Episode 137 - The High Cost of Rebellion - Acts 7:30-60

Sweet Selah Moments Podcast

When we rebel against what we know to be right, we are walking into Deep Trouble. Ever been there and done that? Like a child who learns the hard way that "Don't touch the stove!" is a kind warning to keep one from being burned, adults who refuse to listen to God's good commands also get burned. Join Sharon and Nicole as they talk about the high cost of rebellion and the great joy that comes from just doing the right thing.

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You can read the transcript for The High Cost of Rebellion-Episode-137

Speaker 1:

It is time for a pause in your day. Welcome to a podcast where we press the pause button on our busy lives for a few moments, and we focus on God’s word with Sharon and Nicole. We pray this is a time of refreshing for you. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole:

Welcome to Sweet Selah Moments. This is episode 137, The High Cost of Rebellion. Oh, rebellion. That’s a strong word, Sharon. And it does carry with it hard consequences. I looked up its meaning, and I saw on just Google the first time ‘an act of violence or open resistance to an established government or ruler, or the action or process of resisting authority, control or convention’. Then I looked it up on Merriam-Webster, and this one I thought was interesting: ‘opposition to one in authority or dominance, open armed, and usually unsuccessful defiance of or resistance to an established government, and then an instance of such defiance or resistance’. So I thought about that, ‘usually unsuccessful defiance’.

Sharon:
That is so funny. And isn’t that the truth about rebellion? It usually just lands us in trouble.

Nicole:

Almost always. I was thinking back through instances of my own young life and grownup life, and my children and my pets, and whenever they openly defy what I say, it’s almost always a bad consequence. (Sharon: Yes) I don’t wanna wear these practical boots. I wanna wear my favorite shoes. And then they end up going through a muddy path at school and ruin their favorite pair of shoes and they’re devastated. Or they’ll leave something on the floor and I’ll say, don’t leave that there. We have two dogs that chew things and it gets chewed and they’re devastated. (Yes) So these acts of rebellion, or I don’t wanna listen, it just never ends well for us.

Sharon:

It doesn’t. Even little rebellions. Like, I don’t feel like going to bed. You pay for it the next morning when you’re exhausted.

Nicole:

Yes, that’s right. That’s something I struggle with as a grownup. Like, well, I’ll be fine. I can stay up late and do what I want and no, I feel horrible in the morning. Rebellion doesn’t often work out in our favor.

Sharon:

No, it doesn’t. Well, I have a story of a rebellious time in my life. I didn’t see it as rebellion at the time, but it was. So I was sort of in rebellion for years when it came to food. I used to, when I was in my twenties, I could eat and it never showed.

Nicole:
Oh, it’s a wonderful time of life when you could do that.. Those were the days.

Sharon:
Ah, the twenties.

Sharon:

Oh man. I can remember sitting on my bed cross-legged having bought a pint of ice cream and just taking a spoon and eating the whole pint with my friend Julie, who had our own pint. And we were both as skinny as rails. So then I get older and my metabolism shifts, and I don’t like adding the pounds, but I’m not eating differently than before. And I rebelliously don’t wanna believe that I have to eat differently. (Yeah) So I rebelliously didn’t wanna believe it up till over 200 pounds, when my knees started hurting on stairs, and I was absolutely headed for knee surgery. When walking made me out of breath so that I stopped walking. (Right) Where I basically became unhealthy. And then the crowning devastation was the word obese. I went to the doctor and he’s like, oh, well you’re in the obese category. And I’m like, I hate that word. (I know. I don’t wanna be in that category) I hate that word. So that rebellion was putting me in a very dangerous place healthwise. And I had to give up eating the way I wanted to. And I did. And I’ve lost my weight again. And I still have to fight the rebellious part of me that says, but I want a huge ice cream sundae after a huge dinner and then a brownie after that. (Right) And the answer is no.

Nicole:
Again it’s not good for you.

Sharon:
I can’t do that. Not if I want to do the work God’s called me to do, which requires a healthy body.

Nicole:
Right. With energy.

