" For We Have Heard Him Say ..."

 “And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” (Acts 6:12-15 ESV)

Those who were gathered in Jerusalem were speaking of Stephen, whom the Apostles selected to go out and preach the gospel. Again, like every Christian at the time, Stephen, who spoke the Gospel of Jesus Christ, was seized by the Jerusalem council. In their conspiracy to destroy Stephen, they could see the young man had the face of an angel. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, as Luke told us in verse 5.

Stephen went on to deliver a speech that enraged everyone at the temple, resulting in Stephen becoming the first Christian Martyr by stoning. Persecution was rampant against Christians then and now. In East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, many are martyred for their Christian faith. Open Doors, a missionary agency, reports that as of today, one in seven Christians will be persecuted worldwide.[1] We in this country talk of rights, but have seen nothing so vile.

What would you do? How deep is your faith and devotion to Christ? Would you denounce Christ to save your life? These are questions we as Christians should be asking ourselves. Have you given your life to Christ, who gave his life for you? How could you not do the same?  I think about this often, and I pray that I will not fail the Lord. That I would not renounce what my heart tells me is the truth, and my only source of salvation. I hope I will not.

When our time comes, we can rely on what Christ told us, “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.” (Matt 10:19) I know this to be true because the Spirit has given me words to speak when God had a message to deliver through my preaching. No Doubt, Stephen's discourse was the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

In the 1600s, John Bunyan was imprisoned in England for a long time for preaching the gospel. He had a wife and four children, one of whom, his daughter, was blind. All he had to do was say he would stop preaching the gospel, and he could have gone free. He chose not to be silent or deny Christ. He remained in jail until the King of England changed the laws on religious freedoms. Released, Bunyan went out and preached.

All he had to do was be silent, and he refused, making his family suffer because of his devotion to Christ. Yet today, many are silent for no reason at all. Some are silent out of fear, status, being ostracized, and of friends or family who might not agree with or approve of their beliefs. Bunyan only thought of God.

We in the US have become spoiled with our freedoms. While I am grateful for them, I am more grateful for Christ. What I speak of is not far-fetched. Look around us at this society. Christ told us to prepare because things will get worse. While we say we “have never seen society so bad, " it can always get a lot worse.

Cling to Christ if He is your Savior. Run to Him if He is not. Get right with God before it is too late. A time will come when the hand of salvation is withdrawn, and the mark of the beast will cause many to perish. Call on Christ as your Savior and receive eternal life by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace.

[1] https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/