The Opposition
Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people (6:8).Stephen was a man full of God’s grace and power and did great miracles among the people, yet opposition arose against him. The men opposing him tried arguing with him, “but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke” (6:10). So, the men made up lies about Stephen. They stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law and they seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. As well, they produced false witnesses against him. Does this have a ring of familiarity? This is what they did to Jesus, too. Yet, the scripture says this about Stephen:
All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel (6:15).The History Lesson
The high priest asked Stephen if the charges against him were true. Stephen responded to the question by sharing Israel’s history. He began with Abraham being called of God to leave his country to go to the land God would show him. Stephen recounted how God gave the covenant of circumcision to Abraham, and he told of the birth of Isaac, of Jacob becoming the father of the “twelve patriarchs,” how Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him so they sold him as a slave into Egypt, how Joseph became ruler over Egypt, about the famine, the move of Jacob’s family to Egypt, the number of Israelites in the land greatly multiplying, and how a new king came into power who did not know about Joseph and how he oppressed God’s people.
Stephen went on to tell about the birth of Moses, the call of God on Moses to be the deliverer of God’s people, and Moses prophesying concerning the coming Messiah. Then he told about the people of Israel refusing to obey Moses, their God-appointed leader, and how they, instead, made an idol in the form of a calf, so “God turned away and gave them over” to their idolatry (see parallel idea in Romans 1).
Then Stephen went on to recall that the Israelites had with them in the desert the very presence of Almighty God and how the “tabernacle of the Testimony” had traveled with them in the desert, too. He told of Joshua leading the Israelites into the “Promised Land,” of the time of David and Solomon’s kingdoms, and how Solomon was the one to build the temple, yet Stephen also said this of God and the temple:
“However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says:The Confrontation
“‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
Has not my hand made all these things?’ (7:48-50)
Then, Stephen moved from recounting Israel’s history to directly confronting his opposition:
“You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it” (7:51-53).
This passage began by stating that Stephen was a man “full of grace and power.” So was Jesus. I think a false impression of God/Jesus is often proclaimed, which pictures God/Jesus as all sweetness. Yet, being full of grace and the power of God does not mean one is all sweetness and never saying anything to hurt people’s feelings. Jesus said things that hurt people’s feelings all the time, because he was more concerned about their eternal salvation. Sometimes the most loving and kind thing we can do for someone is to tell him or her the truth, even if it hurts, and even if he or she ends up hating us for it. Stephen was not afraid to tell people the truth, because he loved them more than he loved his own life and he wanted to see them turn their hearts and lives over to Jesus Christ in faith and obedience.
The truth was that, even though God had been with them all through history and they should have known God, which means they should have recognized his One and Only Son as being from the Father, they refused God’s voice and became stiff-necked people who not only opposed God’s servants, but who opposed God Almighty, whom they claimed to serve. They resisted the Holy Spirit of God and they persecuted his true servants and messengers. And, they murdered God the Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. Although they were a privileged people who had been given this rich history and had been given God’s laws and the first to receive the knowledge of the gospel of salvation, they refused to obey God.
In many respects, the church in the USA could be paralleled over to the Israelites with whom Stephen was speaking that day. We have been given great freedom of religion, Bibles coming out our ears, and the gospel preached on TV, in movies, on the radio, in books, etc. There is no want for the gospel message being preached and known throughout our nation. We have hundreds, if not thousands of Bible colleges and seminaries where people can study the Bible. We have thousands upon thousands of church structures where the gospel is preached, or at least a form of the gospel is preached. Christian books and Bibles are available in most stores in our nation. And, we have the freedom, right now anyway, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ on the internet, and to reach those in the world, with internet access, with the gospel message, too, if we will avail ourselves of this opportunity.
Yet, many in our nation who proclaim to know God and even to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are in the same situation as what Stephen’s accusers found themselves in that day. Many professing Christians are following the idols of men and are refusing God’s voice and are even persecuting and rejecting God’s servants and messengers who are bringing to them the full gospel message, and who are calling this nation of ours to repentance and to true faith in Jesus Christ, in making him truly Lord and master of our lives.
Many professing believers in Jesus Christ do not even know the voice of the Holy Spirit of God and others are resisting that voice and are thus quenching the Spirit of God in their lives. And, many within our churches and even among today’s clergy are even being taught to exclude those in the body of Christ who have strong convictions and who speak boldly in the name of Jesus Christ concerning our salvation and our need, as a nation, to come to repentance. Many are watering down the gospel message to tickle the ears of the people and are becoming followers of men over and above following the Lord and obeying his truths, and this is happening in great numbers, even among our clergy. And, in so doing, they are, in essence, crucifying our Lord all over again.
They Were Furious!
When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”And, chapter 8, v. 1, states that Saul (who later became the apostle Paul) was there giving approval to their actions in the murdering of Stephen, a man full of grace and the power of God, who had the face of an angel.
At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep (7:54-60).
The Call
Within our nation of the United States of America, we may not have gotten to this point yet, though some may have, to where we will murder the innocent just because they tell us the truth that we don’t want to hear. I do believe there are factions within our government in coordination with the NATO alliance and the New World Order who are doing this very thing in other nations of the world, and I do believe our time is coming, because the Bible says so. In the book of Revelation, chapter 3, Jesus spoke to the church in Laodicea concerning their relationship with God/Jesus. They were neither hot nor cold concerning their relationship with the Lord, but they were lukewarm, so he was about to spit them out of his mouth (judgment). I believe the church in the USA, overall, is lukewarm and that God is giving this same message he gave to Laodicea to his church in the USA today. I pray you will hear his call and that you will heed his call and that you will not refuse the Lord today.
Laodicea / An Original Work / April 29, 2011
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
You hear Me calling, you hear Me calling. I’m calling you.
Will you not answer? Will you not answer? I’m calling you.
If you but follow, if you but follow, I’ll answer you.
Won’t you give Me your heart and your soul,
So I can cleanse you and make you whole?
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.
I stand at your door, I stand at your door. I’m knocking there.
Will you not listen? Will you not listen, while I’ll be there?
If you’ll but open, if you’ll but open your hearts to Me,
I’ll come within you, I’ll come within you, you’ll sup with Me.
Won’t you buy from Me some gold and salve?
These costly treasures are yours to have.
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.
Are you contented, are you contented to be lukewarm?
Will you not have Me? Will you not have Me? Of this I warn –
If you don’t hear Me, if you don’t hear Me, and so obey,
I will spit you out, I will spit you out without delay.
So why not heed this your final call,
And give to God absolutely all?
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, song lyrics and sheet music at:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs/home/songs/laodicea
Song on video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5NJW_jgp88
http://www.godcares.tv/video/1144/Laodicea
No comments:
Post a Comment