Sharon:

Yeah. So, but there’s so many forms. The 2-year-old, I can just picture this little boy, don’t touch that stove, It’s hot! Burns his hands. (Nicole: I know) Right, right? Or if sadly, the 17-year-old who defiantly drinks and drives, causes a car accident that completely changes the trajectory of their whole lives. And then there’s more subtle rebellions, refusing to forgive someone, which causes bitterness to creep into your life and ulcers, and then eventually just a really unhappy spirit. And a farness from God, because we won’t confess our sins. You know, when we rebel against God’s wise laws, in the end, we’re hurting ourselves. It’s unsuccessful. As your definition from Merriam’s said.

Nicole:
Almost always. Yep.

Sharon:

Yes. So, okay. Well, let’s move to Stephen’s speech. He’s in the middle of this passionate speech with a glowing face.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

Last week, we had him walk us through Abraham and Moses and Joseph, basically pointing out that God uses really strange and unusual circumstances to show us things.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

So he’s recounting all the ways Israel would also not listen to the good God who saved them, was trying to help them. That’s where we’re going now. (Nicole: Yes) So let’s read now about the examples of rebellion in Israel, which we sadly see reflected in our own lives as well. So why don’t you start with verse 30.

Nicole:

All right. So we’re gonna do Acts 7, I’m gonna read 30-53. So verse 30, “Forty years later in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush.”

Sharon:

“When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him,”

Nicole:

“I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.”

Sharon:
“Then the Lord said to him, take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.”

Nicole:

“I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go for, I am sending you back to Egypt.”

Sharon:

“So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, who made you a ruler and judge over us? Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior.”

Nicole:

“And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs he led them out of Egypt through the Red Sea and through the wilderness for forty years.”

Sharon:

“Moses himself told the people of Israel, God will raise up for you a prophet like me, from among your own people.”

Nicole:

“Moses with was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angels spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.”

Sharon:
“But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt.”

Nicole:

“They told Aaron, make us some gods who can lead us for we don’t know what has become of this Moses who brought us out of Egypt.”

Sharon:

“So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made.”

Nicole:

“Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heavens as their gods. In the book of the Prophets, it is written, Was it to me, you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during those 40 years in the wilderness of Israel?”

Sharon:

No. You carried your pagan gods, the shrine of Moloch, the star of your god, Rephan, and the images you made to worship them. So I will send you into exile as far away as Babylon.”

Nicole:

“Our ancestors carried the tabernacle with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses.”

Sharon:

“Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.”

Nicole:

“David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent temple for the God of Jacob.”

Sharon:
“But it was Solomon who actually built it.”

Nicole:
“However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,”

Sharon:

“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?”

Nicole:
“Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?”

Sharon:

“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.”

Nicole:

“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.”

Sharon:

“You deliberately disobeyed God’s law even though you received it from the hands of angels.” Well, we’re gonna stop there for a minute. I can just sense Stephen’s huge frustration. Hello. Messiah has come. He fulfilled so many of the prophecies. Yeah. He healed the sick. He cast out demons. He multiplied bread and fish. He walked on water. He raised people from the dead, and he walked out of a grave himself. This is the One you say you’re waiting for. Come on. (Nicole: That’s right) Believe already. Oh, man. All that I can see is Stephen saying, we did this in the past. Do you see the problem it got us? We got sent away to Babylon for it. Wake up. That’s what I get out of this passage. How about you?

Nicole:

The same. I think you sense his frustration and he’s, it’s just a cycle of doubting and getting into trouble and God correcting them, and then God’s saving them again. There’s this cycle that keeps repeating and he’s probably like, can we stop the madness? But believe we have the signs. He’s here, the Messiah’s here. He’s like, you’ve, in the past, you’ve continually killed the prophets. Ignored them. Persecuted them. So I think he is at this boiling point of why do we keep doing the same thing expecting different results?

