FREE ESSAY ON PERSONAL RELATIONS W/ GOD

PERSONAL RELATIONS W/ GOD

The Stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:54-60)
With the stoning of Stephen we have the first martyr of the Christian church. The word
martyr is defined as a person who dies rather than renounce a religion; a person who
makes a great sacrifice for the sake of principle. Stephen was that and much more.
Stephen was brought in front of the Sanhedrin on false charges by the high priest. The
high priest were persecuting the apostles because they were spreading the gospel of Jesus
Christ. When the high priest asked Stephen about the charges him began to preach to them.
They became extremely upset and decided to stone him. 
The men who were persecuting Stephen were said to be gnashing upon him with their teeth.
Matthew Henry says that this denotes 
great vexation within themselves; they fretted to see in him such manifest tokens of a
divine power and presence, and it vexed them to the heart. The wicked shall see it and be
grieved, he shall gnash with his teeth and melt away, (Ps. 112:10). Gnashing with the
teeth is often use to express the horror and torments of the damned. Those that have the
malice of hell cannot but have with it some of the pains of hell. 
This shows that the men who were getting ready to stone Stephen knew that what Stephen
was preaching was right. They felt conviction and in turn decided to stone him.
Stephen was a man of God so he knew that God would do as he wished in this situation.
Stephen was at piece while all this was going on. "While his hearers gave vent to their
annoyance, Stephen remained calm, full controlled as before by the Spirit of God." He was
not afraid because his God was in control. Henry says "As his persecutor were full of
Satan, so was he full of the Holy Ghost, fuller than ordinary, anointed with fresh oil
for the combat, that, as the day, so might the strength be." The Holy Spirit came upon
Stephen in his time of need.
Because Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit he looked heavenward. He was not interested
in the men getting ready to stone him but he was interested in his Father. "They had
their eyes fixed upon him, full of malice and cruelty; but he looked up to heaven, and
never minded them, was so taken up with the eternal life now in prospect that he seemed
to have no manner of concern for the natural life now at state." Stephen was looking
forward to being home with his Father.
Through all of this Stephen still kept the second greatest commandment. That is love you
neighbor as yourself. In the midst of being stoned he still had the love of God in him
for the people stoning him. He said to God in verse 60, " Lord, do not hold this sin
against them." In these words we see how Stephen shows the character of Jesus. "There was
yet another of our Lord's words from the cross echoed by Stephen. For, on his knees among
the flying stones, he made his last appeal to the heavenly court-not this time for his
own vindication but for mercy toward his executioners." 
In this story we as Christians have a perfect of example of what it means to be totally
sold out to Christ. Stephen was doing the work of the Lord by spreading the gospel. When
he was persecuted for it he did not back down or run into a corner and hide. Instead he
stood boldly for Christ. He knew that he would face death but that did not matter to him
because he could not deny Christ. In his time of need the Holy Spirit came upon him and
anointed him with peace. We also see God's love for all in Stephen when he asked in verse
sixty that the Lord not hold it against them. Stephen was truly a man of God.