Stephen infuriated the freedmen. Those freedmen were "sawn in two" over Stephen's stunning soliloquy ~ Acts 7:54. So very upset, yet, Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. How very Kind of God to give Stephen a Glimpse of the Opened Heavens in his dying hour. A Merciful Kindness. While the Freedmen stopped up their ears with their fingers and stormed this saint and stoned him cold. Lifeless. Asleep, but so alive in Him. They may take his body but God has his soul forever. Stephen will wake up again.
The witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul (Acts 7:58) who will remember this day for the rest of his life. Saul was one of them there. Casting stones. Saul was dead, too. He is about to wake up.
Wake up, o my soul.
Stephen lived the promise of John 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." Never will He leave us!
ReplyDeleteI am still amazed that when we read one section of Scripture, we get to read the other story that the New Testament refers to. Today, Stephen remembers Solomon building the temple, and at the same time, we see where wise Solomon builds with the most careful attention to detail, the costliest rare stones to form the foundation for the glorious House of the Lord.
ReplyDeleteStephen breathes his last, in wrenching pain, but with a peaceful gaze upward that none could miss. Their thoughts, Saul's thoughts, as they watched? Pure anger clouded the Truth. Blinded witnesses to the power of the Holy Spirit. Dead in their trespasses. So stiff necked. And even as I write these words, I feel my own resisting to His Spirit.
In the horror of Stephen's stoning, let us not miss what Stephen is saying. Stephen gave his life for this message to us. What kind of house am I building for the Lord? Not material things that moth and rust destroy..the only reasonable gift we have to offer is to give up the "right to ourselves" and open our lives to Him.
Give the Holy Spirit access, and do not resist. Jesus died for this very purpose--to offer us full access to a Holy, Glorious God.
Blessed Lord's Day, everyone!
Another prayer request this morning: my cousin's daughter Angela died late last night. She was 12 years old. She started having seizures yesterday and passed away suddenly. Please keep the Jamisons in your prayers. Most of the family are believers, and they will take much comfort in His mercies, but this is a very difficult thing to lose a child, and so unexpectedly.
ReplyDelete