Luke the physician wrote how, “Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people”, and after being interrogated by the people in the synagogue, “all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Then said the high priest, Are these things so?”, and Stephen defended his faith by referring to, “Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses”. He asked the Sanhedrin, “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers. Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul”, and in chapter seven and verse fifty-nine of the book of Acts Luke shared how the Sanhedrin, “stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” where we read:
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
The verse begins, “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, ...” Luke began with the words, “and they stoned Stephen” which means “and the religious leaders in the Sanhedrin pelted and threw stones at Stephen”, “calling upon God” or “while Stephen was appealing, summoning and crying out to the Heavenly Father God”, “and saying” which means “and uttering, declaring and proclaiming” the following words. Luke shared how the members of the “Sanhedrin” were “stoning” “Stephen” while he was “crying out” the following words to God the Heavenly Father.
The verse continues, “... Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Luke added the words, “Lord” which means “One to whom a person or thing belongs about which he has power of deciding; master, and the title given to God the Messiah”, “Jesus” whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation and is the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “receive my spirit” or “lay hold of, accept and take my, Stephen's, simple essence which is devoid of all or at least all grosser matter and possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding, and acting”. Luke shared how “Stephen” cried out for “the Lord Jesus” to take and accept his “spirit”.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we learn how “Stephen” knew he was going to die that day. His appeal to God the Heavenly Father to “receive” his spirit was the final fulfillment of “Stephen's” true belief and trust in Jesus Christ as His personal “Savior and Lord”. Oh to God that everyone reading these words would have the faith of “Stephen” who knew he would be “martyred” for believing in Jesus, and because he knew the earth was only a temporary home until he went to be with God, he cried out to the One he saw at the right hand of God to take him. God desires to have a loving personal relationship with every person, and though “Stephen” was the first recorded Christian “martyr”, many other have followed this path. God holds a special reward for those who have given their lives for trusting in Jesus, (See Revelation 6:9-11) and may our faith be like “Stephen's” who believed in Jesus even until his last breath.
Next time Luke shares how “Steven”, “kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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