Tuesday, May 16, 2017
“David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a
permanent Temple for the God of Jacob. But
it was Solomon who actually built it. However,
the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and
the earth is my footstool. Could you
build me a temple as good as that?’ asks the Lord. ‘Could you build me such a resting place? Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’ “You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the
truth. Must you forever resist the Holy
Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did,
and so do you! Name one prophet your
ancestors didn’t persecute! They even
killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom
you betrayed and murdered. You
deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of
angels.” The Jewish leaders were
infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. Acts 7:46-54(NLT)
Stephen is
generally considered the first one chosen to be a deacon to assist the apostles
in spreading the Gospel, and also the first martyr for the cause of
Christ. I’m not surprised when I read
the account. He was falsely accused of
blasphemy (talking against God), and distorting the truth about Moses, as well
as how Jesus wanted to destroy the Temple and change everything (Acts 6:11-14).
The
accusations were outlandish, so as Stephen stood before the ruling elders of
the Sanhedrin council, he began his defense with an excellent lesson for the
scholars, recounting Israel’s history, beginning at Abraham, and rolling all
the way to the cross.
Stephen’s
sermon was going just fine with the historical background, fifty verses of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and the Exodus under Moses. He could have ended it there and gotten a
seminary doctoral degree, not to mention staving off execution! Whenever I read these chapters I want to stop
at the end of the history lesson, close my Bible and pretend everything ended
well. I think of what’s coming next and
get that, Oh, Stephen, you were sooooo…..
close!
But Stephen
was a true meddling preacher! After the historical introduction to his
sermon he delivered the punch line: looking the ruling elders in the eye he declared
in no unmistakable way, that THEY, not he, were the stubborn blasphemers
who had put the Son of God on a cross, just as they had done with every prophet
that God, in His kindness, had ever sent to open up their blinded eyes. And with that, the elders lost it and
had Stephen stoned to death. (More about
that tomorrow).
What is it
that makes a person step over the line when standing before powerful people when
those very people hold your future, even your life in their hands?
·
It’s
the same force that compels a mother to block out every fear of oncoming
traffic and rescue her child who has wandered into the street…
·
It
is the same overwhelming compulsion that causes a man to choose fight or flight
depending on which better protects his family…
·
It
was the same driving pressure that moved Jesus to become the sacrifice for our
sins…
It was
love.
Stephen
could no sooner have closed his mouth at that point in his sermon, just to keep
breathing, because he knew without telling the truth to deluded, stubborn
people, he would only
be breathing; his living
would have ended with his words.
It’s not
love to stay silent if you’ve been charged with the responsibility to tell the
truth!
For You Today
If
you’ve ever gotten mad at a preacher for saying something that really ticked
you off, well, this might be a good time to check the Stephen meter. Was it the truth? Did it tick you off because it hit too close
to budging you out of your comfort zone?
Were you about to shoot the messenger?
NOTES
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