Thoughts From Acts 6 - Part 2

 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.  Acts 6:8-15

           Not enough is taught about Stephen other than he was the first recorded Christian martyr and (P)Saul was present at his stoning. (spoiler alert). When you look at Stephen you see Jesus in so many ways. Just the last few verses and how he radiated the glory of Heaven and purity as the world hated on him. He performed miracles which I think came from the laying on of hands by the apostles. They transferred apostolic gifts to these seven men. Later we see Phillip and his family with miraculous abilities. They drummed up witnesses to make the same accusations that they made about Jesus - he commits blasphemy, he said he would destroy this temple, he speaks against the law. When he spoke, he spoke with authority and such wisdom that people's only response was not to refute but to curse and try to silence. And lastly the fact that he is about to be a martyr just like Jesus.

        Jesus said in Luke 6:33, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, that's what they did to the false prophets. We have this mistaken belief that when we are wise, humble, care for the poor, and radiate goodness, everyone will love us. No, the problem is that people - I like the irony of the name Freedmen - will be convicted of their lack of goodness and try to silence your freedom in Christ especially when you start talking. If you just are good and don't speak Christ, I think you won't be persecuted. It's the name of "Christ" that incites demonic oppression.

       I know Charlie Kirk was a polarizing figure but in his last days he was arguing a lot for belief in Christ and the devil riled up someone to stop him because people couldn't refute his wisdom. I fear for people like Cliff and Stuart Kenechtle on college campuses arguing the case for Christ with such conviction and wisdom that people can't rebut. Their videos are being seen by the millions and the devil will want to silence them. Pray for their safety. The devil hasn't come up with new schemes in his hatred against Christ. Be on the lookout and be ready. That is, if you aren't on the sideline eating popcorn.