Sharon:

Yes. Exactly. Exactly. And he’s identified with them. He’s walked for this story. He’s shown that he respects the temple. One of the things they were saying he didn’t do, but he’s also reminding them, you guys, we’ve gotten it wrong a lot. (Yes) Oh man.

Nicole:
He did a good job putting himself, like you said, with them like brothers and sons.

Sharon: Yes, he did.

Nicole:

And he’s like, we the Jewish, so he wasn’t standing aside going, you, you, you did all this. He’s like, we, I’m here too. I’m a Jew too. But see that he is the Messiah.

Sharon:

Yes. Yes. And I feel like he had to say it like that. (Nicole: Yeah) Because he had to wake them up. (Yeah) You know, it’s like, you remember the story of Nathan coming to David and telling David there was this rich guy (Yes) that had tons of sheep. And there was a little poor guy over there that had one little sheep that they treated like a pet. (Right) And the rich guy, when his friends come to visit, grabs the little guy’s one sheep and David’s all upset and then says, we need to kill this man he was so bad, or you know, punish him. (Right) And Nathan goes, actually, you’re the man. (Yeah) You took the wife from someone else. It’s the same kind of thing here. (Mm-Hmm) You know, they’re tracking with him.( Mm- Hmm) And then he’s like, and we’re doing the same thing. So it was a very effective way. And I wanna believe that some of the people that weren’t listening then, never forgot those words and listened later. (Yes) That’s what I wanna believe. So.

Nicole:

I don’t know if we talk about it this one, but because their reaction is so strong later, I think that they’re, it was.

Sharon:
It’s definitely gonna imprint on their mind.

Nicole:
Yeah, for sure.

Sharon:
Especially ’cause the way Stephen looked.

Nicole:
Right. Oh, that’s true. A glowing man is recounting this

Sharon:
Yes. And also, how’d they let him go that long, I mean, that was a long speech.

Nicole:
Oh, right. That was.

Sharon: Right?

Nicole: Yeah.

Sharon:
I think they’re just like mouth-drop hearing it.

Nicole:

I wonder if that’s what allowed him to speak, ’cause like they know the history. They’re like, yeah, yeah, yeah. We know about Moses, we know about Joseph. They’re our ancestors. We preach about them all the time. (Sharon: Right, right) I wonder if the glowing moment happened to allow them to listen longer. (Yes) Allow Stephen the opportunity to speak (Yes) truth into their hearts.

Sharon:
Yeah. Yeah. ’cause that is, that is long.

Nicole:
It is a long passage.

Sharon:
For somebody that nobody likes and that they’re mad at.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

I mean, when I sadly argue with people and they start saying things, I wanna butt right in. I don’t wanna give them a fifteen minute window. (Nicole: No) Right?

Nicole:
You wanna tell them that they’re wrong. So hurry up and get to the,

Sharon:

Yeah. So I think there was something supernatural, I’m pretty sure there was something supernatural going on here.

Nicole:
I feel like there might have been.

Sharon:

Yeah. So, good. And you know what else it reminds me of (one more thing, then we’ll keep going) but Jesus was saying, when you are asked to stand before authorities, it’s somewhere in Matthew, I think, he says, don’t worry beforehand what you’re gonna say. My Father will give you the words.

Nicole:
Oh, so cool.

Sharon:
Did God not give Stephen the words?

Nicole:
I doubt he had this written down and practiced.

Sharon:
Uh-uh. No, this just,

Nicole:
Cause where did this come from?

Sharon:
This is the filling of the Holy Spirit.

Nicole:

Well, there’s something I was reading, a commentary, and some of the facts that he recounted about Abraham are different from the facts we read about in Genesis. It throws off the timeline a little. It throws off where he actually left, like in Genesis, it says he left from the place of Ur. And then here it says Haran, after his father died. And in Genesis it says before, so what they were saying was, this was such

proof that he was anointed by the Holy Spirit. That these words like facts that he wouldn’t have known ’cause it wasn’t in the text at the time, (Yeah) but when the historians went back and kind of like recalculated things like it, it all lines up. (Yeah) It’s just that they listed Abraham before his older siblings because he was more important. But that one little fact, it just kind of goes to show that God had anointed him with these words right from him. With even a little bit of a fixing of the history that they knew.

