves,” he shows that the gospel contradicts humanity’s notion of self-sufficiency and grandeur. The Jewish leaders rejected Christ as the only atonement for sin. Stephen boldly proclaimed this message and the reaction from society was so violent that it cost him his life. They saw his message as an offense to Moses, the law, the temple, and God himself. Stephen explained how their own history revealed Christ as the one who fulfilled the law that Moses received from God on Mount Sinai. It is Christ who fulfills all of redemptive history. He is above the temple, the law, and Moses. By opposing Christ, the Sanhedrin were the ones rejecting Moses and the law. Their rejection of the gospel is a turning from the only way to be delivered from the bondage and slavery of sin and the devil. This is the great tragedy of unbelief: when men and women reject Jesus Christ, they reject the only way of salvation that God has given to the world.
