In Acts 7, Stephen stands before the Sanhedrin, the highest religious council of his day, accused of speaking against Moses, the law and the temple. He answers by walking them through Israel’s history: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, the tabernacle and the temple. Then he says the words that enraged them: “You stiff-necked people… you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7:51).
Stephen was speaking to people who believed in God, honored Moses and wanted to protect the things of God. That makes his words a mirror for us. A church can believe in the Holy Spirit, talk about Him and pray for Him to move, and still push back when He begins leading somewhere new.
God is working even when we don’t recognize it
Joseph’s brothers sold him into Egypt, “but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions” (Acts 7:9–10). In the pit, in slavery and in prison, God was working in ways no one could see. The brother they rejected became the one God used to save them (Acts 7:13). Just because you can’t see what God is doing doesn’t mean He isn’t doing something.
We can resist the very thing God sends to help us
At forty, Moses tried to rescue his people in his own strength, and they pushed him away: “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?” (Acts 7:27). Forty years later God called him from the burning bush and sent him back in the Lord’s strength. “This Moses, whom they rejected… this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer” (Acts 7:35). Sometimes the help God sends doesn’t look like what we expected, and our hearts turn back toward Egypt (Acts 7:39). Don’t go back.
Don’t become so attached to what God used that you resist what God is doing
The tabernacle and the temple were both God’s idea, yet Stephen reminded the council that “the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands” (Acts 7:48–50; Isaiah 66:1–2). Something can be given by God, used by God and blessed by God without being God. Hold tightly to the Lord and hold everything else with an open hand. Seasons, assignments, methods and locations change. Jesus does not.
Be full of the Holy Spirit
The council was full of rage, but Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. As the stones fell, he prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:59–60). The goal isn’t only to stop resisting the Spirit. It’s to be so full of Him that He can lead us even when we don’t understand.
God has always moved His people forward. He told Abraham to go, and Jesus told His disciples to go. We can thank God for yesterday without holding it so tightly that we miss what He is doing today. God is moving. Are you moving with Him?
A prayer for today
Holy Spirit, I don’t want to resist You. Open my eyes to see where You are working, even when I can’t see the whole picture. Help me receive the people You send, hold what You have given me with an open hand, and follow You wherever You lead. Fill me again today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Based on Pastor Niel Petersen’s Sunday morning message at Harvest Revival Center, September 6, 2026.