Sharon: Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole: So cool.

Sharon:
That is so amazing. It really is. Well, even though Stephen gave it all he had,

Nicole:
I know he did.

Sharon:

The Jewish leaders were not buying it. Sadly. They rejected this last heartfelt plea from Stephen who knew, I’m sure, he was risking his very life to plead with them like this. (Nicole: Yeah) So let’s finish our chapter. Why don’t you finish it, Nicole, with the very sad, but also amazing ending to Stephen’s earthly life.

Nicole:

All right. So verse 54 says, “The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fist at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God. And he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus receive my spirit. Then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, do not hold the sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

Sharon:

Oh my. This part is so rich. We’re gonna have to go verse by verse, there’s no other way. (Nicole: We are) Let me start with verse 54. We’ve just got to camp on this for a bit. (Yes) Man. Okay 54 says, “The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. So we’ve been studying anger in home group. We’re doing ‘Unoffendable’ in our home group right now. And looking at passages like ‘man’s anger never brings about the righteous life that God desire’. And ‘in your anger do not sin’ and and don’t hold onto it, and all this stuff. And they were just angry. They were in a fit of rage. (Oh yeah) Their pride’s been wounded. Their righteousness was being called into question. (Right) Right? So they are beyond just a little angry, they are shaking their fists at him. And the sad thing about rage is it really clouds your thinking.

Nicole:
I was gonna say they weren’t thinking logically at this point.

Sharon:
No, no. They were not. That’s when you break furniture, when you’re in a rage.

Nicole: Right. Right.

Sharon:

That’s when you say words that you never thought would leave your mouth. And that you can sit and shame on for a long time, even though you don’t have to ’cause Jesus forgives you.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
You know, rage is deadly.

Nicole: It is.

Sharon:

And rage is what is a mob. A mob gets stirred up to the point where they are not thinking. (Nicole: Yes) So that’s what I’m imagining. Instead of receiving this and hearing the pleading, guys, let’s not do this again. God does work in different ways and Jesus showed you who he was. They’re like, what? You’re telling us we were wrong? (Mm-Hmm) And so rage takes over. So sad.

Nicole:

Oh, it is. Well, they’re probably, their very identity was being called into question. You know, they prided themselves in being whatever.

Sharon: Yeah.

Nicole:

These men of God. This was a big deal. But verse 55 says, “but Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God. And he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand.” So he’s watching, and he’s got to be aware of the rage he has, it’s visible on these men in front of him. Like if we relied on our own strength, it might be like, oh man, it’s time for me to get outta here. Or maybe change what I said to kind of appease the situation. But he doesn’t. He keeps his eyes like full of the Holy Spirit. He gazed steadily into heaven. So he’s looking to where he needs to be, like deadly focused steadily on God. All right, God, I’m looking to you because this is getting a little scary. And I love that God gives him this beautiful vision right into heaven.

Sharon: I know.

Nicole:

That’s really cool.

Sharon:
That is the coolest thing. That is so beautiful. It really is.

Nicole:

That he gets to see God and then Jesus too. Because this is who he’s just been talking about and defending is Jesus.

Sharon:
Yes. And there he is, sitting on the throne.

Nicole:

At the right hand, like validating everything Stephen has just said that, yes. He is the Messiah. He did die, he did rise again, and he’s right there.

Sharon:
And there he is.

Nicole:
He is at the right hand of glory. Beautiful.

Sharon:
I wasn’t making this up because, ‘Hi’.

Nicole:
Wait, I see him. Like, guys, I see him.

Sharon:
Yes. Unbelievable.

Nicole:
That must have been such a beautiful reassurance for him.

Sharon:
Oh, wow. Wow. Wow.

Nicole:
That God would give him that right before his death.

Sharon: Right.

Nicole:
Right before a very horrific death.

Sharon:
Uh-huh, a very horrific death.

Nicole:
That’s not a good way to go.

