You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.
3 sermons cite this verse
The Bible calls these people stiff-necked. Stiff-necked. Stephen said to the Jews in the synagogue in Jerusalem, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you. So you share the truth. Immediately they, I don't want to hear it. Now when they refuse to hear, they remain enslaved by the devil. Notice verse 15, Satan comes and immediately takes the word away. 2 Corinthians 4, the God of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not. And here's why he's so keen on snatching the truth from people. Satan doesn't like defectors. he didn't want anybody leaving his team and going over to the enemy's team. He does not want to see people liberated. He wants them bound. So that's the hard heart. The second type of hearer or heart is the shallow heart. That's verse 16. These, likewise, are the ones sown on stony ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness and they have no root in themselves and so endure only for a time afterward when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake immediately they stumble okay now you're trying to picture this go what who what farmer is going to put seed in a ground with a bunch of rocks don't you clear them out first yes you would look at this soil and it would look good to you So let me explain. …
… That is, you're not what Jews ought to be on the inside. Uncircumcised in hearts 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 announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one, whom you have now betrayed and murdered. You who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it. That's quite a sermon. Now when they heard these things, they were enraged and they ground their teeth at Him. And then they picked up stones and they threw them until He died. And who was there approving the murder? They put their cloaks at his feet. This young man who might have said, hey, Simeon, that's a good rock right there. Now, you can get that in your hand. You can really get some velocity on that. Go ahead. You're going to want to wind up. No, let me take your cloak. Anyone else? I'll hold on that for you. …
… Stephen says something interesting in an accusation to his Jewish brethren. in the synagogue that day. He says this, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so you do also. Which, which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted? well that didn't earn him any favors they picked up stones to kill him and they stoned him to death and they laid those the ones who stoned them they laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul of Tarsus it was Saul who saw that and he also saw Stephen look up to him say Lord Jesus don't lay this sin to their charge and that started eating away and eating away at Saul of Tarsus that's why on the Damascus road when the Lord said I am Jesus whom you are persecuting the very next thing he says it's hard for you to kick against the goads hard for you to fight the conviction that you're experiencing in your heart right now those goads that are pricking at your heart the conviction that you feel. You watch this man die for Jesus. You're out trying to find and gather and kill others like him. He was fighting conviction. And I've discovered when a person is fighting conviction, they're miserable to be around. Look out. If you live with an unbeliever who's fighting the conviction of the Holy Spirit, let me know so I can pray for you. It's the only way you'll make it …