Of courage, murder and a personal question.

Listen along here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/1e20dc6c/of-courage-mur...

Just imagine the pen is in your hand, and you are having to deliver this news--'I'm sorry to tell you, but your son is dead.'

But first--

this is drawn from Acts 6 and 7, where we glean a few things:

--what courage under fire looks like

--a brief overview of the Old Testament

--an account of a deathbed vision

--Christianity will be costly for some, and is today; did you know that last week Muslim jihadists in the Congo went into a church service and hacked 49 people to death, nine of them children? Lord, have mercy.

--at the end, where Stephen lay dying, we get our first look at Saul, (Paul) who looks on and condones this horrific act

--an opportunity to look in the mirror

Dateline: Jerusalem. letter written circa 36 A.D.

Shalom. I am sorry to bear this news to you, but want you to know all about your son, Stephen. It is with deep regret that I tell you that Stephen has been killed--stoned to death on false charges. All of us loved him, and respected him so much that we had chosen him to be one of the first seven men who would serve our community as a deacon, especially helping serve those in need amongst us. 

There was something special about your son, Stephen; he seemed to have an extra measure of God's grace about him. Why, the Holy Spirit actually equipped him to do miracles among the people!1 Unfortunately, this drew the scrutiny of the Sanhedrin2 who devised a plan against Stephen. They went so far as bribing several men to tell lies that he was a traitor to God and Moses, and so your son was arrested.

Once his trial began there were more lies - that Stephen had spoken against the Temple and against the Law of Moses. When the high priest questioned Stephen about these accusations, he stood up and without missing a beat, launched into an impassioned recounting of Jewish history that only a faithful Jew could cite so accurately--1100 years--from Abraham and the birth of our faith, going right on through the building of the Temple. 

Though I know the story well, I shall never tire of how God delivered our people, even as we turned our backs on him time after time. From God’s call of Abraham, to his son Isaac, Jacob, and his son Joseph - sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt! Yet God protected him and when famine hit the land, those same brothers would come to him - in Egypt - for food. Only God. And as God had told Abraham he would make of him a 'great nation', so he did in Egypt.

God then brought the Israelites out of Egypt under Moses' leadership. And the land promised to Abraham? Yes, yes - Joshua brought the Israelites into Canaan, the land he gave us. God gave explicit instruction for the Tabernacle to be built, and years later with King David's vision for a temple, his son Solomon would build it. 

->Then something seemed to snap inside Stephen, as he loudly accused the lofty religious leaders of being 'stubborn heathens, deaf to the truth, forever resisting the Holy Spirit,' like their ancestors who persecuted the prophets . . . then their own guilt toward 'the Messiah who they betrayed and murdered.'3 

At this, the council was enraged . . and to make matters worse, then Stephen looked up toward Heaven and said, "Look! Heaven has opened up, and I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"4 

They began shouting at him and then someone picked up a rock and threw it at him and he began to run, and many ran after him and eventually stoned him to death. When he was bleeding and weak, he cried out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit"--and just before he collapsed, he said, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." While it does not even seem possible, Stephen died at peace--may God rest his soul. 

Our congregation prays for you and yours. Please do the same for us here. . . the pressure we are facing for serving Jesus as our Messiah is intense. 

With sincere greetings and love, I remain your obedient servant, 

James

Stephen ~ a true hero, cut down in his prime, even as he was being used of God. There are not enough letters in the word 'courageous' for Stephen. Oh and a question: Are you prepared to see the Lord when you die? Something to think about.

Your attention? Stephen had a deathbed vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then he died.5 hmmm....

"Famous For"-  http://www.youtube.com/watchv=aW6nHbyj6TE&list=RDaW6nHbyj6TE&am...

With love,

Christine

PastorWoman.net

1 - Acts 6.8

2 - The Sanhedrin: the Jewish 'Supreme Court' of 72

3 - Acts 7.52

4 - Acts 7.56

5 - of deathbed visions, near death experiences - short video--watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-ZniZTplQI about 9 minutes

Excellent new book: Seeing the Supernatural, LEE STROBEL