Sharon:

Yeah. So, verse 56, he’s telling them about it now. He’s gazing into heaven and he’s like, look, well, let me read it. Not paraphrase it. “And he told them, look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand.” Look! Oh wow, the joy. Oh, Lord Jesus, I see you, you are there. Everything else pales. Because that’s where he is about to go.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

And it’s true. It’s there. And I’ve told this story once before, but it’s just the sweetest story. It was so much fun. I had a piano student named Barbara Porter. And she was dying of cancer, and she knew she was dying, and they’d done all the things and there was no stopping the death. So, but she was a very active woman, so she still wanted to do piano lessons. So she came every week and she still walked every day, even though, you know, she was swollen and it was painful to walk. (Nicole: Oh yeah) She was not gonna lie in bed. So I became kind of a safe place for her where we still did piano, but we did more talking (Sure) because I didn’t mind talking about her death. You know, and it’s a hard thing to talk to your husband and son and daughter about death.

Nicole:
Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Sharon:

Right? Because they don’t want you to die. (Nicole: Right) But she was pretty sure she was gonna, you know, unless God did a miracle. And so we talked about it and getting ready for it, and she said, would you pray that I could walk until I die? The thing is, it’s not death that scares me. I know I’m gonna be in heaven. (Right) It’s having to lay in bed for a bit first. I don’t wanna lay in bed. (Yeah) So I said, all right, I’ll pray for that. And I prayed for it on, you know, on the piano bench. I can see it. And then I remembered Stephen, I remembered how he saw Jesus before he died. (Right) And I prayed that. I said, Lord, and also could Barbara see you? Would you give her the blessing of seeing you before she steps into heaven? So, fast forward, Barbara died and I was at the wake with Ray and her son and her husband were there, and they told me the story and they gave me, I’ve written a blog about this. They’ve given me permission to tell this story. They said she walked until less than 24 hours before her death.

Nicole: Oh, wow.

Sharon:

Because she’s a stubborn woman. And she was just laying there, you know, dying. And all of a sudden, Nicole, she sat straight up, put her hands out and smiled so big, and then she died. And I just thought, Jesus, what a sweet answer to my kind of off the cuff, ‘let it be like Stephen’.

Nicole:
I know, right.

Sharon:
Isn’t that the nicest thing?

Nicole:
You didn’t even have to pray for it daily, faithfully. He heard your prayer.

Sharon:
I’m like, do you know I prayed for that? God did it. You know, I shouldn’t be so shocked.

Nicole: I know.

Sharon:
That God did it. So, but anyways, isn’t that the sweetest prayer to pray for anybody?

Nicole:
That’s so sweet.

Sharon:
I’ve now asked that for me.

Nicole:
I know. Hey, that seems nice.

Sharon:
I’d kinda like to see you before I died too. It just makes a transition. It was such a gift to Stephen.

Nicole: Oh, sure.

Sharon:
It was such a gift to Stephen that he saw so clearly where he was about to be and everything else pales.

Nicole:

Yes. And his heart to the end. He could have just kept that moment and just ‘Wow and just stared up. But he shared it. He was so excited. He gave them again, one last chance. (Sharon: Yes) I see him. (Yes) Right now I see him.

Sharon: Unbelievable.

Nicole:

Oh, he shared that beautiful moment with them. I think that’s really cool too.

Sharon:
That is cool. You’re right. I’m glad you pointed that out. Yeah. He didn’t keep it to himself.

Nicole:

No. Oh, man. All right. So verse 57: “Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him.” Oh, this verse is so telling of sin. It doesn’t like to be exposed. (Sharon: Right) You know, that pride, that shame. It’s like he shed light on that what they believe was not true, and that Jesus was the Messiah and they were so angry, and so they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. And all I picture is a toddler. (Yes) Like my defiant child going, I don’t wanna listen, Mama, put their hands over their ears, stomping their feet completely unreasonable. And you look ridiculous.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:

These grown intelligent men were slapping their hands over their ears and refusing, and shouting, trying to drown out the truth that Stephen was speaking.

