Acts 7:55-56
KJV, “But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly
into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of
God. And said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing
on the right hand of God.’”
Stephen was one
of the seven chosen to serve the needs of the people. Stephen was a man full of
faith and power. He did wonders and miracles among the people. Then there were
religious men who did not like Stephen, stirred up the people against Stephen.
So Stephen was taken to the court. Stephen heard all the false accusations against
him.
How did Stephen
react to those who were accusing him? Was Stephen upset? The Scripture tells us
that “All the people in the meeting were watching Stephen closely and saw that
his face looked like the face of an angel” (NCV, Acts 6:15). Stephen was not
upset and he was at peace. Stephen is a good example for us to keep our eyes on Jesus and be at peace with Him.
Stephen, full of
Holy Spirit, gave a long speech from Acts 7:1-53. What impressed me was that
Stephen knew the history of Moses which show me that Stephen studied the Old
Testament books. Also there were “lively oracles to give unto us” (Acts 7:38). This
means that the stories about God who spoke to Moses was passed down by persons
who memorized the history in order to keep God's Word alive.
Why was Stephen speech so long? Stephen defend the Bible faith against those who
oppose the teaching of Jesus Christ. Stephen’s love of the Gospel truth and his
willingness to protect God’s Word from the false teachers who tried to change
the gospel. Stephen exposed their hearts that were not
true to God and to His Word.
When Stephen
ended his long speech, the religious leader could not stand it. Stephen saw Jesus
standing, waiting for him to come home (Acts 7:55-56). Stephen’s face was aglow with
peace. The angry religious leaders stoned Stephen to death. Jesus stood up to
welcome His first martyr to Himself. This should encourage to all faithful
believers near death, the Savior stands ready to receive them as their
intercessor and advocate. Oh yes, Jesus cares for you.
SONG: I SEE JESUS
Once a man named, Stephen, preached about the Lord,
Folks were saved, and folks were healed, as they
heard His Word;
Satan did not like it, Soon he had his crowd,
And as he was tried they heard Stephen cry aloud.
And as he was tried they heard Stephen cry aloud.
Chorus:
“I see Jesus, standing at the Father’s right hand,
I see Jesus, yonder in the Promise Land,
Work is over, I’m coming to Thee,
I see Jesus, standing, waiting for me.”
[The author of this hymn was Charles B. Wycuff]
[The author of this hymn was Charles B. Wycuff]
No comments:
Post a Comment