"but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke."
there are many who don't bear witness for Jesus in any way. they are silent about their faith, afraid to offend, so much so that there is no discernible difference between them and a non-christian. the very few times they are challenged they are so intimidated by conflict that they silently shrink into themselves. stephen was not such a man. he did not live for the approval of the world. the Spirit of God lived in him--and his faith was a natural extension of himself.
this passage reiterates what the NT says over and over--that if you are a christian--your faith will not and cannot be hidden. jesus said, "a city on a hill cannot be hidden". this truth works two ways--if you have faith, it will come out in obvious ways--but if you don't your unbelief will also be evident--whatever you are deep inside cannot be hidden. if we don't have genuine Spirit-filled faith, then whatever values that we are "filled" with will also express themselves eventually and unmistakeably.
those who tried to argue with stephen "could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke". this should be a great encouragement to all of us. we may never be able to defend the christian faith as eloquently as stephen. but if the Spirit of God truly lives in us, we will be given a wisdom that the world will not be able to stand up against. the passage also states that as the enemies of God accused stephen and brought him to trial, they saw that his face was like the face of an angel. even his accusers could not deny stephen's goodness and purity of heart. the secret was that he was completely at peace with God--so confident was he that "whether he lived, he [would] live to the Lord and whether he died, he [would] die to the Lord".
1 comment:
Thank you Dulla smn for your insight and reflection.
When I was reading today's reading, it left me feeling a little uneasy. But it's not because of Stephen and the persecution he endured, but I began to wonder as a Christian do I have the same kind of courage and confidence like Stephen did. It gave me a glimpse to my weak faith. I began to think whether or not I had that same boldness that Christians need to stand apart and out in the open in the is dark world. For some reason, I thought about that girl that stood up for Christ at Columbine when I read this passage. She was willing to face death for Christ, even when she could have kept her head down and live another day. She chose to stand for Christ. I'm not saying we have to face death or face extreme persecution as the only ways to boldly stand for Christ, but just in the way we live day to day. Do we have the balls to live differently from the world or do we choose to blend in with it?
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