Sharon:
Yeah. So this is rage.

Nicole:
This is rage at its ugliest.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
They were irrational.

Sharon:

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Rational people don’t do this. (Nicole: No) That’s why one should never encourage anger, because then it leads to rage. And then you, Oh man, you just don’t wanna remember what you did when you were raging. So.

Nicole:
No. So yeah. The rather embarrassing scene in verse 57.

Sharon:
So continuing the thought, it’s so weird. It’s in the middle of a sentence that we start 58.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

So I’m gonna start your sentence so it comes together. “They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.” So first of all, I had not noticed that he wasn’t stoned where he preached.

Nicole:
Yeah. I didn’t either. It was interesting.

Sharon:

Now I’m realizing that he first was dragged out of a city that couldn’t have been pleasant. (Nicole: No) Especially by screaming men, blocking their ears and shouting in rage. So I’m sure it wasn’t a gentle dragging.

Nicole:
Or a quiet scene.

Sharon:

Yeah. And I’m like, he really was following in Jesus’ steps because Jesus carried the cross out of the city to his death and Stephen is now being dragged out the city to his death. He had the honor of, you know, suffering like his Savior did. (Nicole: So similar to what Jesus did) So fascinating. And the accusers take off their coats and Saul egged them on. He didn’t stone them. But when Saul later on becomes Paul (Yes) the great apostle (Yes) after meeting with Jesus, (Spoiler alert) yes, he says often I’m the chief of sinners. I think that etched in his mind was him saying, gimme your coats. Do it, do it. Do it. (Right) And remembering Stephen, and remembering how beautifully Stephen died and thinking, how could I have done that? (Right) I’m the chief of sinners. I egged this on this death of an innocent man who was just trying to help us. And yet you called me to be the apostle to the Gentiles. (Wow) You know, part of Saul’s humility comes from how God still chose him after what he’d been. And he was there. He was there at the stoning of an innocent man.

Nicole:
Wow. How God can redeem us in our stories.

Sharon: I know.

Nicole:

It’s amazing. And I love that Paul recognizes later on that like, I was chief among sinners. Like, oh yeah, you can say that. Oh no, he was right there in there.

Sharon:
He was right there in the evil.

Nicole:
He could claim that.

Sharon:

Yep. Yep, yep, yep.

Nicole:

Oh, it’s so good. So verse 59 says: “As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, Lord receive my spirit. So as he’s being stoned, which I can’t, that’s a horrible way to die. What a very painful, humiliating way to die. Just pain after pain. He doesn’t curse them, he doesn’t throw rocks back at them, like just you wait. Your judgment’s coming. Like, he doesn’t say anything about that. He just prayed, Lord, receive my spirit. I think that’s so beautiful. (It is beautiful) He never took his eyes off of Jesus.

Sharon:
No. In fact, he’s like, please, can I come now and see you.

Nicole:
Right. I know. It’s just a beautiful moment.

Sharon:
So beautiful.

Nicole:

But his faithfulness and looking at God, I wonder, I was reading a commentary on that too. And I think that could have been Saul’s first exposure to Jesus, like seeing how this man died, even if it didn’t change his heart in that moment.

Sharon: Right.

Nicole:
That, like you said, that moment stuck with him, I think his whole career.

Sharon:
It was an imprint.

Nicole:

Like maybe Stephen wouldn’t have asked to have been this pivotal moment in Saul’s life at the time. Like that isn’t, I don’t wanna sign up for the guy that was martyred and stoned that changed Paul’s life, but God used Stephen in such a powerful way that it changed the trajectory of Paul’s life. Like that’s huge.

Sharon:
For sure. Yeah, it is.

Nicole:
We have no idea how far reaching God will use us if we’re surrendered.

Sharon:

So true. It’s so true. And I’m sure Paul didn’t forget verse 60 either in terms of what Stephen said. So he’s, Lord Jesus receive my spirit, then he falls to his knees, then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, do

not hold the sin against them. And when he had said that, he fell asleep. So the love for the enemy is the mark of the Christian.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
Nobody does that.

Nicole:
No one can, we can’t do that.

Sharon:
Nobody does that.

Nicole:
We can’t even be nice to people that are mean to us.

Sharon:

Right. But that is one of our marks (Nicole: Yes) as Christ followers. (Yeah) We’re like, don’t hold this against them. I want them with me. I want them to see what I’m seeing. So, okay. We need to go on to favorite verses because man, it’s just so much to talk about. So, Nicole favorite verse?

Nicole:

Fifty-eight, but it’s kind of bleak. “They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of the young man named Saul.” Just the mention of Saul there was, I just kind of camped on that for a little bit, like I’d already mentioned. (Sharon: Yeah) It’s just so profound that he was there. And he saw that and how that could have affected and started, maybe that was the first seed, even if he went on, I think after he saw Stephen, he was still persecuting and killing Christians. (Mm-Hmm) So it wasn’t like he was sitting there going, oh, I should be kind now. Like it wasn’t an instant transformation at that moment. But God was still working in his heart. (Yes) And even though we didn’t see the results of that till later on, and no one else did ’cause he was still murdering Christians, God was starting a work in Saul’s heart. (Absolutely) And I love, we cannot get discouraged if we think that what we’re doing for people that we’re praying for, or living out our life isn’t making an instant impact on someone’s life. We do not know. We could look at this and like, well, Stephen, what a shame. His young life was cut early. He didn’t get to do all that God had for him. But he did.

Sharon:
He really did.

Nicole:
This is what God had for him and his faithfulness,

Sharon:
He lived every day God planned for him.

Nicole:
Yes. Up to the last second did.

Sharon: Yep, he did.

Nicole:

And that surrendering in that shortened life was way more far reaching than if Stephen might have just continued preaching the word. (Sharon: Yeah) We don’t know and we can’t make that call.

Sharon:

No. No, we can’t. Oh, it’s a wonderful passage. It is. Mine real quick was fifty-five where he gazed steadily into heaven. I also loved that, that his focus was on the Lord. What did I learn about God? God lets really bad things happen to his followers. Okay. Just there it is. Yeah. And also God is really real. And we don’t stay dead.

Nicole:
No, we don’t.

Sharon:
There really is a throne room and we are gonna see it.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon: Bam.

Nicole: Love it.

Sharon:
How about you?

Nicole:

He never leaves us even when he allows bad things to happen to us. He’s with us to the end of our earthly adventure and beyond. He was right there. He was right on the other side of that threshold waiting to give Stephen the biggest hug.

Sharon: He was.

Nicole: I think.

Sharon:

And for the early church and what can we apply today as a church? Whether we’re popular or not, we preach the good news. And we keep our eyes steadily on the risen Lord.

Nicole:
Mm. That’s good.

Sharon:
So let me pray. Oh man.

Nicole: So good.

Sharon:
This is, I’m still impressed by Stephen.

Nicole: I know.

Sharon:

Oh, Father, thank you for the witness of this good man. Thank you that the mark of the Christian is longing even for enemies to know you and be changed. Help our enemies to know you and be changed. Lord, show them yourself. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole:

Amen. We are so glad you joined us today as we studied Stephen, who is often called the first martyr of the Christian Church. Do you ever wonder if you’d ever have boldness like that if you were in a similar situation? I sure do, but I know that God will give you and me all we need to stand for him if and when the time comes. Studying his word is one of the best ways to be ready if ever God asked this of us. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode and the podcast in general. Would you review our podcast on your podcast app? You can write us at sweetselah.org/podcast or directly email at [e-mail]. We love hearing from our listeners. If you want to become a podcast partner and receive our monthly news, you can donate at sweetselah.org/donations and write podcast partner on the subject line. And please come back next week for episode 138, Preaching to the Unlikely. Thanks so much for listening and have a great week.

Speaker 1:

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found @sweetselah.org. Thank you for joining us.

You can print and download the transcript here.